The grand undertaking of smelting iron had officially begun!
If only he had redstone, and could afford minecarts and pistons.
Otherwise, Jiang Xuan would have built a fully automated iron-smelting machine without a second thought.
In the meantime, Jiang Xuan lightly decorated the cavern.
He mainly planned out the space and positioned the torches.
However, as he worked on this simple task, he found the results unappealing, which quickly escalated into a major construction project.
By the time he finished, Keqing and Ganyu had nearly finished mining the iron on their end.
To their slight disappointment, the Iron Ore on the surface was truly all there was.
Deeper inside, it was nothing but stone, and digging a bit further revealed granite.
Well…
Keqing couldn’t quite comprehend why granite would appear in such a shallow mine.
But compared to that minor confusion, the heavy harvest made Keqing highly satisfied.
Opening her inventory slots to check, seventeen Iron Ores sat quietly in a single slot.
Keqing smiled happily.
“Ganyu, I mined seventeen. What about you?”
Ganyu also set down her broken pickaxe, wiped her brow, and checked her inventory with a slight frown.
“I only got thirteen…”
“That’s fine!”
Keqing shook her head with a smile.
“Our haul is already amazing! Thirteen blocks of Iron Ore is over ten tons! And we only spent about ten minutes!”
“Two people mining nearly thirty tons of iron in ten minutes—no one would ever believe this kind of efficiency if we told them!”
Keqing put her hands on her hips, thought for a moment, and added:
“Next, we just have to let Jiang Xuan process this Iron Ore, right? I remember that ore processing in The Chasm involves extremely complex procedures.”
“But Jiang Xuan’s… Huh?!”
*16.
Isn’t it normal for a veteran miner to farm underground?*
Just a second ago, Keqing had turned around with a grin, ready to boast about her haul to Jiang Xuan.
In the next second, her eyes widened as she stared at the scene before her in utter disbelief.
Ganyu was also startled by Keqing, but before she could ask what was wrong, she turned her head and froze as well.
The once dim and cramped mining chamber had undergone an earth-shattering transformation in just a short while.
The space had been expanded to at least double its original size.
But that was nothing.
At some point, Jiang Xuan had erected birch wood pillars in the four corners of the chamber, looking like support beams.
Except for the tunnel that had been sealed off with dirt, the other open tunnel was now blocked off with a wooden fence and a fence gate.
On the pillars beside the gate, trapdoors surrounded torches, creating two makeshift streetlamps.
Jiang Xuan had originally planned to make a chandelier, but that required iron, and he wasn’t wealthy enough to waste iron on chandeliers in a mine.
Even so, it looked remarkably aesthetic.
Aside from the area where Keqing and Ganyu stood, which remained largely untouched, the space behind them had been neatly partitioned into four distinct zones using birch wood planks.
One was the resting area containing his bed and Crafting Table.
Beside the bed was a wooden sofa and table crafted from slabs.
Another was packed with large chests, clearly acting as a storage area.
As for the remaining two, one was completely empty, its purpose unknown, while the other was lined with blazing furnaces.
Jiang Xuan stood right in front of them, walking from one end to the other from time to time to take items out and put others in.
That was one thing; though a bit absurd, Keqing felt it was still relatively orderly.
But this guy… he had actually decorated the surroundings with various vines.
It didn’t look like a mine at all anymore.
It looked exactly like a rustic country cabin.
Having just collected the last Iron Ingot, Jiang Xuan looked up, saw that Keqing and Ganyu were finished, and waved with a chuckle.
“Thanks for your hard work! Come on over and hand me your Iron Ore so I can smelt it. Go have a seat in the resting area first.”
“There’s food in the chest—some cooked porkchops I just made. They should taste decent, and they won’t spoil in there. Go ahead and try some.”
Keqing and Ganyu stepped forward blankly, handing their Iron Ore over to Jiang Xuan.
Then they just stood there, staring dazed.
Jiang Xuan raised an eyebrow, amused.
“What? Shocked? I only did a bit of remodeling.”
A bit… of remodeling???
Ganyu opened her mouth, looked around, and sighed with a wry smile:
“Even the housing for the workers in The Chasm isn’t as good as what you’ve built here!”
Jiang Xuan rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling.
“It’s not that exaggerated…”
“No, Ganyu is telling the truth!”
Keqing looked at Jiang Xuan with mixed emotions and sighed.
“The Chasm is vast, but… after years of excavation, the mining areas close to the surface have been depleted of ore.”
“The miners have no choice but to delve deep into its depths. Since traveling back and forth is too tedious, most of them can only pitch tents down in the caverns to sleep.”
“They constantly have to stay on guard against monsters… If the workers in The Chasm had your abilities, then we…”
Jiang Xuan fell silent.
Having lived near The Chasm for a year, he knew the place all too well.
To put it bluntly, The Chasm truly devoured lives.
Every month brought news of deaths, but…
Liyue had no choice.
Liyue needed The Chasm desperately…
It was the cornerstone of the nation.
However, Jiang Xuan quickly smiled, patted Keqing on the shoulder, and said softly:
“Keqing, you don’t need to envy me anymore. You have this power too in this world—all you have to do is place blocks.”
“All it takes besides that is a tiny bit of decorating skill. Speaking of which, does my mine here have what it takes to replace The Chasm?”
Jiang Xuan had wanted to steer the conversation away from the heavy topic, but Keqing nodded with absolute seriousness.
“It does! Absolutely! Having a mine like this is our good fortune, and Liyue’s good fortune…”
“Jiang Xuan, your willingness to help us has saved countless miners’ lives. You are Liyue’s benefactor. On behalf of them, I thank you!”
Looking at the dead-serious cat-eared girl before him, Jiang Xuan’s expression turned solemn as well.
He gave a slight nod and said softly:
“Once we get back to the real world, you two can discuss it first and then come find me. This is only the beginning. We are friends, and you and Ganyu have helped me so much over the past year.”
“In return, it’s only right that I help you! Alright, enough of that. I need to smelt this Iron Ore. Go take a rest.”
Ganyu shook her head and said softly:
“We only swung our pickaxes a few times. With your constitution, we don’t feel tired or strained at all.”
“I want to watch how you smelt the Iron Ore.”
Jiang Xuan raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“That works too. If you get hungry, remember to grab some food from the resting area. And if you get bored, you can always try placing some blocks.”