Chapter 377 - 257: Earth Pivot’s Journey: Spirit Within the Land — Qinling Alchemy, Longevity Bowl Receiving Radiance, Dragon Vein Restoration (Part 2)
Chapter 377: Chapter 257: Earth Pivot’s Journey: Spirit Within the Land — Qinling Alchemy, Longevity Bowl Receiving Radiance, Dragon Vein Restoration (Part 2)
Jiang Cai’Er grew shy, a blush blooming on her lovely cheeks and adding to her radiance. Her hair was pulled back into a cute half-bun, but it couldn’t conceal her intellectual air.
Li Xiang laughed. "Grandma, let’s at least wait until Cai’Er is done with her college entrance exams. Otherwise, everyone will tear me to shreds."
In another timeline, plenty of people had already called him a cradle robber, and some had even threatened to report him. Despite being one of the most powerful fighters on the planet, Li Xiang still trembled before that mysterious force. That was why he didn’t dare cross any lines; the two of them had strictly respected their boundaries to this day.
"Yes, yes, no rush. Ever since Xiang’Er came back, I feel like these old bones of mine are getting stronger by the day. I can definitely last another seven or eight years, no problem. I’ll absolutely live to see my great-grandchildren, haha." Grandma’s laughter was hearty. The more she looked at Jiang Cai’Er, the more she liked her.
’Truth be told, I do want to have a lot of children,’ Li Xiang thought. ’In a chaotic era, the more descendants you have, the more stable and powerful your faction becomes. Otherwise, who’s going to inherit such a massive legacy? I can’t just let it all fall into the hands of outsiders, can I?’
’Take Murong Fu, for example. He wanted to restore the Great Yan and spent all day "prioritizing the great cause." He left his gorgeous cousin untouched and just ran around making a fuss everywhere. He completely missed the point; his thinking was muddled.’
’All he had to do was marry a few more wives and focus on making babies and raising children in the early stages. He could have had a few hundred of them; his family was rich, it’s not like they couldn’t afford it. With the Murong Family’s inherited Martial Arts and genes, even if not every child became a mighty warrior, at least eighty percent of them would. If each of them led just a thousand soldiers, that would be a massive force combined. Conquering the world with such a powerful army would have been within reach.’
’And since they’d all be his own sons, they would share a common goal before the world was conquered, so loyalty wouldn’t be an issue. At worst, you might get a "nine sons fighting for the throne" situation down the line.’
After dinner and finishing the chores, Li Xiang took Jiang Cai’Er by the hand. In a secluded spot, they sank into the ground, using Earth Escape to travel toward the Qinling Mountain Range.
He could now travel four to five hundred kilometers per hour with his Earth Escape Technique. The Qinling Mountain Range was only about six or seven hundred kilometers from his home as the crow flies. With a beautiful girl in his arms, the journey of just over an hour flew by.
Li Xiang showed Jiang Cai’Er the various mineral veins he had previously scouted. Jiang Cai’Er identified each one, her assessments proving to be almost perfectly accurate.
In addition to gold, silver, and lead-zinc ores, there were also deposits of molybdenum, rare earth elements, uranium, Lantian jade, graphite, native bismuth and bismuthinite, and calaverite.
Some of the deposits were highly radioactive. The uranium ore, for example, was extremely potent, dense with various forms of radiation and radioactive energy. Pockets of radon gas had also accumulated in some of the natural underground fissures.
Fortunately, Li Xiang always wore his Giant Whale Saint Armor while traveling underground, and Jiang Cai’Er had her Purple Mirage Armor for protection, so the radioactive energy couldn’t harm them.
An ordinary person, on the other hand, would have been in for a world of trouble—deformities, cancer... they’d be afflicted by all sorts of illnesses.
For each mineral vein, Jiang Cai’Er marked its location, compiled the data into tables using her Quantum Computer, and stored everything in her Memory Palace.
She made special note of the dangerous, radioactive zones. These areas were located deep underground, leaving the surface unaffected.
Li Xiang’s knowledge grew immensely as he followed Jiang Cai’Er. He was a diligent student. As she made her identifications, she also explained the typical characteristics of various types of Ore and how to distinguish them. Li Xiang committed it all to memory so that he would be able to roughly recognize them the next time he came across them.
After all, Jiang Cai’Er had to attend school and focus on her studies. Once she got into college, she would have her own research projects. She couldn’t just spend all her time gallivanting around with him.
When Li Xiang brought up refining gold ore, he took out the gold dinnerware and gold bracelets he had made earlier to show her.
"These gold bracelets are hideous. Let me help you with the design." Jiang Cai’Er smiled, a little speechless at his artistic sensibilities.
"Nobody’s perfect, and you’re a little lacking in this department. But that’s okay, just let your Cai’Er Baby fill in the gaps for you!" Jiang Cai’Er said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, teasing him.
Her knowledge was practically encyclopedic. The number of books and documents stored in her Memory Palace was countless. With a simple mental query, she pulled up a vast array of designs for gold bracelets.
She didn’t just copy them, either. Instead, she used her Quantum Computer to create virtual models, using the existing styles as a reference to iterate and develop new ones. In the end, she selected the eighteen most beautiful designs—all of them unique, innovative creations—and then used the Mirage Realm Attribute of her Purple Mirage Armor to manifest them as projections.
Li Xiang followed the designs she provided, re-forging the gold. It had to be said that after Jiang Cai’Er’s design input, the gold bracelets were brilliant and dazzling. They had jumped more than just one Level in quality.
"This one’s for you. Take this one back to my future mother-in-law. This one’s for your maternal grandmother, and this one for your aunt..." Li Xiang pressed the bracelets into Jiang Cai’Er’s hands one by one. He also kept a few for himself to give to his own grandmother, maternal grandmother, and Little Aunt.
’I should also send these designs to the Nine-Colored Deer Jewelry Shop,’ he thought. ’Besides jadeite, they also sell Gold Jewelry. These bracelet styles are so new and fashionable, they’re sure to be a huge hit.’
When Jiang Cai’Er caught on to his idea, she told him not to worry. Once they got back, she would send the virtual design files directly to his email. All he would have to do then was forward them.
As for the gold bracelets Li Xiang gave her, Jiang Cai’Er accepted them all without hesitation. As the future lady of the house, she already had a clear picture of Li Xiang’s wealth. What belonged to Li Xiang belonged to her; there was no need to act like strangers.
A few gold bracelets might seem incredibly valuable to outsiders, but to their family, it was nothing worth mentioning.