CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
Anle Village, Blacksmith Shop.
Wang Mu was intently observing Uncle Tie Hu hammering a glowing red-hot piece of iron.
After half a year of fishing, Grandpa Yu said that there was nothing more he could teach him in this area, and in terms of fishing skill, there wasn't much of a gap between them either.
Therefore, Grandpa Yu recommended that Wang Mu follow the village blacksmith, Uncle Tie Hu, to learn mining and strengthen his physique.
As the only blacksmith shop in the village, it primarily produced farming tools.
For instance, his fishing rod and fishing line were both made in the Blacksmith Shop.
There were also hunting bows, feathered arrows, as well as some swords, halberds, axes, and hammers. These were produced mainly to deal with wild beasts and Fierce Beasts that intruded into the village.
"My Blacksmith Shop, you see, is different from those in other villages," Uncle Tie Hu said proudly.
"I also produce some ore embryos here. When Immortal Sect disciples visit the village, they trade with me. Although there are many Immortal Masters skilled in Artifact Refining within the Immortal Sect, those Immortal Masters wouldn't come down to mine. At most, they send some disciples with low cultivation."
"And mining is a tough and exhausting job; it really grinds people down."
"Especially some rare raw ores that are immune to Magic Powers; they can only be dug out by hand, one pickaxe strike at a time, which Immortal Masters consider a waste of their cultivation time."
Uncle Tie Hu patted Wang Mu's shoulder. "You lad, are good at Chopping and Fishing, but when it comes to Mining, you'll have to persevere."
"I will," Wang Mu nodded.
The blacksmith uncle's name was Tie Hu. He and Uncle Tie Niu were brothers.
One specialized in Chopping, the other in Mining.
"Beneath the southern part of our village, there's a Pocket World Mine, discovered a thousand years ago."
As Uncle Tie Hu introduced the mine to Wang Mu, he became quite reminiscent. "It's said that back in the day, the great hero, Saint Dongfang Mu, mined there to train. Later, after great changes in the world and shifts underground, the mine altered significantly. Our Anle Village has carried on through generations. Although our manpower is modest, we have always upheld Dongfang Mu's will. Generation after generation, my Tie family has had a miner like me, tirelessly digging year after year."
Wang Mu was speechless.
"Over a thousand years, we've unearthed not only common iron ore but also rare Mystic Iron Ore and Purple Crystal Ore."
"Plus, the even rarer Spirit Crystal Ore."
"Even the exceedingly rare Thousand-year-old Red Jade has been found."
"Speaking of which, when that piece of Thousand-year-old Red Jade was unearthed, it startled an Immortal from Gu Yun Mountain, who personally came to the village to trade with my ancestor at a high price."
"Afterwards, it was forged into a Divine Weapon for the Immortals, becoming one of the Sect Guardian Swords of the Shangxiao Sword Sect on Gu Yun Mountain—the Red Jade Sword."
Uncle Tie Hu became more and more spirited as he spoke. He spat on the ground and carelessly tossed aside a hammer that weighed who knows how many pounds. "Let's go! There aren't many farming tools to make today. I'll take you Mining!"
Wang Mu had watched Uncle Tie Hu forging iron the entire morning at the Blacksmith Shop.
The man had also been boasting all morning, yet he didn't break a sweat or even seem out of breath. His physique was astonishing.
"Take this Golden Stone Pickaxe. Always use this pickaxe for Mining."
On the way, Uncle Tie Hu handed Wang Mu a gilded pickaxe. "Mining is not just a matter of physical strength; it's also a matter of technique."
"I'd like to hear more about that," Wang Mu listened earnestly.
"If it's just common Mortal Ore, it's not too much trouble."
"But if you come across Spiritual Ore, those all have attributes. Usually, only Immortal Disciples are capable of mining these. Ordinary people can't even budge them."
"However, in our village, we have a way. That is to follow the natural principle of mutual generation and mutual overcoming."
Wang Mu was momentarily taken aback. Mining in the Immortal World has principles like this?
"For example, Ze Crystal Jade. This is a type of jade that contains the Water attribute; it's utterly crystal clear and a flawless blue. You'll need a wooden pickaxe to mine it, like one made from the Purple Shuo Tree. Only then can you pry even a fraction of it away."
Wang Mu pondered thoughtfully.
"As for ordinary ores, we can just use this Golden Stone Pickaxe. We rarely encounter rare Spiritual Ores anyway."
"There are a few attribute pickaxes. When your Mining skills improve, I'll give you one. These pickaxes are quite valuable and aren't used for mining common ores."
Wang Mu gripped the pickaxe, feeling it was even heavier than an axe.
He sensed for a moment.
[Action points: 2]
[Cultivation: Chopping (15), Fishing (13), Mining (+)]
I can now cultivate through Mining!
Mining is good. The more I mine, the more I'll have saved up.
If I can achieve Cultivation later on and also learn Artifact Refining, I won't have to do anything else but Refine magic treasure equipment. Whenever I reach a new realm, I'll immediately refine a whole set of Divine Equipment and Magic Treasures!
Thinking of this, Wang Mu felt quite expectant.
Walking with Uncle Tie Hu for about one hour, they approached the foot of a solitary peak. The terrain began to descend gradually. After another few dozen steps, they saw an open-pit mine. It looked as if a meteorite had struck there, leaving a huge depression on the surface.
Inside the depression, there were also some smaller pits, numerous and ancient-looking, a testament to the hard work of generations of Anle Village.
Such a mine should be a treasure trove by rights. If this were a normal world, it wouldn't be controlled by a small village, Wang Mu mused. But Anle Village is isolated from the world and has the protection of an Immortal Sect.
Looking at the mine, Wang Mu couldn't help but feel a surge of ambition.
He had a strong urge to dig right through it.
"You can just dig around the outside for now," Uncle Tie Hu cautioned.
"The tunnels inside are quite narrow. If you encounter Fierce Beasts that emerge from the depths, you won't be able to escape."
"The large pits on the outside mostly contain Iron Crystal Ore and Ancient Copper Ore. With your current physique, you should have no problem mining these. But if you see Mystic Iron Ore or the like, it will be quite difficult."
Then, Uncle Tie Hu shared some mining techniques with Wang Mu and taught him how to simply identify some ore types before letting Wang Mu try it for himself.
This was different from fishing.
Fishing depended greatly on talent and willpower.
Mining relied purely on perseverance.
At first, Wang Mu thought it wouldn't be too different from chopping trees.
But as soon as he picked up the pickaxe and swung it towards a fist-sized piece of pale white Iron Crystal Ore, he knew he was wrong.
The pickaxe was fine, and so was he.
But the rebound force was too strong.
CLANG! Wang Mu's arm went slightly numb.
After swinging the pickaxe a dozen times or so, his hand was unbearably numb.
He could only apply a small fraction of the various techniques Uncle Tie Hu had taught him.
This is just fist-sized Mortal Iron…
Wang Mu was dumbfounded.
The stronger his own force, the stronger the rebound.
After just a few swings, his body began to feel distinctly uncomfortable.
I'll just experience it first.
Wang Mu calmed himself and focused. It took him a full hour to reluctantly dig out the fist-sized piece of Iron Crystal Ore.