Initial Results

The sight of Yang Ling leading over a hundred people down into Mine Cave No. 1 was witnessed by tens of thousands of miners at the Red Gold Mine.

"Our supervisor seems determined to take on the mine caves."

"If he can really deal with the dangers inside, we might actually get a chance to go down there and make a fortune someday."

"Stop fantasizing. Supervisor Yang is just putting on a show for us."

One miner poured cold water on their hopes. "He just wants us to go into the caves and dig more Red Gold Ore. That's work that can get you killed—whoever wants to go can go."

The expectations in many miners' hearts were crushed once more.

Making money was certainly important, but staying alive mattered more.

Xu Qing had already grown too lazy to keep playing along with Yang Zhiwen and had left long ago.

Yang Zhiwen glanced at the stewards present and said with a faint smile,

"Tell me, do you think my Junior Brother Xu can really raise the Red Gold Mine's output?"

Quite a few stewards exchanged looks and chose to remain silent, offering no opinion.

Fang Qingyang, however, looked grave as he said,

"Senior Brother Yang, we also want to raise production, but these miners are unwilling to risk their lives digging. There's nothing anyone can do about that."

"If no one can resolve the three great dangers in the mine caves, no one will be willing to go down."

Ore Worms, mine bandits, and cave-ins—these were the three great dangers of the mine caves.

Encountering even one of them could cost someone their life.

Yang Zhiwen nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. We'll wait and see. I'll think of a way to resolve those issues later."

"Yang Zhiwen should be Wu Que's backer. He really is quite strong—much stronger than Xu Qing."

"But give me another two months or so. Once the Vajra Wisdom King Art reaches the second level,

and I add the free attribute points I gain from leveling up during that time, my attributes will far surpass his."

Yang Ling let out a breath of relief.

At least he had enough time now to level up and train.

Next, he took the lead with Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing, heading deeper into the mine caves.

At the same time, he had the hundred-plus players work together to develop the area.

Before long, they found Red Gold Ore.

There was a piece of Red Gold Ore in front of Li Tianye. Holding a Fine-Steel Pickaxe, he gave it a single strike, and tiny bits of Red Gold fell away.

"This thing nearly doubles my strength."

"My mining speed and efficiency will increase dramatically from here on out!"

Without another word, he lowered his head and got to work.

The other players also gradually got into the groove. The moment they found Red Gold Ore, they started digging!

With their excavation speed visibly increasing, their desire to level up immediately blazed to life!

The mine caves' resources truly were far more abundant than those outside.

They could find Red Gold Ore of varying sizes in nearly every side passage.

Even with over a hundred players, there was no shortage of ore to go around.

They only hated that they weren't digging fast enough.

Suddenly, a clanging sound rang out.

Quite a few players instinctively stopped what they were doing, raised their torches, and looked over.

They saw a figure who seemed possessed, relentlessly striking a chunk of Red Gold Ore.

The Red Gold Pickaxe in his hand moved so fast it left afterimages.

Even the hard Red Gold Ore continually flaked away under such intense output...

At that moment, they finally believed that Yang Ling could dig ten jin of Red Gold Ore in a single day!

"That speed is terrifying. Is this how terrifying a level fifteen expert is?!"

The players secretly swallowed, then rallied themselves and began digging like mad.

Time slowly passed.

Some players grew tired and rested where they stood.

While resting, they couldn't help admiring Yang Ling's heroic figure as he mined.

When they realized Yang Ling seemed like a tireless machine, their hearts gradually filled with not only envy, but also reverence and admiration.

"Grind King."

Wang Haodong muttered to himself. Then he looked at Chen Xu, who was also resting. "Brother Xu, was Boss Yang always like this before? We've been in here for at least half a day, but he doesn't seem to need any rest at all."

"Of course. That's why Boss Yang is in the top ten of the Divine Realm Level Rankings."

Chen Xu said.

Wang Haodong immediately nodded.

"As he should be."

Before they knew it, the second day arrived.

Other than Yang Ling, every player spent their time alternating between digging and resting.

By nighttime, they were even sleeping directly on the ground.

Before sleeping, Yang Ling was mining.

After waking up, they found that Yang Ling was still mining.

"How much have you dug?"

Yang Ling put away his Red Gold Pickaxe, called the players over, and began taking stock.

"I dug two taels!"

"I got three taels!"

"I think I have one tael..."

Aside from a few exceptions, everyone else had dug at least one tael.

An ordinary miner at the Red Gold Mine could only dig one qian in a day!

The players suddenly felt their exhaustion vanish, and their spirits grew even more fired up!

"There's enough Red Gold Ore in here that it won't run out after digging a little. That saves us the time of searching for ore."

"The Fine-Steel Pickaxe also gives us a big boost in strength, greatly improving our mining efficiency."

"On top of that, you've spent more time mining than usual and have greater drive, so it's normal to see these results."

"As your levels rise, your mining speed will only get faster and faster."

Yang Ling smiled.

"That's about enough. Go back, take a bath, and get some rest. I'll give you six hours. After that, gather at the entrance to the mine caves."

He planned to reduce the time he spent training the Bandit-Catching Saber Technique.

As long as he trained the Vajra Wisdom King Art to its daily limit, that would be enough.

He would spend all the remaining time mining and leveling up.

Martial skills were certainly important, but his current situation required him to lead the team in leveling up!

It was only the first day, yet he had already seen hope.

Over a hundred players had mined an average of two taels of Red Gold Ore each.

That made twenty jin in total.

Adding his own ten jin.

That was thirty jin a day!

Nine hundred jin a month!

Even if they maintained this pace, as long as the other miners could produce 2,600 jin per month, he would be able to complete Xu Qing's assignment.

"Only if Xu Qing keeps his position secure will mine be secure too."

Yang Ling thought to himself.

Before long, he led the large group out of the mine caves and slowly headed toward the stewards.

The nearby miners all looked over.

"Looks like no one's missing."

"With Supervisor Yang protecting them, of course no one's missing. But if we go down, will Supervisor Yang protect us?"

"That's true. Still, they spent an entire day inside. They must've gained quite a lot, right?"

Their curiosity was immediately piqued, and they followed from afar to see how much Red Gold Ore they would hand in.

Fang Qingyang was sitting behind a desk, with a small scale placed atop it.

"Steward Fang, the supervisor and his group are out."

A mine-vein guard quietly reminded him.

Fang Qingyang immediately perked up, a faint smile appearing on his face.

When Yang Ling approached, he promptly cupped his hands and said,

"Supervisor, you all spent the entire night in the mine caves. Your haul must be considerable, right?"

"Not bad. I didn't turn in any Red Gold Ore on my first day, so I'll hand it in together now."

Yang Ling lifted two cloth bags and tossed them before Fang Qingyang.

Bang!

The bags landed on the desk with a dull thud.

Fang Qingyang looked uncertain and immediately began checking their weight.

After a long while, he said pensively,

"There are twenty-two jin here..."

"Gasp!"

The miners watching nearby sucked in a breath.

Twenty-two jin?!

Was that real?

Fang Qingyang suddenly smiled. "Supervisor, your methods are impressive. You led over a hundred miners for barely more than a day, yet gathered twenty-two jin of Red Gold Ore. The Red Gold Mine's output is bound to soar from now on."

"This is what I dug personally. Theirs is still on them. Don't lump it all together."

Yang Ling said sternly.

The smile on Fang Qingyang's face gradually froze.

Personally dug? Was that even possible?