This time, Yang Ling still chose Mine Cave No. 2.
Not long after he went deep inside and dug for half a day, he felt something was off.
"That's not right. I've been mining during the day for the past few days. According to my previous experience, I should have leveled up by now, but why is there still no movement?"
"Could it be that after reaching Level 10, the required Experience Points suddenly increased?"
"Or do I need to successfully complete a Class Change before I can continue leveling up?"
He couldn't help muttering to himself.
If he needed a Class Change to level up, that would be troublesome!
He was completely unaware of the conditions for a Class Change.
Neither did he know where he could undergo a Class Change.
Unless he exposed his strength, it would be impossible for him to join the Mountain River Sect.
If he did that, it would easily remind people of that Buddhist Scripture from Kujue Temple!
He knew that the people in this world didn't have so many twists and turns in their thoughts.
Given the influence of Kujue Temple, as long as the other party had suspicions, they wouldn't look for any evidence—they would probably just kill him outright.
"Class..."
Yang Ling muttered softly to himself, then continued to work with his head down.
He wanted to see if he could still level up.
Soon, the sun set.
Yang Ling did not level up.
He returned to the wooden cabin to practice his fist techniques and cultivation the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
The second day, the third day, the fourth day.
As usual, he mined during the day and practiced martial arts at night, not sleeping at all.
The Experience Points for the Vajra Wisdom King Art increased at a rate of 8 points per day.
The Proficiency of the Mountain-Crushing Fist also increased by about twenty points every day.
About five or six days later.
Yang Ling had already determined that there was no way for him to level up before completing his Class Change.
"It seems that for a short time, I don't need to go to the mine cave during the day. I should use all my time to sprint for the Proficiency of the Mountain-Crushing Fist."
"I've also saved nearly twenty taels of silver. I'll buy an identity, and keep the rest as a backup."
Next, he stopped going to the mine cave during the day and stayed in the wooden cabin all the time.
He prepared food and water, and only went out when he needed to use the restroom.
He spent about twenty hours every day Cultivating the Mountain-Crushing Fist.
This caused his Proficiency to skyrocket at a rate of thirty-five or six points a day.
In just a few days, his Proficiency broke through the 1,000 mark!
【Congratulations, Mountain-Crushing Fist has advanced to Mastery.】
The game prompt sounded.
A scorching warm current surged through Yang Ling's body.
Yang Ling's expression remained unchanged as he continued practicing his fist techniques.
His fist techniques had gradually become fierce.
Whenever he wanted, every punch could mobilize the strength of his entire body.
The wooden cabin was very small, but Yang Ling agilely dodged and maneuvered inside it.
Punch after punch was thrown out.
The surging power passed through his spine, section by section, and finally reached his fist.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Unconsciously, he circulated the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
Even a casual punch seemed capable of shattering the air!
With a thought, Yang Ling maintained his circulating state and opened the Attribute Panel:
Character: Yang Ling
Class: Martial Artist
Level: 10
Strength: 32 (15+6)
Agility: 20 (15)
Spirit: 17
Martial Arts: Vajra Wisdom King Art (Initial Mastery)
Experience Points: 72 / 1000
Mountain-Crushing Fist (Mastery)
Proficiency: 0 / 10000
HP: 210
"This is simply inhuman data..."
"Unfortunately, in this world, there are quite a few inhuman beings."
"Wu Que, Wang Jing, Huineng, these are all inhuman beings. Among them, Xu Qing's attributes are the most terrifying. I wonder what kind of improvement he will have when he circulates the Mountain and River Heart Method? Coupled with his Mountain and River Blade Drawing Technique and Twelve Mountain River Fists..."
"I estimate that if I face him, I am still no match for him. Compared to them, I am still missing something very important."
"Experience in life-and-death combat!"
Yang Ling's face showed a grave expression.
He had always hidden away to mine, and his only life-and-death combat had been a crushing victory.
Fortunately, aside from Xu Qing, Huineng, and Wang Jing...
He was confident he could crush Wu Que.
"A smart person never looks for opponents who are too strong for themselves."
"As long as I keep my opponents a notch weaker than me, my chances of winning when fighting will be higher."
"That's not right... Why did I treat the local natives as opponents?"
Yang Ling suddenly wore a strange expression.
By rights, his true opponents were actually the players who had entered the Divine Realm just like him.
"Right now it is the Early Stage of the game, so the threat from players is actually not that big. The local natives pose a greater threat."
"Treating them as opponents is also fine, as it can ignite my iron-willed fighting spirit."
His attention returned to the issue of the Mountain-Crushing Fist's Proficiency.
"The third realm, Proficient, requires 10,000 points of Proficiency."
"If my Mental Strength cannot continue to increase, the Proficiency I acquire in an hour is 1.7, and thirty-odd points a day won't be a problem."
"In this way, I can advance in less than three hundred days."
"This is the worst-case scenario. With good luck, I should have successfully completed my Class Change during this period. Otherwise, the levels of other players will inevitably far exceed mine, and wanting to get treasure chest rewards in the future will be just a daydream!"
A trace of urgency grew in Yang Ling's heart.
This was an invisible competition.
The rewards given by the game only had that many slots.
If he fell behind, the rewards wouldn't fall on him.
"As for the future... it's fine even if I don't get any. At least I'll mix myself a decent identity and status in the Divine Realm."
Before long, Yang Ling left the wooden cabin and came to Wu Que's residence.
After being announced by the Mine Guard, he saw the calm-faced Wu Que.
He quietly opened Wu Que's Attribute Panel:
Character: Wu Que
Class: Martial Artist
Strength: 12
Agility: 8
Spirit: 3
Martial Arts: Black Tiger Fist (Proficient)
"There is not even a little bit of progress, which shows that for the natives, without the blessing of Experience Points and Proficiency, they are indeed far inferior to the players."
"The Black Tiger Fist is at the Proficient level. Even assuming it can amplify 12 points of strength, Wu Que's maximum strength is no more than 24 points."
"His strength is 8 points less than mine."
"His Agility is 12 points less than mine."
"His Mental Strength is 14 points less than mine."
"He hasn't Cultivated a Mental Method either, and his HP cannot be higher than mine, probably around 120 points."
Although he couldn't see the natives' HP, he figured it wouldn't be much different from players.
With Yang Ling's experience, he had already roughly estimated Wu Que's strength.
But this didn't account for experience in life-and-death combat.
"Yang Ling, you want to buy an identity in Green Mountain City?"
Wu Que said calmly.
Yang Ling said respectfully: "Supervisor Wu, I have already gathered five taels of fine silver."
"Only five taels? Do you think I don't know your mining speed?"
Wu Que wore a smile that was not quite a smile.
Yang Ling lowered his head and remained silent.
"This is your identity. I will order someone to go to the Green Mountain City yamen to help you register your household status. Once your household registration is entered, from then on you will be a person of Green Mountain City."
Wu Que picked up a Jade Slip and wrote Yang Ling's name, age, and height on it.
Seeing this, Yang Ling quickly pulled out the prepared silver and handed it over.
Only then did Wu Que hand the Jade Slip to him.
"In addition, you also need to personally make a trip to the Green Mountain City yamen and have an artist draw a portrait of you for archival records."
"In this way, even if your Jade Slip is lost or broken, you can still go over and pay a fee to reissue it."
"If there is no portrait, this household registration will become invalid after one month. This is the rule of the Zhao Kingdom. Do you understand?"
Wu Que said.
Yang Ling felt a slight chill in his heart. It seemed that although the Zhao Kingdom wasn't advanced, it did a pretty good job in terms of census-taking.
"The time for that matter I mentioned to you last time is almost here, and we just happen to be passing through Green Mountain City. You will come with me on a trip and drop by the yamen along the way to sort out your household registration."
Wu Que said again.
Yang Ling remained expressionless: "Then this subordinate will go back first to pack my luggage."
"Go."
Wu Que waved his hand.
After leaving Wu Que's residence, a hint of vigilance appeared on Yang Ling's face.
Fifth Brother's words before his death were still fresh in his memory.
This so-called sparring among Miners might carry a life-threatening danger!