In Cave No. 1, forty or fifty miners were hard at their digging.
Since they were all veterans, and ordinary rock and sand weren't as hard as Fire Crystal Ore.
So in only a shichen or so, the cave seemed to have grown a size larger.
Now and then a vein of Fire Crystal Ore buried in the deeper layers surfaced.
All of it was snatched up and mined at once.
Yang Ling's luck was poor; he didn't find a single block of Fire Crystal Ore.
He decided to head deeper. The vein guards watching them saw this but paid no mind.
"That kid's gone off to the deeper part. Should we send someone after him?"
A vein guard, noticing Yang Ling's movement, asked his companion.
"Go after him for what? If there's a cave-in, we're all dead. Just watch from here at the mouth."
The companion rolled his eyes.
"But didn't the higher-ups want us to find the scripture the Prisoner Butcher hid in here?"
"I don't believe that fellow hid the scripture in here — it's probably a smokescreen. Otherwise it'd have turned up long ago; why send miners in to dig three feet down? Look at how Overseer Wu only sent forty or fifty miners in, and you'll get the point — it's just to give Bitter Enlightenment Temple an answer."
"Besides... finding it might not be a good thing. Not finding it is the good outcome."
At his companion's reminder, the guard seemed to grasp something, and promptly shut his mouth.
Yang Ling pressed deeper into Cave No. 1, checking against the map.
The map marked certain spots where large blocks of Fire Crystal Ore had appeared.
He came to these spots and began digging.
Through constant probing, he finally found a decent block of Fire Crystal Ore.
"Time to work!"
Yang Ling gripped the refined steel pick, every muscle thrilling.
One strike, two, three!
Every strike sent cool, refreshing experience into his body.
Whenever this happened, Yang Ling would forget the time and slip into a state of oblivion.
He didn't know how long it took, but the block of Fire Crystal Ore was mined clean.
Yang Ling tucked it into the pouch at his waist and weighed it — about three catties.
"You mine so fast."
Not far off, someone with a fire-starter said in astonishment.
Today Yang Ling had no fear of mine bandits; he looked calmly toward the speaker — a somewhat unfamiliar miner.
"I know every miner in the village, and I take a look at newcomers' attributes to tell whether they're players."
"This fellow — how have I never seen him before?"
The man looked about twenty, wearing miner's clothes, but his bearing was somewhat out of the ordinary.
Yang Ling glanced at his attribute panel:
Name: Xu Qing
Class: Martial Artist
Strength: 22
Agility: 17
Spirit: 7
Martial Arts: Shanhe Saber-Draw Art (Proficient), Shanhe Twelve Fists (Proficient), Shanhe Heart Method (third-rate, First Glimpse)
Affiliation: Shanhe Sect
Yang Ling was rather startled.
This young man had the highest attribute points of any Martial Artist he'd seen!
Strength, Agility, Spirit, together a full 46 points!
Even Huineng of Bitter Enlightenment Temple was only 36!
"You're a little unfamiliar, friend?"
Yang Ling said idly: "Mining's simple — just practice."
With that, he went on hunting for the next block of Fire Crystal Ore, probing and digging all around.
Xu Qing seemed to take an interest, and stepped up quickly:
"I'm newly arrived. Mind teaching me to mine?"
"Sure, but you can't disturb me, and you can't take my Fire Crystal Ore."
Yang Ling said offhandedly.
Xu Qing nodded with a smile: "Of course, of course."
After that, wherever Yang Ling went, Xu Qing followed.
Yang Ling didn't go deeper into the cave.
With an expert like this at his side, he had a constant prickling-on-the-back feeling.
He wasn't sure what the man was after.
Soon, a full day had nearly passed.
Yang Ling's pouch held a dozen-odd catties of Fire Crystal Ore.
"It's getting late. Shouldn't we head out?"
Xu Qing prompted.
Yang Ling was ready to go too, but on his way out he casually dug a few more times and found another block of Fire Crystal Ore.
Without a word, he set to it at once!
"A mining fanatic..."
Xu Qing stood a little way off, marveling inwardly.
"Wu Que said a catty of Fire Crystal Ore trades for a hundred coppers."
"At his speed, earning a tael of silver a day is no trouble."
"That's thirty taels a month..."
"I understand him now."
Xu Qing tallied it up and grasped why the man was so obsessed with mining.
At that rate of earning, he too would work himself to the bone.
"If I went all out, I wouldn't be slower than him. But... his stamina seems excellent — a full day of digging tires him, yet he can keep going."
"Is it his willpower?"
Xu Qing wondered to himself.
At this moment, Yang Ling had eyes for nothing else.
He'd already confirmed Xu Qing was merely an expert the Shanhe Sect had sent to secretly search for the scripture.
Striking up conversation with him was only because his mining was fast.
For now, the man posed no danger to him.
So leveling up was the priority.
His eyes held only this block of Fire Crystal Ore.
He hammered away in a frenzy.
At last...
"Ding!"
「Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 Free Attribute Point」
"Leveled up..."
Yang Ling instinctively went to put it into Strength, then caught himself and instead put it into Spirit.
A warmth bloomed within him and, following his blood vessels, surged into his forehead.
His mind felt ever clearer, his whole spirit lifted a notch.
He opened the attribute panel:
Name: Yang Ling
Class: Martial Artist
Level: 9
Strength: 14 (3)
Agility: 5
Spirit: 11
Martial Art: Vajra Wisdom King Art (first-rate art, Beginner)
Experience: 40/100
Mountain-Crushing Fist (First Glimpse)
Proficiency: 22/1000
HP: 110
"Level 9."
Yang Ling mused.
Not far from Level 10 now.
"As one of the first batch of 「Divine Realm」 players, my leveling speed shouldn't be slow. It's just that there's no level ranking, so I can't gauge the overall picture."
Yang Ling thought as he headed out of the cave.
A few breaths later, a rumbling voice sounded in his ears.
「Congratulations — a player has been the first to advance to Level 10 and successfully complete a class change」
「The Divine Realm Level Ranking is now open」
「Further features to open in succession」
Then a golden panel surfaced before him.
【Divine Realm Level Ranking】
Yang Ling wasn't the only one stunned.
In the miners' village, Lin Guoliang and the other two also heard the great prompt, and saw the golden Divine Realm Level Ranking.
Zhang Wei, likewise mining, slowly straightened up, a flicker of doubt and alarm in his eyes.
"Someone hit Level 10? And completed a class change? How is that possible... I'm only Level 3. Who levels this fast? It wouldn't be Yang Ling, would it?"
He immediately opened the Divine Realm Level Ranking to see.
At the same moment, countless players in different places did the same.
【Divine Realm Level Ranking】
【001: Huiwu of Bitter Enlightenment Temple — Level 10, Class: Warrior Monk】
【002: ???】
***
"So... only one has reached Level 10, and he's from Bitter Enlightenment Temple. What a coincidence..."
"If this player entered the game around the same time as me, then his luck is incredible — straight into a first-rate great sect like Bitter Enlightenment Temple as a disciple?"
Yang Ling felt doubt and alarm, and a chill inside.
If he'd been the first to reach Level 10, wouldn't he be exposed on the Divine Realm Level Ranking now too?
"This is not a good thing..."
"But I did guess one thing right — Level 10 is indeed the threshold for a class change..."
Yang Ling drew a deep breath.