I have a martial arts panel.

Chapter 87 The Thousand Source Worms That Eat Ore

"Are you new here?"

Xu Ning stood in the crowd, and a supervisor pointed at him with a whip.

"Yes."

Xu Ning nodded.

The foreman gave a forced smile: "Since you're here, behave yourself and don't even think about running away... otherwise, there's only one consequence: you'll be beaten to death."

"You, show him around and let him get familiar with the rules here."

The overseer then looked at Jiang Mian.

"Understood, sir."

Jiang Mian responded in a low voice, his face expressionless.

Under the supervision of the overseers, a group of people began to enter the mine.

Xu Ning was in the middle of the group, following behind Jiang Mian.

Xu Ning noticed that all the miners wore the same style of shackles.

If what Jiang Mian said is true, these people are all at the fourth to sixth level of the Mortal Realm.

"I wonder where they got so many martial arts miners from..."

Judging from their condition, they certainly couldn't have come to work voluntarily; they must have been coerced.

Xu Ning followed the group to the front of the mine.

As soon as Xu Ning arrived at the entrance of the mine, he felt a wave of heat wash over him.

A burning sensation hit my face.

The group of people went down into the mine shaft.

At the same time as people entered the mine, others came out of it.

They pushed a cart full of glistening, reddish-brown ore, looking exhausted.

"So this is Crystal Flame Ore...?"

Xu Ning had never heard of this kind of ore before.

I don't know if it's because Feiyun Prefecture doesn't have it, or if I'm just too low-level to have access to it.

A group of people went down to the first layer of the ore.

Xu Ning saw that miners were already there, using special iron pickaxes to strike the wall with all their might.

Stones fell one by one, only to be broken apart by the miners, revealing the crystal flame ore inside.

Xu Ning noticed that the miners on this level wore shackles of a different style than his own, and the material seemed to be easier to break.

Xu Ning guessed that this might be a martial artist at the third level of the mortal realm or below.

"Um?"

At this moment, Xu Ning suddenly felt that with each breath, toxins entered his body.

A slight burning sensation began to spread in my chest.

"Is this the poison gas Jiang Mian was talking about?"

Xu Ning quickly circulated his internal energy to expel the poison from his body.

Xu Ning needs to maintain this state.

"After advancing through the martial arts panel, I reached the peak of the Inner Qi Realm, and the accumulated inner qi within my body is quite formidable..."

In the short term, Xu Ning does not need to worry about his internal energy being depleted.

As the group continued deeper, they reached the second level of the mine.

Here, the concentration of poison gas has doubled again.

"Once you've filled a cart, you can go out and rest."

Jiang Mian explained to Xu Ning.

Just as we entered the second level of the mine, there was a row of carts at the entrance.

Xu Ning followed Jiang Mian's example, pushing out a cart and walking with him.

"Hurry up, all of you!"

In the second level of the mine shaft, supervisors were also patrolling back and forth.

If anyone was slow, they would whip them.

When they whip someone, they also exert force, and even a skilled martial artist will be beaten until their skin is torn and bleeding.

"Let's stay here."

Jiang Mian picked a spot for Xu Ning, and he stood next to Xu Ning.

Xu Ning stopped and, imitating Jiang Mian, began to strike and knock on the walls of the mine.

Clang, clang.

Xu Ning used a pickaxe to smash the wall.

Then, like other miners, they smashed the fallen rubble again and picked out the crystal flame ore inside.

The surface of this crystal flame ore is shiny, but it still contains impurities. It is estimated that it will need further polishing after it is mined.

Holding the Crystal Flame Ore in your hand, you can feel its warmth.

"A rock the size of a watermelon can only yield a small piece of crystal flame ore the size of a hawthorn... It would take at least five or six hours to fill this cart..."

Xu Ning finally understood why the miners here looked so haggard.

Physical exertion is secondary; the key is to maintain a state of internal energy detoxification for several hours.

Someone with such abundant internal energy as myself is fine, but if one's martial arts level is lower, their internal energy would be completely depleted in such a long time, forcing them to inhale the poisonous gas.

If this is the case, over time, one's physical condition will inevitably be damaged.

Faced with the harsh reality, Xu Ning could only silently endure it for the time being.

Clang, clang, clang.

The sound of hammering echoed throughout the entire mine.

Occasionally, there would be shouts of cursing and whipping.

Time passed second by second.

Although Xu Ning found the process of mining the Crystal Flame Mine extremely boring, fortunately, he had a strong body and abundant internal energy, so he did not suffer any physical damage.

Jiang Mian, who was standing to the side, was also keeping an eye on Xu Ning while mining the ore.

Seeing that Xu Ning seemed to have truly accepted the situation and was calmly mining the ore, Jiang Mian once again felt that Xu Ning was a person who was truly content with his lot.

Finally, Xu Ning estimated that five hours had passed, and his cart was filled with crystal flame ore.

These five hours were extremely long.

This is equivalent to doing heavy physical labor continuously for ten hours without any food or water to replenish energy.

At that moment, Jiang Mian had just filled his cart to the brim.

"You're quite skilled at it."

Jiang Mian said something casually, and then took Xu Ning to report back.

Following behind Jiang Mian, Xu Ning arrived at the ore delivery point.

By this time, it was already dark.

After handing over a cart full of crystal ore, they received food and water.

After eating and drinking in the designated area, they were sent back to their cells.

Jiang Mian returned to his cell and stopped talking to Xu Ning.

He seemed very tired and fell asleep immediately upon lying down on the bed.

Xu Ning was in a better position, but she was also quite tired.

Before taking a break, Xu Ning opened the hidden compartment again to check on the Thousand Source Worms.

This was his only hope of escaping from here.

The hidden compartment opened, and although it was pitch black, Xu Ning could still see the plump white worms inside.

Xu Ning poked it with her finger.

In the past, the plump white worm might not have moved at all, but today, after Xu Ning touched the plump white worm with his finger, it seemed to become somewhat excited.

"Um?"

This unusual situation surprised Xu Ning.

The plump white worm came close to his fingertip and kept touching him with one end of its body.

"What's going on...?"

Xu Ning was quite puzzled.

He pulled his finger out.

Xu Ning looked at his fingers and noticed some mineral dust on the skin.

That was something that fell into my hands when I was mining before.

"These Thousand Source Worms couldn't possibly be consuming these Crystal Flame Ore Dust particles, could they...?"

After thinking for a while, Xu Ning realized the problem.

He tentatively cleaned his fingers thoroughly before touching the plump white worm.

This time, it stopped moving.

"These Thousand Source Worms..."

Xu Ning was completely confused.

The Thousand Source Worm described by Wei Binglin only absorbs spiritual energy and has never had the habit of devouring food.

"This really is the Thousand Source Worm..."

Xu Ning was filled with suspicion.

"Forget it, I'll go to the mine tomorrow and bring out a small piece of Crystal Flame Ore to see if this Thousand Source Worm actually likes this stuff..."

After some thought, Xu Ning made a plan.

Bringing a small piece of crystal flame ore out of the mine is not a difficult task.

……

Another day has passed.

When Xu Ning emerged from the mine again, he brought out a piece of crystal flame ore the size of a fingernail.

While Jiang Mian was asleep, Xu Ning put the small piece of crystal flame ore into the hidden compartment.

Just as Xu Ning had guessed, after the Crystal Flame Ore was put in, the Thousand Source Worm seemed to smell some tempting food and pounced on it.

Xu Ning couldn't see its mouth clearly, but she could tell it was eating.

"Surely the Thousand Source Worm won't have any problems after consuming this Crystal Flame Ore..."

Xu Ning was slightly worried.

But at the same time, another thought popped into his mind: "Perhaps there is energy within this Crystal Flame Ore, which is being absorbed by these Thousand Source Worms?"

Xu Ning was unsure about this idea; at least he himself couldn't extract energy from the Crystal Flame Ore.

If the Thousand Source Worm can spit out higher quality crystals after consuming this Crystal Flame Ore, then I will have made a huge profit.

Thank you to Brother Bull Demon King oo, Brother Saliva True Man, Brother Wine Immortal Bamboo Leaf Green, Brother Elegant &* Heart, and Brother Eternal Star Sea for their generous donations!

(End of this chapter)