Chapter 446: Dungeon Linkage?

Yang Ling walked deeper into the mine shaft. The further in he went, the higher the temperature became.

These temperatures were different from those at the Blazing Gold Mine. They were still within the range that ordinary people could endure.

And they weren't caused by Subterranean Flame either.

The Crimson Fire Iron Mine itself carried a high heat that radiated through the stones.

Wherever the temperature was high, there was likely Crimson Fire Iron hidden.

"Supervisor Yang."

"Greetings, Supervisor Yang."

Along the way, the mining slaves who saw Yang Ling were startled. They immediately stepped aside and bowed, their demeanors respectful beyond words.

Deep within their eyes lurked intense fear.

Especially when Little White passed by them, they wished they could press themselves flat against the mine walls, terrified of touching it.

Yang Ling said nothing and continued deeper into the mine shaft.

As the temperature rose, there were actually very few mining slaves here. He could only spot one or two sporadically.

He continued deeper. By the time he reached roughly three to four hundred meters below the surface, he couldn't see a single mining slave.

"This is the place."

Yang Ling had Little White keep watch here. He himself found a spot with extremely high temperature and directly began digging.

His Vital Qi had already reached perfection. It wasn't that he hadn't considered the matter of advancing to Fifth-Rank.

He simply felt there was no suitable environment for it.

When the time came to face the death tribulation, he wasn't certain he could handle the dangers of the outside world.

So the best choice right now was to use this dungeon to push his level all the way to 100!

A flicker of anticipation appeared in Yang Ling's eyes.

"Level 100! This hundred-level milestone, the Divine Realm side should give me some extra rewards."

"I'll be the first player in Divine Realm to reach level 100!"

A quarter of an hour later, rubble lay everywhere. Yang Ling had already dug seven or eight meters deep, and finally saw his first chunk of Crimson Fire Iron.

He tentatively chiseled at it, and a stream of cool energy entered his body.

Comparing it through his experience with Fire Crystal Rock, Vermilion Gold, and Blazing Gold, he discovered that the Experience Points from Crimson Fire Iron seemed to be on par with Blazing Gold!

It was just that its hardness was even greater than Blazing Gold's, roughly three to four times harder.

"Crimson Fire Iron isn't bad at all, huh?"

Yang Ling was somewhat surprised. Experience Points could now be used to judge the quality of minerals.

The one that gave him the most Experience so far was Kylin Iron.

Far surpassing Blazing Gold.

For Crimson Fire Iron to give Experience on par with Blazing Gold meant its quality or price was at least equivalent to Blazing Gold!

"If a player entered the Mining Guild and understood the value of Crimson Fire Iron, chose the mining slave identity..."

"When the dungeon ends, sneak some Crimson Fire Iron out, and the harvest would also be quite considerable."

One or two taels of Blazing Gold could sell for 2,000 taels of silver.

Crimson Fire Iron, with Experience equivalent to it, surely wouldn't be priced below that level.

For the next half day, Yang Ling dug frantically.

Once he finished digging here, he moved to another spot.

With his speed and Strength, combined with the Centenary Refined Kylin Pickaxe's exclusive skill: Frenzied Hundred-Strike Combo.

His mining progress was ferociously fast!

It was just that every hour or so, the Centenary Refined Kylin Pickaxe had to rest.

"If I switched to the former Centenary Refined Vermilion Gold Pickaxe, the mining progress would probably be more than ten times slower."

"If it were the earlier Steel Pickaxe, it might not even be able to dig through this stuff. Even if it could, the durability would be depleted very quickly."

Yang Ling's gaze fell on the Centenary Refined Kylin Pickaxe.

Due to excessive digging, it had already become somewhat deformed, and wasn't sharp enough.

Fortunately, Kylin Iron possessed the ability to self-repair. It just needed a moment's wait.

And so, Yang Ling carried the Centenary Refined Kylin Pickaxe with him. Aside from eating, drinking, and relieving himself, he spent all his time down in the mine shaft.

This made the entire staff of the Crimson Fire Iron Mine rather perplexed. They had no idea how this Supervisor Yang had suddenly become so driven.

They speculated whether the sect had raised their assignments, or whether there was some kind of deficit situation.

Seven days later, Yang Ling's level rose from 98 to 99. He wasn't far from level 100 now.

"In these seven days, I've dug out roughly a hundred jin or so of Crimson Fire Iron."

"Converted at Blazing Gold's value, that's also worth two million."

Yang Ling was thoroughly satisfied. Even if he did nothing at all going forward, completed no tasks whatsoever.

The rewards from this dungeon were still extremely bountiful.

He believed he had chosen the right path.

"After reaching level 100, I need to find time to explore Fire Flood Dragon Island and scout the route ahead."

Time passed day by day.

More and more Crimson Fire Iron accumulated in the Green Dragon Ring.

Yang Ling obtained massive amounts of Experience Points every day.

Yet all the way until the twentieth day, there was still no movement in his level. He remained unable to advance to level 100.

"The Experience needed from level 99 to level 100 is even more?"

Yang Ling gritted his teeth, planning to use the remaining ten days to continue pushing forward.

If he could reach level 100, great. If not, it was fine too.

A dozen or so jin of Crimson Fire Iron per day was his dungeon reward this time.

Half an hour later, Shi Jiu came to the depths of the mine shaft with a look of disgust on his face. Seeing Yang Ling mining, he immediately switched to a fawning smile.

"Supervisor Yang, a sect elder has come to inspect."

An elder had come to inspect? Yang Ling unobtrusively put away the Crimson Fire Iron, but kept a few chunks in his hand.

Leaving the mine shaft with Shi Jiu, he saw a group of richly dressed big shots in the distance pointing and gesturing at this place.

"Everyone, this is the largest Crimson Fire Iron Mine controlled by our Crimson Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect!"

"This mine has a monthly output of three thousand jin! An annual output of thirty-six thousand jin of Crimson Fire Iron!"

"Every day, tens of thousands of mining slaves dig with selfless devotion. Due to the harsh environment here, just for mining slaves alone, we have to replenish ten to twenty thousand every month."

"Right now, Crimson Fire Iron on the market is becoming scarcer and its quality is getting worse. Some Crimson Fire Iron has too many impurities. Not only is purification troublesome, but if forged into weapons, they're also extremely fragile."

"You get what you pay for. You can see for yourselves what quality our goods here are. Selling it to you at two thousand taels per tael isn't expensive at all."

As he spoke, this elder noticed Yang Ling and Shi Jiu. He gave a slight nod with a proud expression.

"Supervisor Yang, we have some honored guests visiting today. They wish to see our Crimson Fire Iron Mine here. Accompany us on a tour."

Yang Ling opened this elder's Status Panel and took a look. He was Upper Fifth-Rank, but not top-tier. His Strength and Agility Attributes had both just barely broken through 300 points.

He also only cultivated a second-rate internal technique and second-rate martial arts.

This indicated that his status within the Crimson Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect was fairly ordinary, just an average elder.

However, the several honored guests he had brought this time were somewhat noteworthy.

There were seven in total. Six of them were Fifth-Rank experts from various sects, and their sects were ones Yang Ling had never even heard of.

Only one middle-aged Confucian Scholar was from the Star Observation Academy he knew very well.

These people also didn't regard Yang Ling highly at all. They only conversed with that elder and began inspecting the goods on the spot.

First they inspected the Crimson Fire Iron piled up like mountains, then picked out some Crimson Fire Iron from the freshly transported mine carts to examine.

"Not bad, not bad. The quality of these Crimson Fire Iron ores is exactly as Elder Wang said, all top-grade goods."

"Elder Wang, we can sign the contract right now. We hope for long-term cooperation. I, the Star Observation Academy, plan to purchase at least five hundred jin of Crimson Fire Iron from you."

Yang Ling looked at that middle-aged Confucian Scholar, silently grumbling to himself. This Star Observation Academy's foundation really was formidable.

Spending ten million taels of silver a year to purchase Crimson Fire Iron...

"However, we have one request. We hope your sect can include one or two Fire Spirit Pearls with the purchase. We're also willing to buy them at a high price."

The middle-aged Confucian Scholar smiled and cupped his hands.

Fire Spirit Pearl? Yang Ling's expression stirred, and his ears perked up slightly.

Elder Wang smiled, a faint hint of mockery flashing through his eyes. He was just about to speak when a disciple came running over in a panic.

"Bad news! White Bone Cavern is closing in on Fire Flood Dragon Island. They've allied with dozens of sects and declared their intent to slaughter the island!"

White Bone Cavern? Have these two dungeons linked up?

Yang Ling secretly gasped sharply.