The Peerless Ring

"Do you want to learn the skill of butchering? Sure, no problem!"Aunt Wang nodded in agreement without a moment's hesitation upon hearing Jaxon's intention.

Jaxon was moved to the verge of tears.

Why was there such a huge difference between people? Look at Aunt Wang, how generous and magnanimous she was. Compare her to Mr. Liu from the general store and the old village chief; the contrast was just too stark.

"Thank you, Aunt Wang," Jaxon said gratefully.

"Being so polite with me?" Aunt Wang said. "By the way, my cooking skills are quite good. Would you like to learn?"

"Well..." To be honest, Jaxon wasn't particularly interested in cooking, but seeing the expectant look on Aunt Wang's face, he couldn't bear to refuse and nodded, saying, "Yes, I've always thought your cooking was excellent and wanted to learn from you."

"Really? That's great!" As expected, upon hearing that Jaxon was willing to learn, Aunt Wang was overjoyed. "My cooking skills are not just talk; they are top-notch across the entire continent. It's just a pity that in this village, no one is willing to learn from me. I'm so glad you're interested. I'll definitely teach you with all my heart."

"Congratulations, you have received the instruction of the culinary master Wang Yanni, learned cooking and butchering skills, and both have been upgraded to an advanced level!"

The familiar mechanical voice sounded again in Jaxon's ear, leaving him stunned once more.

Another master?

Although it was just a culinary master, it was still a master. Becoming a master in any field was extremely difficult, even in the culinary world.

Could it be that the old village chief was not lying when he said that the people in their village were all top-notch in their respective fields across the continent? Was it true?

What kind of place was this? A "beginner village," and yet it had so many masters?

Jaxon left Aunt Wang's place in shock, then reluctantly spent a gold coin to buy a butchering knife from the general store. Knowing only the skill of butchering but not having the right tool was obviously not going to work, so even though he didn't want to deal with that swindler, he had no choice but to go.

With everything prepared, Jaxon was full of ambition and ready to leave the village to kill monsters and make money. However, when he reached the village entrance, he saw someone standing there, sighing sorrowfully.

A quest?!

Seeing this scene, Jaxon immediately thought of a quest. This person was clearly in trouble, and if the villagers were in trouble, it meant there was a quest for him to take. Jaxon quickly ran over.

"Grandpa Sun, is there something wrong?" Jaxon asked.

The person sighing was none other than Sun the blacksmith from the village.

"Are you Jaxon? The new guy?"

"Yes."

"Well, the thing is, the ore in my blacksmith shop is running low. I wanted to go and mine some more, but the mine ahead has been occupied by a group of monsters. With my old arms and legs, I can't fight them, so I dare not go mining. I'm really worried about the ore," Sun the blacksmith said with a worried expression.

"I see. What kind of ore do you need? I'll go and mine it for you," Jaxon said.

This was clearly a quest, just like the herb-gathering quest from Old Li before. Jaxon naturally understood.

"You? No, no, those monsters are too powerful. You'll be in great danger if you go," Sun the blacksmith looked at Jaxon and shook his head.

Unexpectedly, the quest wasn't that easy to take on.

"I'll be careful, it'll be fine," Jaxon said. "And if I find it too dangerous, I'll retreat first."

"Hmm, alright then. You must be careful," although Sun the blacksmith was still worried about Jaxon's safety, he was also anxious about the lack of ore in his shop. So, after thinking for a moment, he agreed: "I'll teach you the skills of identifying and mining ore first. That way, you won't make any mistakes."

"Great!" Jaxon was delighted. Sun the blacksmith was a sensible person. He didn't even need to be asked and took the initiative to teach him skills.

Subsequently, Jaxon successfully learned the skills of identifying and mining ore and obtained a mining pickaxe from Sun the blacksmith.

Seeing Sun the blacksmith casually pick up a pickaxe from the side, Jaxon suspected that the other party knew he was going to leave the village and was waiting for him here. Otherwise, how could he have prepared a pickaxe in advance?

The mine Sun the blacksmith mentioned was not far from the beginner's village. Jaxon didn't have a clear target before, so he might as well go directly to the mine, mining while killing monsters to make money.

Jaxon wasn't particularly interested in killing monsters. Cultivating the land and supplementing reality was much better. If it weren't for making money to lease the vacant land on the hill, Jaxon wouldn't want to leave the village at all. After all, killing enemies was prone to getting hurt. And getting hurt here was no different from getting hurt in reality. It would bleed and hurt. The only advantage was that once he returned to reality, the wounds would heal, and there wouldn't even be a scar. Otherwise, Jaxon would be even more reluctant to kill monsters.

Before long, Jaxon arrived near the mine. There was a clear cave entrance there. Jaxon looked around and saw no monsters, so he carefully walked in.

Inside the cave, there were signs of mining on both sides. This cave was obviously an old one, and most of the ore inside had been mined. Jaxon searched for a while before finding an area that hadn't been mined yet.

The skill of identifying ore came in handy at this moment.

"Inferior iron ore: Iron ore with a lot of impurities. After refining, it can be used to forge weapons."

"Inferior copper ore: Copper ore with a lot of impurities. After refining, it can be used to forge weapons."

"Inferior silver ore: Contains..."

The area Jaxon found was mainly composed of iron ore, with a small amount of copper ore and silver ore. After all, this was not the real world, so there was not only one type of ore in the cave. However, the quality of these ores was not good. They all contained a lot of impurities.

Sun the blacksmith had mentioned this situation before. The good ore had long been mined out, and what was left was of average or poor quality. After mining, Sun the blacksmith still had to refine it before it could be used for forging. Fortunately, Sun the blacksmith's skills seemed to be good, and refining was not a problem for him.

Since he had found the ore, Jaxon began to mine it.

Mining ore was clearly a labor-intensive task, much more tiring than gathering herbs before.

"Why can't it be like in normal games, where you just sit here and click the progress bar?" Jaxon complained while swinging the pickaxe.

At that moment, Jaxon suddenly heard a rustling sound. His face changed, and he stopped his actions, looking nervously towards the direction of the sound, which was from the depths of the cave.

Monsters?