Lin Feng turned and walked out of the room.
The stairs creaked under his feet as he took them two at a ti, heading downstairs and pushing open the doors to the Council Hall.
Sunlight poured over him, carrying the scent of earth and green grass.
He strode through the outer city. As he passed the comrcial street, several working Awakened were drinking tea and chatting at the entrance of a teahouse.
Seeing him, they hurried to their feet to salute. He waved them off without stopping and headed straight out of the North Gate.
Outside the North Gate was a dirt road, its surface still marked with fresh footprints and wheel tracks.
Before long, figures appeared ahead. A group was walking along the path, led by Tian Jian, who carried a heavy bundle filled with surveying tools.
Zhang Ping followed behind him. Further back, Tian Zheng pushed a wheelbarrow loaded with crucibles and bellows used for slting.
Lin Feng quickened his pace and soon caught up with the group.
"Lord?" Zhang Ping turned and saw him, quickly stepping aside to make way.
Lin Feng waved for the group to keep moving and walked up beside Tian Jian, matching his stride.
"Master Tian, settle everyone in first once we arrive. There's no rush with the mine shaft."
Tian Jian nodded in agreent.
As Lin Feng walked, he focused his mind. An interface appeared before his eyes; he found the settings for North Slope Village and clicked on 【Resident Managent】.
【Current Honorary Residents: 0】
With a few light taps, he selected Tian Jian, Zhang Ping, Tian Zheng, and the hundred miners.
【Setting Complete】
【North Slope Village Honorary Residents: 103 people】
【Effect: Honorary Residents can freely enter and exit core areas】
The group continued forward. After walking for about half an hour, the terrain ahead began to change.
The flat plains gradually rose into low hills. Vegetation grew sparse, and grayish-white rocks began to peek through the ground.
Then, a village appeared before them.
Wooden walls glowed with the pale yellow of fresh timber in the sunlight. Over a dozen houses were neatly arranged, their roof tiles still brand new.
In the center of the village was a well; its opening was already masonry-finished, and the clear water sparkled under the sun.
On a cleared construction site, a square mine shaft entrance was strikingly visible.
Tian Jian stopped in his tracks, his mouth hanging open. Although he knew the Lord could build villages, seeing one appear out of thin air before his eyes still felt like a dream.
Lin Feng stood at the front of the group, gazing at the brand-new village.
North Slope Village.
An unremarkable na, an unremarkable village.
But beneath this village lay the future of the entire Beacon Fire Town.
He turned to Tian Jian. "Co, let's go inside and take a look."
Lin Feng led the group into North Slope Village.
The village wasn't large; it was only about a hundred paces from the east end to the west. The ground was newly compacted earth, still feeling a bit soft underfoot.
The dozen or so houses all had the sa wooden walls and tiled roofs. Doors and windows were fully installed, even the door latches were in place.
"This well was dug deep," Tian Jian said, leaning over the edge to look down. With the help of the sunlight, he could see the water shimring in the depths. "The water quality is good, even clearer than the well at my house."
Lin Feng nodded and continued further in. The slightly larger building in the center of the village was the Council Hall; it was empty inside, containing only a long table and a few chairs.
He stood at the door and glanced inside but didn't enter, turning instead toward the north side of the village.
The mine shaft was right inside the village, close against the northern wall.
Only when he got close could he see its full scale.
The entrance was a square vertical shaft about three ters wide, enough to accommodate two baskets going up and down simultaneously.
A sturdy headfra made of thick timber was built around the opening. Two pulleys were mounted on the fra, with thick hemp ropes hanging down from them.
A simple shed had also been built next to the headfra for storing tools.
But these were just the parts above ground.
Lin Feng walked to the edge of the shaft and glanced down. The mine shaft spiraled down, with wooden supports at regular intervals to prevent cave-ins. The passage wound down along the shaft walls, wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.
Tian Zheng also leaned over for a look and sucked in a breath of cold air. "This... Lord, this is much larger than I imagined."
Lin Feng nodded. With a mine shaft of this scale, there was more than enough room for a hundred miners to work simultaneously.
A small pile of ore sat next to the shaft entrance—samples dug out during the previous exploration.
Lin Feng crouched down, picking up a piece of ore and weighing it in his hand.
It was very heavy, and the silver-white veins of Mithril at the fracture were exceptionally clear in the sunlight.
He stood up and looked at Tian Jian. "With a hundred miners, how much can be extracted daily?"
Tian Jian rubbed his hands and pondered for a mont. "Lord, Mithril Mine is different from other mines. This stuff is incredibly hard; hitting it with an ordinary pickaxe makes your hands go numb.
Furthermore, the veins aren't in large sheets; they are thin cracks embedded in the rock. They have to be picked out slowly."
He paused and estimated, "With a hundred people, we can probably extract about thirty units of raw ore per day."
Lin Feng frowned slightly. Thirty units of raw ore sounded like a lot, but how much would be left after slting? He turned to look at Tian Zheng.
Tian Zheng was crouching by the pile of ore, turning a piece over and over in his hands. He sniffed it, then even licked the fracture.
He had worked in slting for decades; these actions were engraved in his bones.
"Master Tian, can it be slted?"
Tian Zheng stood up, slapped the dust off his hands, and wore the characteristic certainty of an old craftsman. "It's not a big problem.
I saw Mithril once at a slting workshop in Zhenyue City when I was young.
Its lting point is similar to copper, but its fluidity is poor. We'll need to build a separate furnace; we can't use the one we have for iron."
"How long to build the furnace?"
"Three days." Tian Zheng held up three fingers. "The furnace isn't large, but it must be built precisely.
The inner walls need refractory clay. Ordinary yellow mud won't do; it'll crack as soon as it's fired. We also need to make a set of specialized crucibles and molds."
Lin Feng nodded and looked at Zhang Ping. "Coordinate whatever he needs."
Zhang Ping replied, "Yes."
Lin Feng asked Tian Zheng again, "How many units of raw ore to produce one unit of Mithril?"
Tian Zheng thought for a bit. "Three units of raw ore can yield one unit of pure Mithril. That's considered high; I've heard so mines can't even produce one unit from three and a half."
The corners of Lin Feng's mouth slowly curled up.
A hundred miners, thirty units of raw ore a day, which becos ten units of pure Mithril after slting. A hundred units in ten days. Three hundred units a month.
"Very good." There was a hint of suppressed excitent in Lin Feng's voice. "Master Tian, ask Zhang Ping directly for the manpower and materials to build the furnace. Once the Mithril is slted—"
He paused and looked at Zhang Ping. "Don't transport it back to Beacon Fire Town. Store it in the warehouse here at North Slope Village."
Zhang Ping was taken aback. "Lord, is it safe to keep it here?"
Lin Feng glanced at him without explaining, simply saying, "Do as I say."
Zhang Ping imdiately shut his mouth and nodded. "Yes."
Lin Feng turned and walked toward the mine shaft entrance.
"I'm going down to take a look," Lin Feng said, leaning his Wildfire Spear against the headfra and stepping into one of the baskets.
Tian Jian hurried forward. "Lord, the tunnels below are complex. Let accompany you."
Lin Feng thought for a mont and nodded. "Alright."
Tian Jian also stepped into the basket. Zhang Ping and several miners pulled the ropes together, and the basket slowly descended.
The spiral mine passage wound down along the shaft walls. Every few ters, there were wooden supports with torches slotted into iron rings, lighting the way ahead.
The basket didn't descend quickly, and Lin Feng studied the structure of the surrounding tunnels.
The main shaft went straight down, but horizontal drifts branched out from the walls like the root system of a massive tree.
Tian Jian explained from beside him, "Lord, this structure is best for large-scale mining. The main shaft is used to transport ore and personnel, while the drifts are for mining. With a hundred people spread out, everyone can do their own work without interfering with each other."
Lin Feng nodded. The layout of this mine was far more professional than he had imagined.
At a depth of about forty ters, the basket stopped at the first working face.
This was a widened drift where tracks and mine carts had already been set up. Faint silver-white veins of ore could be seen on the rock walls.
Lin Feng didn't stay, gesturing to continue the descent.
Fifty ters. The Mithril veins on both sides of the tunnel began to grow denser, their silver-white luster flickering under the torchlight.
Sixty ters. Tian Jian signaled to stop. Lin Feng stepped out of the basket onto the floor of the drift.
The tunnel here was already quite wide, enough for three or four people to walk side-by-side.
On the rock walls, the Mithril veins were like coiled silver snakes, one next to another, so dense that the grayish-white rock was almost invisible.
Tian Jian's voice ca from behind him, filled with irrepressible excitent:
"Lord, we've only reached sixty ters. According to my survey, the veins continue to extend downward, and they only get richer the deeper we go."
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