“Since we’ve come to this world, we can’t just mine. We also have to learn how to use these materials to build. That’s the most important thing.”
“As for smelting the iron ore…”
Jiang Xuan casually tossed the iron ore into a furnace and added a piece of coal.
“And that’s it…”
“???”
Ganyu looked at Jiang Xuan in utter bewilderment.
After a long moment, realizing Jiang Xuan wasn’t joking, she asked hesitantly, “Just… like this?”
“Of course!”
Jiang Xuan said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He led Ganyu and Keqing from the first furnace to the last.
He put three pieces of iron ore into each furnace, perfectly smelting everything they had mined.
“What else did you expect?”
“I thought… at least some forging would be required…”
Ganyu pursed her lips, looking at Jiang Xuan in a daze.
The latter chuckled and gently pinched Ganyu’s nose.
“Don’t apply the logic of a normal world here. Nothing that happens in this world is worth being surprised over.”
“Take this coal, for example. A single lump of coal looks quite small, but you both know how heavy it actually is.”
“One piece of coal like this can smelt eight iron ores, which means eight iron ingots—well over seven tons of iron.”
“If this were in Teyvat, wouldn’t the blacksmiths fall to their knees and praise Rex Lapis for a miracle?”
“It would be even better if we had lava. It burns for much longer and saves on coal.”
“Smelting iron ingots doesn’t require any technical skill, which is why I didn’t make you learn it. But if you’re really interested, next time we go down into the mines, I’ll let you handle the whole process.”
Hearing this, Keqing immediately nodded with excitement.
“No problem! Leave it to me! I won’t let you down!”
Jiang Xuan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled faintly.
“Of course, I have full faith in you, Keqing!”
“Once these iron ores are done smelting, let’s head back. What we mined today is more than enough.”
“There are still plenty of things to handle back at the village.”
Keqing wanted to say she still had plenty of energy and could keep going down.
But Ganyu quietly tugged at her sleeve and shot her a look, so Keqing held her tongue.
After all, Jiang Xuan was only there to help them get familiar with things; they couldn’t just stay in the mines forever.
In Jiang Xuan’s words, this was Phase One.
As the mining expanded, this space would continue to be refined.
Eventually, as they went deeper, they would need to build an outpost.
Keqing nodded repeatedly as she listened.
She loved Jiang Xuan’s structured, goal-oriented planning.
However, as they passed a certain empty area, Ganyu couldn’t help but ask:
“Jiang Xuan, what is this area going to be used for?”
Hearing this, Jiang Xuan burst into a grin.
Pointing at the space with high spirits, he declared grandly:
“This whole area, I’m going to replace it all with dirt, and then…”
“Farm!”
[17. Skeletons Have Bows? Too Bad, I Have a Gun!]
“Farming?”
“And farming underground in a mine?”
Keqing and Ganyu were stunned by Jiang Xuan’s statement.
They initially wanted to say that it was impossible to grow anything here without sunlight, water, or anyone to tend to the crops.
But on second thought, this world didn’t follow normal rules.
So, they chose to remain silent instead.
“Going down into the mines definitely requires a lot of food.”
“If we bring food from the outside, we can’t carry that much. Once we run out, we’d have to go back up to get more. Going back and forth like that is a massive waste of time.”
“So when I go mining, I always make sure to set up a farm and ranch underground. Growing crops and raising animals—this way, we can be completely self-sufficient.”
Jiang Xuan explained matter-of-factly.
After all, this was an essential skill for any hardcore miner.
Every veteran miner had to treat the mines as their home.
And treat every mining trip as a period of secluded cultivation.
Naturally, they had to ensure they were fully provided for.
It was only because Jiang Xuan hadn’t brought an iron bucket to carry water, nor had he dug up any dirt on this trip.
Otherwise, he would have already set up his basic farm by now.
He didn’t lack seeds, of course.
After all, he had often stolen…
But those seeds were still in the chests back home.
“For some reason, hearing Jiang Xuan talk about these fantastical ideas now, I actually find them completely reasonable,” Keqing muttered to Ganyu.
“Even if Jiang Xuan told me one day that he could grow Qingxin in the middle of the ocean, I’d probably just accept it as normal!”
Hearing this, Jiang Xuan and Ganyu exchanged a smile.
Growing Qingxin in the ocean was a bit of a stretch, especially since Qingxin didn’t even exist in this world.
But farming in the ocean…
Jiang Xuan actually could!
Before transmigrating, when he was bored out of his mind, he had actually created a custom save.
He used sponges to drain the ocean water and start a farm.
Though…
…he had only drained a small patch.
After all, no one knew for sure how massive the Minecraft world truly was before he transmigrated.
As for the sheer dedication required to drain the ocean with sponges, it wasn’t exactly unheard of either.
Never underestimate a Minecraft player with too much time on their hands.
As far as Jiang Xuan knew, there were plenty of top-tier players who had nothing better to do than load up a save with the sole, ambitious goal of mining out every single block in the world.
“Alright, the iron ore should be done smelting. Let’s go collect it and head back to the village to rest and regroup.”
“Once we make the necessary preparations, we’ll head back to Teyvat.”
Hearing this, Keqing felt a bit reluctant and mumbled,
“Do we have to go back so soon? I still have so many unanswered questions, and I wanted to gather more resources to take back.”
Jiang Xuan shrugged and looked at her helplessly.
“My Lady Keqing, you are the Yuheng, after all. Do you not have duties to attend to in Liyue? You can come back here and find me whenever you want.”
“Besides, I’m still waiting for you to go back, hold a meeting, and bring some manpower over to help me clear and develop this world as soon as possible.”
Whether it was the phrase “My Lady Keqing” that flustered her…
…or the sheer embarrassment of being so engrossed in this world that she had nearly forgotten about Liyue…
…Keqing’s face instantly turned bright red.
After stammering for a moment, she lowered her head, walked right past Jiang Xuan, and headed toward the furnaces.
“Did I speak too harshly?”
Jiang Xuan looked at Ganyu awkwardly.
Ganyu pursed her lips, seemingly wanting to say something, but after a brief hesitation, she shook her head and remained silent.
“Well, alright then…”
Jiang Xuan shrugged.
He quickened his pace to catch up with Keqing.