There were no torches.
Digging down into the pitch-black darkness would leave them blind.
If he accidentally dug straight into a zombie spawner, wouldn’t he just be delivering himself on a silver platter?
The top priority was definitely to find a natural cave first and mine a few stacks of coal to make torches.
Caves weren’t hard to find.
Backed by a large mountain, there were plenty of caves nearby.
Even if there weren’t any at the foot of the mountain, there would be some near the peak.
For this outing, Jiang Xuan had also made a special trip to another buddy’s house.
To take a bed.
After all, when it came to mining, heaven only knew how long they would be down there.
A mature blockhead always carried a bed with them, ready to make a home in the cave at a moment’s notice.
This village was dirt poor, and every single villager was a scammer.
Not only did they have pitifully few things to trade, but they were all useless food items.
What did Jiang Xuan need their food for?
He had a Crafting Table and a furnace.
If he was hungry, he could just steal crops; if he wanted meat, he could slaughter pigs in the pens.
It was a literal free-for-all buffet!
Jiang Xuan didn’t plan to go straight for diamonds and obsidian on this mining trip.
Those things were too far out of reach for now, and too dangerous.
How could Jiang Xuan, the King of Safety, go to such deep places without a full set of iron armor?
Jiang Xuan’s plan was to focus entirely on mining iron ore.
Gather enough to craft iron armor and tools for three people, as well as seven or eight iron buckets and shears.
Then gather materials to make an iron door, preventing the villagers from barging into his house whenever they pleased.
He also needed to gather enough iron blocks to build an Iron Golem.
With Iron Bro around, Jiang Xuan would be safe wandering around the village at night.
Besides, although this village was small, its geographical location was excellent.
Jiang Xuan planned to develop this place into an outpost fortress.
It definitely needed to be properly optimized; everything here was a potential resource.
He could also kill some monsters in the caves to make progress toward his next milestone achievements.
It would be even better if he could mine some lapis lazuli and redstone down there.
Though he would prefer a crossbow, those things not only wasted too much iron, but they also couldn’t be enchanted with Infinity and Flame.
What a waste!
Such a waste!
Once the mods were unlocked and he could craft ammo, having an AK-47 would be so much better anyway.
Doing the math, Jiang Xuan made a rough estimate.
He would need at least six stacks of iron ingots.
It was a monumental task.
However, as the saying goes, “men and women working together don’t feel tired.”
What’s more, Jiang Xuan had two incredibly beautiful girls with him.
Never mind mining; even just playing house would be incredibly fun.
“Jiang Xuan, where are we going?”
Keqing, who was currently busy chopping trees ahead, took a moment to look back and ask.
Chopping trees was also something Jiang Xuan had taught her to do.
In the early game, the best practice was to chop down every single tree they came across.
In any case, Keqing and Ganyu had now synchronized a portion of Jiang Xuan’s special traits.
Roughly speaking, they could carry up to nine stacks of materials on them.
Compared to Jiang Xuan, who could carry nine stacks on his hotbar and twenty-seven stacks in his inventory, it was indeed heavily nerfed.
But it was still enough.
Being able to carry nine stacks of materials meant they had synchronized that part of his strength.
It was incredibly powerful!
“Not far. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Jiang Xuan looked up to check their direction, and after confirming it was correct, he replied.
“Then I’ll chop a few more trees!”
Keqing nodded excitedly, then immediately threw herself back into her grand lumberjacking endeavor.
She kept the golden rule constantly in mind: “To get rich, punch trees first.”
Quite apart from Jiang Xuan needing them, these timber resources were also needed back in Liyue Harbor.
One log block broke down into four planks.
And a single plank, if processed by the craftsmen of Liyue, could yield dozens of pieces of high-quality lumber.
For free!
Furthermore, even without processing, this magical material was incredibly valuable; building a floating island directly in midair with it would be child’s play.
Keqing only regretted that she didn’t have enough space to carry it all.
Out of her nine slots, she planned to allocate at most two for wood.
The remaining slots had to be reserved for other materials.
“When we have some free time, I’ll have to ask the Adepti to help craft a sub-space realm… We can carry too few things right now, which is a waste of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Keqing sighed and muttered softly to herself.
Hearing about the sub-space realm, Jiang Xuan also became quite interested.
Earlier, he had let Keqing and Ganyu test it out; their Vision spaces could indeed hold these materials.
However…
Once they put the items in, they would still feel the weight.
If their personal slots were full, the materials stored in their Vision space would make them overweight.
A sub-space realm, on the other hand, did not suffer from this issue.
Didn’t Lumine wander the world with the Serenitea Pot?
Naturally, Jiang Xuan also wanted to carry more things.
It was basically a backpack inside a backpack—infinite nesting dolls.
“Ganyu, can you help me get a portable sub-space realm as well?” Jiang Xuan turned his head and asked.
While keeping a wary eye on their surroundings for danger, Ganyu replied,
“If you want one too, Jiang Xuan, I will go speak with Granny Ping about it.”
Keqing might not know Granny Ping’s true identity, but Ganyu knew it very well.
She was the Streetward Rambler, the one most skilled in the Adeptal arts of sub-space creation.
Given Ganyu’s relationship with Granny Ping, obtaining a sub-space realm would be quite easy.
Even though these things were extremely difficult to craft…
Who could complain when Ganyu was the darling junior among the Adepti?
Juniors were always doted on.
“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Ganyu.”
Jiang Xuan smiled and nodded, and Ganyu said softly,
“It is nothing. You have helped us so much, Jiang Xuan. It is just a sub-space realm; Granny Ping will surely be happy to help once she knows.”
Glimpsing Ganyu’s pure and beautiful face, Jiang Xuan’s heart softened.
After a brief thought, he said in a gentle voice: