A good many miners were clustered around the vein entrance, the place abuzz.
"Everyone, be patient. I know you can't eat without mining, but whose fault is it you didn't set aside a few coppers?"
Steward Niu, hands tucked in his sleeves, said unhurriedly:
"There's a problem with the vein just now, so it must be sealed for a time, until a great personage from the Shanhe Sect comes to make a ruling. If you go into the Fire Crystal Ore vein at a time like this, aren't you walking into the line of fire?"
A great personage from the Shanhe Sect?
The miners, who'd been kicking up a fuss, fell silent at once.
"Disperse."
Steward Niu waved a hand.
The miners looked at one another and could only trudge off, dejected.
"What do we do!? We already went hungry a whole day yesterday. If we can't mine today either, won't we starve another day?"
Lin Guoliang looked to Chen Xu, his face pale:
"I can go hungry, but Mengmeng can't."
Wu Meng did look rather weak.
Chen Xu's expression was grave; he knew something must have gone wrong in the vein.
No telling when it would reopen.
"No choice — I'll just have to..."
He spotted Yang Ling.
Chen Xu gritted his teeth and strode over:
"Brother Yang, could you lend us a little money again? We can't get into the vein these days, and we're at the end of our rope..."
Lin Guoliang and Wu Meng's eyes lit up, and they crowded up at once.
"How many days hungry?"
Yang Ling smiled.
Chen Xu smiled bitterly: "Didn't eat all day yesterday."
"I've got some rations here. Take them to tide you over. I reckon another two or three days and the vein should be about ready to reopen."
Yang Ling split off six flatbreads for Chen Xu.
Chen Xu was overjoyed at once.
Wu Meng, though, said instinctively: "This flatbread's so hard. I had it once — didn't taste good at all."
"You're going hungry and still fussing over taste?"
Yang Ling smiled: "It fills you better than a steamed bun."
With that, Yang Ling turned and left.
Since he couldn't get into the vein, he could only go grind the Mountain-Crushing Fist's proficiency some more.
Chen Xu split the flatbread with Lin Guoliang and Wu Meng, biting into his as he said:
"Brother Yang's a good man. Of all these miners, he's the only one who's helped us — twice now."
Lin Guoliang chewed his flatbread in big mouthfuls:
"Good man or not, he's still just an NPC. Here, we've still got to rely on ourselves."
Chen Xu shot him a glance, then asked idly:
"These past two days, have either of you noticed anything odd about your bodies?"
"Odd? My stomach hurts a bit from not eating."
Lin Guoliang said instinctively.
Wu Meng: "The bed boards here are too hard. I miss my mattress."
"..."
Chen Xu instinctively clenched his fist.
He'd found that the day before the vein was sealed, his strength had inexplicably grown a great deal.
"A warm current bloomed in me at the time; the strength gain must be tied to it."
"Is this mining and leveling up? Lin Guoliang and Wu Meng have been slacking off, quietly loafing these past days — is that why they haven't leveled?"
"Should I tell them about this..."
Chen Xu wavered.
"Chen Xu, no telling how long the vein stays shut. Go after that NPC and borrow a few more coppers. Mengmeng and I haven't had a proper meal in ages; I want to eat well with her tonight."
Lin Guoliang said.
Forget it, better not say anything.
Chen Xu turned to go:
"You want to borrow, go borrow yourself."
"Tch, putting on airs."
Lin Guoliang frowned.
***
Outside the miners' village stood a very conspicuous courtyard.
That was Overseer Wu's residence.
Yang Ling saw Zhang Wei walk out of it, wild with joy, and knew at once the fellow had bought a proper identity.
He was no longer a vagrant.
"Zhang Wei's Zhang Family Leg Art is only at Beginner. I wonder how much proficiency he has — how far from First Glimpse?"
Yang Ling's mind stirred.
Zhang Wei also spotted Yang Ling watching him fixedly, and felt a twinge of guilt.
But the moment he thought of his good-citizen status, he threw out his chest, walked up to Yang Ling, and smiled:
"Yang Ling, I'm no vagrant anymore — I've entered the Qingshan City register. Tomorrow I leave to find work in Qingshan City."
"Oh? Congratulations, then. But shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
Yang Ling said mildly.
"What explanation?"
Zhang Wei feigned ignorance.
"The Mountain-Crushing Fist's cultivation threshold needs 8 Strength and 3 Spirit."
"At the time you only mentioned the Strength threshold — not a word about Spirit."
Yang Ling said.
"Did I? Must've forgotten."
Zhang Wei smiled: "Don't worry, once your Spirit rises later, you'll be able to cultivate the Mountain-Crushing Fist."
"My Spirit happens to be exactly 3, so I've already learned the Mountain-Crushing Fist."
Yang Ling said.
Zhang Wei froze, then stared at Yang Ling in disbelief:
"Why is your Spirit 3? How is mine only..."
He shut his mouth at once, not going on.
"Looks like yours is 2 at most, so you couldn't learn the Mountain-Crushing Fist — that's why you sold the thing to me."
Yang Ling smiled: "I really should thank you. Only now can I become a Martial Artist."
"Goddamn it, why is this fellow's Spirit so high — what makes him worth 2 more than me?"
Zhang Wei cursed inwardly, then said mildly:
"Since that's the case, what do you still want with me?"
"It's about proficiency."
Yang Ling scanned the surroundings warily:
"Right now there are only the two of us players at the vein. You said before you had information to share — doesn't that still count?"
"Proficiency? That just rises as you cultivate."
Zhang Wei's mind stirred:
"When you cultivate the Mountain-Crushing Fist, how long does it take to gain 1 proficiency?"
"About... ten hours."
"Ten hours? Same as me?"
Zhang Wei mused:
"First Glimpse needs 100 proficiency, right?"
"Right."
Yang Ling nodded, but he was struck by what Zhang Wei had just said.
The man gained 1 proficiency only every ten hours?
"I'm ten times him. Wait... is it the Spirit?"
Yang Ling suddenly caught on.
At first he hadn't known what Spirit was for.
Later he'd found it tied to the threshold for cultivating arts.
Now it seemed... perhaps the speed of proficiency and experience gain, for both techniques and arts, might all be tied to Spirit?
"In other words... as long as I raise my Spirit, from now on both technique proficiency and art experience will climb far faster..."
At that thought, Yang Ling could hardly wait.
Once the vein reopened, he had to test whether his guess was right!
"That's right. If I sleep only two or three hours a day, I can barely gain 2 proficiency — fifty days to reach First Glimpse, at which point the technique can boost our strength."
Zhang Wei said: "But no one can sleep just two or three hours, so ten hours of practice a day is more reasonable. That's about a hundred days to cultivate a technique to First Glimpse."
At that, he glanced at Yang Ling and smiled:
"For your having saved me back then, I'll share one more piece of information I got not long ago."
"Oh? What information?"
Yang Ling was a little curious.
Zhang Wei smiled: "I just gave a vein guard a small favor and asked about martial techniques."
"For ordinary aptitude, cultivating a low-grade technique to First Glimpse takes at least a year."
"So we're actually geniuses."
"Geniuses..."
Yang Ling mused.
By this account, the existence of proficiency did let players master techniques far faster.
Even with only 1 Spirit, Zhang Wei was far stronger than an ordinary person.
Yang Ling had cultivated the Mountain-Crushing Fist to First Glimpse in four or five days.
If anyone was a genius, it might be him.