The words of Supervisor Wu shocked the miners present, and when they looked at Yang Ling again, their eyes were already filled with jealousy and envy.
"Big shots from above are inspecting? They want miners from several mine veins to showcase their skills?"
Yang Ling felt a slight chill in his heart.
The background of this Pyrocrystal Ore was truly extraordinary.
During this time, he had been secretly collecting map information about 【Divine Realm】, trying to figure out where he was.
Unfortunately, let alone a large map, he had not even figured out the background of Green Mountain City or this Pyrocrystal Ore outside Green Mountain City.
The miners here were all illiterate and could not explain it clearly either.
The opportunity right now would likely allow him to contact more advanced big shots.
Perhaps, there was also a chance to get the Black Tiger Fist that Supervisor Wu cultivated?
In the crowd, Zhang Wei slapped his thighs in regret, his eyes feeling guilty and his heart panicked.
"Supervisor Wu, how can such a big matter be handed to him!? He has only entered our mine vein for less than a month..."
The expression of Fifth Brother changed drastically in shock.
Supervisor Wu glanced at him coldly:
"Shut up."
The complexion of Fifth Brother turned somewhat pale.
"Work hard."
Supervisor Wu patted Yang Ling on the shoulder and turned to leave.
Seeing this, Fifth Brother hurriedly followed closely behind.
Seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, the crowd of miners went back to minding their own business.
"Brother Yang, that Fifth Brother is simply too hateful. Fortunately, Supervisor Wu arrived in time. Were you not injured just now?"
Zhang Wei shamelessly leaned forward.
Yang Ling smiled: "Zhang Wei, do you take me for a fool?"
Zhang Wei forced a smile: "What do you mean, Brother Yang..."
"Considering that you and I are both players, I will not hold today's matter against you for now."
"In the future, you do not provoke me, and I will not provoke you. As for the Pyrocrystal Ore, you will have to mine it yourself."
After speaking, Yang Ling turned around and walked toward the mine vein.
The face of Zhang Wei instantly became very ugly. He clenched his fists tightly, staring fixedly at the back of Yang Ling:
"What are you acting so arrogant for? You just entered the game a little earlier than me and have a slightly better Physique. I do not believe that without you, I will not be able to survive!"
Pyrocrystal Ore mine vein.
Yang Ling spent the time it takes to brew a cup of tea to find an unmined piece of Pyrocrystal Ore.
He gripped the Steel Pickaxe, and his strength instantly increased by 3 points.
Now his total strength had reached a massive 10 points.
Even compared to Supervisor Wu, he was only 2 points behind him.
In this mine vein, the only ones whose strength attribute was comparable to his were those Mine Guards.
"Let me see your power."
Yang Ling glanced at the Steel Pickaxe in his hand, then hammered down fiercely!
At this instant, all his power surged within his body, venting out from his arm.
Bang!
A piece of Pyrocrystal Ore fell to the ground.
"Before, it took at least three or five strikes, but now it is done in one go..."
Yang Ling was very satisfied with his change, and he continued to output attacks against the Pyrocrystal Ore in front of him.
When he finished mining the one in front of him, he went to look for the next target.
The cloth pocket at his waist was getting fuller and fuller.
Five hours later, the cloth pocket had almost filled a catty of Fire Crystal Ore.
"Compared to when I first arrived, the efficiency has increased by nearly ten times."
"One catty of Fire Crystal Ore can be exchanged for one hundred copper coins, and one thousand copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver."
"When I was captured before, I heard that as long as I gather five taels of silver, I can buy a formal identity."
Yang Ling recalled the scene on that day when he was captured and brought to the mine vein as a vagrant.
As a player, when he first arrived, he did not have any identification documents.
In such a situation, he would be treated as a vagrant and would not be protected by the laws of Green Mountain City.
Eight or nine out of ten miners living in the Miner Village were actually vagrants without identities.
Only the remaining one or two tenths were natives of Green Mountain City.
Uncle Wang from earlier was one of them.
That Fifth Brother would never dare to bully these natives at will.
"My efficiency has increased so much now. If I mine for another five hours later, I can gather another catty. Two catties of Fire Crystal Ore can be exchanged for two hundred copper coins..."
"In less than a month, I will be able to buy a formal identity!"
"According to the usual tropes of major games before, having a formal identity is probably the first threshold of 【Divine Realm】, and only after that might I be qualified to acquire martial arts."
Thinking of this, Yang Ling continued to search for Pyrocrystal Ore.
He currently had two goals.
Level up and add attribute points!
Obtain a formal identity!
Fortunately, these two goals could both be achieved just through mining.
An efficiency close to ten times also meant that the Experience Points he acquired were nearly ten times his previous amount!
It was a pity that the Attribute Panel could not show the details of Experience Points, making it impossible to determine how much more he needed to reach level 5.
Time passed bit by bit.
There were fewer and fewer miners on the mine vein.
Yang Ling constantly wandered around in the mine vein.
"These Fire Crystal Ores are truly too scarce; they cannot be mined for long. Searching for ore everywhere is simply too much of a waste of time. It would be great if there was a large piece."
Thinking of this, he suddenly looked toward the pitch-black mine caves around him.
The Pyrocrystal Ore was an open-pit mine vein, but after years of mining, many unfathomably deep mine caves had also appeared.
These mine caves were different from the open-air places; the latter would have some Fire Crystal Ore appearing on the surface—not many, but enough for the miners to survive and even make a small profit.
But large pieces of Fire Crystal Ore would occasionally appear inside the mine caves.
Logically speaking, going to the mine caves was more profitable.
But through Uncle Wang's warnings, Yang Ling knew that going to the mine caves came with three major risks!
First, the mine caves were intricate and very easy to get lost in. If one stumbled and broke a leg inside, there was a high probability of dying inside, and there was also the possibility of a mine cave collapse!
Second, there were quite a few fellows on the mine vein who stabbed people in the back in secret. They did not dare to commit crimes in open-air places, so the mine caves were a very suitable location for committing crimes.
Third, the rare but potentially occurring highly toxic Mine Bugs!
"Uncle Wang said that sometimes, being bitten by a Mine Bug once would result in death before one even had time to be sent for medical treatment."
"Although I have not seen one, I still need to be a bit careful."
Thinking of this, Yang Ling gave up the intention of entering the mine caves.
He wanted to level up steadily.
Even if he were to go to the mine caves, it would be best to let his strength reach around 15 points.
At that time, 150 points of HP would be several times thicker than an ordinary person's health, and only then would he be qualified to take a gamble in the mine caves.
Besides that, going to the mine caves required making sufficient preparations in advance; he was not suitable to go in right now.
"Who?"
Yang Ling suddenly turned his head, the Steel Pickaxe in his hand ready to hammer over at any time.
"Your name is Yang Ling, right? I also saw what happened in the village today."
The newcomer was a lean middle-aged man.
Yang Ling knew the other person; he was a native of Green Mountain City, had a formal identity, and was not a vagrant.
The Attribute Panel of the other person slowly emerged:
Character: Zhao Hou
Class: Miner
Strength: 7
Agility: 8
Spirit: 2
The Agility of the other person was as high as 8 points, which was 3 points more than Yang Ling, exceeding the scope of ordinary people.
"Uncle Zhao, is there something you need?"
Yang Ling said politely.
"You know me?"
Zhao Hou was somewhat surprised.
Yang Ling smiled: "Uncle Wang mentioned you, saying that you are a capable person."
"Oh, so Old Wang talked to you about me."
Zhao Hou came to a realization, then smiled:
"Judging by your expression just now, you seem to want to go into the mine caves to take a gamble?"
"No."
Yang Ling immediately denied it.