Mine Rats

"Everyone, there's been a change in the Divine Realm Level Rankings."

Carrying a Red Gold Pickaxe, Yang Ling walked over to Chen Xu and the other man, who were resting, and crouched beside them.

The two hurriedly opened it and took a look, then were shocked.

"Hui Wu got pushed down? How did Luo Kai level up so fast? He's already level seventeen?"

"Didn't Senior Brother Xu say Star-Gazing Academy was just an academy, a place for studying? How can they level up too?"

Chen Xu muttered to himself.

Yang Ling smiled. "The Divine Realm is clearly a supernatural world. It's perfectly normal for studying to raise your level too."

Chen Guoqing nodded with a solemn expression.

"The key is that some players have already joined first-rate sects."

After listening to Xu Qing, they now held a deep reverence for first-rate sects.

They were colossal powers that even the imperial court had to show respect to.

And now players had already entered them?

That meant there were more and more players, which was why such a situation had arisen.

"Brother Yang, by the time the rescue team was formed, the number of missing people had already reached over three hundred thousand."

"At the time, it was increasing by nearly ten thousand people a day."

"I suspect more and more players will enter the game in the future. The total may have already surpassed one million."

Chen Guoqing's expression grew increasingly grave.

"Hasn't the government taken control of it and stopped people from entering the game?"

Yang Ling asked curiously, "They already know the missing people are connected to the Divine Realm. There's no reason not to shut it down."

"They can't shut it down."

Chen Guoqing gave a bitter smile. "The news I heard was that this thing is extremely strange. It simply can't be shut down.

And the advertisements are everywhere, getting more and more outrageous."

At that, a trace of worry appeared in his eyes.

"I'm worried that if this continues, the real world might fall into chaos..."

How could it not fall into chaos?

Yang Ling sighed inwardly.

Imagine your child had been perfectly fine, only to disappear after playing a game. What would the family think?

Missing people now spanned every country and every profession. If this went on, something was bound to happen.

"There should be quite a few players around the Red Gold Ore. I've found some of them. When the time comes, bring them to where I'm staying. Let's ask about the situation outside first."

Yang Ling said after pondering for a moment.

The two immediately nodded. They also wanted to know what things were like outside now.

"Brother Yang, how much have you mined?"

Chen Xu looked curiously at the cloth pouch hanging from Yang Ling's waist.

"About ten-odd jin."

Yang Ling weighed the pouch in his hand and smiled.

"I've found that the Red Gold Ore here comes in relatively large chunks, at least larger than Fire Crystal Rock. So whenever you find a piece, the yield is pretty good. It's just too hard, so it takes a lot of effort."

If not for the attribute points added by the Red Gold Pickaxe, along with its own hardness, Yang Ling figured he would only be able to mine four or five jin a day.

Now, he could mine ten jin a day, which meant three hundred jin a month.

It did not seem all that different from when he had been at the Fire Crystal Ore mine.

But Red Gold Ore gave much more experience, so he would level up faster!

"Damn, that's awesome!"

Chen Xu gave him a thumbs-up.

He glanced at his own cloth pouch.

Did it even have three taels in it?

"Officer Chen and I mined all day and only got three or four taels."

"You'll be slower at first. After all, your stamina is lacking, and Red Gold Ore is hard. Getting three or four taels is already pretty good.

"If you were at the Fire Crystal Ore mine and had Fine-Steel Pickaxes like these, mining two or three jin of Fire Crystal Rock a day would be no problem."

Yang Ling said with a smile.

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing both deeply agreed.

Their improvement had been obvious.

"If every player can mine three taels of Red Gold Ore a day..."

Chen Guoqing did the math, and his eyes lit up.

"If we gather one hundred players, we can get thirty jin in a day. Adding Brother Yang's ten jin, that makes forty jin.

"That's twelve hundred jin a month. We wouldn't be that far from a production target of thirty-five hundred jin."

"It probably won't be that easy, but there's definitely hope."

Yang Ling nodded slightly.

There was something he did not mention.

In two months, his Vajra Wisdom King Art would advance to the second level.

At that time, it would grant more attribute points. To improve his mining speed, he could put those points into Strength.

"Mental Power can speed up the cultivation of techniques and martial skills."

"But Strength can increase my mining speed. Mining means leveling up. Those obsessive grinders are clearly competing to level up right now, so I can't fall behind."

Yang Ling thought to himself.

He was not actually very competitive.

His temperament even leaned more toward taking things easy.

Back when he farmed gold, he had never been much of a grinder. After making money, he would even take breaks for a while.

But things were different now. People could die in this world.

If he did not start grinding, he would fall behind.

His main reason for leveling up was to ensure he could obtain the rewards given by the game.

"At level twenty, there should be another reward. It would be great if it were a blue Random Chest."

"Brother Yang, something doesn't seem right. I heard some kind of noise."

Chen Xu's voice interrupted Yang Ling's thoughts.

Yang Ling listened quietly for a moment, then immediately stood up and said sternly.

"There are Ore Worms!"

He did not leave, only had Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing stand behind him.

His current twenty-seven points of Mental Power made his senses exceptionally sharp.

He could sense which direction the Ore Worms were coming from.

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing were nervous, but also excited. They gripped their Fine-Steel Pickaxes tightly.

Yang Ling had already told them that killing Ore Worms also granted experience.

"We're about two li from the outside now. At this depth, it really is territory where Ore Worms appear."

"This is a rare opportunity. Make the most of it. Keep your Golden Wound Medicine ready, and take it if you get hurt."

"It can only restore one point of Health per minute, so don't wait until your injuries are too severe before taking it."

Yang Ling kept giving instructions.

The two nodded repeatedly, already prepared in their hearts.

After several breaths, a pair of green eyes appeared in the pitch-black depths.

"Those eyes are huge?"

Yang Ling was somewhat surprised.

The eyes were about the size of soybeans. If they belonged to Ore Worms, their bodies were probably several times larger than the scorpions from before.

Then another pair of eyes appeared, followed by one pair after another.

In the blink of an eye, the sight before the three of them was darkness filled with countless green eyes.

"Squeak!"

A shrill cry rang out, and the owners of those green eyes charged toward the three of them.

"These are Mine Rats? There have to be over a thousand of them in here, right?!"

Yang Ling froze for a moment, then immediately shouted.

"Retreat!"

Retreat? They absolutely had to retreat!

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing did not hesitate in the slightest before turning and running.

The sight of so many rats made their scalps go numb.

Yang Ling covered their retreat, maintaining a steady pace.

But he discovered that the Mine Rats were incredibly fast.

They might not be able to catch him, but they would definitely catch Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing.

"If I leave them behind, I can survive."

"But..."

After thinking for a moment, Yang Ling immediately instructed them.

"There's a relatively narrow bend ahead. You remember it, right?"

The two hurriedly nodded.

"When we get there, I'll make the opening even smaller. Hold your Fine-Steel Pickaxes and finish off anything that gets through."

"They're too fast. If we keep running, they'll catch us soon. We can't run now. We can only fight!"

Yang Ling spoke extremely quickly.

Fortunately, Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing were both sharp-minded and trusted Yang Ling completely. They did not question his judgment in the slightest.

The three quickly reached the bend. Yang Ling rapidly used the Red Gold Pickaxe to reshape it.

He made the opening narrow enough that only around ten Mine Rats could pass through at once!

"Alright. I'll handle the killing. You two deal with any that slip through."

"Try not to get bitten. Judging by their appearance, they're probably poisonous."

Yang Ling now held the Red Gold Pickaxe in his left hand and the Official Saber in his right.

He discovered that the ten points of Strength boosted by the Red Gold Pickaxe had already taken effect.

The three points of Strength boosted by the Official Saber were also active.

"So it can work like this."

Yang Ling stopped thinking and fixed his gaze on the opening.

His Strength had now reached twenty-four points.

That was without circulating his technique.

After circulating it, his Strength could reach thirty-nine points.

If he used Mountain-Crushing Fist, he could gain another six points.

But that was only an idea. Both of his hands were occupied now, and he could not possibly deal with these Mine Rats barehanded.