Jiang Ke’er casually picked up a stone from the roadside and showed it to the crowd, asking, “Do you know what this is?”
“Isn’t that just an ordinary piece of granite?” the fat monk scoffed dismissively.
“Hmph, the wisdom of mortals—you can only see the surface of things,” Jiang Ke’er said with merciless disdain.
“You…” The fat monk’s face flushed red.
“Then tell us, what’s so special about this lousy stone? If you can’t, I’ll break one of your legs!”
Jiang Ke’er gave a proud smile, holding the stone up to the moonlight.
“This is magnetite granite, primarily composed of quartz and magnetite, and it’s three thousand years old. Three thousand years ago, a volcanic eruption mixed quartz and magnetite, spewing them to the surface… where they solidified into this magnetite granite.”
“So what? What does that have to do with the dragon vein?” the fat monk pressed, still defiant.
“What’s strange is that along the way, nine out of ten stones I’ve encountered are magnetite granite, all formed three thousand years ago! Three thousand years is too short for significant geological changes, so there must be a volcanic site nearby, and that volcano’s lava was rich in magnetite… Yet, when I looked around from a high vantage point, the terrain within a dozen miles is completely flat, with no trace of a volcano ever existing!”
“And what does that prove?”
“It means either that volcanic eruption three thousand years ago was far larger than I imagined,” Jiang Ke’er said, stomping the ground, “or we’re standing right on top of a volcanic crater, and the entire area around Wulei City, perhaps even the entire Xiao Kingdom, lies within an unimaginably massive caldera!”
The fat monk gasped.
“That’s… that’s utter nonsense!”
Kuang Yuanwei, the captain of the demon-hunting team, stroked his chin and spoke up.
“The Xiao Kingdom is indeed rich in magnetic stones, with strong geomagnetic fields, especially in Wulei City. These strong magnetic fields attract metallic spiritual energy, which is why the Xiao Kingdom has the highest number of metal-attribute cultivators and those with rare thunder-attribute spiritual roots tied to metal.”
He then shifted his tone.
“But the idea of a volcanic crater is absurd and far-fetched—it’s simply unrealistic. There’s no way a caldera that massive could exist in this world. Moreover, the Xiao Kingdom’s terrain isn’t particularly elevated compared to the rest of Beijuluzhou. In fact, Beijuluzhou’s terrain is noticeably higher than the other four continents… By your logic, wouldn’t that mean the entire Beijuluzhou sits atop a volcanic crater?”
Jiang Ke’er was stunned.
Good heavens, that’s not entirely impossible!
“Exactly! Demons are unreliable, always spouting nonsense to confuse people!” the fat monk said smugly. “Beijuluzhou is so cold that even cultivators can barely withstand the winter temperatures. When the cold snaps hit, countless people freeze to death. Does that sound like a place with volcanic lava?”
No, that’s only because the volcano is dormant, and the high altitude contributes to the cold.
Changbai Mountain is a dormant volcano covered in snow… Ignorance is truly terrifying.
But Jiang Ke’er didn’t bother arguing further with the fat monk.
She knew reasoning with such a fool was pointless—he’d never accept facts he didn’t want to hear.
She’d just find the dragon vein entrance and let the results slap him in the face.
That aside, Kuang Yuanwei’s words had just confirmed her suspicions.
He mentioned that the Xiao Kingdom had many metal-attribute cultivators, especially in Wulei City, and was rich in magnetic stones, which attract metal-attribute spiritual energy.
This was a defining characteristic of Wulei City, distinct from other regions—an important piece of intelligence not to be overlooked.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Kuang Yuanwei said with a cold smile.
“You’re right. The dragon vein hidden beneath Wulei City is indeed a metal-attribute dragon vein, and that’s exactly what the demon dragon is after… But we’ve already considered all of this.”
“Have you checked the underground mining areas?”
“Indeed, there’s only one magnetic stone vein near Wulei City, and it’s the largest in the entire Xiao Kingdom. That place is certainly where the metal-attribute spiritual energy is most concentrated… but it’s not the dragon vein’s core. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re out of luck.”
Kuang Yuanwei drew his sword, his face filled with disappointment.
“You’re truly of no use. Your knowledge doesn’t exceed ours by even a fraction… You might as well die.”
Facing the approaching glint of his blade, Jiang Ke’er remained calm and asked, “May I ask in which direction that vein lies?”
“Fifty miles to the southeast,” Kuang Yuanwei replied without hesitation.
Jiang Ke’er smiled.
“That’s strange, because the direction we need to go is completely different—it’s due west.”
Kuang Yuanwei froze.
“Do you have a compass?” Jiang Ke’er asked.
Kuang Yuanwei frowned.
“A what?”
Jiang Ke’er was momentarily taken aback.
“You don’t even know what a compass is? It’s a small device used to determine direction.”
“Oh, you mean a ‘direction indicator’?” Kuang Yuanwei said, realization dawning. “How would I have such a rare item? That’s a secret treasure exclusive to the Mechanism Sect of Dongsheng Shenzhou, a closely guarded mystery of their sect!”
“What?”
A closely guarded mystery?
Even a compass is considered a rare treasure?
Jiang Ke’er’s mind immediately conjured images of herself becoming fabulously wealthy by selling inventions, but she quickly refocused on the situation at hand.
“Do you have a strong magnet?” she asked Kuang Yuanwei.
“I do,” the fat monk said, pulling out a round magnetic stone.
As a metal-attribute cultivator, he carried one to gather spiritual energy.
“Do you have an iron needle?” Jiang Ke’er asked next.
“I do,” the medical cultivator said, opening his storage box and revealing a set of needles.
Jiang Ke’er took a needle and rubbed it against the magnet for a few minutes to magnetize it.
Then, she tore off a small piece of cloth, threaded the needle through both ends so it could be suspended, and placed it on the cloth to float on water.
“Water, and a bowl for water,” she instructed.
She had someone bring water and a container, then placed the magnetized needle on the water’s surface.
And just like that, using the basic knowledge she’d learned in middle school, she created a simple compass.
The demon-hunting team members watched with furrowed brows, unsure what she was doing.
It looked like a child making a toy—hardly the grandiose act of locating a dragon vein.
“When a strong magnetic pole is nearby, one end of this needle will unerringly point toward it,” Jiang Ke’er explained.
She began to manipulate the floating needle.
To the team’s astonishment, no matter how many times Jiang Ke’er spun the needle or turned it in the water, its head always ended up pointing due west, with the tail pointing due east.
“This… a direction indicator!” the fat monk exclaimed in shock.
“It’s exactly like the Mechanism Sect’s direction indicator! It always points to the nearest magnetic pole… You actually made such a divine object!”
Jiang Ke’er gave him a look as if he were a prehistoric savage.
Finally, she’d managed to make these self-righteous hypocrites’ jaws drop.
Her heart swelled with the satisfaction of intellectual superiority.
“I noticed earlier that the further west we go, the higher the magnetite content in the granite,” she said.
“So, I suspected there’s an enormous magnetic stone vein to the west.”
Jiang Ke’er smiled at Kuang Yuanwei, who was now visibly stunned.
“The magnets are drawn to that vein, slowly moving westward. The purer the magnet, the faster it moves, which is why the magnetite content in the granite increases as you go west.”
“The compass’s reaction confirms this. It points west, not toward the southeast vein you believe to be the largest in the Xiao Kingdom… This means the west exerts a stronger pull, completely overshadowing the southeast’s attraction.”
Of course, it’s possible there’s a magnetic stone vein to the northeast interfering with the magnetic pole, but the northeast is where Wulei City is located.
If there were a vein there, it would’ve been discovered long ago, and the stones wouldn’t be moving so consistently westward.
“In conclusion, you’ve overlooked at least one thing—”
“The largest magnetic stone vein, the place with the most concentrated metal-attribute spiritual energy in the entire Xiao Kingdom, isn’t in the southeast—it’s in the west!”