National Survival: I Supported the Dragon Nation by Hunting Dinosaurs

Basalt doesn't appear out of thin air.

This means that there has been intense volcanic activity in the vicinity.

Near volcanic craters, there is often an extremely precious resource – salt.

Without salt, his body wouldn't be able to hold on.

"We must find it."

Zhang Li activated his "All-Seeing Eye," pushing the scanning range to its limit.

Scattered basalt fragments in the field of vision acted as road signs, guiding the way.

He changed direction and strode quickly toward the area where basalt was most densely distributed.

……

Dragon Kingdom Live Stream Room.

"Huh? Why did Lishen suddenly change course?"

"Weren't we just going back to the cave?"

He Jiong noticed this detail and looked at the expert team with a puzzled expression.

"Academician Ma, what's this contestant Zhang Li doing...?"

Academician Ma stared at the screen, his brows furrowed.

"From a biological point of view, I can't see his intentions."

Professor Chen, the geologist, stared intently at the black rock in the picture.

"That's basalt!"

He Jiong was taken aback: "Basalt? What's that?"

Professor Chen speaks extremely fast:

"Basalt is rock formed from cooled magma after a volcanic eruption!"

Its appearance indicates the presence of volcanic activity in this area!

"Contestant Zhang Li... he's tracking the volcano's location!"

The comments section immediately erupted with doubts.

"Has Li Shen gone mad? He dares to go to a place like a volcano?"

"Upstairs, have you forgotten what Li Shen did before? Everything he did had a deeper meaning!"

Physicist Professor Li Zhengying adjusted his glasses:

"The area near the volcano is rich in geothermal resources, and..."

He looked at Professor Wang Zifei, a chemist.

Professor Wang continued the conversation:

"Moreover, the closed lakes formed by the volcano will release a large amount of salt through long-term evaporation."

"If Zhang Li really found that kind of place..."

"That will be a natural treasure trove of resources!"

He Jiong's eyes lit up: "You mean, Zhang Li is going to find salt?"

"Very likely."

Professor Chen nodded, his tone full of admiration.

"The ability to deduce resource distribution from geological clues in this environment... that level of expertise is terrifying."

……

Deep in the jungle.

Zhang Li followed the distribution path of the basalt.

The surrounding vegetation became sparse, and a faint smell of sulfur permeated the air.

On the ground, black volcanic ash was mixed with brown soil.

Within the "All-Seeing Eye's" field of vision, a vast expanse of water suddenly appeared 500 meters ahead!

[Saline Lake: A closed lake formed in a volcanic crater, with extremely high salinity.]

Found it!

A glint of light flashed in Zhang Li's eyes.

The system's prompt confirmed his guess.

In his previous life, he had used a similar method to produce drinking salt in extreme environments while on a mission.

Unexpectedly, this knowledge could still come in handy in this prehistoric world.

He quickened his pace, passing through the last patch of low bushes.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

A lake, about 200 meters in diameter, lies quietly in the embrace of the crater.

The lake water had an eerie milky white color, shimmering faintly in the sunlight.

At the edge of the lake, countless tiny white crystals covered the shore!

盐!

Zhang Li walked quickly to the lakeside, squatted down, and pinched a small amount of white crystals, placing it on the tip of his tongue.

It's salty, and very pure.

But he did not collect them immediately.

Instead, it took out an empty eggshell from its storage space and scooped up some lake water.

Then he took out a dagger from his waist, scraped off a little salt crystal, and put it into the lake water.

The salt crystals dissolved rapidly, making the lake water even more turbid.

"really."

Zhang Li's eyes were serious.

Although these salts are highly pure, heavy metals and harmful elements from the lake water can still accumulate in the salt crystals during the evaporation process.

Direct consumption will inevitably lead to chronic poisoning.

It must be purified.

He began to carefully collect the precipitated salt clumps, his movements swift and efficient.

Just as he was focused on collecting, the "All-Knowing Eye" gave him another notification.

Kaolin: High-quality clay, suitable for making pottery. Location: 30 meters west of the lake.

Sulfur: A pale yellow powdery mineral used for insect repellent and pharmaceutical purposes. Location: 50 meters north of the lake.

[Prehistoric seashell: Rich in calcium carbonate, it can be used to make quicklime. Location: Southern shoreline of the lake.]

Zhang Li's breathing became rapid.

Kaolin, sulfur, seashells...

This salt lake in the crater is practically a natural chemical plant!

……

The Dragon Kingdom's live stream room was in complete uproar.

"My God! It really is a salt lake!"

"Li Shen is awesome! He even managed to find this!"

He Jiong was so excited he was almost incoherent: "Professor Chen! Look! Contestant Zhang Li has really found the salt!"

Professor Chen was shocked, but soon his expression turned serious.

"etc……"

He stared intently at the milky white lake on the screen.

"The saline lakes formed in the crater, while containing a large amount of salt, also accumulate a large amount of heavy metals and harmful elements!"

Chemist Professor Wang Zifei nodded:

"That's right."

"Volcanic activity can bring various elements from deep within the Earth's crust to the surface."

"The concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead in these enclosed lakes often exceed the standards by tens or even hundreds of times!"

"Zhang Li must purify these salts, otherwise..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood.

However, Zhang Li in the video did not leave immediately after collecting the salt blocks.

He walked to the west side of the lake and dug out a large piece of white clay from an exposed rock face.

Kaolin.

Next, he went to the north side and carefully collected some pale yellow powder from a pile of yellow minerals.

sulfur.

Finally, he arrived at the south side of the lake.

Numerous palm-sized seashells were scattered along the shore, gleaming white in the sunlight.

Zhang Li squatted down and carefully selected the intact and thick seashells.

One, two, three...

He picked up more than a dozen and put them all into his storage space.

He Jiong was completely dumbfounded.

"What... Academician Ma, Professor Wang, and contestant Zhang Li are doing?"

Professor Wang Zifei pondered for a moment:

"I can understand that sulfur can be used to repel insects."

"Kaolin is an excellent material for making pottery, so he probably intended to make some containers."

"but……"

He stared at the seashells on the screen, his brow furrowed.

"Seashells? What would he do with seashells?"

No one can answer this question.

Just then, a comment appeared on the screen.

"I know! Seashells contain calcium carbonate! We can use it to make quicklime!"

"Quicklime? What's that stuff for?"

"Didn't the person upstairs learn chemistry? Quicklime can be used to precipitate heavy metals and purify salts!"

"Holy crap! So, Li Shen is going to purify salt himself?"

Professor Wang Zifei suddenly stood up and stared intently at the screen.

"Seashells... quicklime... sedimentation..."

He muttered to himself, his eyes flashing with an astonishing light.

"He wants to use seashells to make quicklime, and then use the quicklime precipitation method to purify the salt!"

"This...this is prehistoric chemistry!"

He Jiong was so excited that he trembled all over:

"Professor Wang, could you explain this in more detail?"

Professor Wang Zifei took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down:

"The main component of seashells is calcium carbonate."

"When seashells are placed in a high-temperature fire and burned, the calcium carbonate decomposes into calcium oxide, which is quicklime."

"When quicklime comes into contact with water, it turns into calcium hydroxide, which is slaked lime."

"Quicklime is strongly alkaline and can react with heavy metal ions in salt water to form precipitates that are insoluble in water."

"After filtering out the sediment, the brine is then evaporated to obtain relatively pure table salt!"

"This is the most basic chemical purification method, but in this prehistoric environment..."

He paused, his voice trembling.

"This is simply a miracle!"

……

It was noon, and the scorching sun beat down on the earth.

While air with high oxygen content can be invigorating, it can also increase physical exertion.

Zhang Li felt a tingling sensation in his calf muscles, and sweat kept pouring down his forehead.

He activated his "All-Seeing Eye" to confirm the direction.

It's about one kilometer from here to the cave.

The distance isn't far, and the location of this salt lake is excellent, making it a potential permanent resource gathering point in the future.

"It's time to go back."

Zhang Li activated "optical adaptive camouflage" and began his return journey.

Along the way, he deliberately avoided several dangerous areas.

About thirty minutes later.

He finally returned to the hidden entrance of the cave.

However, just after parting the camouflage vines

He discovered inside the cave that several gray-brown-furred multi-toothed beasts were frantically gnawing on the carcass of the bird-eating dragon.

Meanwhile, swarms of insects were devouring the raw meat.

Zhang Li's eyes instantly turned cold.

He dared not provoke the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

But how dare a few tubercles steal his food?

"Since you're here, stay."

He didn't make a sound.

With a swift stroke, the knife fell!

Before the five multi-tumulated beasts could even react, their necks were precisely severed, killing them instantly.

He casually piled the carcass of the multi-tumored beast into a corner, then took out sulfur from his storage space.

The pale yellow powder was evenly sprinkled near the entrance of the cave and in the areas where insects gathered.

The pungent smell instantly filled the air.

The insects were then thoroughly cleaned up.

After doing all this, Zhang Li nodded in satisfaction.

He then took out the two small dinosaur carcasses from his spatial storage and threw them aside.

Then they relit the campfire, skewered several snakes together, and roasted them over the fire.

The familiar aroma of meat wafted through the air once again.

He leaned against the warm rock wall, gnawing on roasted snake meat and drinking boiled water.

My physical strength is recovering rapidly.

Then, he walked to the corner and took out the white kaolin clay from the storage space.

It's time to put my newly acquired "Ceramic Master" skill to good use.

A slight smile curved the corners of his mouth.

"Now, it's time to do something truly useful."