10: Chapter 10 The wind ruffled the hem of his clothes; his mechanical eye was in standby mode, emitting a faint blue light.

Just as dawn broke, Chen Wuwang's fingers were still tapping.

Once, twice, thrice. His knuckles rapped against the edge of the console in a short, sharp rhythm, as if testing a signal that had yet to be connected.

He stood on a temporary platform at the summit of the Dongshan Mineral Vein. Beneath his feet was the leveled rocky ground cleared just last night, and above him was a sky churning with golden-red dawn light.

Wind poured in from the mountain pass, making his high ponytail snap loudly, and the three old scars on his right cheek tightened slightly.

He didn't move, merely staring at the area ahead that had been cleared by the Explosive Rune Formation.

The Egg Core he brought back last night had already been handed over to Uncle Tiezhu for storage. The moment the container left his hand, he had thrown the nano-gloves stained with Zerg mucus into the incinerator.

His hands were empty now, but that image was still stuck in his mind—the emerald-green crystal vibrating slightly in the sealed jar, like someone turning over in their sleep.

It wasn't an illusion.

He knew that thing was alive, and he knew it shouldn't be here. But right now, he couldn't afford to think too much about it.

"It's coming!" someone bellowed in the distance.

Chen Wuwang looked up.

The ground began to shake.

First came a muffled thud from beneath his feet, followed by the 'crack' of rock splitting. It moved from far to near, like a giant beast turning over deep within the earth.

Several fragments of rock tumbled off the edge of the platform and crashed into the newly laid Psionic Cart tracks below with a loud 'clang'.

He narrowed his left eye, and his mechanical prosthetic eye automatically switched to vibration frequency analysis mode. A string of numbers flashed across the edge of his vision: Epicenter depth three hundred and twenty-seven zhang, energy waveform trending in a spiral ascent, intensity increasing.

It wasn't a cave-in.

It was breaking through the surface.

"Back up! Everyone, back up thirty paces!" His voice wasn't loud, yet it suppressed all the noise on the scene.

Before his voice had even faded, the crimson rock layer directly ahead arched up violently, as if a colossal creature were pushing up from underground.

Rocks shattered, fragments flew, and a beam of golden light erupted from the cracks, shooting straight into the clouds.

Boom!

The entire Dongshan was trembling.

The golden light was like a pillar, reflecting so brightly that half the sky turned into molten gold.

Amidst the rolling dust and smoke, a massive, winding mineral vein slowly broke through the earth. Its surface was covered in fine, natural runes that flickered as Spiritual Qi flowed through them. From a distance, it truly looked like a coiling, awakening golden Dragon.

The crowd exploded.

"Good heavens... is this... a Spirit Stone Dragon Vein?!"

"Purity! Quick, measure the purity!"

"Family Head! This time, we're really going to make it!"

No one stood still anymore. Disciples from the Artifact Refining Workshop rushed forward carrying testing instruments, the Medicinal Field Team men brought over portable Spiritual Pressure gauges, and even the sentries on night watch threw down their spears to squeeze into the front row, craning their necks to look inside.

Chen Wuwang finally moved.

He walked a few steps to the fracture in the mineral vein, unsheathed his dagger, and carved a deep mark into the rock wall.

Where the blade passed, a surge of dense Spiritual Qi gushed out, carrying a faint metallic scent.

He crouched down and wiped his finger across the cross-section of the cut. A slight stinging sensation came from his fingertip—that was the spiritual energy backlash unique to high-grade Spirit Stones.

"The core zone is stable." He stood up, his voice not loud, yet it instantly silenced the surroundings. "Prepare for sampling."

Chen Tiezhu practically ran over, clutching a pair of freshly quenched sampling tongs. His face was covered in dust, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

Without a word, he clamped a piece of Ore from the edge and stuffed it into a portable furnace. Three breaths later, with a 'clang,' he poured out a bright yellow ingot.

He held it high, facing the morning sun.

"Family Head! Spirit Stone purity is 92.7! Impurities are below three percent! It can be used directly for high-grade spiritual tool forging!"

The whole field went dead silent for a second, then erupted into deafening cheers.

"92.7?! That's higher than the Sect standards!"

"We don't have to beg anyone anymore!"

"Elder Tiezhu is the best!!"

Some people jumped up to slap others' shoulders, some knelt directly on the ground to kowtow, and one young Disciple was so excited he dropped his tester without even noticing.

Chen Wuwang didn't smile.

He stood in place, his fingers beginning to tap the edge of the console again—ka, ka, ka—just like last night, one by one, as if waiting for some kind of feedback.

He knew what this mineral vein meant.

It meant resources.

It meant confidence.

It meant the Chen Family would no longer be a small clan at the mercy of others in a corner of the Eastern Wasteland.

But he also knew that once a mineral vein of this level appeared, the news would spread for ten thousand miles within three days.

Those great Sects and great families that usually pretended not to see them would pounce like wolves smelling blood.

Time was running out.

"Uncle Tiezhu." He spoke, his voice carrying over the clamor.

Chen Tiezhu immediately stopped talking and walked over quickly, still breathing heavily: "I'm here!"

"Can the current production lines support automated mining?"

"Well, they can..." Tiezhu rubbed his hands, the excitement on his face not yet faded. "But the current Boring Machine Units can only dig low-grade mineral layers at most. For this kind of high-purity mineral zone, we have to rely on manual labor to strip the protective layer. The efficiency... isn't great."

"Then upgrade them." Chen Wuwang interrupted him. "Level Three Mining Protocol, activate."

He raised his hand and pressed it into the groove in the center of the console.

With a 'beep,' a ring of cyan light patterns lit up on the surface, followed by the muffled sound of mechanical operation coming from within the mountain.

The automated boring units hidden in the rock layers activated one by one; drill bits unfolded, guide rails extended, and spiritual energy pipelines docked automatically.

"Preset program loaded." He withdrew his hand. "Phase one: clear the peripheral Impurities and rock layers, keeping the core mineral zone's structure intact. Phase two: establish two-way transport tracks. Phase three: connect to the Artifact Refining Workshop's first-generation furnace System."

Chen Tiezhu's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he listened: "You... had this all arranged already?"

"I modified it as soon as I got back last night." Chen Wuwang looked at the Boring Machine Units slowly starting up in the distance, his gaze calm. "The emergence of the mineral vein was inevitable; we cannot live by relying on luck."

He paused, then turned to look at Tiezhu: "Within seven days, I want to see a functional basic mecha."

Tiezhu was stunned: "A mecha?"

"I don't care about combat power or weapon Systems." Chen Wuwang's voice dropped, yet every word was clear. "As long as it can walk, carry a basic spiritual energy reactor, and complete one full mining cycle. I want to use it to tell everyone—the Chen Family's path isn't given by anyone's charity; it's dug out by ourselves."

Tiezhu was silent for two seconds, then suddenly grinned, revealing a row of teeth yellowed by charcoal fire:

"Fine! I'll go back right now and dismantle the furnace! I'll turn the Smelting Chamber into a Power Core! Forget whether it can fight, I'll make it stand up first!"

He turned and left as soon as he finished speaking, his pace so fast he nearly tripped.

"Wait." Chen Wuwang called out to him.

Tiezhu looked back.

"Use the Egg Core as a catalyst." Chen Wuwang said. "I know you're afraid of something going wrong, but this time is different. It can speed up the Fusion of Materials, saving at least four days."

Tiezhu's eyes flickered. He didn't speak, only gave a heavy nod, and then strode away.

The crowd was still buzzing. Some had already begun spontaneously organizing transport teams, some were drawing mining route maps, and even a few old slackers who usually shirked work took the initiative to shoulder tools.

Chen Wuwang didn't speak again.

He stood on the high ground, hands resting on the console, his gaze sweeping over the starting Boring Machine Units, the busy crowd, and the first wisp of black smoke rising from the distant Artifact Refining Workshop.

The wind blew the corners of his clothes, and his mechanical prosthetic eye was in a standby state, glowing with a faint blue light.

His knuckles were still tapping.

Ka, ka, ka.

It was like a countdown.

And like a wait.

In the temporary construction area at the foot of the mountain, Chen Tiezhu had already shed his outer robe and put on a heavy protective apron. He grabbed a sledgehammer and stood before the furnace, shouting at his apprentices:

"What are you all dazed for! The first batch of high-purity Ore is going into the furnace! Whoever dares to sleep tonight, I'll throw him into the Forging Press!"

The firelight reflected on his face. Charcoal dust mixed with sweat flowed into the corner of his eye, but he didn't wipe it.

He just stared intently at the furnace mouth, as if he were going to refine this batch of Ore into the future backbone of the Chen Family.

Chen Wuwang looked down at his own hand.

His knuckles stopped.

He raised his head and looked into the distance.

The golden light on the horizon had not yet faded. The mountain wind grew stronger, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand.

The drill bit of the first Boring Machine Unit slowly touched the surface of the mineral vein.