CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 42: THE FIRST SIDE EFFECT

The discovery of the Spirit Crystal mine is obviously a major event.

Zhang Heng appeared very excited and quickly inquired about all the details with Lin Qianxuan to confirm the situation.

After almost confirming the situation, he said to Lin Qianxuan, "If it’s true, Xiao Lin, you’ve achieved a great merit this time!"

"Is there a reward?" Lin Qianxuan asked.

"Of course, according to the current national regulations, the discoverer is eligible to receive one to five percent of the spiritual mineral shares," Zhang Heng said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qianxuan was slightly taken aback.

Getting shares just by discovering it was indeed a bit unexpected.

He thought at most they would just award some points or something.

But thinking about it, if they only gave points, he estimated that even if someone discovered it, they wouldn’t announce it but rather keep it secret.

In fact, even if they would give one to five percent, Lin Qianxuan felt that very few people would directly report the discovered spirit mine.

The market price of Spirit Crystals is very high, and even a small piece is worth a hundred yuan, and it usually only increases, not decreases.

And the value of this thing cannot simply be measured in money in many cases.

Unless an individual can’t mine it, or the difficulty of mining is too high, otherwise Lin Qianxuan believes that more people would only think about keeping it to themselves.

Lin Qianxuan also had his private desires and wanted to monopolize it himself, but unfortunately, he couldn’t.

However, after reporting it up, he felt much more relaxed.

Anyway, he had already obtained quite a bit, so there wasn’t any need to be too greedy.

.....

Kyoto.

Headquarters of the Otherworld Bureau.

Zhang Heng looked reflective after ending the call with Lin Qianxuan.

"No wonder he’s of the Dragon Bloodline that’s so favored by the country’s destiny!"

The Dragon Bloodline on this land can almost be considered destined by fate.

After all, it is an existence born from a common belief.

With the support of the masses, they naturally also share in more fortune.

Correspondingly, they often give back more benefits to the country, allowing everyone to live better lives.

.....

Lin Qianxuan couldn’t wait until the next day.

Almost that night, someone from the Longjiang City branch of the Otherworld Bureau called him.

The local survey team and members of the Otherworld Bureau in Longjiang City arrived at the riverside around midnight.

Leading the team was a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing black combat attire.

After seeing Lin Qianxuan, he first showed his credentials.

"You must be the special consultant from headquarters, Mr. Lin. Let me introduce myself, I’m Wei Zhi, the captain of the first team of the Longjiang City branch of the Otherworld Bureau," Wei Zhi said.

Lin Qianxuan nodded and also showed his credentials, saying, "That’s me."

After seeing Lin Qianxuan’s credentials, Wei Zhi saluted him.

Lin Qianxuan’s level was relatively high, and he could be on par with a sub-director of the branch.

Of course, it was only a title without real authority.

It was equivalent to adding the word "honorary" to the position title.

"This is Luo Zhi, Professor Luo, who has a lot of experience in exploring spirit mines." After confirming each other’s information, Wei Zhi pointed to the person leading the exploration team and introduced him to Lin Qianxuan.

This was a middle-aged man wearing glasses and carrying a bunch of equipment, with a strong wave of spiritual power emanating from him, which Lin Qianxuan felt was at least the mid-stage of the Condensing Essence Realm.

"Nice to meet you." Lin Qianxuan extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Luo Zhi nodded in response.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Luo Zhi got straight to the point.

"May I ask where you discovered the spirit mine, Mr. Lin?" Luo Zhi inquired.

"In the center of the river downstream, about three hundred meters underground," Lin Qianxuan replied.

"Three hundred meters underground? How did you manage that, Mr. Lin?" Luo Zhi asked, puzzled.

"Mental probing, don’t you guys do that?" Lin Qianxuan countered.

He had seen other Transcendents sharing posts about the use of spiritual power in the community too.

There were quite a number of people who could directly explore the outside world.

"Well, not exactly, but even the specialized Transcendents in spiritual sense usually find it hard to probe more than a hundred meters away. You do have exceptional talent in this area, Mr. Lin," Luo Zhi responded.

Lin Qianxuan blinked his eyes.

Luo Zhi said specialized Transcendents could only go about a hundred meters?

His spiritual power’s probing limit seemed to be over three thousand meters and was still increasing at a steady pace.

Is the gap between people really that wide?

"You flatter me, Professor Luo," Lin Qianxuan replied.

"Shall we go sampling then?" Luo Zhi suggested.

The crowd could say nothing more, and naturally expressed their agreement.

Luo Zhi and the others immediately took out a series of devices, and an underwater drilling drone was sent into the river.

Guided by Lin Qianxuan, it made its way to Guagua’s cave.

"The concentration of Spiritual Power here is noticeably higher than in other places, suggesting a high possibility of a Spirit Vein presence; it shouldn’t be a mere accumulation-type Spirit Crystal mine."

Luo Zhi, upon seeing the information feedback on the display screen, looked slightly excited.

Lin Qianxuan asked curiously, "Professor, are there different types of spiritual ores?"

"Of course, based on the types of spiritual ores we’ve currently detected, we’ve classified them into fourteen categories, for instance, the accumulation-type Spirit Crystal mine is the most common type of spiritual ore, mainly formed by a sudden gathering of a large amount of Spiritual Energy for some reason, which then infiltrates the surrounding soil and metals, causing them to crystallize. This type of Spirit Crystal mine is a non-renewable resource, and once it’s mined out, it holds no more value..." Luo Zhi explained.

"Among them, the rarest is the Spirit Vein. The so-called Spirit Vein is a vein that can continuously generate Spiritual Energy and consistently produce Spirit Crystals, making it a renewable resource. As long as it is well-maintained, it can consistently and steadily produce Spirit Crystals."

Lin Qianxuan seemed to have an understanding and then asked the key question.

"Why can a Spirit Vein continuously generate Spiritual Energy?"

"On this point, we do not have a definitive answer yet, but there are several hypotheses. The most mainstream hypothesis is that the space where the Spirit Vein is located is highly connected to a world rich in Spiritual Energy, and due to the pressure difference in Spiritual Energy concentration between the two worlds, it can continuously draw Spiritual Energy from the Otherworld," Luo Zhi said.

Lin Qianxuan nodded.

According to this theory, a Spirit Vein is essentially a space fissure constantly emitting Spiritual Energy?

But it seemed somewhat inappropriate.

At this moment, the exploration machine had already followed the path deep into Guagua’s lair, and along the way, it began to spot dense Spirit Crystals appearing on the walls.

A student under Luo Zhi’s guidance operated the machine, sampling the nearby soil and also taking a few pieces of Spirit Crystals.

Then the exploration machine ventured further.

Suddenly, a massive figure blocked the way ahead.

"Ribbit~!"

Guagua gazed curiously at the exploration machine, appearing somewhat puzzled.

Meanwhile, the exploration machine’s surrounding cameras caught sight of Guagua’s figure the very next moment.

"What a giant frog!!" The student operating the exploration machine was startled.

"Is this the creature Mr. Lin mentioned?" Luo Zhi asked.

Lin Qianxuan had already provided detailed information to Zhang Heng in advance, naturally not overlooking Guagua.

Incidentally, Lin Qianxuan also mentioned that Guagua was his frog and could understand his words.

"That’s right, I was fishing here before and saw it a few times. Later, I fed it some bait, and it’s also the one that gave me Spirit Crystals, so I found out there was a Spirit Crystal mine below," Lin Qianxuan said. "Professor Luo, you can rest assured, it hasn’t harmed anyone and can understand a bit of my words, so it won’t do anything to the exploration machine."

Indeed, that was the case; upon receiving Lin Qianxuan’s Spiritual transmission command, Guagua ignored the exploration machine and even voluntarily made way for it.

"By the way, Professor Luo, what will you do with this creature afterward?" Lin Qianxuan said, "It’s quite conscientious and hasn’t harmed anyone, just staying here cultivating orderly."

Luo Zhi said, "The country’s attitude towards such creatures is currently to avoid conflict if possible, and mutual cooperation for win-win outcomes is the best. If it wishes, perhaps it could continue living here; we will try our best not to disturb it."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qianxuan felt that the state had considered things quite thoroughly.

"Is there a possibility of recruiting it as one of our own?" Lin Qianxuan asked.

"Uh... it’s not without precedent, but it requires a certain level of Wisdom, at least to the extent of normal communication," Luo Zhi said.

"It’s quite intelligent; I’ll talk to it later to see," Lin Qianxuan said.

Lin Qianxuan felt quite fond of Guagua.

An all-day slumbering frog lying in its own nest couldn’t have any bad intentions, right?

Moreover, after recognizing Lin Qianxuan as its boss, it readily offered its good things first-hand; Lin Qianxuan felt it would be worthwhile to secure some benefits for it.

After struggling for most of the night, the initial exploration work was considered complete.

Luo Zhi concluded with a smile, "There is at least a 90% chance of a Spirit Vein presence here, and that’s excellent news!"

Wei Zhi and the others beside him felt quite happy too.

If there was a rich mine locally, their conditions and benefits could be slightly improved.

"When will the specific mining take place?" Lin Qianxuan asked.

"We will provide the exploration results as soon as possible, and the specific mining regulations should be completed this month. By then, relevant supporting facilities will gradually arrive. Fortunately, there aren’t many people around here, so there shouldn’t be a need for relocation. By mid-August at the latest, formal mining should commence," Luo Zhi said.

Lin Qianxuan nodded.

When it comes to spiritual ore, the official actions are indeed swift.

Under normal circumstances, completing procedures in a month is more or less impossible.

After the matters concluded, Wei Zhi invited Lin Qianxuan to have a late-night snack.

Lin Qianxuan unreservedly joined for a meal.

Having hot pot in the middle of the night, it was impressive that Wei Zhi could find a place.

And it was at this time that Lin Qianxuan discovered his first side effect after inheriting the Dragon Bloodline.

He couldn’t taste spiciness.

Because spiciness is a pain sensation.

And with his defense maxed out, even eating chili like food and drinking hot oil like soup might not penetrate his defenses. Feeling pain would be somewhat of a luxury.

Potentially, he might have to bid farewell to spiciness in the future.

Being from Longjiang City, known for being the best at tolerating spiciness, he now couldn’t taste spicy food; what kind of torture was this?

Feeling a bit melancholic, Lin Qianxuan finished this entirely unspicy hot pot meal without drinking a drop of water, leaving Wei Zhi and the others somewhat doubting whether they had indeed ordered extra spicy pot.