"Constable Chief Lin, why do you suppose this Prisoner Butcher suddenly came to our Qingshan City?"
Wu Que asked abruptly.
Constable Chief Lin shook his head lightly: "No telling what he was thinking. But it's precisely because he came to Qingshan City that we got our chance to catch him. If my men hadn't been careless and underestimated him, he'd never have slipped away to your vein. You must forgive the embarrassment."
As they spoke, his constables had already gathered up Zhang Hao's corpse.
Wu Que asked curiously: "I've heard the Prisoner Butcher stole a scripture from Bitter Enlightenment Temple some years back — is there any truth to it? A first-rate temple like that, letting a petty thief slip in and walk back out alive?"
"That I couldn't say. Since word never came down from above, and Bitter Enlightenment Temple made no fuss, it's probably just a rumor. You know how these petty crooks love to invent tall tales to make themselves look grand."
Constable Chief Lin smiled and shook his head.
After a few more pleasantries, he took his leave and led his men away.
Wu Que naturally saw him off.
Steward Niu waved a hand: "It's over. Back to mining, all of you."
The miners dispersed at once, though they were still relishing the earlier scene.
"Mine, level up! Only that way can I gain a foothold in 「Divine Realm」."
Recalling what he'd just witnessed, Zhang Wei secretly clenched his fists, shot a glance at Yang Ling in the crowd, then turned to go hunt for Fire Crystal Ore.
"The Shanhe Sect, Bitter Enlightenment Temple — these must all be great sects of the Kingdom of Zhao."
"When Overseer Wu unleashed his power, his Strength reached 24, yet he can't even land the rank of an outer disciple in the Shanhe Sect?"
"These sect disciples... just how monstrous are their attributes?"
"Their martial arts must be profound beyond measure. If I could learn one, I'd have a foothold in the Kingdom of Zhao."
He'd been leveling up steadily of late, and had even scraped together the five taels of silver for an identity.
That had left Yang Ling a little relaxed, even a touch pleased with himself.
But today's events made him understand he was nowhere near escaping the danger of 「Divine Realm」.
Take nothing else — if this Overseer Wu decided to move on him, he likely wouldn't have the slightest power to fight back.
"Three moves at most, and I'd be dead for certain..."
The coming miners' contest, Fifth Brother's death, and today's events gave Yang Ling an unprecedented sense of urgency.
"Level up! I have to level up!"
"Even without a martial art, if my attribute points are high enough, brute strength alone can overcome any technique."
Yang Ling went off at once to hunt Fire Crystal Ore, planning to slip into the caves when no one was around.
"Chen Xu, isn't that the NPC who lent us three coppers?"
Spotting Yang Ling, Lin Guoliang quickly asked in a low voice.
Chen Xu fixed his gaze on him, a flash of delight in his eyes:
"Come on, let's go talk to him!"
The three quickly came up to Yang Ling, meaning to strike up a conversation — but when they saw Yang Ling swinging his refined steel pick, every strike knocking loose a good deal of Fire Crystal Ore, they were stunned.
A single strike of his was worth half a day of their painful chiseling!
"So impressive..."
Wu Meng said instinctively.
Lin Guoliang's expression turned solemn; he nodded slowly:
"I've observed a lot of NPCs these past—"
"Don't say that word again."
Chen Xu warned.
Lin Guoliang corrected himself at once:
"I've observed a lot of miners these past days. Their strength and technique far outstrip ours, but none is as good as this one. He's very likely one of the best miners in this whole vein."
"I asked around. Seems Overseer Wu thinks highly of him — before long he's to compete against miners from other veins in a test of skill."
Chen Xu said.
By now the Fire Crystal Ore before Yang Ling was mined clean; he gathered the fragments and went off to find his next target.
Seeing this, Chen Xu trotted up at once:
"Big brother."
"Something you need?"
Yang Ling turned and paused, sparing the three a glance.
"Big brother, last time you lent us three coppers, but you never left your name — we didn't know how to find you to pay it back."
Chen Xu said quickly.
"Yang Ling."
Yang Ling said with a faint smile: "Keep the three coppers. No need to repay them."
So generous!?
Lin Guoliang's mind stirred, and he suddenly said:
"Big brother, could you teach us to mine?"
Yang Ling glanced at him:
"Why should I?"
Lin Guoliang froze, an awkward look crossing his face.
Chen Xu cursed inwardly and shot Lin Guoliang a hard glare, then smiled at Yang Ling:
"Big brother, my friend here isn't quite bright — don't hold it against him. We did earn some coppers these past days, though, so we ought to pay you back."
With that, he took out five coppers and handed them to Yang Ling.
Five?
Yang Ling smiled, accepted them, then waved a hand and strode off.
"Why'd you give him five..."
Lin Guoliang looked none too pleased.
One copper bought a steamed bun — that was real money!
"Call it an investment. Maybe this game has some kind of favorability system. This one seems easy to talk to; nudging up a hidden favorability score might help us down the line."
Chen Xu said.
"You didn't even discuss it with us..."
Lin Guoliang grumbled.
Wu Meng nodded: "Right. You should talk these things over with us next time — the money belongs to all of us."
"..."
Chen Xu fell silent a moment. "Fine, those two extra coppers can come out of my share."
Lin Guoliang and Wu Meng brightened at once:
"Deal."
***
This time Yang Ling didn't wait for night. He seized a chance, and when he saw no one nearby, slipped off to Cave No. 5.
Fifth Brother's crew's bodies were over in Cave No. 1, and it always left a bad taste in his mouth, so he deliberately avoided it.
Cave No. 5 was every bit as winding as No. 1, if not more so.
Yang Ling pressed deep, chiseling away at every bit of Fire Crystal Ore he met.
The pouch at his waist began to swell again.
Ate when hungry, drank when thirsty, rested when tired.
He wasn't sure how many days passed.
When he came upon a block of Fire Crystal Ore a good ten catties in size, he set to chiseling it with total focus.
Time slipped by.
One icy current of experience after another poured into his flesh.
Easing his weariness and muscle ache.
Over these days, he'd swung his pick no fewer than a hundred thousand times.
From clumsy at the start, he'd reached the point where every strike drew forth exactly the right measure of force, his motions as precise as a machine, not a sliver of strength wasted.
He didn't know how long it took, but when this block of Fire Crystal Ore was fully cleared, the level-up chime rang out once more.
「Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 Free Attribute Point」
Leveled up!
Yang Ling felt a warm current bloom within him and flow round and round — a truly exhilarating sensation.
Once again he put the point into Strength.
Name: Yang Ling
Class: Miner
Level: 7
Strength: 13 (3)
Agility: 5
Spirit: 10
HP: 100
"Haha, Strength has broken past 10 — on par with Spirit now."
Yang Ling couldn't help clenching his fist.
The gain in strength was plain to feel!
His total attributes now far exceeded Overseer Wu's — he lacked only a martial art.
Just as Yang Ling was basking in the joy of leveling up, a black scorpion crawled out of the shadows to his feet and stabbed him hard!
The searing pain nearly made him leap in place.
Then he noticed his HP dropping fast.
99/100
96/100
90/100
86/100
"A mine worm!? Fuck!"
Without a word Yang Ling took out an antidote pill and swallowed it, then downed a bottle of wound salve.