[The host deployed 1 Plankton Card in the aquatic zone of his divine realm, obtaining ten colonies of plankton. Divine rank experience +1.] [The host deployed 3 Small Rice Seed Cards in the plains zone of his divine realm, obtaining three mu of small rice paddies. Divine rank experience +3.] [The host deployed 2 Small Open-Pit Iron Mine Cards in the mountain zone of his divine realm, obtaining two small open-pit iron mines. Divine rank experience +2.] [The host deployed 1 Small Jade Gemstone Mine Card in the canyon zone of his divine realm, obtaining 1 jade gemstone mine cave. Divine rank experience +1.]
[Divine rank: Rank 0 (8/100)]
After deploying all the resource cards in his hands in one go, Zeng Shen looked at the divine rank displayed on the panel.
He nodded in satisfaction.
Soon, with a slight focus of his consciousness, he returned to his physical body. He turned, picked up Xiao Bai, opened the divine realm gate, and returned to his apartment's living room.
Then he closed the divine realm gate in the living room, opened it again, and stepped through.
In an instant.
This time, he did not appear before the entrance to the divine palace.
Instead, he appeared in a small canyon within his divine realm.
The small canyon resembled a groove scraped through rock by a gigantic comb. Its long curve linked several nearby hills, two thousand meters from the divine palace.
When he had deployed the Jade Gemstone Mine Card earlier.
Zeng Shen had spent quite some time choosing a location before finally settling on this small canyon and naming it Emerald Valley.
The canyon's mouth was wide enough for three cars to drive abreast. Farther inside, its walls gradually spread outward until the space was as large as a soccer field.
Extensive woods covered the cliffs and flat ground within.
Zeng Shen walked inward from the canyon's mouth. His field of vision steadily narrowed, filled with emerald-green plants.
As the terrain within the valley gradually descended.
A large cave set into the canyon wall came into view. This was the jade gemstone cave created by his Jade Gemstone Mine Card.
Vines hung over the entrance, weeds grew thickly, and the cave was dark and still.
From outside, it looked like a cave formed through countless years of weathering and geological change.
Yet flashes of colorful light shone from within now and then, lending the entire cave a mysterious, glittering air.
Zeng Shen pushed aside the vines, stepped over the weeds, and strode into the cave.
In an instant.
His eyes widened slightly.
Small corners of dark green jade protruded from the uneven mine walls, gleaming with jade's distinctive luster.
"I'm rich!"
"If I mined all this jade and took it out to sell, how much would it be worth?"
Zeng Shen crouched and picked up a piece of jade the size of a goose egg from the rubble at his feet.
The instant he touched the jade.
His mind jolted awake. He distinctly felt as though a special energy was about to flow out of the jade and into him, nourishing his body.
"Could this be some kind of divine-effect energy contained in the jade?"
After murmuring his guess, Zeng Shen used Eye of Observation on the jade in his hand.
[Jade: White-quality material. A jade stone containing an extremely faint trace of divine-effect energy. Wearing it over a long period can improve physical fitness.]
"Jade containing a faint trace of divine-effect energy is a white-quality material."
"If materials are graded by the same colors as the card draws, white quality should be the lowest tier.
"Then above it, there should be green, blue, purple, red, and gold quality."
After speculating about the material quality tiers, Zeng Shen lowered his head again and picked out several small pieces of jade the size of partridge eggs from the rubble on the cave floor.
Immediately afterward.
He used Eye of Observation again, hoping to verify his guess.
They all turned out to be white-quality materials.
"Could the drop rate for materials above white quality be low in a small jade gemstone mine?"
After forming a tentative idea of the mine's quality distribution, Zeng Shen put the dozen or so pieces of jade into his backpack space. Then he took out a green card, walked out of the cave, and focused his consciousness.
In an instant.
A black vehicle appeared, its body gleaming coldly, every corner packed with cutting-edge technology. It was eight meters long and three meters wide, with six wheels and a long, barrel-shaped cargo compartment.
It stood before him, looking like a mobile construction vehicle from Red Alert.
This vehicle was the Small Multifunctional Mining and Refining Vehicle.
Zeng Shen was not particularly interested in vehicles, but the sight of this mining vehicle still left him a little awestruck.
Without delay.
He opened the cab door.
The interior felt even more intelligent and futuristic.
He reached out and lightly touched the smart holographic screen on the cab's ceiling. Lights flickered on throughout the interior, and the screen vividly displayed operating statuses along with images and information for every part of the vehicle.
At the same time.
As he touched the vehicle components displayed on the screen, a succession of voice prompts sounded.
"Smart geological mineral survey mode. Tap to activate."
"Smart refining mode. Tap to activate."
"Smart radar..."
Zeng Shen tapped the prompt for smart mining mode.
Instantly, the entire small mining and refining vehicle gave a faint hum. A radar-like icon appeared on the cab's screen, followed by another series of voice announcements.
"Prospecting radar activated. One small jade gemstone mine detected within a thousand meters of this location. Composition: 60% stone, 35% jade, 5% gemstones. Would you like to excavate this mine?"
"Yes."
As soon as Zeng Shen spoke.
The automated mining and refining vehicle slowly turned around, drove to the entrance of the jade gemstone cave, and stopped. Then the rear door of its cargo compartment opened, and five robotic soldiers carrying mining tools emerged and slowly entered the cave.
The mining vehicle's display quickly showed footage of the five robotic soldiers excavating gemstones and jade inside the mine.
Zeng Shen tapped the information for one of the robotic soldiers, and its details soon appeared on the screen.
[Robotic Miner No. 001: Automated mining in progress. Current ore storage capacity: 100. (Tap here to switch to manual control.)]
Looking at the robotic miner's information, Zeng Shen felt that this small smart mining and refining vehicle resembled the Slave Miner from Red Alert's Yuri's Revenge expansion.
After watching for a while.
Zeng Shen tried controlling Robotic Miner No. 001 to manually excavate jade from the cave wall. He carefully maneuvered its robotic arms to chip away at the rock, spending an unknown amount of time before finally extracting a piece of jade the size of a flatbread.
Then drowsiness washed over him, and he took out his phone to check the time.
Good grief!
It was already past one.
He immediately switched the robotic miner back to automated mining mode, opened the divine realm gate, and picked up Xiao Bai, who was dozing beside the screen. After returning to his apartment, he turned and opened the divine realm gate again, intending to bring Xiao Hei inside.
But when he saw Xiao Hei sleeping with his siblings in their mother's embrace, he decided not to wake him just to have him go back to sleep. Instead, under Big Black Cat's watchful gaze, he quietly filled several cat bowls to the brim with food before leaving.
The next day.
His phone rang, and Zeng Shen groggily picked it up from beside the bed. He tapped to answer and said:
"Hello."
A voice as clear and sweet as a lark's came from the other end.
"Hubby, what time did you go to bed last night? It's already past ten, and you're still not up."
Zeng Shen rubbed his eyes and thought for a moment before answering:
"Around one, I think."
"Huh? Why did you stay up late again? Didn't we agree you'd go to bed earlier from now on?"
"I had something to take care of at home last night and lost track of time."
"What was it?"
"Mining."
"..."