Chapter 39: Hibi Earth Spirit Mine Company

The repaired 2-ring Temperature Stabilization Card definitely wouldn't perform as well as a new card.

"But it's worth at least 15 Gold Dragons!" Duke placed this 2-ring spiritual card into a small box on his bedside table. There were a few restored cards inside, all of which were of course one-ring cards.

A 2-ring Temperature Stabilization Card on the market is priced around 40 Gold Dragons, so selling a refurbished second-hand card for 15 Gold Dragons is no problem.

"Chirp chirp."

Xiao Dou crouched by the edge of the fish tank, watching the Golden Belly Ink Carp swimming back and forth inside.

Losing half of its tail didn't hinder the movement of this spiritual fish. Duke also brought some aquatic plants and rocks into the fish tank, making the whole tank brim with vitality.

Spiritual grass Earth Orchid was growing in a pot nearby, its leaves curling up in the night.

"Come here, Xiao Dou!" Duke beckoned, and Xiao Dou immediately jumped onto his shoulder.

Stepping out of the room, with a light leap, he hooked his hands onto the eaves and used his back's strength to jump directly onto the roof of the warehouse.

Cross-legged on the roof, his Desert Eagle handgun was present in his right hand.

He internally viewed his Sea of Spirit.

Xiaoyi's progress chart was clearly visible.

"Progress One: Field Meditation Technique, passive consumption of 40% power..."

"Progress Two: Desert Eagle 1.1 Muzzle Compensator Version, research consumes 55% power. Current research progress 51.1%, time budget 12 days."

"Progress Three: Chatting dialogue program, reserves 5% power."

After advancing to the Three-Star level of spiritual apprenticeship, Xiaoyi's computational capacity had increased. Duke quickly issued a command: "Xiaoyi, start passive meditation on <<Universal Blood Refining Technique>>."

"Understood, it has been set as Progress Three, passive meditation on the Universal Blood Refining Technique, consuming 35% power..."

"Chirp chirp!"

Xiaoyi began passively meditating on the <<Universal Blood Refining Technique>>, while Xiao Dou passively followed, drawing spiritual energy from both of their bodies under the night sky, enhancing Duke's battle energy.

Duke himself held the Desert Eagle in his hand, aiming it at the tallest tower in the center of the town - the Snakehead Tower.

At the top of the tower was a bright lamp.

The distance from the warehouse to the Snakehead Tower was about seven hundred meters. Duke wanted to test whether he could use the Desert Eagle to shoot out the lamp.

He lifted it slightly and aimed.

Puff!

A shot was fired, but the lamp showed no reaction.

Duke continued to adjust his aim, then fired shot after shot, rapid firing at the lamp at the center of the town.

However, after two hours of shooting, exhausted and having shot a multitude of rounds, the lamp was still shining brightly.

"Even if I were shooting blindly, I should have hit it at least once. The fact that I missed every shot indicates... that the range of this Desert Eagle is less than seven hundred meters."

The effective range of a regular Desert Eagle handgun in the desert is around one hundred to two hundred meters, and some might even reach a maximum of four to five hundred meters.

Although Duke's Desert Eagle was an arcane artifact, not a regular firearm, it was derived from a normal firearm, retaining many of its characteristics. Its maximum range probably remained the same, at most four to five hundred meters.

"In fact, this is just a... magic wand in the shape of a Desert Eagle?"

He put away the magic wand... and put away the Desert Eagle handgun.

His body had become hollow due to practicing battle energy. Duke ended his training, took Xiao Dou back to his room, and took out several pieces of spiritual beast jerky to satisfy his hunger.

The hot room made it difficult to sleep.

Duke took out the Temperature Stabilization Card from the small box and decided to indulge a little. He activated the Temperature Stabilization Card and connected it with a Spirit Storage Card to provide energy.

In an instant, the Temperature Stabilization Card emitted a soft light.

The 2-ring spell model was activated, and the temperature in the room suddenly cooled down. Xiao Dou on Duke's shoulder was puzzled and quickly hid in Duke's pocket.

"Cooling on the front, heating on the back. The speed of spiritual energy supply determines the effectiveness of cooling and heating..."

With the limitation of spiritual energy transfer from the Spirit Storage Card, Duke quickly adjusted the cooling effect of the Temperature Stabilization Card to around twenty degrees, a comfortable temperature.

These types of consumer spiritual cards were designed for easy use by ordinary people.

Lying on the bed, Duke watched the numbers on the Spirit Storage Card decrease: "It does consume quite a bit of spiritual energy, but this speed is acceptable. Spending around twenty Silver Dragons a month is nothing to me now."

Duke, who already had some status, expressed that he was stress-free.

...

In the blink of an eye, August was coming to an end.

Although the official declaration of the expansion war had not yet been made, the changes in Snakehead Town had already indicated that the expansion war would soon arrive.

Construction was underway on the Third Vertical Street, with houses being demolished, land leveled, and dividing walls erected.

Dust filled the air almost every day on the west side of the small town.

The Little Sam's card repair shop on the Second Vertical Street needed to be cleaned several times a day, or else the counters, tables, and yard would be covered in a layer of dust.

"I live on Drizzle Lane. Another mercenary group has rented a place nearby. A few young people dressed in leather armor go in and out all day. The old lady next door said they have sinister looks..." Sally, worried while at work, said, "Leaving Shawa and Shaf at home, I'm really not at ease."

She was a widow, raising her two children, Shawa and Shaf, by herself.

Abby was a kind woman and immediately offered, "Why not send Shawa and Shaf to my house? They can play with my two grandsons."

"Oh, wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

"Oh my, it's no trouble at all. Just leave them in the yard to play. You don't need to worry too much."

"Thank you, big sister Abby."

While they were chatting, several people dressed as mercenaries walked in. Seeing Sally behind the counter, they leaned against it and teased her, "Is the boss not around? You're standing at the counter, lady."

"I'm not the boss. I'm just a shop employee. Are you here for card repair?"

"Not for card repair. We're here to see you."

"Hehe." Sally didn't respond.

The leader-like mercenary with a foreign accent said, "Speak less, Vallet. Quickly take out the damaged arcane cards for repair. Don't waste time."

"Understood, Captain!" Vallet then gave up teasing Sally and got to work.

This group of mercenaries was covered in dust, obviously returning from an adventure in the wild. They took out a total of eleven arcane cards, both old and new, for repair.

After registering, the mercenaries left.

Sally breathed a sigh of relief and said to Aunt Abby, "These people are really annoying."

"Oh my, the peaceful days are about to end. If I didn't have money problems, I would have moved my family to Chenjiao City." Aunt Abby sighed.

At this moment, Dutlan returned from his delivery route and brought some news, "Hibi Earth Spirit Mine Company has settled in Snakehead Town. I saw them posting a job notice at the Snakehead Tower. The first batch of workers who sign up will have the opportunity to become official miners."

"Hibi Earth Spirit Mine Company? Duke, do you want to become a miner?"

"I'm definitely not going. Miners might make good money, but it's too dangerous. I'm doing well at our card repair shop. I'm not going to risk my life for it."

Dutlan quickly shook his head.

He would soon be completing his probation period and becoming a full employee, with a monthly salary of twenty-five Silver Dragons. In Snakehead Town, this small place, it was considered a high-paying job.

Safe and respectable, envied by many.

The shop employees chatted for a while, quickly forgetting about the Hibi Earth Spirit Mine Company. For ordinary people, it was just a mining company after all.

However, Duke, who was attending a public class at the Arcane Society, had a different perspective.

"The Spirit Mine Company is different from a regular mining company. Only when it produces high-energy spiritual crystal ores can it be called a Spirit Mine... The Emerald Sea Valley might not only have a mid-grade Spiritual Spring but also an associated Spirit Mine. For the sake of this associated Spirit Mine, there might be some battles to come."