Qin Ziwen brought the Earth Spirit Source Stone to the Level 2 Iron Mine.

He embedded the Earth Spirit Source Stone into the Iron Ore Card.

[Level 5 Marvel] Earth Spirit Source Stone (Can be embedded into a mineral resource vein)

Earth Spirit Source Stone: When embedded in a corresponding resource point, greatly increases the mineral vein’s output, slightly increases the mineral vein’s quality, and gives the mineral vein a small chance to produce Essence Ore.

After the stone was embedded, the iron mine began to change.

The color of the iron ore grew deeper, and the ore exposed on the surface gleamed with a bright metallic luster.

The changes here couldn’t be hidden. Li Tieshan, who was in charge of weapon forging, noticed the difference immediately.

After rushing over, Li Tieshan first bowed to Qin Ziwen, then impatiently ran to the mineral vein. He picked up a piece of ore, weighed it in his hand repeatedly, and tapped it with his knuckles.

"My Lord, this ore... its purity is too high!" He snapped his head up, his eyes filled with disbelief. "This isn’t ore anymore, it’s practically... a natural piece of iron! There are almost no impurities. With just a little forging, it can be made directly into ironware."

Qin Ziwen stared at the spot where Li Tieshan had just picked up the ore. The surrounding chunks of iron ore seemed to have a life of their own, slowly squeezing inward to fill the empty space.

’Is this the "greatly increased" mineral vein output!?’

Qin Ziwen’s eyes narrowed.

’So this is the effect of a Level 5 Marvel.’

’And this is just an iron mine. What if it were a rarer mineral vein?’

He thought of something else. These Marvels were produced by the Giant Rock Dragon, drawing nutrients from its body like parasites.

’If I hadn’t killed the Giant Rock Dragon prematurely, this parasitism would have continued for who knows how long. The number of viable Earth Spirit Source Stones produced on its back would have only increased, and the final synthesized Earth Spirit Source Stone would have been an even higher Level.’

’It might have even produced a Level 6 or even a Level 7 Earth Spirit Source Stone.’

’Of course, this production was dependent on the Giant Rock Dragon itself. If the dragon couldn’t endure it, the parasitic process might have ended early.’

...

「After midnight.」

[You have successfully survived for another week on the Gobi Map. It is now the twenty-fifth day. This week, you advanced to the Extraordinary realm, obtained a large number of Cards, completed one Hunting Celestial List Level 3 Task, and successfully hunted the Extraordinary Creature, the Giant Rock Dragon... Comprehensive Score: 2711]

[Rewards granted: [Breakthrough Card] Extreme Breakthrough Card x1, [Duplication Card] Ordinary Building Duplication Card x3, [Expansion Card] Grassland Expansion Card (Large) x2, [Function Card] Node x1, [Upgrade Card] Building Upgrade Card x1, [Enhancement Card] Human Physique Enhancement Card (One Star) x3]

Qin Ziwen looked at the rewards. ’Another Extreme Breakthrough Card. Counting my existing stock, I have four of them now.’

Next was the Grassland Expansion Card. This time, he had received two large ones at once, which could expand his territory by a full 20,000 square meters.

The total area of his Home was currently 25,198 m².

With the two new large Expansion Cards, the total would be 45,000 square meters, roughly equivalent to six or seven football fields.

Then there were the Ordinary Building Duplication Cards.

Including his previous stock, he now had five of them.

He could brute-force the shipyard to Level 3 just by stacking them.

There was a restriction, however. Although this Duplication Card could be permanently transformed into any Ordinary Level Building Card, it could only duplicate the Card, not the building itself.

To duplicate the shipyard, he first needed to have a Shipyard Building Card.

Unfortunately, there were many types of Building Cards, and he had yet to find anyone else who had a Shipyard Building Card.

Qin Ziwen could only think to himself, ’I hope I get a Shipyard Card when the map settlement rewards are calculated.’

As for the Function Card that always appeared, Qin Ziwen used it by default.

[Function Activated: Level 3 Node]

[Authority has been upgraded. Current Authority: Level 3 Authority (7/8)]

[Level 3 Node: Three spatial nodes can be established outside the Home. These nodes are two-way passages, limited to the current map. Once set, a node cannot be changed for 7 days.]

A flash of joy appeared in Qin Ziwen’s eyes. ’The Nodes are finally two-way passages instead of one-way.’

’It’s not a big deal that they’re limited to the current map.’

He could see its greatest use: the Node connecting to the Oasis would allow them to transport large amounts of water back from there.

They would no longer have to waste a day on the journey.

The next map was an Island. Although there would be an ocean, everyone knew that seawater wasn’t drinkable.

Unless the island had a direct source of fresh water, drinking water would still be a major problem.

Stockpiling a large amount of water from the Oasis first was a sound plan.

As for the newly acquired Building Upgrade Card...

In his opinion, the most cost-effective way to use this Card was on a high-level ordinary building.

The higher the level of an ordinary building, the more worthwhile its transformation into an Advanced Building would be.

Right now, the highest-level ordinary building in his Home was the Level 5 Farmland.

Upgrading it from Level 5 to Level 6 required 16 Farmland Cards.

But just as he was about to use it, Qin Ziwen thought of the shipyard again.

’If the farmland is upgraded, it’ll become my first agriculture-type Advanced Building.’

’It would be helpful for my Home, but it’s more of a long-term benefit.’

’But for the next map, a shipbuilding-related Advanced Building would be the most useful.’

After a moment of hesitation, Qin Ziwen saved the Building Upgrade Card.

’I’ll wait until the shipyard is a higher level before using it.’

As for the final Human Physique Enhancement Card (One Star), Qin Ziwen pondered for a moment and decided to wait and see.

...

「The next day, after sunrise」 Qin Ziwen told Jia Liangcai that the Node had been upgraded to a two-way passage and had him make the arrangements.

Before long, as the news spread, the entire Gated Community mobilized.

Water, meat, animals—all sorts of supplies were systematically transported back to the Gated Community through the Node. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

After nearly a month of being battered by the wind and sand of the Gobi Desert, many of the plants in the Gated Community’s greenbelts had long since turned yellow and withered.

But with the Node connected, water was now abundant instead of scarce. Some of the dead plants were pulled up and replaced with greenery from the Oasis, while the scorched ones were watered with clear lake water.

Some people cheered with abandon. A few of them hadn’t had a single bath since they were transported to the Gobi Desert.

At most, they had only wiped their bodies down with a damp towel.

Now, they could finally take a proper, refreshing bath.

In the Oasis, many of the animals living there had learned to give the frequently appearing humans a wide berth after several incidents.

The sudden increase in the number of humans now forced them to cede even more space.

In a distant herd of wild horses, Red Hare neighed as it led the group to a new location. It had been living a carefree life recently, having so much fun with the herd that it had lost all track of the world.

Every day, it would wake up surrounded by a dozen or so mares.

However, it could sense that its time here wouldn’t last much longer. Therefore, Red Hare was preparing to carefully screen the herd and select some suitable "elite soldiers and fine generals" to leave with it.

...

...