The main hall on the fifth floor remained silent; the silver-white magic lamps on the domed ceiling cast a cold, clear light, and the twelve black stone pillars stood there in silence.

Lin Feng walked to the entrance of the hall and stood at the edge of the plaza, gazing at the light curtain that led to the fourth floor.

Behind him, the others followed out as well.

Tie Dun's stomach suddenly gave a loud growl. He rubbed his belly and muttered, "I'm hungry."

Zhao Hu glanced at him. "Wait until we get back to eat."

Tie Dun chuckled twice and shouldered his shield, taking the lead.

Lin Feng walked in the middle of the group, silently calculating in his mind that it would take two months to accumulate two hundred probability pool points.

The team crossed the Plain of White Bones of the fourth floor, the mine tunnels of the third floor, the Forest of Humus of the second floor, and the Limestone Cave Maze of the first floor.

Adventurers they encountered along the way made way for them, some whispering, "Lord Lin and his group are back from the fifth floor."

Some looked at the Wildfire Spear on Lin Feng's back, their eyes full of envy.

The sun was shining brightly on the Commercial Street of Lucky Town; people were coming and going, and there was a queue of people at the entrance of the Adventurers Guild waiting to accept quests.

Laughter and the sound of clinking glasses drifted from the tavern, while the clanging of the blacksmith shop echoed from the other end of the street.

Lin Feng pushed open the doors of the Council Hall, walked to the head seat, sat down, and let out a long breath.

Zhao Hu, Tie Dun, Wang Wu, Arrow Eye, Su Yurou, A Wang, Scarface Liu, and Jiang Yelan took their seats on either side.

"We won't move on the sixth floor for the time being."

Everyone responded in unison.

Lin Feng leaned against the back of his chair and closed his eyes.

Sixth floor: Silver Dragon, Dragon Knight, Advanced Class Change Book, Silver Dragon Egg.

Two more months, two hundred points in the probability pool—there should be enough time.

...

Over the next three days, Lin Feng hardly stopped moving.

Early on the first day, he set out from Lucky Town through the morning mist, crossed the golden waves of grass on the Golden Ear Plain, and headed straight for North Slope Village.

At a speed of twenty meters per second, the columns of smoke rising above North Slope Village appeared in his field of vision in less than two hours.

It wasn't just one column, but dozens of them, packed closely together like a forest of gray.

North Slope Village had changed.

In just a dozen days, this former subsidiary village had become a massive smelting factory.

Over thirty smelting furnaces were lined up along the foot of the mountain; each furnace was over two people tall, their chambers burning a mixture of Red Nitre Stone Mine powder and charcoal, the orange-red firelight illuminating half the sky.

The smelting workers in front of the furnaces were bare-chested and drenched in sweat.

Some were adding ore to the furnaces, some were raking the charcoal fires with long iron hooks, and others were carrying crucibles from the furnaces to the molding area.

The molding area was filled with rows of stone molds; silver-white liquid Mithril was poured from the edges of the crucibles, flowing into the grooves of the molds to cool, solidify, and take shape.

Over a hundred smelting workers bustled between the thirty-odd furnaces.

Tian Zheng stood in front of the central furnace, holding an iron hook, directing several young craftsmen to adjust the furnace temperature.

The dark circles under his eyes looked as if he had been punched twice; his hair was a mess, his beard was unshaven, and his clothes were covered in gray-white mineral dust and scorch marks.

Lin Feng walked up to him, and it wasn't until then that Tian Zheng noticed. He quickly put down the iron hook and bowed in greeting. "Lord, you've come."

"You've worked hard." Lin Feng looked at his exhausted appearance after several sleepless nights and felt a bit of pity. "Haven't slept much these past few days?"

Tian Zheng gave a bitter smile and wiped the soot from his forehead with his sleeve.

"I've slept, but not soundly. The furnaces can't stop; once they do, the temperature drops, and the quality of the Mithril becomes unstable.

I have the craftsmen working in two shifts—twelve hours on, twelve hours off.

It's hard for me to shift, so I watch during the day and keep an eye out at night, just dozing off by the furnace when I'm tired."

He pointed to a straw mat in the corner, on which lay a thin blanket and a half-drunk bowl of tea.

"I have to say, sleeping by the furnace is quite warm—more comfortable than a heated bed."

Lin Feng didn't call him out on it; next to that straw mat were seven or eight empty potion bottles used for staying alert.

"How is the Mithril production going?" Lin Feng asked.

Tian Zheng walked to the molding area, picked up a cooled and shaped Mithril ingot, and presented it to Lin Feng with both hands.

The silver-white metal surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting a gentle luster under the firelight, and felt heavy in the hand.

"Lord, with all thirty-plus furnaces running, each furnace smelts thirty units of raw ore at a time to produce ten units of pure Mithril."

Tian Zheng counted on his fingers.

"Within three days, we will definitely be able to gather one thousand two hundred units of Mithril, if not more."

Lin Feng took the Mithril ingot and weighed it in his hand.

A cold sensation traveled from his palm, but after holding it for a while, a hint of warmth emanated from deep within the metal.

He nodded and returned the Mithril ingot to Tian Zheng. "Good. Once this busy period is over, give everyone three days off, with plenty of wine and meat."

Tian Zheng grinned, revealing teeth yellowed by the furnace smoke. "Lord, with those words from you, the brothers will work even harder."

Lin Feng patted his shoulder and turned to walk toward the mine shaft.

The entrance to the North Slope Village mine shaft had expanded considerably since before.

Miners pushed ore carts with hurried steps, their faces covered in a layer of gray-white mineral dust, leaving only two bright eyes visible.

Lin Feng did not take the lift basket but instead walked down the spiral mine path along the shaft wall.

The mine path was much wider than before, with wooden supports every few steps; torches were inserted into iron rings on the supports, lighting the path brightly.

The further down he went, the cooler the air became, but the damp, rotten smell was gone, replaced by the scent of ore mixed with sweat.

Deep in the mine, five or six hundred miners were busy working in two shifts.

Some were hacking at the rock with pickaxes, some were loading ore with shovels, and others were pushing ore carts along the tracks.

The Mithril veins meandered along the rock walls, their silver-white patterns looking like sleeping silver snakes {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} under the torchlight.

Tian Jian squatted by a tunnel face, holding a piece of freshly chiseled ore, examining the patterns against the torchlight.

Seeing Lin Feng approach, he quickly stood up, brushed the dust off his knees, and couldn't hide the excitement on his face.

"Lord! You're here! The Mithril grade in the Number Five Drift has risen again! For the raw ore mined yesterday, the smelting ratio dropped from three-to-one to two-point-eight-to-one—two-point-eight units of raw ore can produce one unit of pure Mithril!"

Lin Feng took the ore from his hand and looked at it; the silver-white patterns on the cross-section were indeed denser than before, almost merging into sheets.

He returned the ore to Tian Jian and asked, "Are there enough miners? Are there any difficulties?"

Tian Jian rubbed his hands and thought for a moment. "We have enough people, over six hundred working two shifts day and night. It's just that the pickaxes wear out too quickly; Mithril ore is much harder than iron ore, and a pickaxe goes dull in less than three days. Master Tian Zheng is already gathering iron materials, planning to forge a batch of alloy pickaxes specifically for the miners—with added tin, the hardness can be significantly increased."

Lin Feng nodded. "If you need any supplies, go directly to Zhang Ping."

Tian Jian was overjoyed and repeatedly cupped his hands in gratitude.

Lin Feng walked around the mine, spoke a few words to some miners, and then returned to the surface.

The sunlight made him squint; he took a deep breath of fresh air, and looking at the bustling smelting factory and the mine entrance in North Slope Village, he felt much more at ease.

Mithril, one thousand two hundred units, would be ready in three days.

The Great Wall... soon.