Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 576 - 563: The Mummy of the Endless Mine

After finishing lunch, Tang Qingying excitedly swung the ice sword in her hand and curiously asked, "What kinds of creatures are usually found inside the mines?"

"Mostly insects. If you're scared, you can wait for me outside," Han Qiwu replied with a smile.

Tang Qingying rolled her eyes at Han Qiwu and said defiantly, "Who's scared? When I was a kid, I was the cockroach-slaying princess!"

"Impressive, impressive."

The guide, Pony, once again led the two into the mine. Upon arrival, Han Qiwu wasted no time and took Tang Qingying straight to the Endless Mine.

While riding the cable car, he laid out ten ladders ahead for Tang Qingying, cautioning, "If you can't handle it later, use the ladders to get to the next level and find a chance to ride the cable car back up. Don't force yourself to fight."

"Relax, I'm super strong!" Tang Qingying laughed. "Just you wait and see how amazing I am later!"

[You have entered the first level of the Endless Mine.]

Just like last time, as soon as they stepped inside, Han Qiwu immediately saw those invincible dark gold beetles again. He was about to grab Tang Qingying and make a run for it, but when he turned his head, he saw Mr. Tang's eyes glowing as she raised her hands toward the dark gold beetles, chanting something under her breath.

"What are you mumbling about?" Han Qiwu leaned over to eavesdrop, but before he could make out the words, Tang Qingying thrust her hands forward, conjuring a red wall of fire about fifteen meters long and half a meter thick in front of them.

The fire wall, though not very thick, was immensely effective at obstructing the dark gold beetles, visibly driving them away.

"What kind of skill is that? Why don't I have it?" Han Qiwu frowned in confusion. Wasn't it said that Tang Qingying's skills were all copied from his?

Tang Qingying glanced at Han Qiwu smugly, patted his head, and reassured him, "Don't be upset. I probably have an extra specialization called Heart of Magic, which allows me to modify skills freely, shaping them into whatever I want."

Right after she spoke, another Flame Bird was conjured in her hands. With a flick of her wrist, the Flame Bird flew out on its own to block the dark gold beetles.

Han Qiwu: "....."

Suddenly feeling that his ice sword was redundant, he immediately transformed it into a pickaxe, slung it over his shoulder, and began digging next to some iridium ore.

If Tang Qingying was this strong, then he might as well casually mine the upper layers and save the fun of using explosives for the richer iridium veins below.

"Clang, clang, clang."

The once-ambitious Han Qiwu had reluctantly transformed into a miner.

Meanwhile, it was Tang Qingying's first time here, and she leisurely toyed with her magic.

Two hours later.

[You have reached the 21st level of the Endless Mine.]

As they entered this level, both of them were holding ice mushroom pies. Although the temperature in this section wasn't too high, it was still warm enough to make such a refreshing snack enjoyable.

"Watch out." With his seasoned instincts, Han Qiwu quickly grabbed Tang Qingying and spun her around upon hearing the sound of wind behind them.

"Whoosh."

A dark yellow strip of cloth shot past them from behind, reeking of a foul stench.

By the firelight, they finally saw the attacker—a mobile mummy wrapped entirely in cloth strips.

"There's something like this in here?" Han Qiwu was a bit surprised and tested the waters with a large fireball spell.

However, the strips on the mummy seemed highly fire-resistant. The fireball merely charred its surface without causing significant harm.

"Let me try." Tang Qingying raised her hand, forming a flame into the shape of an arrow, and swiftly jabbed it into the gaps between the strips.

This attack worked slightly better than the fireball, but it still only managed to sever one strip of cloth and didn't completely neutralize the enemy.

Having endured both attacks, the mummy suddenly raised its hands and shot two strips of cloth toward them.

"Be careful." Han Qiwu pulled out an ice slingshot, loaded two explosive marbles into it, and aimed at the mummy's feet before launching them.

"Boom! Boom!"

Thanks to Han Qiwu's perfect calculations, the strips were redirected mid-flight, piercing into the rocks on the ceiling of the mine as the mummy collapsed.

The seemingly soft strips turned out to be as sharp as daggers, embedding themselves into the rock with ease.

"If one of those hits us, we'd definitely end up with a hole in our body," Tang Qingying said, still shaken.

Han Qiwu stared at the strips for a moment, then handed Tang Qingying a Fire Essence Crystal, saying, "Try using the flame from this to see if it can burn them."

"The flame inside here? The blue one?" Tang Qingying asked in surprise, eagerly accepting the crystal. She summoned the blue flame and shaped it into three arrowheads, launching them at the fallen mummy.

The moment the blue flaming arrows hit the mummy, they shattered and turned into a blaze, engulfing the creature. The intense fire quickly burned away all its cloth strips.

"It worked! Where did you even get this flame?" Tang Qingying turned with delight to Han Qiwu. After hearing his explanation, she gave him a thumbs-up and praised, "So clever! You've really thought this through."

"Just average," Han Qiwu said with a smile, picking up his pickaxe and resuming his digging.

A few seconds later, the mummy disintegrated into white light, vanishing and leaving behind a single iridium ingot.

This was the first mine creature they had successfully defeated in the Endless Mine. The previous 20 levels had been filled with damage-immune dark gold beetles.

"Next time, we could try using one blue fire arrow to burn off its cloth strips and then finish it with an explosive marble. That might be more efficient," Han Qiwu suggested, picking up the iridium ingot, clearly satisfied.

"Makes sense. Iridium ingots seem to be essential for making sprinklers. The more we gather, the better," Tang Qingying agreed and couldn't resist pulling out two large strawberries to snack on.

Han Qiwu helplessly ruffled Tang Qingying's hair before grabbing his pickaxe and continuing to work.

Might as well stick to being a miner.

By the time they reached the 30th level of the Endless Mine, both of them were feeling quite worn out. Checking their storage, they tallied up their loot: [Iridium Ore] ×37, [Iridium Ingot] ×12, [Gold Ore] ×16—a decent haul overall.

Riding the cable car back up, Han Qiwu glanced at the nearby Prospector Guild building and turned to ask Tang Qingying, "Want to go inside? There's a dwarven couple there; the Blue Nymph Perfume we used earlier was crafted here."

"Sure! But since it's my first time meeting them, should I bring some kind of gift?" Tang Qingying asked curiously.

Han Qiwu thought for a moment and retrieved two Flame Bird drumsticks from storage. They had been stored for a long time but miraculously hadn't gone bad—Tang Qingying had offered them up herself after their last encounter with the fiery chickens.

"Won't these be a bit stale by now?" Tang Qingying asked skeptically after accepting the drumsticks. "We've still got some pork at home; should we bring that instead?"

Han Qiwu chuckled, pushing open the door as he explained, "They prefer their meat aged. Fresh stuff doesn't appeal to them."