33: Chapter 33 Finally Found

Li Xin stumbled down the hillside.

The soft soil and gravel under his feet tumbled down with a clatter. His pant legs were covered in mud, and his hands were scratched by thorns in several places.

Finally, he reached the valley floor. The surroundings were overgrown with dense vegetation.

The entire valley was quiet and secluded.

There was only the sound of a stream and the occasional call of birds. This was an undiscovered secret realm.

Li Xin walked to the middle of the valley and looked around.

Then he squatted down and pressed his hand onto the ground.

He could feel the dampness and coolness of the soil, and the sensation of grass roots against his palm.

"System, precise Scan."

[System: Precise Scan in progress... Please wait.]

Although he only waited for a few seconds, it felt like a very long time to him.

His heart rate accelerated, his palms were sweating uncontrollably, and his breathing was somewhat rapid.

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

[Scan complete.]

[Gold mine location: Directly below, depth approximately 35-42 meters.]

[Vein width: Approximately 3.5 meters.]

[Extension length: Approximately 180 meters.]

[Ore grade: Average gold content of approximately 24 grams per ton, classified as a high-grade gold mine.]

[Estimated gold content: 50.8 tons.]

[Note: This gold mine has not been discovered by any geological exploration agency, has no mining records, and is ownerless property. The host can perform 100% Extraction without worrying about legal disputes.]

Li Xin looked at these numbers and let out a long breath, feeling a sense of relief—he had finally found it—followed by a face full of wild joy.

Fifty point eight tons.

He slowly stood up, his hands still trembling.

Based on the current 2017 gold price, calculated at 270 yuan per gram, one kilogram is 270,000, and one ton is 270 million.

50.8 tons is worth over 13 billion RMB.

Now, as long as he placed his hand on the ground, he could get over 13 billion.

He took a deep breath to calm his excited heart.

He couldn't rush.

After confirming there was no danger around.

He returned to the middle of the valley, squatted down again, and pressed his hand onto the ground.

"System, Extraction."

[Extraction in progress... Please wait.]

This time, the Extraction took longer than any previous attempt.

Five seconds passed, and the system was still extracting.

Ten seconds, fifteen seconds.

Li Xin's hand, pressed against the ground, could feel a slight vibration, as if something was flowing underground. The vibration was very slight; if his hand hadn't been pressed tightly against the ground, he wouldn't have felt it at all.

Twenty seconds, twenty-five seconds.

The vibration became more and more obvious, and the ground under his feet seemed to be trembling slightly.

Thirty seconds.

[Extraction in progress... Complete.]

[Total gold ore extracted: approximately 2,100 tons, estimated gold content: 50.8 tons.]

[Refine?]

"Refine."

[Refining in progress... Refining complete. Obtained gold: 50.8 tons.]

[Cumulative gold refined: 59.8757 tons.]

Li Xin stood up, his hands still trembling.

The gold now in his space was worth nearly 16 billion RMB.

He stood in the middle of the valley, looking at the distant mountains, and suddenly felt a sense of unreality.

Three days ago, he set out from Shenzhen, taking high-speed trains, buses, and walking, crossing mountains and ridges, and traversing dense forests.

In three days, he had walked nearly sixty kilometers of mountain roads, crossed seven or eight mountains, waded through several rivers, developed blisters on his feet, and had bloody scratches from thorns on his legs.

Three days later, he stood in this unknown valley, possessing wealth of 13 billion.

He slowly squatted down, sat on the ground, took a bottle of water out of his space, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp.

The cold water poured into his stomach, and his mind gradually cleared.

He couldn't be happy too soon.

The gold was in his hands, but he was still in the mountains. Walking out from here would take at least a full day. Moreover, it was getting dark, and he had to quickly find a place to spend the night.

He stood up, brushed the dust off his body, and put the water bottle back into his space.

He checked the time; it was 6:10 PM.

The sun had already dropped below the ridgeline, and the light in the valley had dimmed significantly. In another half hour, it would be completely dark.

He could not spend the night here. This valley was too low-lying; if it rained at night, the rising stream water would be troublesome.

He turned around and walked back along the path he had come.

After a few steps, he stopped again and looked back at the valley.

The valley was very quiet; the stream was flowing, birds were calling, and the wind blew through the bushes, making a rustling sound.

No one knew that just beneath this quiet land, fifty tons of gold had once been hidden.

Now, all this gold was in his system space.

Li Xin's mouth curled up slightly; he turned around, quickened his pace, and climbed up the mountain.

It was getting darker and darker.

He had to cross that ridge before dark and find a flat piece of ground suitable for camping. Using both hands and feet, he climbed desperately upward.

By the time he climbed to the mountainside, it was completely dark. He took out his phone, turned on the flashlight function, and continued climbing with the help of the faint light.

Fortunately, his body, modified by the system, had better night vision than ordinary people. Although he couldn't see the details clearly, he could at least distinguish where the road was and where the pits were.

After climbing for another twenty minutes or so, he crossed the ridge. He found a relatively flat place with a few large rocks around to block the wind, and then quickly set up his tent. He moved in and zipped it up.

He took out a meal from his space; it was still hot. For some reason, he felt this meal was exceptionally delicious. After finishing the meal, he lay down in his sleeping bag.

He checked his data.

---

[Gold Search and Refining System 2.0]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Current Level: 8]

[Detection Range: 990 meters]

[Cumulative Gold Refined: 59.8757 tons]

[Gold Required for Next Upgrade: 10 tons]

[Prompt: System upgrade conditions met!]

[Consume 10 tons of gold to upgrade the system?]

---

He hesitated for a moment.

10 tons of gold was worth over 300 million USD.

If he used it to upgrade, he would lose a large sum of money. But if he didn't upgrade, his detection range would stay at 990 meters.

Finding the fifty-ton mine this time was thanks to the system's reward prompt. But next time, he couldn't always rely on the system for rewards; he had to rely on himself. And to rely on himself, he needed a larger detection range.

990 meters might cover a small area in a city, but in the mountains, on the ocean, or in the desert, 990 meters was too short. He needed a larger range.

Gritting his teeth, he said in his mind: "Upgrade."

[System upgrading... Please wait.]

[Upgrade complete!]

[Gold Search and Refining System 2.0]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Current Level: 9]

[Detection Range: 990 meters → 1990 meters]

(Note: Now each upgrade consumes 5 tons of gold, and the scanning range increases by 500 meters.)

[Gold Consumed: 10 tons]

[Current Cumulative Gold Refined: 49.8757 tons]

[Gold Required for Next Upgrade: 20 tons]

1,990 meters. Nearly two kilometers.

The next upgrade requires 20 tons, the one after that 50 tons, and the next 100 tons... At this pace, by the time he expands his detection range to one hundred kilometers, searching for gold mines and treasures around the world will be effortless.

He turned off the system panel, lay in his sleeping bag, and thought about his next plan.

He would go down the mountain early tomorrow morning, striving to return to the town before dark. Then he would contact Chen Hu to drive directly back to Kunming, and then take the high-speed train back to Shenzhen.

After returning to Shenzhen, he would first go to Dubai to cash out a portion of the gold. There was now 49.8757 tons of gold in his system space, and he planned to cash out 10 tons first.

10 tons of gold, at the current gold price, is worth over 300 million USD. Converted to RMB, that's about 2.7 billion. This money was enough for him to expand his business empire by another magnitude.

Logistics, technology, catering, real estate... he could invest money in all four directions. Moreover, he would continue to hunt for treasure.

Were there any larger gold mines in the country? Definitely. He had only found a fifty-ton one in Yunnan, and perhaps there were even larger ones elsewhere. However, he would leave the domestic ones for now.

It was more exciting to extract from foreign countries. Super-large gold mines like Grasberg in Indonesia, Muruntau in Uzbekistan, and Sukhoy Log in Russia, all had reserves in the thousands of tons; just thinking about it made him drool.

However, these large-scale gold mines currently under mining had very tight security; he couldn't just take them as easily as he did this time. With countless thoughts spinning in his mind, he slowly fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day, he quickly packed his things, ate some breakfast, and continued on his way back.

He felt the road back was much easier to walk than when he came.

It wasn't because the road had improved, but because his mood was different. When he came, he was only focused on finding the gold mine, and his heart was anxious. His patience had been worn down time and time again.

Now that the gold was securely lying in his space, he felt incredibly at ease, and his steps were light.

When he crossed the first mountain, he stood on the summit and looked back.

The valley could no longer be seen, blocked by layers upon layers of mountains.

But no one would know that in that quiet valley, there was a gold vein that had been sleeping for who knows how many years. It had been secretly extracted by him.

With a cheerful mood, he turned around and continued walking down the mountain.

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