Net Worth Soars

"He said I'd be joining him soon?"

Yang Ling's face flickered uncertainly in the firelight.

The first person he thought of was Supervisor Wu.

"Could the competitions between the major mines really be dangerous enough to get people killed?"

"If that's true, I need to level up more. It'd be best if I could get an identity before the competition. That'd be safer..."

"Wait, why didn't I get any experience for killing Fifth Brother?"

Yang Ling's expression turned a little strange.

The miners he'd killed earlier had all given experience, yet Fifth Brother hadn't.

Logically speaking, Fifth Brother had possessed the highest attributes among those mine thieves.

"Was it because it was too easy? Do I have to fight for my life to gain valid experience?"

"That must be it. Otherwise, once certain players became powerful, things like massacring entire villages and cities might happen..."

Having figured that out, Yang Ling immediately turned his attention to Fifth Brother and the others.

He first checked the map and chose an extremely remote location before moving Fifth Brother's body and the others' corpses there one after another.

Then he dug up some dirt to bury them and stomped the ground flat.

"Under normal circumstances, it'll be hard for anyone to find their bodies. Even if they do, I might not be in the mine by then."

Yang Ling felt slightly more at ease.

Only then did the nausea hit him.

The games he'd played before had never been this realistic. And after realizing something was wrong with this game, he was certain that he'd really killed people!

Five minutes passed.

Yang Ling's breathing gradually steadied.

He'd adjusted his state of mind as well.

"If I didn't kill these mine thieves, they'd kill me. If I want to live, what's wrong with killing a few mine thieves?"

As he muttered to himself, Yang Ling began examining the spoils from this battle.

First was the Fire Crystal Ore Fifth Brother had used as bait.

He'd deliberately scattered it across the ground.

There were three jin in total, worth three hundred copper coins.

Then he searched the other corpses and found some Fire Crystal Rock and copper coins.

Together, they amounted to nearly one jin and four hundred copper coins.

"I dug up two jin of Fire Crystal Ore myself. Adding these four jin makes six jin, which can be exchanged for six hundred copper coins."

"And there's over four hundred copper coins in cash here."

"That makes exactly one tael of silver."

A smile appeared on Yang Ling's face.

This really was a fast way to make money. No wonder Fifth Brother and the others had become mine thieves.

"Fifth Brother's money pouch seems pretty light?"

Yang Ling began inspecting Fifth Brother's pouch.

With a light shake, he found a piece of broken silver inside!

"Broken silver? This has to be at least two taels!?"

Yang Ling weighed it in delight.

With that, his total wealth had reached a full three taels.

If he gathered another two taels, he could buy an identity in Green Mountain City!

"Once I have an identity in Green Mountain City, I can look for other ways to level up, or switch to a mine that gives more experience..."

After packing everything away, Yang Ling continued deeper into the mine while thinking.

He no longer dared use the tinderbox along the way, instead moving forward in the dark.

Every few steps, he stopped to listen for any movement.

Fortunately, the system map remained visible even without light. With the map's help, he went deeper and deeper until he finally found a vein of Fire Crystal Ore.

There was no ambush this time. Yang Ling swung his pickaxe and focused on grinding experience.

Strike after strike!

With every strike, cool experience flowed into his body, easing his fatigue and sore muscles while indirectly increasing his endurance!

When he was hungry, he ate flatbread.

When he was thirsty, he drank water.

When he was tired, he took a short nap.

Yang Ling wasn't sure how many places he'd moved between.

He only knew that his cloth bags were getting fuller and fuller.

Fortunately, he'd prepared several extra ones beforehand.

One cloth bag could hold around ten jin of Fire Crystal Rock.

When he filled three cloth bags, a pleasant notification sound rang out again.

"Ding!"

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

"Level 6!"

Yang Ling was overjoyed.

On this trip into the mine, he'd already leveled up twice!

He once again added the attribute point to Strength.

Now that he understood the importance of Strength for mining, he had no intention of adding points to Agility or Spirit.

The attribute panel opened:

Character: Yang Ling

Class: Miner

Level: 6

Strength: 12 (3)

Agility: 5

Spirit: 10

Health: 90/90

"My base Strength has reached 9. With the pickaxe's bonus, my Strength is now on par with Supervisor Wu's."

"My Agility is 3 points lower, but my Spirit is 7 points higher than his."

"My total three core attributes far surpass Supervisor Wu's."

Yang Ling was very satisfied.

As long as everything went smoothly from here on, his three core attributes would definitely increase greatly after a month!

"I'll rush to Level 10 first. Other games have class advancement quests after Level 10. I wonder whether Divine Realm is the same."

Yang Ling once more focused on mining.

It wasn't until he noticed he was running low on flatbread that he began heading back.

However, for safety's sake, he chose a different route on the way back, taking a longer detour.

By the time he left the mine, it was already late at night.

Two or three figures could vaguely be seen around the mining area.

"More than thirty jin of Fire Crystal Ore... I wonder if it'll make Steward Niu suspicious."

"Too bad this game didn't give me an inventory slot..."

Gritting his teeth, Yang Ling decided to take the risk.

It wasn't that he hadn't considered finding a place to bury the Fire Crystal Ore first.

But he knew his mining speed would only get faster in the future.

By then, if he buried so much Fire Crystal Ore, it would be even harder to turn it into money!

Rather than that, he might as well see what Steward Niu's attitude was.

When he reached the exit, the mine guard glanced at him and called Steward Niu out.

Steward Niu yawned.

"Yang Ling, you've been in the mine for several days."

"Steward Niu, I found an extremely rich Fire Crystal Ore vein, so I risked my life digging it."

Yang Ling spoke quietly.

"Extremely rich?"

Steward Niu paused slightly. "How rich?"

Yang Ling tossed the three bulging cloth bags onto the table.

Steward Niu was stunned.

He immediately picked up a small scale.

After a while.

His expression turned strange. "Thirty-two jin..."

"Don't tell me you've become a mine thief."

"Steward Niu, I wouldn't dare!"

Yang Ling shuddered.

"Scared you? I was just joking."

Steward Niu said with a chuckle, "Since it's thirty-two jin, paying you in copper coins would be inconvenient.

I'll give you silver instead."

"Steward Niu, isn't it thirty jin?"

Yang Ling asked.

Steward Niu looked Yang Ling up and down, then suddenly smiled and nodded.

"Right, thirty jin."

With that, he took out a piece of broken silver, weighed it, and tossed it to Yang Ling.

The moment it landed in his hand, Yang Ling knew it was a full three taels.

His heart burned with excitement.

Adding the two taels of broken silver from Fifth Brother.

He already qualified to buy an identity.

However... buying one right now would attract too much attention. He still had to wait a while longer.

"Thank you, Steward Niu."

Yang Ling thanked him politely before quickly leaving.

"Steward Niu, there's something strange about that kid."

The mine guard quietly stepped forward, suspicion in his eyes as he stared at Yang Ling's retreating back.

"He's a refugee."

Steward Niu said indifferently.

The mine guard asked in confusion, "I know that."

"Not long ago, Hongkun City suffered a disaster and a rebellion broke out. Bandits took the chance to enter the city and loot it, ransacking the Yang Family, the city's largest clan.

The Yang Family's enemies then struck while they were down, and the Yang Family fell apart.

Not long after that, this kid showed up."

Steward Niu said with a smile.

The mine guard was slightly startled. "You're saying he might be a descendant of the Yang Family?"

"Possibly. I was only suspicious before, but the more I look at him now, the more likely it seems. He probably knows martial arts and is a Martial Artist."

"A Martial Artist? Like Supervisor Wu!?"

The mine guard was shocked.

Steward Niu waved a hand. "I'm merely being kind to others, so I can leave myself another way out in the future."

"Steward Niu is truly impressive. Your eye is sharp."

The mine guard gave him a thumbs-up, his face full of admiration.