Killing Also Gave Experience!?

Yang Ling found a secluded corner in the mineral vein and started mining away.

Streams of cool experience continuously flowed into his body, leaving him feeling fulfilled.

As he mined, he watched his surroundings.

To enter the mine cave, he had to find a moment when no one was paying attention.

Otherwise, if someone spotted him, it would bring unnecessary trouble.

Time slowly passed.

As usual, Yang Ling changed mining locations several times.

During that time, he saw Zhang Wei.

This guy seemed to have noticed that his strength had increased. He mined especially hard today, with a hint of excitement on his face.

Before long, he saw Lin Guoliang, Chen Xu, and Wu Meng as well.

The three of them joined forces and gave a piece of Fire Crystal Rock everything they had, but because of their experience and strength—

After chiseling away for ages, they only scraped off a layer of powder.

"If those three are smart enough to gather one or two taels of Fire Crystal Rock together, surviving here shouldn't be difficult."

"Other than being tiring and miserable, this place really isn't dangerous. It's a pretty decent beginner village."

Yang Ling mined for experience as he thought.

With Zhang Wei as a lesson, he would not condemn every player just because of one person.

Since they had all come from the same place, he would still offer some basic help.

But he no longer planned to reveal his identity as a player so easily.

At present, Zhang Wei was the only one in the entire mineral vein who knew he was a player.

If future players could not see the Attribute Panel either, it would be difficult for them to know he was a player.

"If those three just now could see the Attribute Panel, they definitely would have recognized me as a player. But from the looks of it, they're probably like Zhang Wei and can't see it either.

If nothing unexpected happens, perhaps this ability is unique to me."

That guess put Yang Ling in a good mood.

As a professional gold farmer, he knew that encountering certain "bugs" in a game could make one rich in a single wave!

He currently possessed an exclusive "bug" of his own!

It was not quite as absurd as getting rich overnight, but... this ability was still extremely useful!

Time slowly passed.

The sky gradually darkened.

After gathering one or two taels of Fire Crystal Rock, some miners began leaving in groups.

Yang Ling quietly approached Mine Cave No. 1.

On the map, Mine Cave No. 1 was the most winding.

Under normal circumstances, he should not have chosen Mine Cave No. 1.

But those twists and turns were, to some extent, also protection and cover.

Seeing no one nearby and noticing that no one was paying attention in this direction, Yang Ling immediately broke into a jog and slipped into Mine Cave No. 1.

The mine cave was pitch-black. Yang Ling immediately took out a tinderbox and lit it, then slowly felt his way forward according to the map's display.

He was not the only one in the mine cave. There were others too, but they did not seem to dare venture too deeply.

No one's tinderbox illuminated very far. They could only see the glow, not exactly who was there.

Both sides tacitly kept silent and did not provoke one another.

Yang Ling chose a fork in the path and continued deeper.

The map showed that the deeper he went, the more likely he was to encounter large chunks of Fire Crystal Rock.

After walking for an unknown amount of time and passing several forks, Yang Ling suddenly saw an unusual glimmer.

It was the light of Fire Crystal Rock. It naturally emitted a faint glow, though it was not noticeable during the day.

But in a place this dark, it stood out at a glance!

Yang Ling quickly headed toward the Fire Crystal Rock.

Judging by its brightness, he estimated that it could yield at least one jin of Fire Crystal Rock!

Just as he approached it, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

"Strange, it seems like..."

"Breathing!?"

Yang Ling's expression changed slightly. He immediately covered the tinderbox, gripped his Fine Steel Pickaxe, and cautiously backed away.

"Damn it, he found us! Get him!"

A cold shout rang out.

Then came a burst of whistling wind, as though several figures were pouncing toward him.

Yang Ling instinctively raised the Fine Steel Pickaxe and swung it, only to hear a crisp clang.

"My knife broke!"

Someone cried out in alarm.

Yang Ling's expression shifted.

A knife!?

Damn it, were they really mine thieves? Had he actually run into them?

Those who attacked people in the mineral vein were privately called mine thieves by the miners.

But these people acted in secret and were rarely discovered. No one knew exactly who they were!

At that moment, someone had already gotten very close to Yang Ling.

Yang Ling's scalp tingled as though a tremendous danger had descended upon him.

Without another word, he swung his pickaxe with all his strength.

Pfft! Pfft!

A sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

A knife had probably stabbed into his shoulder.

But his Fine Steel Pickaxe had struck someone too.

Judging by the sensation...

Yang Ling vaguely saw a black silhouette standing there numbly.

The Fine Steel Pickaxe had already sunk deep into the top of his skull!

Did I kill someone?

Yang Ling's expression turned solemn.

Just then, a surging stream of cool air rushed into Yang Ling's body.

Experience points!?

Killing people gave experience too!?

Was that even right?

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 free attribute point."

After days of mining, along with the massive experience from this encounter—

Yang Ling leveled up again.

Without hesitation, he added the point to Strength.

With the Fine Steel Pickaxe in hand, his Strength attribute had reached a staggering 11 points!

More than twice that of an ordinary person!

The other mine thieves had yet to realize what had happened and were still surrounding Yang Ling.

Yang Ling hardened his heart and immediately began wildly swinging the Fine Steel Pickaxe.

With neither side able to see in the darkness, he traded injury for injury and dealt with three more mine thieves!

Three huge streams of cool air flowed into his body.

Based on Yang Ling's experience, that was probably equivalent to mining for ten shichen!

The pitch-black mine cave fell silent.

But Yang Ling knew that one person was still alive.

It was the one who had spoken first.

As he listened carefully for movement around him, he opened his Attribute Panel.

Character: Yang Ling

Class: Miner

Level: 5

Strength: 11 (3)

Agility: 5

Spirit: 10

Health: 50/80

The Strength attribute provided by the pickaxe did not increase his Health.

"Good thing I have plenty of health. Otherwise, I might have already been killed."

Yang Ling breathed a sigh of relief and immediately drank three bottles of Golden Wound Medicine.

In roughly thirty minutes, he would recover to full health.

As for the wounds on his body, he had already confirmed that they would heal on their own by then.

When Zhang Wei had been injured by the people Steward Niu ordered to beat him, his injuries had also healed quickly after his health recovered.

This was probably a small bit of special care that Divine Realm gave to players like them.

"Brother, I know you're still there."

A voice suddenly sounded in the darkness.

"My men are all dead, right? Consider that an apology to you, brother. Please show mercy and spare my life."

"The Fire Crystal Rock I left over there as bait weighs three jin, worth three hundred coins. It's all yours too, brother."

The more Yang Ling listened to that voice, the more familiar it sounded.

He suddenly smiled. "Fifth Brother?"

In the darkness, Fifth Brother's face was filled with panic.

"Who's Fifth Brother? I don't know him!"

A mine thief could not let his identity be discovered!

Otherwise, once the matter came to light, even his cheap brother-in-law would not be able to protect him!

"Fifth Brother, it's me, Zhang Wei. I didn't know it was you just now, so please forgive the offense. You can't take revenge on me after you get out..."

Yang Ling said softly.

"It's you, brat? How did you manage to kill my men? Wait, you're courting death!"

Fifth Brother immediately reacted and instinctively lunged forward like a vicious dog to evade the attack.

But the Fine Steel Pickaxe immediately plunged into his back.

The immense force even pierced through his chest, pinning him firmly to the ground.

Fifth Brother spat blood foam, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to say something.

The tinderbox lit up.

Yang Ling leaned closer. "It really is you."

When Fifth Brother saw that it was Yang Ling, his eyes widened. But seemingly recalling something, he suddenly began to giggle.

"You... you'll be coming down soon... to keep me company."

With that, Fifth Brother breathed his last.