"Let me test what I can do."
Yang Ling's mind stirred; he slowly circulated the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
The next moment, a hot current coursed through his whole body.
His power was instantly boosted by a huge margin!
On the panel, his Strength had become 26.
Agility had become 20 as well.
Spirit was still 17.
Yang Ling threw a punch; the air split with a slightly shrill crack.
He launched into the Mountain-Crushing Fist, and his Strength rose another 3 points, reaching a terrifying 29!
Yang Ling suddenly drove a punch into the ground.
Bang!
The hard stone floor shattered to pieces!
Leaving a fist-print an inch deep!
"This..."
Yang Ling's face changed slightly.
Just then, he suddenly felt a little weary.
"Circulating the Vajra Wisdom King Art seems to consume a great deal."
His expression grave, Yang Ling launched into the Mountain-Crushing Fist again.
About a minute later.
He couldn't hold on any longer, and the art stopped on its own.
"One minute!"
"Only one minute!"
Yang Ling smiled bitterly.
He'd been thinking he could circulate the art while mining and level up even faster.
Reality shattered that dream.
"Still, in a fight against someone, a minute is actually enough."
"To burst out and kill someone, even three seconds would do."
"But there should be a way to extend the duration, right?"
Yang Ling's mind stirred; he opened the panel again to check the Vajra Wisdom King Art's details.
Sure enough, the information for Layer Two had now unlocked.
【Vajra Wisdom King Art】
【Layer Two: gain 10 Free Attribute Points; while the art is active, Strength and Agility each increase by 30, and bonus HP increases by 200】
【Special Effect: gain Qi-Blood】
"The benefits all double, and there's a special effect too — gain Qi-Blood?"
"What is Qi-Blood? Some kind of internal energy?"
Yang Ling was a little curious.
None of the Martial Artists he'd seen so far seemed to have a Qi-Blood value.
"Right — whether Xu Qing or Huineng, the internal-art heart methods they cultivate are only at First Glimpse, same as me."
"So they don't have Qi-Blood. Once they reach Fluent too, they'll gain Qi-Blood?"
"By this reckoning, their techniques can reach Proficient, but their internal arts cultivate very slowly."
"Which means they have a cap too..."
"So everyone's starting point is roughly the same. On the contrary, my Spirit is higher than theirs, so my cap is naturally higher too!"
Yang Ling's mind stirred; he began cultivating the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
Layer Two used different stances from Layer One.
But the changes weren't too great, and Yang Ling quickly got the hang of it.
The cultivation speed was unchanged.
In about an hour, he gained 5 experience.
He kept cultivating, and it rose another 3 points.
Then it hit the cap; no matter how he practiced, it wouldn't rise.
"8 points... My Spirit is 17, so the current cap is 8 a day."
"If my Spirit were 20, the cap would be 10 a day!"
"At this rate, I could cultivate Layer Two in a hundred days?!"
Yang Ling's heart pounded traitorously.
Because he'd realized there was a key point in this.
Over those hundred days, he couldn't possibly go without leveling up!
As long as he kept allocating points and raising Spirit, his experience cap would keep breaking through!
"It would've taken tens of thousands of days to reach Layer Four; now, it seems, the time is vastly shortened."
"Say nothing else — this is a first-rate art. If I can cultivate it to Layer Four, I'd count as a powerhouse in the Kingdom of Zhao?"
"Even if I never get back to reality, I could live out my days here in peace."
Yang Ling's mood soared; he could almost have thrown back his head and howled to the sky.
"Practice, practice!"
He composed himself and set to practicing the fist art with focus.
Over ten hours, he gained 17 proficiency.
Not a hair off his earlier reckoning!
Spirit was the yardstick for the speed of proficiency and experience gain!
In another ten-odd days, his Mountain-Crushing Fist would reach Fluent.
By then it would boost his Strength by 6!
Combined with the Vajra Wisdom King Art, his instantaneous Strength could reach 32!
Finishing his practice, he took his pick to the vein.
On the way, he happened to run into other miners heading home from work.
"Little Yang, off to the vein this late? I didn't see you all day."
Uncle Wang called out.
Yang Ling smiled: "Got held up during the day, so I thought I'd put in some effort tonight."
"You brat — don't actually wreck your body!"
Uncle Wang couldn't help shaking his head.
"Don't worry, Uncle Wang. I know my limits."
Yang Ling smiled.
Watching him head alone to the vein, Uncle Wang couldn't help a pang of feeling:
"That kid's about got his five taels of silver together, hasn't he?"
"What, Old Wang — once he buys an identity, you're hoping to make him your live-in son-in-law?"
A miner teased.
Uncle Wang smiled ambiguously: "As hardworking as he is, if he really became my live-in son-in-law, my daughter would never go hungry again."
"Come off it. Little Yang's a fine, upright lad; your daughter's two hundred-odd catties — he couldn't handle it."
"I'll thrash you!"
Uncle Wang cursed and made to swing at him.
The miner nimbly dodged.
At the vein entrance.
Yang Ling spotted Lin Guoliang, Wu Meng, and Chen Xu.
But besides them, there were five unfamiliar faces.
Four of them were already spent, faces pale, barely able to walk, despair and terror in their eyes.
Only one remained composed — resolute of feature, speaking quietly with Chen Xu.
With his Spirit raised, Yang Ling's perception had grown sharper too; most obvious was the huge increase in his hearing.
Even across dozens of meters, he could clearly hear their conversation.
"Officer Chen, I'm afraid you can't get back. This Divine Realm is far too strange — I suspect it isn't a game at all."
Chen Xu said quietly: "We came a while before you and have some experience. From now on, mine with us — at least you won't go hungry. Only by surviving do we have a chance to get back."
The resolute-featured Officer Chen:
"Don't worry, all of you. The country has already sensed something wrong with 「Divine Realm」. Rescue teams have been set up everywhere — otherwise our whole squad wouldn't have entered 「Divine Realm」. We will bring you back alive!"
"The country's already sent people in to rescue us?"
Yang Ling felt a flash of delight, but thinking of Divine Realm's strangeness, his heart sank a little.
The way things stood, no matter how many people they sent, it likely wouldn't change any of this.
It might only add to the casualties.
Only, since no one could get out, this news naturally couldn't reach the real world.
"Officer Chen, never mind rescuing us — your food and drink today came from us."
Lin Guoliang said in an odd, needling tone:
"These next few days, you'd best mine well. We can't feed you for long."
"Guoliang, would it kill you to say something decent?"
Chen Xu was furious.
Officer Chen smiled and waved a hand:
"Don't be angry. He's right, too. I've just arrived, and I am dragging you down. Don't worry, I'll mine hard. Let me get a handle on the situation first, then think of other plans."
"Heh."
Lin Guoliang said nothing, only gave a slightly mocking laugh.
Just then Yang Ling walked over.
Chen Xu's eyes lit up; he stepped forward and cupped his hands:
"Brother Yang."
"Mm."
Yang Ling nodded, and without much interaction, went into the vein.
Officer Chen watched his back with curiosity:
"Is he a victim too?"
Chen Xu said quietly: "He's a local native — that is... an NPC. But he's a good sort. When we first arrived and were starving, he lent us some coppers. And he's the best miner in this whole vein, though he won't teach anyone."
"An NPC, hm... If he's a decent sort, maybe he can be of some help to us."
Officer Chen mused.
He'd have to try making contact.