Player Reload
Chapter 373: Modified - 342 Collecting Books

Chapter 373: Modified: Chapter 342 Collecting Books

Li Cheng took out another stack of documents and said loudly, "I specifically consulted some top cultivators in the Cultivation World and found that several medium-sized sects are already interested in this.

All experts agree that there’s still great room for optimization in the existing mining techniques. The only thing lacking is the massive initial investment.

With Xiao Shui Sect’s financial resources, it can easily invite seventy to eighty experts and scholars to work together on optimizing the techniques. At the same time, they could invest thirty to forty million Spirit Stones to construct a super-large Spirit Vein mining machine and recruit volunteers to assist in the mining.

Other sects would inevitably join in to avoid being left behind. Xiao Shui Sect could then leverage its technical advantage to sell mining machines, akin to selling shovels to gold diggers, and make another profit."

The mortals were dumbfounded, while the players collectively struggled to hold their composure,

this pattern was all too familiar. Nvidia’s meteoric rise due to Bitcoin and selling high-performance cards, surpassing Apple to become the most valuable company, right?

"Wait,"

Arctic suddenly had a bright idea and said, "If everyone starts mining, won’t the Spirit Stone market become chaotic? Mines everywhere would ruin environmental protection and sustainable development.

If we follow your plan, when the nature’s spiritual energy is depleted, and the environment collapses, who will be held accountable to the billions of mortals?"

"It won’t become chaotic."

Having anticipated the opposition, Li Cheng replied unflustered, "Just like the water cycle, the spiritual energy in the mortal world will also circulate and not disappear into thin air; it will only transform into another form.

Spirit Veins nourish Spirit Stones, which are absorbed by monks, and when monks die, their souls return to the heavens and the earth, offering their spiritual energy back.

Additionally, since the Spirit Veins are interconnected, with occasional spiritual energy tides or fluctuations, the overall mining efficiency in the mortal world will dynamically adjust. Blindly opening mines would result in losses."

Dammit!

Arctic watched the smiling Ant nervously, grinding his teeth.

Originally, they thought that gathering ironclad evidence of Xiao Shui Star Lord Qilin’s illegitimate child meant their victory was assured, but they didn’t expect this kid to switch lanes entirely.

"Nowadays, various business models in the mortal world are already very mature, be it agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, metallurgy, mining, food and beverage, entertainment, transportation... All industries are saturated, and urgently need new stories to absorb investment funds."

Li Cheng said, "Nominally, Xiao Shui Sect is among the top three in the mortal world, but in reality, many old sects are silently above it.

It’s a once-in-a-millennium great upheaval, and whether Xiao Shui Sect can take it up a notch depends on now."

Howard took a deep breath and whispered to Miao Yin, "Layman Miao Yin, these are just his theories without reliable evidence and practical proof. He’s trying to disrupt your resolve to make you give in now..."

Miao Yin raised her hand to interrupt her lawyer. After a brief consideration, she said to Li Cheng, "I will not give in. I can still gain control of the Xiao Shui Sect Group."

"That’s true, but don’t forget about timing."

Li Cheng straightforwardly said, "The division of equity is an enormous project, potentially dragging on for two or three years, or even longer. By then, other sects will have completed their mega mining machines, and the opportunity will be lost.

For both parties, the plan that maximizes benefits is to cancel the divorce. In the face of the immense future benefits within our grasp, enlarging the pie is more important than dividing it."

"..."

Miao Yin Layman fell into a long silence, eyes squinting as she rapidly calculated and weighed the pros and cons, "I choose..."

————

A hundred and fifty years later.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The piercing sound of a broken gong echoed through the mountains.

A row of dark black dump-style mine cars slowly emerged from the several-thousand-meter-deep pit.

On the mine cars sat nearly a hundred Golden Core Practitioners, covered in dirt and wearing miner’s uniforms.

A hundred and fifty years ago, a Golden Core Practitioner could establish a sect, serve as a state preceptor, or even receive an audience with a Major Sect Elder.

But now, with the mining machines popularizing in the mortal world and large-scale production of Spirit Stones making cultivation easier, cultivators became less valuable.

"Your wages are calculated based on your work. Here you go."

At the mine exit, a burly Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator held a card reader and swiped it across the Golden Core miners’ badges.

"Huh?! Only 0.5 Spirit Stone?!"

The miner at the front suddenly changed his expression and shouted, "Why have the wages dropped again?"

"The economic environment is bad, market fluctuations, and company operational adjustments."

The Nascent Soul foreman didn’t even look up, coldly saying, "Don’t you know the reasons well? Move along, don’t block the way."

The Golden Core miner yelled, "I mine for eight hours a day, earning the company so much money, and this little wage can’t even afford the necessary food and medicine to maintain my level! I protest!"

"If you’re capable, don’t do it. There are plenty of people who will. You’re already one hundred and thirty-five years old, should have been optimized out long ago. See if you can find a job after resignation.

Any privately owned mining machine costs thousands of Spirit Stones nowadays and also damages the environment, breaking the law."

The Nascent Soul foreman glanced at him, a few more Nascent Soul henchmen stepping forward. The Golden Core miner trembled with anger but ultimately took his badge and left quietly.

The foreman sneered, "Next."

The second miner, his face full of dust, glanced at the 0.4 Spirit Stone wages on his card, and pleaded bitterly, "Sir, could you add a bit more? I have two kids at home. I promised to take them to the zoo this week."

"Not my problem, I didn’t ask you to have kids. Next."

The foreman waved him off impatiently, pausing slightly as he saw the third miner.

The third miner was a skinny girl, although 15 years old, legal age for labor, her face was still too tender and young.

However, the foreman only paused for a second.

These days, each mine was under extreme competition, gender and age meant nothing against mining efficiency.

"Your wage."

The foreman swiped the card; the girl named Ruo Shui silently retrieved her badge, put her mining helmet in the basket, and stepped out of the mine.

A hundred and fifty years ago, that mysterious person called Ant left behind a "Spirit Stone Mine White Paper," initiating the era of universal mining.

In the book, he claimed that mining wouldn’t harm the environment and would liberate productivity, leading to widespread wealth.

However, the reality was individual miners couldn’t compete with the massive sects, the Spirit Veins and Spirit Stones were monopolized by a few giant conglomerates,

who used financial power to inflate machine prices, raise entry barriers, and influence the Immortal Court to revise laws, citing environmental protection to prevent ordinary monks from setting up private mines.

Today, the number of cultivators in the mortal world is at an all-time high, with more Great Mahayana Stage cultivators than ever before, it’s a golden age of cultivation.

But, what’s the cost...

Ruo Shui turned around, gazing at the mountains.

All the peaks were barren, without a trace of vegetation.

What was once lush Cave Heaven Blessed Lands were now hollowed out,

the Eternal Bright floodlights made from Deep-sea Giant Whale oil illuminated the dark pits as bright as day,

standing on high, one could clearly see thousands of cultivators of various levels lying in the Spirit Veins, using their Divine Souls as computing tools to gather spiritual energy, catalyzing Spirit Stones.

This was the so-called golden age of cultivation.

"..."

In silence, the girl stepped onto a shared flying sword, heading home.

The sewage-ridden slums, the dilapidated shacks.

A blind old man heard the key turn in the lock and croaked, "Ruo Shui is back?"

"Yes, Grandpa, I’m back."

The girl put down the groceries and, instead of cooking, took some syringes from the corner of a hidden cabinet and injected herself several times.

The ironic truth was that as a miner, the miners themselves couldn’t afford Spirit Stones.

With mining machines rampant, all nature’s spiritual energy concentrated in the Spirit Veins, ordinary cultivators had to resort to various drugs, burning their potential, health, and longevity, to maintain their level.

Otherwise, once their level dropped, they couldn’t find jobs and couldn’t even afford basic food containing minimal spiritual energy, leading to starvation.

"..."

The blind elder heard the syringe pushing liquid and showed a grief-stricken expression, slapping himself, "It’s all my fault! Why did I lead that Ant back then! I should’ve killed him!"

That elder was Zi Hong, the little Daoist who led the lawyers’ teams a hundred and fifty years ago.

As for why he lost his iron rice bowl in the Immortal Court, it’s a classic story of someone investing everything in the Spirit Stone market and losing it all.

This story had been played out countless times in the mortal world over the past one hundred and fifty years.

The old man fell into recollection, cursing the Ant on the sofa over and over. Ruo Shui had grown used to this routine, focusing on cooking, occasionally responding.

A hundred and fifty years was too short, some witnesses from the past era weren’t all dead yet and could still recall the past’s beauty.

A hundred and fifty years was also too long, long enough for the younger generation to regard the old stories as distant, blurry legends.

Late at night, Ruo Shui lay in bed, unable to sleep. She reached under her pillow and pulled out what was said to be an original edition of the "Spirit Stone Mine White Paper."

This book was well-preserved, priced at a thousand Spirit Stones, the most valuable item in their small home.

This book was the only thing that faintly proved their family’s once glorious history.

As a Golden Core Cultivator, Ruo Shui couldn’t afford a light, nor could she afford the spiritual power consumption of a spell to produce light, so she read the book by the streetlamp outside.

Through the text of the book, she glimpsed a corner of the mysterious person, called a genius, demon, culprit, instigator,

who personally initiated the mining era, envisioning the future a thousand years later,

leaving behind a Black Book aside from the "Spirit Stone Mine White Paper," teaching how to break the monopoly of major sects, giving lower-level cultivators the power to resist.

"Such a thing, how could it be possible..."

Ruo Shui shook her head; the burden of life left her no energy to even smile bitterly. Just as she habitually closed the pages, ready to sleep,

she accidentally knocked over a glass on the nightstand, soaking the pages with turbid tap water (pure water was part of the Spirit Vein, monopolized by major sects).

The ink didn’t smudge but, under the light, revealed hidden text.

"Huh... huh?!"

A thrill reached her soul. Ruo Shui sat up abruptly and read the words in disbelief, one by one.

"Spirit Stone Mine Black Book, Chapter One: Decentralizing private miners by the willpower of the masses, breaking the monopoly of professional mining machines.

Chapter Two: Mining machine firmware virus.

Chapter Three: Blockchain eclipse attack.

Chapter Four: Spirit Vein idle trap..."

The Black Book was real!

Ruo Shui didn’t realize that, due to excitement, her nails were deeply embedded in her flesh. Like a stranded fish, she focused all her attention, silently reciting the words on the paper.

"Hello, little ones of the mortal world. This is Ant.

In the first batch of one hundred thousand copies of the "Spirit Stone Mine White Paper," I left this "Black Book."

I don’t know if you will discover it, nor do I know if the major sects will find and destroy this batch of books.

But I believe, where there is oppression, there is resistance.

When the major sects use massive Spirit Stones to build an invincible fortress to oppress the world, the first crack has already appeared on the castle walls.

Remember, "The Dao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things."

Computing power is not power, unity is power.

Spirit Stones are not castles, united will is the true fortress.

Note: This document is encrypted using the "Illusion Concealing Spell." Only those with a heart for the public good can see the full text; otherwise, the words will transform into the "Joyful Union Sect’s Thirty-Six Private Techniques."