Efficiency Soars

Supervisor Wu's words shocked the miners present. When they looked at Yang Ling again, their eyes were filled with envy and jealousy.

"Some important figure from above is coming to inspect? Miners from several veins are supposed to compete in skill?"

Yang Ling's heart tightened slightly.

The background of this Fire Crystal Mine truly wasn't ordinary.

During this time, he had been secretly gathering map information about the "Divine Realm," hoping to figure out where he was.

Unfortunately, let alone a large map, he hadn't even figured out the background of Green Mountain City or this Fire Crystal Mine outside it.

Every miner here was illiterate and couldn't explain it clearly.

This opportunity might allow him to come into contact with higher-ranking important figures.

Perhaps he might also have a chance to obtain the Black Tiger Fist cultivated by Supervisor Wu?

Among the crowd, Zhang Wei slapped his thigh in regret, his eyes guilty and his heart in turmoil.

"Supervisor Wu, how can such an important matter be entrusted to him!? He hasn't even been in our mine for a month..."

Fifth Brother was utterly alarmed.

Supervisor Wu swept him a cold glance.

"Shut up."

Fifth Brother's face turned somewhat pale.

"Work hard."

Supervisor Wu patted Yang Ling on the shoulder, then turned and left.

Seeing this, Fifth Brother hurried after him.

With no more excitement to watch, the miners all returned to their own work.

"Brother Yang, that Fifth Brother is truly despicable. Fortunately, Supervisor Wu arrived in time. You weren't hurt just now, were you?"

Zhang Wei forced a smile onto his face.

Yang Ling smiled. "Zhang Wei, do you take me for an idiot?"

Zhang Wei gave a bitter smile. "Brother Yang, their fists were too heavy. It hurt too much—I couldn't take it..."

"For the sake of us both being players, I won't hold today's matter against you for now.

From now on, don't provoke me, and I won't provoke you. As for the Fire Crystal Mine, you'll have to dig it yourself."

After saying that, Yang Ling turned and headed toward the mine.

Zhang Wei's expression instantly became ugly. He clenched his fists and stared fiercely at Yang Ling's retreating back.

"What are you so proud of? You just entered the game earlier than me and have slightly better attributes. I refuse to believe I can't survive without you!"

Fire Crystal Ore Vein.

Yang Ling spent the time it took to drink a cup of tea finding an unmined piece of Fire Crystal Ore.

He gripped the Fine Steel Pickaxe, and his strength immediately increased by 3 points.

His total strength had now reached a full 10 points.

Even compared to Supervisor Wu, he was only 2 points behind.

Within this mine, the only people with strength attributes close to his were the mine guards.

"Let's see what you can do."

Yang Ling glanced at the Fine Steel Pickaxe in his hand, then swung it down fiercely!

At that instant, all the strength in his body surged forth and poured out through his arm.

Bang!

A piece of Fire Crystal Ore fell to the ground.

"Before, I needed at least three to five strikes. Now one blow gets the job done..."

Yang Ling was very satisfied with his change. He continued striking the Fire Crystal Mine before him.

Once he finished mining one spot, he went searching for the next target.

The cloth pouch at his waist grew increasingly full.

Five hours later, the pouch was nearly filled with one jin of Fire Crystal Rock.

"Compared to when I first arrived, my efficiency has increased nearly tenfold."

"One jin of Fire Crystal Rock can be exchanged for a hundred copper coins, and a thousand copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver."

"When I was first captured and brought here, I heard that gathering five taels of silver was enough to buy an official identity."

Yang Ling recalled the day he had been seized as a refugee and brought to the mine.

As a player, he had possessed no proof of identity when he first arrived.

In such circumstances, he would be treated as a refugee and would not be protected by Green Mountain City's laws.

Of the miners living in Miner Village, eighty to ninety percent were actually refugees without identities.

Only the remaining ten to twenty percent were natives of Green Mountain City.

Uncle Wang from before was one of them.

Fifth Brother didn't dare casually bully natives like them at all.

"My efficiency has improved so much now. If I mine another five hours later, I'll be able to gather another jin. Two jin of Fire Crystal Rock can be exchanged for two hundred copper coins..."

"In less than a month, I'll be able to buy an official identity!"

"Judging by the usual nature of past games, obtaining an official identity is probably the first threshold of the Divine Realm. Only after that might I qualify to acquire martial arts."

With that thought, Yang Ling continued searching for Fire Crystal Ore.

He now had two goals.

Level up and gain attribute points!

Obtain an official identity!

Fortunately, both goals could be achieved through mining.

His nearly tenfold increase in efficiency also meant that the experience he gained was nearly ten times what it had been before!

Unfortunately, the attribute panel didn't show experience details, so he couldn't tell how much more he needed to reach level 5.

Time passed little by little.

There were fewer and fewer miners on the vein.

Yang Ling continued wandering throughout the mine.

"These Fire Crystal Rocks are truly too scarce. They can't be mined for long at all. Spending all my time searching for ore is such a waste. It'd be great if there were a large deposit."

As that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly looked toward the pitch-black mine tunnels around him.

The Fire Crystal Mine was an open-pit mine, but after years of excavation, many unfathomably deep tunnels had appeared.

These tunnels differed from the open areas. In the latter, some Fire Crystal Rock appeared near the surface. The quantities weren't great, but they were enough for miners to survive, or even earn a little extra.

However, large chunks of Fire Crystal Rock occasionally appeared inside the tunnels as well.

Logically speaking, entering the tunnels was more profitable.

But from Uncle Wang's warnings, Yang Ling knew that entering the tunnels came with three major risks!

First, the tunnels were labyrinthine, making it easy to get lost. If someone fell and broke a leg inside, they would most likely die there. There was also the possibility of a tunnel collapse!

Second, there were quite a few people in the mine who secretly attacked others. They didn't dare commit murder in the open, making the tunnels a very suitable place for such crimes.

Third, rare but potentially deadly poisonous Ore Worms!

"Uncle Wang said that sometimes, after being bitten by an Ore Worm, people die before they can even be sent for treatment."

"I haven't seen one, but I still need to be careful."

With that in mind, Yang Ling gave up on entering the tunnels.

He wanted to level up steadily.

Even if he wanted to enter the tunnels, it would be best to wait until his strength reached around 15 points.

At that point, with 150 health points—several times more than an ordinary person's—he would be qualified to take a risk inside the tunnels.

Besides that, entering the tunnels required thorough preparations in advance. He wasn't suited to go in now.

"Who is it?"

Yang Ling suddenly turned, his Fine Steel Pickaxe ready to strike at any moment.

"You're Yang Ling, right? I saw what happened in the village today too."

The newcomer was a lean middle-aged man.

Yang Ling knew him. He was a native of Green Mountain City with an official identity, not a refugee.

The other man's attribute panel slowly appeared.

Character: Zhao Hou

Class: Miner

Strength: 7

Agility: 8

Spirit: 2

His agility was as high as 8 points, 3 points more than Yang Ling's and beyond the range of an ordinary person.

"Uncle Zhao, do you need something?"

Yang Ling asked politely.

"You know me?"

Zhao Hou was somewhat surprised.

Yang Ling smiled. "Uncle Wang mentioned you. He said you're a capable man."

"Oh, so Old Wang told you about me."

Zhao Hou came to a realization, then smiled.

"From the way you looked just now, it seemed you wanted to take a chance in the mine tunnels?"

"No."

Yang Ling immediately denied it.