Early the next morning, Feng Shao and Lin Xiaoran arrived at a place about fifty miles downstream from the village.

To the south is a mountain range that stretches for hundreds of miles, and to the north is a dense jungle.

After arriving here, the tributary of Lishui River makes a detour at the foot of the mountain and flows along the mountain road, turning from its original eastward direction to the southeast.

As for the jungle in the north, according to the locals, there are a large number of monsters of various sizes growing in it, and ordinary people can't resist them at all. Therefore, this area is a veritable forbidden area for the locals.

Between the jungle and the mountains is a plain of nearly one square kilometer in size. The land is fertile, but no one lives there. But this is not surprising, after all, monsters in the jungle will run out from time to time. If you live here for a long time, you will be caught and eaten by monsters sooner or later.

The scenery here is pleasant and rarely visited, making it a good place for an outing. However, Feng Shao did not come here for an outing, but to survey the local terrain.

According to the Qiankun Palace classic "Four Directions Map", right below this place is a natural spiritual energy vein with extremely rich reserves and easy to mine. But on the surface, the topography here is not much different from other places. No one would have thought that just more than 400 meters below the ground, there is a "great treasure" nurtured by heaven and earth.

Although Feng Shao had no experience in mining, he knew a little bit about it. Undoubtedly, if he wanted to mine the natural spiritual energy here, he would first have to dig a well over 400 meters deep from the surface. Although there were no drilling machines in this world, he could achieve similar results by using some cultivation methods.

Seeing Feng Shao looking around, squatting on the ground and digging non-stop, and then holding a stone and examining it endlessly, Lin Xiaoran became more and more confused and couldn't help asking: "Brother Shao, what are you doing?"

Hearing this, Feng Shao replied casually: "Ran'er, more than a hundred feet below here, there is a vein of natural spiritual energy with rich reserves. I plan to dig a deep well from here to guide the natural spiritual energy out."

"Natural spiritual energy?" Lin Xiaoran opened his eyes wide, "Could it be the spiritual energy drawn from the spirit stone?"

Feng Shao shook his head: "I'm not sure either, but there seems to be a slight difference between the two. This natural spiritual energy is more like a highly concentrated product of the spiritual energy that permeates the heaven and earth."

Lin Xiaoran thought for a while, and probably understood what Feng Shao meant, so he asked: "Then Brother Shao, if we can mine natural spiritual energy, can we cultivate faster by absorbing it?"

Feng Shao shook his head again: "I'm afraid not."

"Why is that?"

Feng Shao pondered and said, "Some ancient books record that due to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, secret realms, etc., some natural spiritual energy sometimes leaks out. However, the leaked natural spiritual energy usually does not create a sacred mountain and treasure land suitable for cultivation. Instead, it turns the area into a barren land where no one can live. It seems that too rich spiritual energy cannot be directly absorbed, otherwise it will cause some unexpected changes in the body."

After a pause, Feng Shao continued, "Rumor has it that there are many strange beasts that were originally ordinary wild beasts. Because they absorbed too much spiritual energy, their bodies changed. Those that adapted to the changes in the environment were preserved and gradually became demon beasts and monster beasts. Those that failed to adapt to the changes in the environment led to the mass death of wild beasts, or even extinction."

Lin Xiaoran suddenly realized: "According to what you said, the natural spiritual energy here cannot be exploited rashly, otherwise it will lead to serious consequences after leakage?"

Feng Shao nodded: "In fact, in ancient times, some people wanted to exploit natural spiritual energy. However, because they failed to properly handle the leakage of natural spiritual energy, serious consequences occurred. But what's interesting is that they did not think that there was any problem with their exploitation afterwards, but concluded that 'natural spiritual energy is not suitable for absorption'. In fact, solving the leakage of natural spiritual energy is not a difficult problem, but many people thought about it in the wrong way, resulting in the formation of a perfect exploitation mechanism for thousands of years."

Lin Xiaoran's eyes suddenly lit up: "So, Brother Shao, you have already figured out how to exploit this natural spiritual energy?"

Feng Shao smiled and said, "Although the surface soil here is very soft, it is only two or three meters deep, and below that is a hard rock layer. Although there are mountains in the south, the slope is gentle and the vegetation is lush, which means that the geological movement here has stabilized. I checked some ancient books and found no records of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions here. In summary, as long as the method is correct, there will be no leakage when mining natural spiritual energy here."

Lin Xiaoran was completely confused, and she didn't understand some of the terms. But she did understand one thing, that is, the natural spiritual energy here can be mined, and the difficulty is very low. So Lin Xiaoran said happily: "So, can we mine the natural spiritual energy you mentioned here?"

"There shouldn't be any problem, but there are still some things that need to be proven..." Feng Shao murmured.

Lin Xiaoran scratched his head, looking confused.

In the afternoon, the two flew back to Yunjian Pavilion on their swords.

After returning to Yunjian Pavilion, Feng Shao first sent Lin Xiaoran to her residence, and then went to his own residence.

Before parting, the two of them were intimate for a while.

Last night, although Feng Shao had close contact with Lin Xiaoran on impulse, in the end, Feng Shao finally controlled himself and did not go to the last step.

Lin Xiaoran was ignorant and knew nothing about that. She only knew that once two people kissed, it meant that they would definitely become husband and wife in the future.

Feng Shao really couldn't bear to destroy such a delicate and lovely flower so early, and could only endure it with great willpower.

But that night, Feng Shao slept with Lin Xiaoran in his arms. And Lin Xiaoran buried his head in Feng Shao's arms and slept very soundly.

After the first intimate contact, the second time was a natural thing, and the third time was easy. When they kissed again, they both put aside their shyness and just felt that this feeling was particularly wonderful.

After Feng Shao returned to his room, he took out paper and pen and began to write and draw.

He studied mechanics in his previous life, so he was very clear about some mechanical principles. Although there were some differences in some physical theories between the two worlds, the knowledge of mechanics was common. However, Feng Shao did not know much about the mining industry, so he did not know how to build a facility suitable for mining natural spiritual energy.

However, it is still feasible to design a simpler mining equipment.

Since the natural spiritual energy is buried deep underground, the air pressure must be very high. When the mine is opened, the natural spiritual energy will definitely erupt, so a decompression device is needed. Since there is no precedent in the technology, Feng Shao can only design it while groping. He thinks that one decompression device may not be enough, and he needs to install more.

After careful consideration, Feng Shao finally designed a relatively simple nested pressure reducing device, and based on this, he designed a large gas pipeline.

The biggest advantage of this decompression device is that it can reduce the pressure in stages until the pressure is reduced to a level suitable for mining. Of course, there are definitely better designs, but due to his ability, Feng Shao can only design a decompression device of this level.

After completing the design, Feng Shao took the blueprint and went to find Xue Li, the head of the Huo Lian Hall.

Huoliantang is a department under Yunjian Pavilion that is responsible for casting, and the head of Huoliantang, Xue Li, is a master of casting. Although Feng Shao has no friendship with him, he is the son-in-law of Yunjian Pavilion after all, so after seeing Feng Shao, Xue Li politely welcomed Feng Shao into the inner hall.

After Feng Shao explained his purpose, he took out the design drawing. Xue Li took the drawing and studied it carefully.

Just when he was halfway through the research, Xue Li couldn't help but exclaimed in amazement: "Uncle, let's put aside whether your design is feasible or not. This kind of drawing method is the first time I have seen it. Uncle, you must have studied casting design before, right?"

The drawings drawn by Feng Shao are three-view drawings. This way of design expression is much more detailed than traditional drawings. Even those who have never studied design can understand it at a glance.

As the head of the Fire Refining Hall, Xue Li had been immersed in the field of casting for his entire life and had designed countless weapons and equipment. He was a connoisseur and could see the advanced nature of this design at a glance, and he was filled with admiration.

Feng Shao smiled and said, “I think this way of composition is more detailed than the traditional one, and it is less likely to have mistakes or omissions.”

Xue Li nodded: "Indeed. In the past, people often brought their own designed weapons to me for casting, but the things cast often did not meet their requirements. So some people first made a model out of wood. Although it is a bit troublesome, it can at least avoid this situation. And your composition is really unexpected. Maybe you can promote it in Yunjian Pavilion in the future."

Feng Shao nodded, "That's great."

Next, the two of them started a discussion on this drawing.

Although Xue Li could tell what was to be cast from Feng Shao's clear drawing, he was confused about the purpose of it. Feng Shao had to explain it to Xue Li in detail, and after listening to it, Xue Li pondered for a long time before saying, "Your design is feasible, but some places are still a bit taken for granted. Look here, and here..."

Xue Li is indeed an expert. Although he doesn't know why Feng Shao wants to design such a weird thing, he can still see many design flaws at a glance. Feng Shao listened carefully and made some suggestions from time to time. Some of the suggestions were very pertinent, while some seemed too fanciful. However, Feng Shao did not stick to his own ideas, but discussed them seriously with Xue Li to make up for the design flaws together.

This discussion lasted for two hours. The original design drawings were altered beyond all recognition.

Feng Shao re-drew the final design result on a piece of paper. Xue Li took the "final version" of the design drawing, looked at Feng Shao, and sighed: "Son-in-law, son-in-law, now I understand why the Pavilion Master insisted that you be his son-in-law!"

Feng Shao could only smile at Xue Li's sigh.

The real reason is not as complicated as you think. In the final analysis, it is just the childish but persistent persistence of a little girl.

But because of this, he didn't want to let her down.