5: You successfully learned a new ability

Steward Lin, Lin Xiu has already gone down into the mine shaft.

A person stood half-bent in front of Steward Lin.

Well done.

After this person left, Steward Lin's face showed a cold smile. Since he became a Steward in the Family, no Family slave had ever dared to disobey him.

Lin Xiu was just a stable boy who raised horses for the young master, yet he dared to invoke the young master to defy him!

It would be best if he died in the mine!

...Kid, that's not how you hold a pickaxe.

Your method of exerting force is wrong.

Stop for a moment, watch me carefully.

Deep in the mine shaft, the middle-aged man said it several times. There was nothing else he could do, so he decided to demonstrate it himself.

Having lived two lives, Lin Xiu had never even hoed the ground before, let alone mined.

He watched the middle-aged man's actions intently, engraving them in his mind, then tried to repeat them.

Barely acceptable. Practice more, and you'll become proficient.

The middle-aged man watched once and nodded in satisfaction.

The amount of food you could eat in the mine was determined by your workload. After Lin Xiu learned this, he didn't want to go hungry.

Because there was danger in the mine shaft, this was already a fact. Going hungry meant having no strength, and encountering danger would leave him no chance to escape.

Following the middle-aged man's instructions, Lin Xiu tried digging a few times and then suddenly froze.

You have successfully learned a new ability — Mining.

You performed Mining, Experience +5.

Current: Mining Lv1 (5/100).

Surprise flickered in Lin Xiu's eyes. He hadn't expected to unlock a new ability.

What was the standard for unlocking? Why was it that he did other things every day in the Family, besides feeding and training horses, but never unlocked anything?

If Mining could be considered an ability, then could fishing, sweeping, or even washing clothes and cooking be unlocked into abilities?

It was important to know that increasing abilities could grant attribute points. Compared to Cultivating, improving these abilities was much simpler.

If he could unlock abilities in these areas, he could completely level up his main account using a sub-account, just like in a game.

Kid, are you tired?

The middle-aged man saw Lin Xiu stop and asked.

No, I suddenly thought of something else.

Lin Xiu swung his tool again, feeling much more motivated.

Each swing was equivalent to an increase of 5 experience points, and twenty swings would grant 1 attribute point.

After an afternoon, Lin Xiu successfully raised Mining to Level 3.

Ability: Mining Lv3 (25/300).

Young people's Physiques are just good. To be able to swing a pickaxe all afternoon on their first time in the mine.

During dinner, the middle-aged man sat beside Lin Xiu.

Hearing his words, Lin Xiu's face showed a bitter smile.

In the afternoon, he was so engrossed by the increasing experience and attribute points that he now found his hands trembling uncontrollably just holding chopsticks. He could only manage to scoop rice into his mouth with a spoon.

Uncle, are we still going down into the mine tonight?

Lin Xiu glanced around. There were many people eating, and many of them were yawning, looking as if they had just woken up.

Danger is danger, but aren't people alive just to earn money?

As if knowing Lin Xiu's thoughts, the middle-aged man's tone was melancholic, I've been here for two years. Everyone who was with me before has died in the past two months.

What kind of danger is it exactly? I heard it was Demonic Beasts, is that true?

Lin Xiu wasn't curious; he just wanted to understand what the danger was.

No one knows exactly what it is. Every time white mist appears in the mine shaft, it means danger has arrived.

The middle-aged man must have experienced it and survived, so when he spoke of the crisis, a trace of fear involuntarily appeared on his face.

White mist?

Silently noting this information, Lin Xiu hoped he wouldn't encounter it.

Such unknown things are always the most terrifying.

After dinner, Lin Xiu felt like his hands weren't his own, but he still had to go down into the mine.

Their team still needed to work for another hour before their shift ended.

The mine shaft was dark, with no daylight.

But because he had eaten dinner, Lin Xiu knew it was already dark outside, and he couldn't help but feel afraid.

In many stories, danger always arrived with the night.

This feeling of his only completely dissipated when he left the mine shaft.

After showering that night, Lin Xiu was physically and mentally exhausted. Seeing the middle-aged man constantly looking at him, he felt a little strange, Uncle, what's wrong?

Why is your skin different from ours? It's reddish-black and shiny.

The middle-aged man looked at him like he was a rare animal.

Uh... it's from the sun.

Lin Xiu originally had normal yellow skin, but he had eaten too much red jade ginseng before, which caused his skin to change color.

In the Family, to conceal it, he would cover himself with a lot of dust every day.

Now that he was at the mine, Lin Xiu wasn't worried, so he washed it off. He hadn't thought about this before.

The mine was not quiet at night. Besides the thunderous snoring, one could also hear miners talking outside.

Lin Xiu drifted off to sleep in a daze, and after an unknown amount of time, he was woken by a cry of alarm.

The sky outside the window was dim; it wasn't yet dawn.

Awakened, Lin Xiu lost his sleepiness and pricked up his ears to listen to the commotion outside.

After listening for a while, Lin Xiu's face grew increasingly grim, because from the discussions, he learned that white mist had appeared in the mine below, and a large number of people had not yet escaped.

Meeting death within less than a day of arriving at the mine, Lin Xiu's heart sank.

Canaan Academy would arrive in Te Lan City in two days. He didn't know if he had the confidence to last until then, at least from the current situation, deaths in the mine were becoming more frequent.

Escape?

Peeking outside, Lin Xiu saw someone attempting to flee, only to be caught and knocked unconscious with a single blow.

When those people struck, a faint glow could be seen flashing, which was a manifestation of using Dou Qi.

At this moment, Lin Xiu also lost his sleepiness, so he simply began to Cultivate.

He had gained 2 attribute points last night, and he had added them all to Aptitude.

Realm: Dou Qi Seventh Segment (69/70).

Aptitude: 10.

Basic Qi Refining Lv5 (0/500).

I'll be able to Breakthrough after Cultivating today.

Adjusting his mindset, Lin Xiu tried his best to ignore the surrounding sounds and entered a Cultivation state.

You performed Cultivation, Realm Experience +0.5.

...

You completed one Cultivation, Experience +10.

Your Realm has been elevated! You gained 1 attribute point!

When the ten sessions of Qi Refining ended, Lin Xiu saw that his Realm panel had changed to Dou Qi Eighth Segment.

My strength is up to standard. Now I just need to hold out until Canaan Academy arrives, and everything will be fine.

Lin Xiu prepared to add the newly acquired attribute point to Aptitude.

Your Aptitude has reached its upper limit. Further upgrades require a portion of Demonic Beast Blood.

Upper limit?

Seeing the prompt, Lin Xiu was a bit surprised. He wasn't surprised that Cultivation on the Dou Qi Continent was linked to Bloodline, because in Families like the Dou Di Family, direct descendants were even Dou Saints at birth.

Since Aptitude couldn't be increased, Lin Xiu decided to add to Physique.

Physique 4 — 5.

Instantly, Lin Xiu felt as if an electric current flowed through his body, and a tingling sensation emerged from his muscles.

The soreness and pain from mining yesterday completely disappeared at this moment.

This feeling was like drinking Pulse, and his pulse instantly returned.

So adding points to Physique can restore the body.

It was his first time adding to Physique. Lin Xiu felt the magical changes in his body and couldn't help but become curious about spirit.

What would happen if he added points to spirit?

Since he had no attribute points on hand, Lin Xiu could only ponder. When it was time, he once again picked up his tools and walked down into the mine shaft with the middle-aged man.