The sun hung high in the sky, while drifting clouds lazily passed over the estate's villa.
Ryen and the others sat around a table on the second-floor garden balcony of the villa.
After spending so much ti underground in the mines, stepping back into the sunlight felt like a breath of fresh air—everything seed clearer, brighter, and infinitely more beautiful.
Ningguang gazed silently at the floating island.
Just two days ago, it had been nothing more than a towering column reaching into the heavens. Now, it had been fully transford into a vast platform.
Since the structure extended toward the mountain rather than pressing directly down on the estate, they had a clear view of the monster-spawning tower atop the floating island.
That tower was the first complex contraption Ningguang and the others had built under Ryen's guidance, utilizing the unique properties of the Minecraft world.
At the ti, Ningguang hadn't fully understood its purpose.
Was it ant to collect monster materials for future use?
Perhaps.
That was how her mind, always driven by profit, had initially processed it.
But now, after experiencing the mines firsthand, her perspective had shifted.
The resources in this world were boundless. They were so abundant that they no longer seed worth obsessing over.
Earning Mora?
Too easy.
Just find another mine, strip it clean of iron and gold, and turn an instant profit of billions.
With wealth this easily obtainable, what was the point of fixating on resources?
Thus, after their journey through the mines, when Ningguang looked at the monster-spawning tower again, she wasn't thinking about re resource farming.
She was considering its chanics.
Could its principles be applied to traps? Prisons?
Or could it be the foundation of an entirely new technological system?
This was the evolution of a capitalist on the path to becoming a great inventor.
Ryen, of course, had no idea that a simple trip to the mines had sparked such a transformation in Ningguang's thinking.
But if he had known, he would have gladly shared the intricate workings of redstone contraptions with her.
Perhaps…
With her sharp intellect, she might even discover more ingenious uses for them.
"Ahem!"
Maybe the prolonged silence had stretched too long, because Keqing, sitting nearby, was starting to get restless.
She let out a dry cough to attract their attention before throwing up her hands in exasperation.
"I an, we've been sitting here for half an hour now. Are we really just going to sit around and do nothing?"
"Isn't that a huge waste of ti?"
As she spoke, Keqing turned to Ningguang, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
"Co to think of it, is sothing on your mind, Ningguang? Normally, after gaining so much from an expedition, wouldn't you start taking inventory the mont we got back?"
Hearing this, Ningguang pursed her lips into a slight smile, leisurely lifting her teacup to take a sip.
At that mont, the natural elegance she exuded, like pearls and jade with an inner luster, made her appear utterly refined and serene.
"In the past, I was always in such a hurry that I lost sight of the joy of discovery. But today, the journey through the mines rekindled the curiosity I had as a child."
"Now, I understand—while striving toward a goal, one should take ti to appreciate the scenery along the way. Only then will the final reward be all the sweeter."
Her words carried a deeper aning, one that Keqing and the others couldn't quite grasp.
But Zhongli and Ryen understood.
After all, it was the effortless acquisition of wealth and resources that had allowed Ningguang to let go—if only a little—of her obsession with Mora.
And that was a good thing. If she redirected that drive toward sothing greater, Ningguang would beco even more formidable.
"There you go again, speaking in riddles…" Keqing sighed, shaking her head before straightening up.
"Alright, since none of you are saying anything, I'll start with the summary."
She took out a notebook from her pocket, flipping it open with practiced efficiency.
"Our expedition into the mines lasted a total of one and a half days. The minerals collected include coal, iron ingots, redstone, lapis lazuli, gold, diamonds, and a considerable amount of cobblestone."
"Other collected materials include—"
"Hold on a mont, Keqing."
Ryen raised a hand slightly, interrupting her before turning to the group.
"First, let's remove cobblestone and coal from the inventory count. What do you all think?"
At his words, everyone nodded almost in unison.
A reaction that was quite different from their initial excitent upon discovering the high-quality coal deposits.
But it made sense—after spending hours mining nothing but coal, who wouldn't be sick of the sight of it?
Sure, they had picked up so valuable things on this trip.
But…
Half their backpacks were stuffed with coal!
If they hadn't dumped the excess back in Teyvat earlier that morning, Ryen wouldn't even have had space to carry his obsidian.
"Let's just store all the coal and cobblestone in separate chests. If you need any, take as much as you like."
"Even if you take all of it, it's not like it's worth anything."
Everyone nodded in agreent. Ryen then took Keqing's notebook and continued.
"As for iron ingots, I'll keep four stacks. The rest, you can take. Redstone and lapis, I need those—they wouldn't be much use to you right now anyway."
"Other than that… obsidian—I'll keep one stack. Diamonds, I need those too. And Ender Pearls—I'll hold onto them to craft Eyes of Ender."
"As for all the miscellaneous monster drops, we'll put them in a chest later. You can take whatever you need."
With that, Ryen closed the notebook, his gaze shifting to Ningguang before he suddenly rembered sothing.
"Oh, right. If you want to exchange the gold ingots for Mora, go ahead and take them—I don't need them right now."
To Ryen, gold's primary use was for trading with Piglins.
But since he had no imdiate plans to venture into the Nether, gold ingots were practically useless to him at the mont.
This trip had been incredibly rewarding.
The diamonds and obsidian were nice, but Ryen's real focus was on sothing else—iron and redstone.
These two materials were the key to accelerating his Minecraft survival experience.
Iron farms, automatic crop farms, redstone chanisms, villager trading halls—
With this haul, he could start building them all.
If everything went according to plan, this wave of resources would free him from the early-ga grind entirely.
After that, he could start exploring—searching for shipwrecks, woodland mansions, desert temples, underground strongholds…
But before all that—
Right now, the thing Ryen wanted to do most was upgrade his monster-spawning tower.
A mob farm without hoppers?
That was unacceptable.
This afternoon, he planned to rebuild the entire structure into a fully optimized version 2.0.
Then, he would set up an iron farm.
Beyond that, he was eager to create a sli farm—its importance couldn't be overstated.
For survival, especially one reliant on redstone, sliballs were an absolute necessity.
And with the few he currently had in his possession, they were nowhere near enough to sustain his plans.
But…
The construction of a sli farm was indeed a massive undertaking. Ideally, it would be best to wait until the miners from Liyue arrived so that Ryen could guide them in excavating together.
After thinking it over, Ryen decided to temporarily put the sli farm on hold, despite feeling a bit regretful.
All in all, there was still a lot of work to be done.
With redstone finally in hand, infrastructure developnt was only just beginning.
"Ryen? Are you spacing out again?"
Ganyu waved a hand in front of Ryen's face, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Ah, sorry, I was just thinking about the next phase of my plans. What were you saying?" Ryen smiled apologetically and turned his attention back to Ningguang and the others.
Ningguang shook her head, a trace of helplessness in her expression as she repeated, "I said, we've decided to leave all these materials with you."
"…Huh?"
Ryen blinked, then chuckled. "That's not necessary. I already have enough materials to build what I need."
"Besides, these resources wouldn't even be here without your efforts."
Ryen was speaking from the heart—there was no hidden aning behind his words.
Yet, upon hearing this, the group exchanged glances and let out a collective, sowhat bitter chuckle.
"Ryen, you don't need to flatter us."
Keqing's voice carried a hint of self-reproach.
"This ti in the mines, we all saw how we perford compared to you."
"All we did was follow your instructions and mine the resources under your guidance."
"Without you, we wouldn't have even made it to the gold deposits."
"And don't even try to deny it."
She caught the way Ryen parted his lips, likely to offer words of reassurance, but she simply shook her head with a soft laugh.
"We're not children who can't handle a little criticism. I was reckless and almost fell into a bottomless pit."
"Ningguang accidentally broke open a wall that was holding back four zombies."
"Even the great Conqueror of Demons fell into lava."
"This expedition? At best, we were just students learning from you. And honestly, that in itself was worth it."
"The clever use of boats, how to fight Endern, the key to mining gold efficiently…"
"For us, the knowledge of this world is far more valuable than any resource."
Keqing's words resonated deeply, and everyone nodded in agreent.
If there were sixty-four gold ingots laid out in front of Ningguang right now, she would, without hesitation, choose the knowledge of this world instead.
It was simply the difference between teaching a person how to fish and giving them a fish.
"So!"
Keqing's bright eyes shimred with excitent as she smiled.
"This haul belongs to you, Ryen. We won't take any of it."
"Besides, the miners from Liyue will be settling in soon. Resources will be endless."
"To be honest… we discussed this last night. Exploring this world with you isn't just beneficial for Liyue—it's genuinely fun."
"So we decided that all of these materials should stay with you. Instead of worrying about gathering resources, we'll help you build whatever projects you envision."
"Liyue's mining operations will handle resource collection, but as for us? We'll just be your companions, exploring this world with you as friends."
"What do you think?"
After Keqing finished speaking, everyone looked at Ryen with anticipation, their gazes filled with sincerity.
Everything Keqing said ca straight from their hearts.
If Liyue truly wanted to benefit from this world, they needed to understand its unique characteristics.
But…
Ryen was a busy man. He had already opened the door to this world for them—it wasn't reasonable to expect him to teach them everything personally, day after day.
So, Keqing and the others had decided to take on that responsibility themselves.
Beyond that, they genuinely found exploring and pioneering in this world incredibly exciting. Just look at Ningguang—she had even begun to reflect on her own personal growth because of it.
Seeing the expectant looks in their eyes, Ryen felt a warmth in his chest.
He chuckled softly and nodded.
"If that's how you all feel… then I suppose I should start incorporating you into my grand blueprint as my dedicated labor force."
Zhongli shook his head slightly and said in his usual composed manner, "It's no matter. After all, the mont we helped you construct the floating island two days ago, I doubt you ever intended to let us go."
"…Huh."
Ryen gave an exaggerated nod of approval.
"That's actually a fair point."
Everyone shared a knowing smile.
And with that, Ryen's Minecraft pioneering team officially set out on the fast track to developnt.
~~----------------------
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