Above the mage

Chapter 530 Ore Vein Compass

Gift?

Gao De then remembered that when Master Yang proposed the meeting, he had mentioned that he wanted to give a "special gift".

Although this can only be considered a stepping stone, he was indeed prepared, and that's not an empty promise.

With a touch of curiosity, Gaode opened the hardwood box.

What comes into view is a compass with a diameter of about 20 centimeters.

Unlike traditional compasses with their brass dials and pointers, the core of this compass is a palm-sized piece of translucent crystal.

The interior of the crystal resembled a tiny, fragmented galaxy, with countless silver lines flowing slowly as if they were alive.

As the compass shakes slightly, the patterns on it shimmer with a faint glow. The base of the compass is made of black iron, and there are three legs on the edge of the base.

Gao De gently held the compass in his hands, feeling the solid texture of the black iron base and the faint vibrations of the crystal's internal patterns.

He looked up at Master Yang: "What is this?"

"The mineral vein compass," Master Yang explained, "is a little gadget forged by master craftsmen themselves."

"We Yang people believe in craftsmen and admire forging, and forging is inseparable from high-quality ore."

"But the northern lands are covered by ice and snow, and the ice is extremely thick, making it difficult to survey mineral veins. Therefore, master craftsmen created the mineral vein compass."

"The mineral vein compass has a special sensitivity to magic ore. When you get close to magic ore, the crystal on the compass face will flash and reflect the color of the corresponding mineral."

"Then fix the compass to the ground, and the silver lines in the crystal will converge into a beam of light, pointing in the direction where the mineral is most abundant. The brighter the beam of light, the more abundant the mineral reserves."

As soon as Master Yang finished speaking, Gao De's eyes lit up and he looked at Sunaifa.

Sunefa's eyes also revealed satisfaction.

This gift... is so practical.

For the Yang family, the mineral compass is merely a tool to help them find minerals, but for Phoenix, it can be elevated to a "strategic tool" to support long-term development.

Although Sunafa's experience was not as rich as Gaode's, how could she not understand the importance of mineral resources for urban construction?

The North is primitive and backward, but it is incredibly rich in resources, making it a treasure trove.

However, as Master Yang said, surveying mineral veins in the North is an extremely difficult task.

Furthermore, the machinery and technology required for mining and utilization were also beyond the capabilities of the northern tribes.

However, due to technological limitations, the reserves of mineral veins in the North are also beyond imagination.

Phoenix may be considered the most developed city in the North, but in this respect, it is not much different from other tribes.

This mineral compass essentially made it possible for Phoenix to cultivate a local artisan system, and even provided a guarantee for the growth and expansion of artisan skills.

The mineral compass can provide Phoenix with a stable source of ore, which can not only accelerate city construction but also be used to craft extraordinary equipment. Master Yang looked at the two's reactions and smiled knowingly: "It seems I made the right choice with this gift."

"If Phoenix develops and allows more Iceborn to live a life free from want, this mineral compass is just a small token of our Sheep family's desire for a better North."

"Thank you." Gao De put away the compass and expressed his gratitude sincerely. At the same time, he had more trust in Master Yang's description of the master craftsman's strength and his words.

The fact that even a small gadget he casually crafted could possess such powerful abilities demonstrates the extraordinary skill of this master craftsman.

A gift of high value is far more persuasive than words.

After watching Master Yang leave, Gao De stood there for a moment, pondering, before turning to look at Sunafa with a slight frown: "What do you think?"

Yugathira is too important; if the sacred tree is exposed due to momentary naiveté, it could lead to irreparable and serious consequences.

"I tend to believe it more."

"Oh?" Gao De raised an eyebrow in surprise.

In his mind, at least compared to him, Sunefa was a more cautious person, especially when it came to matters involving him, where he would proceed with extreme caution.

For example, the fact that she chose to meet Master Yang at the core spiritual site reveals her personality traits.

He, on the other hand, is relatively more daring and adventurous.

But now, he is still hesitant and unable to make up his mind, so it is really unusual that Sunefa would give a credible evaluation first.

This greatly exceeded Gaode's expectations.

Faced with Gao De's surprise, Sunafa smiled and remained silent for a moment before revealing the answer: "Because on the very first day that Master Yang proposed to visit Phoenix, I brought Lady Flora to meet him."

"Lady Flora said he wasn't a bad person, and that he smelled very peaceful, like a hearth fire."

"Oh, I see..." Gao De suddenly realized.

Flora possesses a talent similar to a high-end version of "Sensing Emotions," giving her a keen intuition for malice.

Not being a bad person doesn't necessarily mean being a good person, but it at least shows that Master Sheep didn't have any ill intentions towards Phoenix and Sunefa.

Given this premise, and with the "Earth Vein Compass" given as a gift, Master Yang's words are undoubtedly quite credible, and it's no wonder that Sunafa gave such an evaluation.

"However, we still can't easily take him to see Yugathira; we need to observe further," Sunefa added.

"This is the real you..." Gao De thought to himself.

The current situation is that they have a certain degree of trust in Master Yang.

But this trust was not enough for them to take the risk of exposing Yugathira.

They need to add more chips to tip the scales in their hearts.

Unable to make a decision immediately, Gaode didn't dwell on it and got right to work: planting trees!

Gao De was just about to look for Lady Flora when the little girl came to him first.

He had just returned to City Hall when Grant, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, came into view.

This elderly elder, who is already quite old, seems to have been rejuvenated since being appointed as the Vice Minister of Agriculture.

He is full of renewed energy and enthusiasm every day, not much different from an eighteen-year-old.

He strode forward and bowed to Gao De: "Your Majesty, the minister heard that you have returned and said he has something to discuss with you."

Looking for me... Gao De's heart skipped a beat: "Where is she? I'm looking for her too!"

"At Flora's Abundant Farm," Grant said, "the tasks you assigned to the Department of Agriculture during this time have been very successful. The Minister knows you're back and wants you to go and see her results."

"Together?" Gao De invited Sunefa, who was standing to the side.

"Okay." Sunafa nodded slightly.

When Gao De arrived at Flora's Abundant Farm, he discovered that nearly half of the reclaimed land was planted with wheat.

Before he left the North, of the 200,000 acres of land in the Abundant Farm, less than 10,000 acres were actually in use.

With all the monks in the city practicing the "Green Wood Longevity Sutra," a large number of monks can use "natural arts" to promote the growth of plants.

Putting aside other factors, the benefits to agriculture are not much different from those of cheating.

One cheat is bad enough, but there's another one that's almost as bad as "Flora".

Therefore, in just over a year, Phoenix's progress in the agricultural sector has been equivalent to the achievements of twenty years under normal circumstances.

Therefore, Gaode should not be surprised by this kind of progress.

However, the situation at Fengrao Farm is special. It grows the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety, which has extremely demanding growing conditions and requires "rusty iron tools and barren soil."

As mentioned earlier, the exploitation of mineral resources in the North is extremely limited, which has resulted in a very small quantity of ironware and restricted the cultivation of Northwest Barley No. 2.

But now, how come the progress has suddenly leaped forward?

Gao De was incredibly surprised, and at the same time, he looked around the entire farm.

The wheat fields here are divided into squares, and the wheat in each square grows at a very different pace.

The ripe wheat produced ears of wheat that were a very unusual red color.

In addition, there is a large numbered experimental field in one corner of the Fengrao Farm.

This is Gaode's suggestion: Keep improving.

Even Jinhui Farm, whose yields are already astonishing and stable, still has the Northwest Barley No. 1 Experimental Field, continuing to study how to increase yields through scientific or mystical methods.

"The mage!" Little Flora spotted God from afar, and then she saw Sunefa standing next to him. "And Sunefa too."

In Phoenix, there are generally two ways to address God: "My King" and "Your Highness". People of the Zhenbing tribe usually use the former, while the latter is the title for outsiders.

Flora, however, has a third exclusive title for him.

"What's going on? How did the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety suddenly spread out? Where did we get so much ironware and iron ore?" Gao De stepped forward quickly and asked the question that had been bothering him.

The scene before us is truly beyond our expectations: "It's not ironware or iron ore, it's molten iron."

"Molten iron?" Gao De didn't react.

Flora immediately pouted.

It means "You're not smart".

Grant laughed and said, "Your Majesty, you misunderstand. The 'molten iron' the minister mentioned is actually geothermal water from beneath the Castella volcano."

"Geothermal water..." Gao De seemed to have grasped something.

"When the minister went to see Jin Huimai, he discovered that there was also a lot of iron in the geothermal water under the Kastra volcano. This iron should come from the iron ore layer of the Weskar Mountains. The geothermal water flows through those rocks and gradually dissolves the iron in the rocks."

"Over thousands of years, geothermal water becomes rich in iron."

"You mean you're irrigating directly with geothermal water rich in iron?" Gao De instantly understood.

Phoenix is ​​built on a mountain, specifically the Wescal Mountains.

Behind Mount Wescal lies Mount Castella, the site of which was the foundation of Phoenix's original agriculture. Mount Castella contains geothermal resources, while Mount Wescal is rich in mineral resources.

This includes iron ore, which is also the source of ironware in Phoenix.

The combination of the two has created this special situation.

"However, the iron in this molten iron is too dispersed, and the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety is very difficult to eat. So the minister thought of first drawing the geothermal water to the ground and exposing it to the air to 'wake up'. The air would make the iron in the water more easily absorbed."

In addition, some reddish iron mud will settle out. We first mix the "awakened" water with snow water, adjust it to the temperature preferred by the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety, and then water the fields.

"The red clay that settles out is called iron essence, which is a treasure. Just a little bit can make the Northwest Barley No. 2 variety grow very well in a small area, so we used it in the experimental field."

Grant finished his explanation in one breath, and added at the end, "All of this is thanks to the Minister; it's her discovery and idea."

Gao De stared at Flora in disbelief: "You came up with all of this yourself?"

Geothermal dissolution of minerals, oxidation aeration tanks, water temperature regulation, efficient utilization of sediments... this can be called a closed-loop system of bio-metallurgy and precision fertilization.

"Not entirely, but also what they told me. They tell Lady Flora what they like and dislike," Flora explained, flapping her little wings and pointing to the ears of wheat beside her.

The little boy sensed that Gao De was somewhat shocked, but he didn't quite understand what Gao De was shocked about.

Isn't that just basic operation?

Even so, Flora's achievements are incredible... God couldn't help but exclaim, "Lady Flora is a genius!"

"Master, will this be of great use to Phoenix?" Faced with God's praise, Flora did not get cocky this time, but looked at God expectantly.

"Of course," Gaode replied affirmatively.

The Northwest Barley No. 2 variety is crucial to the physical fitness of the entire population, and its importance is beyond doubt.

After receiving Gaode's affirmative reply, Flora could no longer suppress her little sense of pride, and her little wings fluttered rapidly.

Besides his obsession with planting trees and his own intelligence, the little boy also has a strange sense of responsibility and collective honor.

She gains a strong sense of accomplishment and joy when she makes a significant contribution to Phoenix and receives recognition and praise from others, especially from Gaode.

However, the little one was very concerned about his image. Even though his little wings were about to flap into the sky, he still pretended to be completely calm, as if he didn't care at all.

In fact, "Lady Flora's wings are flapping" is already a well-known "meme" in the Ministry of Agriculture, except for Flora herself.

Flora's personality meant that the more and more challenging the tasks assigned to her, the happier she became.

In addition, she is born without needing rest, like a machine that never gets tired, making her arguably even more of a workaholic than Sunefa.

Moreover, even setting aside the intentional or unintentional "coaxing" element, Flora's intelligence is indeed a fact.

Whether it's learning languages ​​and arithmetic—literary and scientific knowledge—or learning magic—supernatural knowledge, it all comes down to the appropriate evaluation system.

She is a "prodigy".

Not only is she smart, but Flora is also very "eager to learn." In her spare time from her busy work, she would work overtime to "steal" knowledge.

Perhaps one of the reasons is to maintain their "smart" persona.

But whatever the reason, this is the situation.

Flora is intelligent and studious, and within a year she has mastered the Northern Ace language and the common language of humans, including listening, speaking, reading and writing. She has even become quite proficient in arithmetic, ranking among the top ten in the North.

Even in the position of Minister of Agriculture, he gradually became more proficient:

Despite her small stature and seemingly easygoing and likable appearance, she possesses considerable prestige and is extremely adept at employing people.

After all, she possesses an almost superhuman ability to perceive the good and evil intentions of others.

The only downside is that the little one's learning ability is a bit too strong.

So much so that many of her words and phrases are extremely similar to her own, even though she doesn't understand the true meaning of some of them.

Later, I learned Elsa's royal speaking habits and Sunefa's speaking style.

This leads to a situation where she might be using an idiom that doesn't actually exist in this world in one sentence, and then suddenly switch to a dignified "translation" in the next.

It looks very "eclectic," and there's a hint of "trying to find the best people" in it.