Chapter 6: Discovering an Outdoor Coal Mine

Chapter 6: Discovering an Outdoor Coal Mine

[Snake-People Priestess: Ilena]

[Race: Snake-Person]

[Level: Level 5 132/4000]

[HP: 480]

[Attack Power: 51 ~ 54 (Weapon Bonus)]

[Attributes: Strength 21, Agility 17, Spirit 18, Constitution 24]

[Skills: Scaled Armor (Can provide self or allies with an additional 10 points of armor, cooldown 90 seconds).

Snake-People Berserk (Grants self or allied units a berserk effect, within 60 seconds, movement speed +20%, attack speed +20%, cooldown 120 seconds).]

[Talent: Ice Bloodline (Can survive longer in extreme weather)]

[Hunger: 67]

[Loyalty: 68]

…

"Damn… Such formidable stats, truly worthy of a Level 5 creature!"

Cao Xing was extremely surprised.

And most crucially, Cao Xing saw Ilena's two skills: [Snake-People Berserk] and [Scaled Armor]!

These two skills turned out to be both buff-type skills.

Combined with his SSS-rank talent, they were equivalent to permanently increasing 10 points of armor!

(For ease of calculation, 1 point of armor offsets 1 point of attack power).

Ordinary creatures like Arctic People had 1 point of strength roughly equal to 2 points of physical attack power.

(Depending on different classes and racial talents, the attack power bonus from strength also varies, with 1 point of strength bonus ranging from 1.5 attack power to 3 physical attacks).

That is to say, except for Da Zhuang, the attacks of the other few Arctic People could hardly even cause effective damage to Cao Xing.

From this, it could be seen how terrifying the boost brought by this skill was in the early stage.

As for the other [Snake-People Berserk] skill, increasing 20% movement speed and attack speed, it was an even more terrifying percentage-based buff skill.

At this moment, Cao Xing felt that he had truly struck gold!

Suppressing his excited feelings, Cao Xing said, "Ilena, cast the Snake-People Berserk skill on us first."

In this world, he naturally had to seize every bit of power that could enhance himself.

Ilena flicked her scarlet forked tongue and said, "Gladly, my Lord~"

As the words fell, Ilena raised her spear, and a cluster of red power gathered on her spear.

Then she pointed her spear, and a cluster of energy landed on Cao Xing.

In an instant, Cao Xing felt a wave of hot energy emerge within his body, greatly enhancing his attack speed and movement speed.

[Casting [Snake-People Berserk] successful, talent [Eternal Power] has taken effect, this skill has become permanent…]

Seeing this prompt, Cao Xing clenched his fists in excitement.

It really worked!

Meanwhile, Ilena raised her spear again, and a cluster of white energy landed on her own body.

Cao Xing felt an extra layer of invisible scales appear on his body.

[Casting [Scaled Armor] successful, talent [Eternal Power] has taken effect, this skill has become permanent…]

This layer of scales was extremely hard and smooth,

and it would only appear when attacked.

That is to say, normally, Cao Xing was still no different from a normal person.

Cao Xing said excitedly, "Good, good, good, with this, my defense has skyrocketed by a huge margin!"

After waiting for the skill cooldown to end, Cao Xing had Ilena add both statuses to himself and Liu Muxue respectively.

After the prompt sound of the talent activating,

Ilena also discovered that the power inside her body did not disappear like before, but remained permanently.

She was somewhat puzzled, and then when Cao Xing cast a permanent [Ice Healing Art] on her, Ilena understood the reason.

"My Lord, your power is truly boundless and unfathomable, it remains in my body forever."

Cao Xing's gaze was somewhat strange.

Why did this sentence feel a bit weird…

Shaking his head, Cao Xing began to ponder other issues.

This berserk skill could increase speed by 20%.

In other words, if it could be added to all four Arctic People, it could increase their work efficiency.

Therefore, Cao Xing asked, "Ilena, can you continue to cast skills?"

Ilena gently shook her head, "My Lord, these skills consume my spiritual power, I need a little time to recover."

Cao Xing nodded.

Then, he looked at the four Arctic People working in the distance.

At this moment, Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang were jogging over, each carrying a bundle of processed timber on their backs.

San Zhuang and Si Zhuang were holding several stones.

The image of the four little dwarves spreading their legs and running in the snow always felt a bit comical.

Then, they placed the materials near the campfire, and they would automatically disappear, with system prompts appearing one after another.

[Timber +5]

[Timber +5]

[Stone +3]

[Stone +3]

…

Cao Xing calculated that the time for the four of them to make a round trip was about ten minutes.

There was still an hour and a half before dark now.

That is to say, before dark, they could at most gather 90 timber and 54 stones for Cao Xing.

"I need more labor force now, but only one Arctic People Cabin can be built."

"To recruit more Arctic People, we can only upgrade the Arctic People Cabin."

"A Level 2 Arctic People Cabin can recruit 4 more Arctic People, which can greatly increase work efficiency."

"But similarly, these Arctic People will consume more food and occupy my population limit."

Cao Xing glanced at his population.

[Population: 8/50]

(The maximum population limit for a Level 1 territory is 50, which can be increased by upgrading the Lords Cabin.)

Just at this moment, San Zhuang spread his short legs and ran to Cao Xing's side, saying,

"My Lord, I have something to report to you!"

Cao Xing looked at San Zhuang, "What is it?"

San Zhuang replied, "In the place where Si Zhuang and I gathered stones, we found a small coal mine about three to four hundred meters away to the front right."

"However, there seem to be two snow wolves guarding it, we didn't dare to get close."

"I'm worried that those snow wolves will pose a threat to our camp, so I specially came to report to my Lord!"

Hearing the two words 'coal mine', Cao Xing's eyes instantly lit up.

You must know that coal is a higher-grade energy material than timber, not only burning longer, but also emitting higher heat.

If he could occupy the coal mine, he could save a lot of timber to build other facilities.

Cao Xing hurriedly asked, "What is the strength of those snow wolves, do you know how many there are?"

San Zhuang nodded, "We observed for a while, currently we only saw two snow wolves haunting the area."

"The strength of these snow wolves feels a bit stronger than that poisonous snake."

Hearing this, the joy at the corners of Cao Xing's mouth grew even thicker.

Two snow wolves, according to San Zhuang, were a bit stronger than the snow viper, which meant they were probably level 3 or level 4 monsters.

Before summoning Ilena, Cao Xing really didn't have the confidence to deal with them.

But now, he could think of a way to occupy that coal mine first.

Therefore, Cao Xing nodded and said, "San Zhuang, good job!"

"Tonight I will give you and Si Zhuang a piece of snake meat as a reward!"

Hearing that there would be snake meat to eat tonight, little stars were almost popping out of San Zhuang's eyes.

He nodded excitedly, "Thank you for your generosity, My Lord, San Zhuang will do his utmost to make contributions for you!"

After finishing, San Zhuang continued to spread his short little legs and went to continue gathering stones.

Liu Muxue also heard the conversation between the two, and asked somewhat nervously, "A-Xing, are we going to fight?"

Cao Xing nodded, "Yeah, the coal mine is an important resource point, the earlier we take it down, the better."

Fear appeared in Liu Muxue's eyes, but she still mustered up the courage to say, "I will fight together with you."

Cao Xing did not refuse.

Although the snow wolves were powerful, Liu Muxue had already been blessed with three permanent buffs.

Whether it was defense or recovery capability, both had been massively enhanced. Paired with the Level 5 Ilena, dealing with two snow wolves should not be a problem.

However, before the battle, he could also use some props to increase combat power.

Cao Xing took out a purple venom sac from his backpack.

[Snow Viper's Venom Sac (Green)]

[Effect: Smear on the weapon to attach 'Level 1 Poisoning' status to the next 15 attacks.]

[Remaining uses: 10 times.]

Cao Xing smeared the venom effect onto Ilena's trident and Liu Muxue's ordinary stone axe.

A layer of faint purple light was attached to their weapons.

Having finished these preparations, Cao Xing nodded and said, "Then, let's set off now."

After speaking, he raised his white-grade wooden staff and walked towards the snow.

Ilena held a trident spear and walked at the very front.

Her serpentine body wriggled on the snow, leaving a distinct mark.

While Cao Xing and Liu Muxue followed behind her.

Crunch… crunch…

The further away from the campfire, the thicker the snow on the ground became, almost submerging their ankles.

Waves of chill struck.

Taking about four minutes, they arrived at the place San Zhuang mentioned.

There, indeed, was a pitch-black mine cave, and next to the mine cave, a pile of mined coal was accumulated.

[Small Coal Mine: Special Resource Point]

[Remaining exploitable resources quantity: Coal * 1754, Stone * 754, Soil * 5360]

[Current status: Unoccupiable]