Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 673
The relay station was called Wangyang Station. It used to be an under-developed village, but as the two renowned clans started investing in it, it had slowly grown to a small town.
The Mui Clan and Dongfang Clan were cooperating with the local government. The local government was hoping that their remote village could be developed further, and the roads, railways, and safe zone would be extended further. The inland areas and places in the West were getting more attention since the eastern coastline was now threatened by sea monsters.
The Mui Clan had long claimed ownership of Sun Ridge. The local government, Magic Association, and military would not be getting any share of the place. They were mainly focusing on developing Wangyang Station, since its growth would allow the local government to develop Tianyu Town further. As such, the military and the government were willing to lend the Mui Clan and Dongfang Clan a hand.
The relay station was still in rather rough. Wooden planks, stones, and cement were stacked all around the place. Since the place was quite remote, railroads were not yet established, and the roads were mostly muddy paths. Dust and mud scattered all over the relay station as one truck after another drove to the relay station...
"We are considering building roads here, but that's only possible after the fire vein is accessible," Dongfang Mo explained. He had arrived in person.
Building roads was going to cost a fortune. Only huge clans were able to afford the expense. It would bring great benefits to Wangyang Village, since it would give them easier access to the outside world. It was extremely inconvenient to be stuck in the mountains, especially crossing the mountains and ridges just to get some supplies from other places.
"What are the trucks carrying?" Mo Fan noticed that the trucks were carrying colorful stones with jagged edges out of the station, apart from bringing in resources.
"Those are four Colored Ores of poor quality. Kunlun Mountain is rich in Wind Color Ores, Earth Color Ores, Fire Color Ores, and Lightning Color Ores. Those four different Colored Ores have been feeding countless cities. In the past, the Mui Clan even established a small gathering center here to collect the different Colored Ores and sell them in the Magic City. That business has been earning a few hundred million every year.
"A long time ago, Mui Guangqing was placed in charge of the business and came to inspect it. He stumbled into an old Hunter who had discovered traces of a fire vein. They ended up forming a team to look for the fire vein. It turned out that the fire vein did exist, and it's a B-grade pure fire vein. Mui Guangqing was immediately promoted to an elder of the clan, and was placed in charge of the fire vein." Dongfang Mo glanced at a man in his thirties nearby with a smile. He seemed to be quite familiar with the situation here.
Mui Guangqing was a very humble man who did not speak much along the journey. Mo Fan initially thought he was just a normal member of the Mui Clan tagging along. To his surprise, the man was in charge of the fire vein, and was the one who had discovered it!
"I'm just lucky, it's not worth mentioning at all," Mui Guangqing explained calmly.
"It's not just about luck. Most people would be reluctant to give up on a comfortable life in the city and come to such an inhospitable place, let alone visiting this place in person to inspect the clan's business..." Dongfang Mo seemed to admire Mui Guangqing.
"Uncle Mo, stop flattering me; I'm just more serious about my tasks. Anyone else could have discovered the fire vein, too. Our biggest problem now is to excavate it. As a matter of fact, there are lots of treasure vaults like Sun Ridge here in the west, but it's too difficult to excavate them. The military, government, and renowned clans are not willing to take huge risks. If our clan didn't join hands with your clan, which is known for its expertise in the Fire Element, we really would have no idea how to deal with the fire vein, and some other renowned clans might end up snatching it from us. We wouldn't care so much if the military wanted to take it away, we could just think of it as contributing to the country, but we are worried that some renowned clans are planning to claim it by annexing us and putting pressure on us," Mui Guangqing said.
"Unfortunately, our Dongfang Clan is bringing disgrace to our own name this time. I'm afraid we aren't capable enough to take on the job this time. We are only in charge of mining and refining the ore..." Dongfang Mo turned to Mo Fan.
"Uncle Mo, I think you've overestimated this guy's capabilities. Our Dongfang Clan might not be better than them in other areas, but there's no way we are going to lose to anyone when it comes to the Fire Element. Why are we bothering to let an outsider interfere with our business?" Dongfang Ming grumbled.
Dongfang Ming was an old acquaintance of Mo Fan. He had nothing better to do now after failing to join the Enforcement Union. As such, he had returned to the clan to see if there was anything he could help with.
Dongfang Lie was a more straightforward person. Even though there was a period where he found Mo Fan to be an eyesore, he was utterly impressed by Mo Fan's talents when they were fighting for the spot on the national team, and was willing to reconcile with him. Meanwhile, Dongfang Ming was more narrow-minded. He was still holding a grudge against Mo Fan because of what had happened in Hangzhou!
"You're just here to lend a hand. Stop interrupting, can't you see that us a.d.u.l.ts are discussing business here?" Mo Fan said imperiously, not showing any mercy to Dongfang Ming.
Dongfang Ming was on the verge of losing his temper.
Who did this Mo Fan think he was? He used to have a chance to beat the crap out of this jerk. How could Mo Fan possibly beat him, if it wasn't for the resources he received from joining the national team?
"Xiao Ming, don't be reckless, it's time to forget about the past." Dongfang Mo was Dongfang Ming's father, and did not hesitate to teach his son some manners. He was quite friendly to Mo Fan, too. He switched his tone and said, "Mo Fan, since Xiao Ming is around your age, please don't hesitate to give him some advice."
"Xiao Ming?... HAHAHA, not a problem, I won't mind keeping an eye on him." Mo Fan burst out laughing when he heard Dongfang Ming's nickname. The others laughed, too!
Dongfang Ming was supposed to be an unusual name, but when Dongfang Mo called him by his nickname, it suddenly reminded everyone of the textbooks in primary school!
{TL Note: Xiao Ming is a very common literary name in Chinese textbooks.}
Dongfang Ming's face twisted like a grilled eggplant. He was too embarassed to say anything else.
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The vehicles reached Wanyang Station at the base of Sun Ridge. The place had more than a hundred hills and mountains of varied sizes. Its altitude was significantly higher than the mountains and the mountain ranges nearby. During summer, when the sun was shining upon Sun Ridge, its terrain would end up trapping the heat, resulting in unusually high temperature on the main ridges, and making it extremely difficult for ordinary people to stay on them.
Rumors said that around three hundred years ago a meteorite had landed on Sun Ridge, producing an enormous burning pit hidden between the mountains. This fire vein did not just appear out of nowhere in the past year or two; it was formed by nature with the right conditions.
The resources of a fire vein were extremely rare and valuable. Mui Guangqing was quite knowledgeable. He was able to refer to local rumors and ancient records to locate the fire vein, despite the complicated geography of Sun Ridge. He even figured out roughly how long the fire vein had existed.
The fire vein had been around for about three hundred years. Perhaps it was not as impressive in the past. It had only grown to its current scale after being exposed to the sun in such a unique environment for many years...
A fire vein not only supplied Spirit-grade Seeds and Soul-grade Seeds, but even the insignificant stones in a fire vein were refined to be used as Guiding Stones, an energy source used to train a bunch of Fire Mages.
Mages had become rare and valuable since the sea had risen. Not everyone was a Mage, so an elemental vein like this played an important role in Awakening new Mages.
Mo Fan knew that the reason why magic schools would only recruit a limited number of students was mainly because they had a limited supply of Awakening Stones.
In addition to that, only the Magic Association knew the exact way to produce Awakening Stones. In other words, the Magic Association had to give their permission before a new Mage was Awakened. The Magic Association distributed Awakening Stones to every faction in the world!
The Magic Association would collect the raw materials for producing the Awakening Stones from society, and were the ones deciding the price.
An elemental vein like this fire vein would contain the Awakening energy of the respective Element, refined by nature. The Magic Association would further modify the energy to awaken the Star Dust in a person's body.
Elemental magic was considered a part of nature. The Awakening Stones that the Magic Association normally distributed to the schools were mostly from the elemental veins, which was the reason why most Mages would awaken Elemental magic as their first Element.
Since the fire and lightning veins were the rarest among the Elemental veins, there were fewer Mages that could awaken the Fire Element and the Lightning Element.
Mo Fan had learned all this when he was resting at the Parthenon Temple. The main reason why the Parthenon Temple was superior to most of the factions was because they were not under the Magic Association. The founders had established the Parthenon Temple as an independent organization via their unique combination of Blessing and Healing Elements, which exceeded the level of the Magic Association. As a matter of fact, the Magic Associations had to nod and bow their heads to the Parthenon Temple as a result...
Even though Mo Fan did not believe it at first, the truth was, it was possible to Awaken any Element as long as someone had enough money and resources. As for the young Mages at school, the Elements they could Awaken mostly depended on their luck and body constitution.
If one was lucky enough, and the Awakening Stone they used turned out to be from a fire vein, it meant that person would have a higher chance to Awaken the Fire Element.
If the Awakening Stone assigned to a student was a low-quality Awakening Stone mixed with the Earth Element and the Wind Element, and the process of refining it involved the Water Element and Light Element, and the student's body composition was all mixed up, it was difficult to tell the exact Element that the student would Awaken.
It all came down to the odds of Awakening the Elements. A high-quality Awakening Stone and the Guiding Stone of a specific Element would greatly increase the odds of Awakening that Element. It did not necessarily mean a low-quality Awakening Stone could never Awaken the Lightning Element, but the odds were only ten thousand to one, or even a hundred thousand to one!
The only relief was that no Element was superior to another. The Mages only needed to focus on improving their cultivation. It all came down to which Mage was stronger in the end!
Chapter 1440 - Filthy Men
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The most valuable loot in a fire vein was the raw material for Awakening Stones.
They had a say in how to sell these raw materials, but they would most likely end up in the hands of the Magic Association, since only the Magic Association could turn these raw materials into Awakening Stones that young people around the age of ten could use.
The other thing that was just as valuable as the Awakening Stones was the fire magic ore.
Magic ores were the source of magic technology. Magic ores were the most important resources supporting the development of human cities. A B-grade fire vein would mostly produce B-grade magic ore; the energy they could provide was unimaginable. Many of the huge magic ore veins in the country were owned by the government and the military. The Magic Association would not interfere with them.
Awakening Stones and magic ores were resources that would always have a higher demand than supply, guaranteeing a continuous profit, and were the true value of an elemental vein. In addition to the raw materials needed to produce Awakening Stones and magic ores, there were also Elemental Seeds, Elemental Pieces, and Elemental Crystals, things that precipitated over a long period of time.
Mo Fan had learned the value of a fire vein from Mui Guangqing along the journey.
Mui Guangqing was a real scholar. His eyes had glittered at the mention of the topic, and were no longer as dull and lifeless as usual. The others might have found his prolonged speech annoying, but Mo Fan was very intrigued. He was nodding like he was mincing garlic while Mui Guangqing was explaining things to him.
"Doesn't that mean things like Spirit-grade Seeds, Soul-grade Seeds, and Fundamental Crystals are more valuable? A Spirit-grade Seed is worth a full truck load of the raw materials to produce the Awakening Stones, not to mention the Soul-grade Seeds and Fundamental Crystals that are even rarer?" Mo Fan was playing the studious man. Mu Ningxue always asked him to study more, so as a good man who listened to his wife, he must become more knowledgeable!
"HAHA, only an amateur would think that! The disciples of renowned clans like us know the truth. The things you mentioned might be valuable, but they are more like a one-time profit. For example, things like Spirit-grade Seeds, Soul-grade Seeds, and the Fundamental Crystals of this fire vein are gone once they are taken. Let's say they are worth ten billion in total.
"But the raw materials of Awakening Stones and magic ores are constantly being excavated from the fire vein. It can easily provide us with over a thousand tons of them every year. We might only make two to three billion a year, but in three years, the profit will be the same as the total worth of the things you mentioned. What if the mine lasts for ten, or even twenty years? There is no faction that isn't interested in continuous sources of income. Besides, the market is constantly changing. In the current era, things that are closely related to magic are very valuable, but does that mean things related to our lives aren't valuable? No, they are actually worth more!" Mui Guangqing told him.
Mo Fan immediately understood when he learned the raw materials and magic ores were constantly being mined from an ore vein. It explained why a fire vein was enough to keep three clans going. It was basically a gold mine!
No wonder these factions put so much focus on securing ore veins for themselves!
"Now you know how important the fire vein is. If it wasn't because our clan is having trouble excavating it, there's no way we would be willing to share it with you guys, HAHAHA!" Mui Guangqing said honestly.
"That's reasonable. If I could do it on my own, I wouldn't share it with someone else, either," Mo Fan agreed.
The fire vein turned out to be a money-making mine. He had to clear the blockage at all costs, as he would be able to make money just by sleeping comfortably. He would no longer have to worry about how many Elements he had. He could even take care of a few more Elements!
That being said, it was impossible to eat such a huge cake alone. Sharing it with others was the right move. A real businessman understood that money was meant to be earned together. Earning money with partners was like multiplication, but trying to earn money alone was only like addition. It was difficult to achieve greatness by oneself!
The Mui Clan had discovered the fire vein, and were currently managing it. The Dongfang Clan was in charge of transportation and production. After all, the resources were related to the Fire Element. The Dongfang Clan was definitely the best candidate to process the raw materials and maximize the profits.
Fanxue Mountain was in charge of selling the products. It was part of a Headquarters City very close to the South Maritime Battlefield. The shelves would be emptied as soon as they were filled… the three could work together to earn big bucks while helping society, what more could they ask for?
Fanxue Mountain was running short on funds. A few days ago, Mo Fan had heard from Mu Linsheng about the money they were spending on hiring the patrol squads to ensure the safety of the new city.
They were able to make a name for themselves, but construction was struggling to keep up, as they were running short on funds. If they could not find a way to solve the financial crisis, the new city of Fanxue Mountain was going to end up as a bandit fortress instead, as no one would be willing to settle in an underdeveloped place...
As such, this operation was extremely important to Mo Fan. Not only would it determine if he could find the Soul-grade Seed he desperately needed, it would also decide Fanxue Mountain's fate! Luckily, he had brought Zhao Manyan and Lingling along. Otherwise, he would not feel confident enough to take on the job!
"Speaking of which, we also need an impressive Ice Mage. Our Dongfang Clan doesn't really have any Ice Mages, and the Mui Clan is unable to find a suitable candidate, either. Is there any chance that Fanxue Mountain has… it would be perfect if Mu Ningxue was able to make it. She will definitely be of great help to us!" Dongfang Mo said.
"Oh, we've already made the arrangements, he should be here soon..." Mo Fan was just about to say more when he saw a well-dressed young man with glossy hair and a temperament that clearly did not suit the village. He was standing in a corner with a proud look on his face. Mo Fan immediately yelled, "Green Tea Man, here! Over here!"
The young man's face immediately sank when he heard Mo Fan's shout.
He started heading toward Mo Fan, who was still calling him Green Tea Man. He finally ran out of patience and grunted, "One more time and I'll be going. You guys can have all the fun yourself!"
"Oh, Brother Mu Bai, why so serious? You must be tired after coming all the way here. Should I find you a young innocent girl from Kunlun to rub your shoulders, hammer your legs, and provide you with the full-package service?" Mo Fan blathered.
"That won't be necessary!" Mu Bai's forehead was covered in black lines.
