19: Chapter 19 Refining and Upgrading

Over the next two days, Li Xin toured the mountainous areas surrounding Shiqiao Town.

On the first day, he headed east, crossed two mountains, and used the System to Scan the entire area within a 90-meter radius.

He discovered two small gold veins, but their reserves were not significant, totaling only about thirty to forty kilograms.

He marked them on his map to deal with them once the drilling rig arrived.

On the second day, he headed west, walking about ten kilometers along a dried-up riverbed.

This time, he found a big one.

[System: Large gold vein detected. Location: approximately 40-90 meters below the riverbed. Vein width: about 1.5 meters, extending about 200 meters. Estimated gold content: approximately 1.8 tons.]

1.8 tons!

When Li Xin saw this number, his hands were trembling.

1.8 tons of gold, at current gold prices, was worth over 700 million RMB.

More importantly, this gold was enough for him to upgrade the System to a very high level—calculating based on the incremental gold required for each upgrade, 1.8 tons was enough for him to upgrade over a dozen times.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

This discovery was too important; he couldn't afford to be hasty.

He carefully recorded the location and depth of the vein, then continued walking forward.

After walking another five kilometers or so, the System indicated another vein, but the reserves were much smaller, only a few dozen kilograms.

Over the two days, he had discovered a total of approximately 2.2 tons of gold reserves.

Adding the 550 kilograms in the abandoned gold mine, that made a total of 2.75 tons.

Li Xin returned to the hotel, organized the data he had found, and drew a rough map.

Then, he called Chen Hu.

"Have you found the drilling rig?"

"Found it, Boss," Chen Hu said. "It can be transported to Shiqiao Town tomorrow."

"Good. Also, I need some other things—metal rods, long enough to reach a depth of two hundred meters. Stainless steel would be best, and the diameter doesn't need to be too thick, one or two centimeters is fine."

"That's no problem, I'll get them together."

"Also, I need you to bring a few more people. Not members of the Armed Squad, just regular workers to help move and operate the equipment." Li Xin thought to himself that since the System would erase their memories anyway, he didn't need to worry about exposure.

"Understood. About how many people do you need?"

"Five or six will do."

"Alright, I'll arrange it."

Early on the third day, Chen Hu arrived in Shiqiao Town with two trucks.

One truck was loaded with drilling equipment, and the other truck carried five or six workers and a bundle of stainless steel rods.

Li Xin found an open space outside the town and had the workers unload the equipment.

"Boss, which spot should we drill first?" Chen Hu asked.

Li Xin took out the map and pointed to the location of the abandoned gold mine: "Drill here first. Depth of 90 meters."

The workers began setting up the drilling rig. Li Xin stood nearby, watching, while calculating his next steps.

Drilling takes time, probably a day or two. He couldn't just sit idle during this time.

He decided to go to the riverbed and try to see if he could extract it directly using the metal rods he had on hand.

He gave Chen Hu a few instructions, telling him to keep an eye on the drilling progress, then went to the riverbed alone.

Upon reaching the riverbed, he found a spot where the vein was shallowest.

He inserted one end of the stainless steel rod into the soil and pushed it down as far as it would go.

Then he crouched down and grasped the other end of the stainless steel rod with his hand.

"System, use the conductor to make contact and collect the gold ore below."

[Command confirmed. Collecting...]

[Collection complete. Collected approximately 0.5 tons of gold ore, estimated gold content: 12kg.]

[Refine?]

"Refine."

[Refining... Refining complete. Obtained gold: 12 kg.]

[Cumulative gold refined: 20.7 kg]

Li Xin looked at the numbers on the system panel and smiled.

This method was indeed effective.

He continued using the same method, operating at different locations along the riverbed several times, collecting anywhere from over ten to several dozen kilograms of gold each time.

By the end of half a day, he had collected a total of about 150kg of gold.

[Cumulative gold refined: 170.7 kg]

[System upgrade requirements met!]

[Consume 100kg of gold to upgrade the System?]

"Upgrade."

[System upgrading... Upgrade complete!]

[Gold Search and Refining System]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Current Level: 5]

[Detection Range: 90 meters → 140 meters]

(Note: Every 10kg of gold increases range by 5 meters, 100kg of gold increases range by 50 meters)

[Current cumulative gold refined: 70.7 kg]

[Gold required for next upgrade: 200kg]

[...]

Li Xin stood on the riverbed, looking at the distant mountains, an indescribable sense of excitement welling up inside him.

Furthermore, he still had 70.7 kg of gold on hand. Once the holes were drilled at the abandoned gold mine, he could extract several hundred more kilograms.

When he returned to the abandoned gold mine, the drilling rig had already reached a depth of over fifty meters.

"Boss, at this rate, we'll be able to reach ninety meters by tomorrow afternoon," Chen Hu said.

"Good work," Li Xin nodded, then asked casually, "By the way, are those workers you brought reliable?"

"Reliable," Chen Hu said. "I checked their backgrounds; they are all locals who have worked on construction sites before, and they know how to keep their mouths shut."

"That's good."

The next afternoon, the drill reached ninety meters.

"Boss, we've reached the depth," Chen Hu said as he walked over.

Li Xin walked to the borehole, inserted the stainless steel rod, and pushed it all the way to the bottom.

Then he grasped the other end.

"System, collect."

[Collecting... Collection complete. Collected approximately 8 tons of gold ore, estimated gold content: 120kg.]

[Refine?]

"Refine."

[Refining... Refining complete. Obtained gold: 120kg.]

[Cumulative gold refined: 190.7 kg]

Li Xin drilled a few more holes in other locations at the abandoned gold mine, cleaning out all the gold ore underground.

He had extracted a total of about 550kg of gold from this abandoned mine.

Adding the 150kg extracted earlier from the riverbed, he had extracted a total of 700 kilograms of gold over these two days.

Li Xin sat on the hillside, watching the distant sunset, and took a deep breath.

He opened the system panel to check the gold required for an upgrade:

[Gold Search and Refining System]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Level: 5]

[Detection Range: 140 meters]

[Cumulative gold refined: 620.7 kg]

[Gold required for next upgrade: 200kg]

[System upgrade requirements met!]

[Consume 200kg of gold to upgrade the System?]

"Upgrade later." Li Xin thought for a moment and decided to wait and see.

Next time, it should be 500 kilograms.

The time after that, 5 tons.

The time after that, 10 tons.

...

According to the upgrade rules provided by the System, the further he progressed, the more gold would be required, but the increase in detection range would also be greater.

Li Xin calculated silently in his mind—if he could get enough gold to upgrade the System to its highest level, with a detection range reaching 100 kilometers, then he could truly "dig out" all the gold mines and treasures in the world.

But that was a long way off.

For now, he needed to take care of the gold currently in front of him. He thought for a moment and decided to hold onto it for the time being.

Li Xin stood up, brushed the dust off his body, and walked down the mountain. Halfway down, he suddenly stopped.

The System notification sound rang out.

[System: Gold reaction detected. Location: approximately 50 meters to the front right, about 3 meters below the surface. Estimated gold content: 15 kilograms.]

Li Xin was taken aback. This was a place he had already walked through; how come he hadn't discovered it during the previous Scan?

He thought about it and realized that his previous detection range was only 90 meters, and this gold reaction was beyond 90 meters, so theoretically, he should have been able to detect it. But perhaps he had been walking too fast at the time, and the System hadn't had enough time to Scan.

Now his detection range was 140 meters, and he was walking very slowly, giving the System enough time to Scan.

It seems that in the future, when treasure hunting, he shouldn't walk too fast. He had to leave enough scanning time for the System.

He walked to that location, dug half a meter deep, and found a piece of gold ore the size of a washbasin.

"System, collect."

[Collection successful, estimated gold content: 15 kilograms.]

[Refine?]

"Refine."

[Refining... Refining complete. Obtained gold: 15 kilograms.]

[Cumulative gold refined: 635.7 kg]

[System upgrade requirements met!]

[Consume 200kg of gold to upgrade the System?]

Li Xin hesitated for a moment.

200 kilograms of gold was worth 70 to 80 million RMB. If he used it to upgrade, he would lose a huge sum of money.

But if he didn't upgrade, his detection range would stay at 140 meters, making it difficult to find larger veins.

He gritted his teeth: "Upgrade."

[System upgrading... Upgrade complete!]

[Gold Search and Refining System]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Current Level: 6]

[Detection Range: 140 meters → 240 meters]

[Gold required for next upgrade: 500kg]

[Current cumulative gold refined: 435.7 kg]

[Armed Squad: 5 people]

240 meters. Li Xin looked at the numbers on the system panel, the corners of his mouth curling up.

A detection range of 240 meters could already cover a very large area. Within this range, he could see the distribution of veins hundreds of meters underground.

This meant that he would be able to find more and more gold.

He continued down the mountain, scanning as he walked, and discovered a few more scattered spots of gold, but they were all small, totaling only a few kilograms, with no need to dig them up.

It was already evening by the time he returned to Shiqiao Town.

Li Xin took a shower in the hotel, lay on the bed, and sent a message to Luo Maifa: "Returning to school in a couple of days."

Luo Maifa replied with an emoji, then sent another message: "Li Xin, my dad said the company recently took on a big order with good profits. He said thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"Also, it seems there's some trouble on Yang Hong's end. When he was chatting with me yesterday, his tone was off. You should ask him about it when you get back."

Li Xin frowned: "What kind of trouble?"

"He didn't go into details, but it seems like something went wrong with his outsourcing project, and the client isn't paying."

"Alright, I'll go find him when I get back."