Chapter 16: Emerald Valley

[The host has placed 1 Plankton Card in the divine realm's water area, gaining ten plankton clusters and 1 divine experience point.]

[The host has placed 3 Small Rice Seed Cards in the plain area, resulting in three acres of rice fields, gaining 3 divine experience points.]

[The host has placed 2 Small Open-pit Iron Mine Cards in the mountain area, acquiring two small open-pit iron mines, gaining 2 divine experience points.]

[The host has placed 1 Small Emerald Gem Mine Card in the canyon area, acquiring 1 emerald gem mine, gaining 1 divine experience point.]

[Divine Rank: 0 (8/100)]

Deploying several resource cards in quick succession, Zeng Shen reviewed his divine rank on the panel with satisfaction.

He focused his consciousness, returning to his body, picked up Little White, opened the gate of the divine realm, and returned to his apartment's living room.

After closing the gate, he reopened it and stepped back inside.

Instantly, he found himself not at the Deity Palace but in a small canyon within his divine realm.

This small canyon, appearing as if a giant comb had raked through the rock, formed a long arc connecting nearby mountains, 2000 meters from the Deity Palace.

When deploying the Emerald Gem Mine Card, Zeng Shen had carefully chosen this location, naming it Emerald Valley.

The canyon entrance was wide enough for three cars abreast, expanding internally to the size of a football field.

Lush forests covered the canyon walls and floor.

As Zeng Shen walked through the canyon, his view narrowed, filled with vibrant green foliage.

Descending further into the canyon, a large cave embedded in the wall came into view—his Emerald Gem Mine transformed from the card.

Vines hung at the entrance, with overgrown weeds contributing to a serene, mysterious atmosphere.

From outside, it appeared as if shaped by centuries of weathering and geological evolution.

Inside, sporadic bursts of color illuminated the cave, casting a mysterious and radiant aura.

Parting the vines, Zeng Shen stepped over wild grasses into the cave.

His eyes widened.

Embedded in the uneven cave walls were dark green jade stones, each emitting the unique luster of emeralds.

"Jackpot!"

"So many emeralds—if I mined them all and sold them, how much would they be worth?"

Squatting, Zeng Shen picked up an egg-sized emerald from the rubble.

Upon touching the emerald, he felt a surge of energy, seemingly eager to flow into him, invigorating his body.

"Could this be the divine energy within the emerald?"

He speculated, using the Eye of Insight on the emerald.

[Emerald: White-quality material, contains a trace of very weak divine energy. Wearing it long-term can improve physical fitness.]

"A trace of weak divine energy makes it white-quality."

"If material quality follows card colors, white is the lowest, followed by green, blue, purple, red, and gold."

Zeng Shen hypothesized the material quality hierarchy, continuing to pick up pigeon egg-sized emeralds from the cave floor.

He used the Eye of Insight again to verify his hypothesis.

But all were white-quality.

"Perhaps higher-quality materials are rare in a small emerald mine?"

With a theory about the mine's quality probability, he stored the emeralds in his inventory, took out a green card, exited the cave, and focused his consciousness.

Instantly, a vehicle appeared—black, gleaming with advanced technology, eight meters long, three meters wide, with six wheels and a long cylindrical cargo hold.

It resembled a mobile base from Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

The multifunction mining and refining vehicle impressed even Zeng Shen, who wasn't fond of cars.

He opened the driver's door.

Inside, the vehicle exuded intelligence and ultramodern technology.

Touching the holographic screen, the cabin lit up, displaying operational status and detailed images of each part.

Simultaneously, voice prompts accompanied his touches on the screen's vehicle parts.

"Intelligent geological mineral detection mode, click to start."

"Intelligent refining mode, click to start."

"Intelligent radar..."

Zeng Shen tapped the intelligent mining mode.

The vehicle emitted a soft hum, the screen showing a radar icon as voice prompts continued.

"Prospecting radar activated. Within a kilometer, a small emerald mine detected: 60% stone, 35% emerald, 5% gem. Proceed to mine?"

"Yes."

At his command, the vehicle maneuvered to the mine entrance, and its cargo hold opened, releasing five robot miners with tools who entered the cave.

The vehicle's screen displayed the miners extracting gems from the cave.

Curious, Zeng Shen accessed one miner's information, revealing details.

[Robot Miner 001, auto-mining, current capacity 100. (Click here for manual control)]

The information and setup reminded Zeng Shen of a slave miner in Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge.

He watched, then experimented with manually controlling Miner 001, cautiously using the robotic arm to extract a pancake-sized emerald.

Feeling tired, he checked his phone.

It was already past one o'clock!

Switching Miner 001 back to auto-mode, Zeng Shen opened the divine realm gate, picked up the dozing Little White, and returned to his apartment.

He reopened the gate to bring Little Black inside.

Seeing Little Black asleep with its siblings in its mother's embrace, Zeng Shen didn't disturb them, quietly refilling the cat bowls under the watchful eyes of the large black cat before leaving.

The next morning, Zeng Shen groggily answered his ringing phone.

"Hello?"

A voice as clear as a songbird greeted him.

"Hubby, what time did you sleep last night? It's past ten, and you're still in bed."

Rubbing his eyes, Zeng Shen thought for a moment.

"About one."

"Why so late? Didn't we agree on early nights?"

"I had things to do at home."

"What things?"

"Mining."

"..."

The line went silent.