"Constable Lin, why do you think the Prisoner Butcher suddenly came to Qingshan City?" Wu Que asked abruptly.

Constable Lin shook his head lightly, "I have no idea what he's thinking, but it's precisely because he came to Qingshan City that we had the chance to catch him. If it weren't for my men being careless and underestimating him, he wouldn't have slipped into your mine vein, and you wouldn't have had to witness such a scene."

As he spoke, his subordinates had already gathered Zhang Hao's corpse.

Wu Que curiously asked, "I heard that a few years ago, the Prisoner Butcher went to Kujue Temple and stole a scripture? Is that true? How could such a small-time thief sneak into a top-tier sect and escape alive?"

"I don't know about that. Since there's been no official report and Kujue Temple hasn't reacted, it's probably just a rumor. You know how these petty thieves like to make up stories to boost their reputation," Constable Lin said with a smile and a shake of his head.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, he took his leave with his men.

Wu Que naturally escorted them out.

Steward Niu waved his hand, "It's over, get back to mining."

The miners dispersed immediately, but they were still animatedly discussing the recent events.

"Mining and leveling up! That's the only way to establish a foothold in the 'Divine Realm.'"

Zhang Wei recalled the recent scene, clenched his fist secretly, glanced at Yang Ling in the crowd, and then turned to search for Fire Crystal Rock.

"Mountain and River Sect, Kujue Temple, they must be major sects in the Zhao Kingdom."

"When Supervisor Wu unleashed his power, it reached 24 points, yet he couldn't even secure the status of an Outer Disciple of the Mountain and River Sect?"

"What kind of monstrous attributes do these sect disciples have?"

"Their martial arts must be profound and unfathomable. If I could learn them, I could establish myself in the Zhao Kingdom."

Recently, he had been leveling up continuously and even managed to save up five taels of silver to buy an identity.

This made Yang Ling feel a bit relaxed, even somewhat complacent.

But today's events made him realize he was far from escaping the dangers from the 'Divine Realm.'

Not to mention, if Supervisor Wu decided to take action against him, he probably wouldn't stand a chance.

"Three moves at most, and I'd be dead for sure..."

The upcoming miner competition, Fifth Brother's death, and today's incident brought an unprecedented sense of urgency to Yang Ling.

"Level up! I must level up!"

"Even without martial arts, as long as I have enough attribute points, I can overpower any skill."

Yang Ling immediately went to search for Fire Crystal Rock, planning to continue mining when no one was around.

"Chen Xu, isn't that the NPC who lent us three copper coins?"

Lin Guoliang spotted Yang Ling and quickly whispered.

Chen Xu focused his gaze, a hint of surprise in his eyes, "Let's go talk to him!"

The three quickly approached Yang Ling, intending to strike up a conversation, but were stunned to see Yang Ling skillfully wielding a Refined Steel Pickaxe, each swing chipping off a significant amount of Fire Crystal Rock.

His single swing was worth their half-day's hard work!

"Amazing..." Wu Meng blurted out instinctively.

Lin Guoliang's expression turned serious, nodding slowly, "I've observed many NPCs lately..."

"Stop saying things like that," Chen Xu reminded him.

Lin Guoliang immediately corrected himself, "I've observed many miners lately. Although their strength and technique are much better than ours, none are as impressive as him. He might be one of the best miners in this mine vein."

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"I heard he's favored by Supervisor Wu and will soon compete with miners from other mine veins," Chen Xu added.

By this time, Yang Ling had finished mining the Fire Crystal Rock in front of him. He packed up the fragments and went to find his next target.

Seeing this, Chen Xu quickly jogged over, "Big brother."

"What's up?" Yang Ling stopped and glanced at the three.

"Big brother, you lent us three copper coins last time, but you didn't leave your name. We didn't know how to find you to repay the debt," Chen Xu said hurriedly.

"Yang Ling," Yang Ling replied with a faint smile, "Consider those three copper coins a gift. No need to repay."

So generous!?

Lin Guoliang's expression changed, and he suddenly asked, "Big brother, could you teach us how to mine?"

Yang Ling gave him a look, "Why should I?"

Lin Guoliang was taken aback, a sheepish expression on his face.

Chen Xu couldn't help but curse inwardly, glaring at Lin Guoliang before smiling at Yang Ling, "Big brother, my friend here isn't very bright, please don't mind him. But we've earned some copper coins these past few days, and we still owe you."

With that, he took out five copper coins and handed them to Yang Ling.

Five coins?

Yang Ling chuckled, accepted them, and then waved his hand, walking away briskly.

"Why did you give him five coins..." Lin Guoliang's face didn't look too pleased.

One copper coin could buy a bun; that was a lot of money!

"Consider it an investment. Maybe this game has some sort of favorability system. This guy seems easy to talk to, so raising our hidden favorability might help us in the future," Chen Xu explained.

"You could have at least discussed it with us..." Lin Guoliang grumbled.

Wu Meng nodded, "Yeah, we should discuss things like this in the future since the money belongs to all of us."

"..." Chen Xu was silent for a moment, "Fine, those two extra coins are on me."

Lin Guoliang and Wu Meng immediately brightened up, "Alright."

...

...

This time, Yang Ling didn't wait until night. He found an opportunity when no one was around and slipped into the No. 5 Mine Tunnel.

The No. 1 Mine Tunnel still had Fifth Brother's body, which made him uneasy, so he deliberately avoided it.

The winding paths of the No. 5 Mine Tunnel were even more intricate than No. 1.

Yang Ling delved deeper, panting as he mined any Fire Crystal Rock he encountered.

The pouch at his waist began to fill up again.

When hungry, he ate; when thirsty, he drank; when tired, he took a short rest.

He didn't know how many days had passed.

When he encountered a piece of Fire Crystal Rock weighing about ten pounds, he focused intently on mining it.

Time passed slowly.

Wave after wave of cool experience flowed into Yang Ling's body, alleviating his fatigue and muscle soreness.

Over these days, he had swung his pickaxe no less than a hundred thousand times.

From the initial clumsiness to now, each swing was executed with just the right amount of force, his movements as precise as a machine, wasting no energy.

He didn't know how long it took, but when the Fire Crystal Rock was completely mined, the sound of leveling up echoed again.

"Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 free attribute point."

Leveled up!

Yang Ling felt a warm current growing within him, circulating continuously. The sensation was incredibly exhilarating.

He added the attribute point to his strength again.

Character: Yang Ling

Occupation: Miner

Level: 7

Strength: 13 (3)

Agility: 5

Spirit: 10

Health: 100

"Haha, my strength attribute has surpassed 10 points, matching my spirit attribute."

Yang Ling couldn't help but clench his fist.

The increase in strength was quite noticeable!

His total attributes now far exceeded Supervisor Wu's, though he still lacked a martial art.

Just as Yang Ling was reveling in the joy of leveling up, a black scorpion crawled out from the shadows and stung him hard on the foot!

The sharp pain almost made Yang Ling jump on the spot.

He quickly noticed his health dropping rapidly.

99/100

96/100

90/100

86/100

"Mine Bug!? Damn!"

Without hesitation, Yang Ling took an Antidote Pill and then consumed a bottle of Healing Salve.