Chapter 261: Mining Standard, Monthly Output of One Hundred Jin

A fifty-point boost to Strength!?

Yang Ling’s eyes lit up.

This was the highest Strength attribute boost among all his equipment.

The moment the Centenary Refined Kylin Pickaxe entered his hands, he felt his Strength attribute skyrocketing.

He wasn’t the same lopsided Agility-focused player he used to be anymore.

Now, his base Strength attribute was 78 points, while Agility, with the boost from the Seventh-Rank Qilin Boots, was only 73.

This fifty-point Strength boost allowed him to reach 128 points of Strength without circulating energy or using any martial techniques!

How terrifying was that!?

“If I go all out, with the Vajra Bright King Technique, the Dragon-Capturing Saber Technique, and the Wind God Vajra Legs, those three alone can boost Strength by another 125 points.”

“At that point, my Strength attribute would hit 253 points!”

Just then, Zhou Zheng’s voice rang out:

“Director Yang, are you satisfied?”

“Satisfied, very satisfied.”

Yang Ling nodded with a smile.

If not for Zhou Zheng’s exceptional craftsmanship and seasoned experience, how could he have upgraded his Centenary Refined Vermilion Gold Pickaxe into the Centenary Refined Kylin Pickaxe in just half a day?

He had observed Zhou Zheng’s entire process just now and realized that even if he did it himself, it would take at least half a month of study just to reach a level comparable to Zhou Zheng’s.

This was based on his super-tier perception and micro-management control over power.

Without these two advantages, he wouldn’t even reach thirty percent of Zhou Zheng’s skill level even after studying for a decade.

“Master Zhou, let’s talk about that Blazing Gold Mine.”

Yang Ling tucked the Centenary Refined Kylin Pickaxe into his waist and said seriously.

Zhou Zheng wiped the sweat off his brow unhurriedly:

“Speaking of that Blazing Gold Mine, I actually discovered it by accident.

This Blazing Gold Mine goes over thirty zhang deep—it’s not an open-pit vein.

To mine it, you have to first go deep underground.

The first time I went down, I found it easy to descend but hard to come back up, so I spent a fair amount of effort setting up a straight ladder.”

“After reaching the bottom, I spent many more years digging four shafts. Three of them had no Blazing Gold at all, and only one shaft yielded a small amount of Blazing Gold.”

“That shaft is about a hundred zhang long, with some branch tunnels along the way.”

“The first thing you have to overcome when mining inside is the intense heat. Even without subterranean flames erupting, it feels like being roasted in a blazing inferno.”

“Ordinary miners can’t stay inside for more than fifteen minutes before they have to come up for air.”

“This means progress with regular miners is extremely slow. Only martial artists with their constitutions can stay down there for longer. Depending on their cultivation level, unranked martial artists can only last half an hour.”

“A Ninth-Rank martial artist can stay for an hour, an Eighth-Rank for two hours, and someone like me at Seventh-Rank can stay for five hours without issue.”

“However... Blazing Gold exists because of fire veins, and fire veins are like summer weather—sometimes stable, sometimes prone to sudden shifts.

When the fire veins start to change, subterranean flames ignite down below. Even a Seventh-Rank martial artist has to leave immediately, or they’ll be burned to death on the spot!”

Shi Xin nodded thoughtfully:

“Even with abundant Vital Qi, one can’t become impervious to water and fire.”

Zhou Zheng smiled: “Exactly, and subterranean flames are even more terrifying.”

Yang Ling felt a slight chill in his heart.

So that meant Qin Mo and the others would need to be careful.

He had Flame Immunity—one minute was enough for him to evacuate safely.

But what he was more concerned about now was the reserves of Blazing Gold in the mine.

Yang Ling pondered and asked: “In the past ten-plus years, how much Blazing Gold have you dug up in total?”

Zhou Zheng gave an embarrassed smile: “I already confessed everything honestly when I was interrogated.

At first, Blazing Gold was hard to find. The early years were almost a complete waste of effort.

Only after the shafts got deeper did the Blazing Gold start to show up.

Over these ten years, I’ve dug up about thirty to forty jin of Blazing Gold in total.”

“I sold one liang of Blazing Gold externally for two thousand taels of fine silver.”

“If I fused Blazing Gold with Centenary Refined Vermilion Gold to make Centenary Refined Blazing Gold, I could sell it for five thousand taels of silver.”

“But Centenary Refined Vermilion Gold isn’t easy to come by either, and I didn’t want to draw too much attention, so I just sold the raw Blazing Gold directly.”

“That earned me seven or eight hundred thousand taels of fine silver.”

Shi Xin muttered quietly.

This old bastard was way too good at making money.

“No choice—cultivating martial arts is outrageously expensive. I used my connections to buy Foundation Consolidation Pills, and each one cost me five thousand taels of silver.”

“Over the years, I’ve only managed to earn about a hundred Foundation Consolidation Pills...”

Zhou Zheng sighed.

Yang Ling’s mind stirred. So that meant the five-plus jin of Blazing Gold the guy had just handed over was worth over a hundred thousand taels.

Shi Xin grinned—he certainly understood this logic.

Although this man had earned a lot, enough to make ordinary martial artists green with envy.

Compared to them, the directors of the Ironclad Department, he was just so-so.

He wouldn’t envy the man. By the time he reached the same age, he was confident he’d already be a solid Seventh-Rank martial artist.

Maybe he’d even have a chance to climb higher, with a shot at Newly Promoted Sixth-Rank.

“Master Zhou, based on your experience, what are the reserves of this Blazing Gold Mine?”

Yang Ling asked again.

Zhou Zheng’s face turned solemn: “Based on my experience, if mining is successful and subsequent extraction is stable, this Blazing Gold Mine has reserves of at least one hundred thousand jin at the minimum.

Although it can’t compare to other Blazing Gold mines in Zhao State, it’s still quite impressive.”

Reserves of one hundred thousand jin?

Yang Ling was deep in thought. He wasn’t sure if that was a lot or a little, but it should be enough for upgrades in the short term.

It all depended on how much Blazing Gold he could find.

“Director Yang, you’ve come to mine, haven’t you? But do you know the mining standard for Blazing Gold?”

Zhou Zheng asked.

Yang Ling shook his head: “Not yet.”

Zhou Zheng smiled bitterly: “To be considered successful mining, you need a stable monthly output of one hundred jin within half a year.

That’s the rule of the Mining Guild and the standard set by Zhao State.

If it were another ten or so years, that output should be achievable.

But I’m afraid Director Yang will have to stay here for quite a few years...”

Shi Xin’s face changed drastically. If even Zhou Zheng said that, didn’t it mean the day of successful mining was far off?

He had thought this matter would take at most a year or two.

“If it’s ten years... then what about his promotion path?”

“The Fourth Prince sent him here. Until he successfully snatches control of this Blazing Gold Mine from the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince will never agree to let Yang Ling leave.”

“But ten years is too long. By the time mining succeeds, not only will it delay his martial arts training, but it will also hold back his promotion...”

Shi Xin’s expression was unprecedentedly grim.

He suddenly wished Yang Ling had never come to Xiangfeng Prefectural Capital.

This kid was his most successful bet—how could he let his future be ruined by a mere Blazing Gold mine?

“Is there any way to make the Fourth Prince change his mind? Hmph, he already sent Xu Wuji here—there’s probably no chance of that.”

Just then, Zhou Zheng continued with a smile:

“I’m willing to lend a hand to help Director Yang with the mining. With my guidance, we can meet the standard in five years at the fastest!”

Five years? That wasn’t so bad...

Shi Xin’s eyes lit up.

A hint of a smile appeared in Yang Ling’s eyes.

He could tell that Zhou Zheng was proving his usefulness now.