Chapter 341: Chapter 341

A few minutes later, Han Qiwu walked out of the Explorer Guild with the ice bird feather in hand, looking very pleased, while Egger stared after him with a deeply conflicted expression.

Watching Han Qiwu’s departing figure, Egger felt that something seemed odd.

"Forget it, not worth thinking about."

Egger stroked his big beard and cheerfully mixed himself a glass of Ice Feather Dragon Tongue to savor.

Back at the first level of the mine, Han Qiwu saw that Xiao Dian had already meticulously carried seven or eight pieces of coal back, its body now covered in a layer of coal dust.

"Good job," Han Qiwu praised, taking out some water to clean it up.

Xiao Dian quickly shook itself dry, fixing a sharp glare on Han Qiwu.

"Don’t glare at me; work first, and then you can enjoy a feast when we get back home." Han Qiwu reached out to cover its angry eyes before stepping into the cable car with Xiao Lai and selecting level thirty-eight.

Let’s grab some copper ore first, then head to the deeper layers to continue the exploration.

As for the Miner’s Lollipop, he decided to save that for the deeper layers.

Han Qiwu glanced at the time: 13:58.

There were still two minutes left before the Compass refreshed, so he decided to dig for a bit himself.

After digging out a piece of copper ore, Han Qiwu marked it with the Compass and then placed the malfunctioning Compass on the ground beside it.

Let’s see how large of a copper ore map it could refresh.

A moment later, the malfunctioning Compass began spinning energetically; but unlike last time, the spinning stopped abruptly after a short while.

[Marker location updated]

Han Qiwu suddenly had a bad feeling.

Opening the mini-map, he was stunned.

The mini-map had only refreshed the location of one copper ore.

And that single copper ore was the one he was holding.

What kind of situation is this?!

Thinking it over, Han Qiwu understood what had happened.

What he meant to search for was copper ore veins.

What he marked just now was a copper ore.

Those are two entirely different things!

"Ah, now I have to wait another hour. Might as well wait until the lower mining layers to mark it again." Feeling exasperated, Han Qiwu took out the Snowman Miner figurine and started digging.

The noise of mining naturally attracted plenty of bugs, but with Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai guarding him, Han Qiwu managed to avoid any disruptions.

Forty or so minutes later, Han Qiwu looked at the storage compartment filled with [Copper Ore]×62 and nodded in satisfaction.

"Later, I’ll upgrade the pickaxe with iron ingots—that’ll improve efficiency even more."

Walking back to the cable car, Han Qiwu headed straight for level seventy-five of the mine.

After reaching level seventy-five, Han Qiwu cautiously stepped out of the cable car, tiptoeing and peering around in hopes of finding a Coal Essence.

First, he could gather a bit more coal; second, he could mark the Coal Essence and use the malfunctioning Compass’s ability to conduct a search.

After circling around for a while, perhaps due to poor timing, he didn’t spot any dark, Coal Essence figures.

"Well, I can’t leave empty-handed." Han Qiwu took out an ice pick and began chiseling away at a nearby ice layer, managing to extract five chunks of ice.

[You have reached level seventy-six of the mine]

Upon landing, Han Qiwu immediately felt a sharp chill and quickly donned his snow armor while taking out the fire bucket.

This layer of the mine was pitch black.

Surveying his surroundings, Han Qiwu took out a torch.

"Why is it so quiet here?"

The surrounding ice layers reflected the torchlight like mirrors, scattering light everywhere.

Before the malfunctioning Compass refreshed, Han Qiwu marked a nearby iron ore vein.

After finishing that, he eagerly took out the Tingly Miner’s Lollipop and licked it lightly.

The tingling sensation on his tongue was unique, like a faint electric current brushing against it.

Right afterward came the sweetness of the lollipop.

Unlike other types of sweetness, this lollipop’s flavor was addictively delicious—just one lick made him crave the next.

Watching Han Qiwu eat the lollipop, Xiao Lai gulped with envy.

His master sure made it look tasty.

Xiao Dian, fluttering in midair, was unimpressed.

Its tongue was too short.

Even if someone gave it the lollipop, it couldn’t eat it.

After finishing the lollipop, Han Qiwu received a system notification:

[You consumed the Tingly Miner’s Lollipop. Mining level +3]

[Mining level five additional reward: You may choose one specialization for career advancement]

[Career: Junior Miner]

[Specialization—Miner’s Technique: Each vein yields +1 ore]

[Career Skill: Berserk Chisel (For five minutes, mining stamina costs -1, chisel speed slightly increased. Cooldown time: one hour)]

[Career: Junior Geologist]

[Specialization—Art of Exploration: Chance to find double gemstones]

[Career Skill: Survey (Continuously chisel the ground and listen to locate all vein distributions on the current layer. Display lasts five seconds)]

After reviewing the two careers, Han Qiwu fell into contemplation.

Junior Miner’s specialization seemed the most practical—every time he mined, he could trigger it, essentially doubling his yield per vein.

Pairing it with the career skill could lead to significant gains on today’s mining run!

As for the Geologist career, Han Qiwu felt it was decent but less reliable.

The Art of Exploration provided a chance to find double gemstones.

But how high was that chance?

Han Qiwu had no idea.

Plus, its career skill had some overlap with the malfunctioning Compass.

Might as well forgo that.

[You selected the career: Junior Miner]

[You acquired the specialization—Miner’s Technique]

[You learned the career skill: Berserk Chisel]

After making his choice, Han Qiwu put on his miner’s helmet and targeted a nearby iron ore vein, activating the Berserk Chisel skill.

Immediately, he felt his pickaxe become significantly lighter, and a warm, invigorated sensation spread through his body, filling him with strength.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

Han Qiwu chiseled through an entire row of iron ore veins in one go.

He harvested [Iron Ore]×21.

"Now I won’t have to worry about materials anymore." Han Qiwu smiled contentedly as he bent down and continued chiseling.

As the five minutes of Berserk Chisel wore off, Han Qiwu felt the pickaxe return to its original weight.

Perfect timing for a break and a bite of a snowberry.

Just as Han Qiwu hadn’t finished his snack, Xiao Dian suddenly flew back in a panic, wildly flapping its wings as if it had provoked something.

Heavy footsteps echoed behind it, the sound alone suggesting the creature was massive.

"Xiao Lai, get ready to welcome our guest." Han Qiwu shouted, switching to his ice slingshot and deftly loading it with an explosive snowball.

Simple, direct, and effective.

A dozen seconds later, a frost-covered Xiao Dian dashed back toward the fire bucket, shivering uncontrollably.

"Didn’t I tell you to generate heat for yourself with electricity last time?" Han Qiwu said, a bit exasperated. Seriously, this bird was a little dim-witted.

There was no time for further complaints—the footsteps were growing louder.

A few seconds later, two six-meter-tall frost giants stomped into view, each with a pile of bird droppings perched atop their heads.