Chapter 502 - 329: Oasis Miracle by the Yellow River (Part 2)
Chapter 502: Chapter 329: Oasis Miracle by the Yellow River (Part 2)
For example, Wang Jing of the Eastern Han Dynasty carried out major works to control the Yellow River, for which he was promoted to Imperial Censor, and his river-taming achievements were recorded in the annals of history.
In addition, there were many others, such as Pan Jixun of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Penghe of the Qing Dynasty, Li Yumei of the Daoguang Era, and the famous Lin Zexu.
When Lin Zexu worked on the Yellow River, he was a convicted official. On his way to exile in Ili, he was ordered to participate in plugging a breach in the Yellow River at Xiangfu, Kaifeng. After rendering this meritorious service, he was still exiled to Ili, but in the twenty-fifth year of the Daoguang Era (1845), he was reinstated. He went on to hold positions such as Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Governor of Shaanxi, and Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and was granted the title of Counselor of the Crown Prince.
At the command center for the major national water conservancy project, Engineer Zhou, the chief of the original team, trembled as he clutched a three-month-old experiment report. On the left side of the holographic screen were the 2,869 reeds they had transplanted; below the crimson data showing a 3% survival rate were faded images of the withered plants. The right side, however, displayed Zhao Xueqing’s results after just seven days: a 92% survival rate for tamarisk, 97% for seepweed, and 88% for improved oleaster. Next to the emerald green percentages, a holographic model of a pulsating DNA strand was displayed.
"This is impossible..." Engineer Zhou grabbed a goji berry plant cultivated by Zhao Xueqing. His nail dug into the xylem, but a clear spring burst forth. His doctoral student, who had followed him for twenty years, suddenly screamed—the monitor showed that in the open-air test field 200 meters away, the 5,000 seedlings transplanted last week were pushing up through the accumulated snow. Underground, their rootlets were weaving a visible green net of light, and wherever they passed, the salt crust crumbled into fine, black soil.
’Holy crap.’
’I’m witnessing a miracle!’
Someone subconsciously reached for their phone to record it, but they quickly remembered that photography was forbidden on site. Still, the surveillance footage was being recorded and could be archived as confidential project data for later use.
Suddenly, the alarms in the greenhouse blared!
A malfunction in the simulated flood system caused high-concentration saltwater to pour into Test Area No. 3.
As the personnel from the original team retreated in panic, Zhao Xueqing tore open the buttons on her lab coat, revealing a glowing, vine-like tattoo below her collarbone.
"Don’t close the gate!" She leaped into the knee-deep saltwater, her long hair floating like seaweed.
Through the murky water, the onlookers watched in horror as countless fluorescent rootlets grew frantically from the soles of her feet. The brine rapidly clarified around her, and after thirty seconds, it precipitated into snow-white crystal pillars that formed a circular dam. A red willow pushed its way through a crack in the crystal pillars, its tender leaves, dotted with salt crystals, unfurling like a victory banner.
When the alarm was silenced, a soaked Zhao Xueqing was wringing the saltwater from the tips of her hair. Behind her, new data popped up on the holographic screen: plant survival rate in an extreme saline environment had surpassed 85%.
The emergency response team that had rushed in wearing hazmat suits froze at the doorway. The sandbags in their hands fell with a CRASH, shattering the salt crystals all over the floor and, with them, the last vestiges of doubt from the traditional Yellow River management team.
"This young lady... no, Teacher Zhao, is a real fighter!" A sense of admiration rose in everyone’s heart.
Zhao Xueqing’s Superpower was indeed powerful enough to create miracles, but it was her work ethic that left an even deeper impression on everyone. It was a spirit of daring to fight, unafraid of hardship or fatigue.
Many girls were delicate, afraid of hurting their hands just from washing dishes with detergent; many didn’t even know how to wash dishes at all. But Zhao Xueqing, despite being so beautiful, worked with mud barehanded and barefoot and had even voluntarily leaped into the murky water. With that kind of professional dedication, she truly deserved to earn military honors.
Even her veteran cousin, who had come along to participate in the project, was filled with immense admiration for her.
「...」
More than two months passed in a flash. The Lunar New Year was approaching again, the icy weather had ended, and the climate was turning warm. The days grew clear and sunny, and the great Yellow River dredging project was fully completed. From then on, all that was needed was regular maintenance and inspection.
Those who participated in the project were, naturally, in absolute awe of Li Xiang.
A massive project that should have taken decades was completed in just over two months. The 5,464-kilometer-long Yellow River had been completely transformed, a fact that was almost unbelievable.
In truth, adhering to the craftsman’s spirit that "good work takes time," Li Xiang had striven for perfection. He treated the work as a form of Cultivation, constantly gaining new insights, which was why it had taken him a little longer.
’If I had rushed it, I might have finished in just a month.’
Dredging the Yellow River was, even for the current Li Xiang, a high-intensity and arduous form of Cultivation, countless times more intense than planting vegetables in a garden. Therefore, the benefits to his Cultivation were enormous. Li Xiang used this trial to advance two levels, and both times he leveled up only after his foundation was as solid as it could possibly be.
Putting other things aside, just take his Earth Superpower. He had never had the chance to use many of its abilities before and was thus not very proficient with them. But while dredging the Yellow River, he had tried out a good number of them and had now mastered them.
His greatest gain was the ability "Star Meteor Flowing Sand." In the process of lowering the Yellow River’s bed, he needed to use his Giant Power and Earth Superpower to compress the riverbed, making it solid and causing it to sink. Through this, he innovated and created the "Star Meteor Flowing Sand" technique for himself.
This skill could transform earth and stone into microscopic Star Sand with a density comparable to a neutron star, with a single grain weighing in the hundred-ton class. He could freely manipulate the sand grains to form offensive and defensive shapes. For example, "Defensive Stance: Star Ring Protection": the sand grains would orbit his body at hypersonic speeds (e.g., Mach 20) to form an absolute Defense layer (similar to the tight molecular structure of the Droplets in *Three-Body*), capable of withstanding the direct impact of a nuclear explosion.
There was also "Offensive: Galaxy Pouring," where he could, for example, compress a thousand grains of Star Sand into a pencil-sized projectile whose Penetration Power would surpass that of a depleted uranium penetrator ten thousandfold.
Of course, he had not yet refined that many grains of Star Sand, and even if he had, he probably wouldn’t be able to activate them at his current Realm.
Currently, he had only refined three grains of Star Sand, each weighing one hundred tons.
He planned to refine at least one thousand grains. As his Cultivation improved in the future, he could also increase the weight of each individual grain of Star Sand—to a thousand or even ten thousand tons per grain. This would be far more formidable than bullets; a single grain fired would mean death on a graze and annihilation on a direct hit.
This could be considered his greatest gain from this trip, as well as one of his most powerful offensive methods.
For this reason, he later selected high-quality sand from the Yellow River and stored 100,000 tons of it in his warehouse, just enough to refine one thousand grains. But this was a task that required patient, grinding effort; it took about three days to refine a single grain, so he could only wait until he had free time to do it.
When Li Xiang condensed his fourteenth Spiritual Power Vortex, no Superpower Rune appeared alongside it. However, when he condensed his fifteenth Spiritual Power Vortex, a Superpower Rune for "Invisibility," shimmering with a cold, clear light, was born.
This was also a very practical Superpower.
As for his Otherworldly Warehouse, after leveling up twice, it had now upgraded to a cube with sides of 32,768 meters. Its volume had expanded to 32.768 km × 32.768 km × 32.768 km, for a total of 35,184.37 cubic kilometers (1 cubic kilometer = 1 billion cubic meters, which is approximately 35 trillion cubic meters).
The previously estimated amount of sand that needed to be dredged from the Yellow River was only about 32 trillion cubic meters.
Li Xiang’s Extreme Speed had also increased, now at Mach 23. His Giant Power was at 190,000 kilograms.
His Earth Vein Perception Ability had a major breakthrough, now reaching a radius of fifty kilometers.
「...」
Finally, "#YellowRiverMiracle#" blew up the trending topics. An upheaval this massive, a change so great it could be described as transforming heaven and earth—how could it possibly be hidden from the world forever?
Especially not in the age of the internet.
In a time-lapse video that went viral on TikTok, the Suspended River section in Zhengzhou dropped five meters in three days, and an ancient willow tree, withered for twenty years, sprouted new buds (Zhao Xueqing’s doing).
During a live broadcast from Hukou Waterfall, a BBC reporter had a thousand-ton-class freighter fully loaded with coal sounding its horn on a trial run in the background.
Netizen Hot Takes
@YellowRiverCarpSpirit: "This fish officially reports that the tunnel vibrations scared off three broods of my fry!"
@InfrastructureFanClub: "Seeing the Crystal Vein Filtering Layer absorb heavy metals, this materials science nerd is on his knees crying through three packs of tissues."
A report from a Paris think tank stated: "This project has increased the value of land in the Yellow River basin by over a trillion. We recommend the European Union send a delegation to observe and learn."
Japan’s *Asahi Shimbun* jealously published a comparison photo of Mount Fuji and the newly terraced banks of the Yellow River, with the headline: "A Clash of Tradition and Superpower."
On the futures market, Zhengzhou cotton contracts surged by 17%. The prospect of restored shipping lanes had coal mine owners in Jin Sha ordering ten-thousand-ton freighters overnight.
At the bottom of the river, a new school of Yellow River carp swam upstream, their scales reflecting the faint glow of the Crystal Vein Filtering Layer like a flowing Star River.
「...」
At the celebration banquet, Li Xiang and Zhao Xueqing were the center of attention. Their new military ranks had also been announced: Li Xiang had been promoted two ranks to Senior Colonel, and Zhao Xueqing was now a Captain.
Zhao Xueqing had previously been a rank behind Yao Yao, but now she was on equal footing with her. Only Lei Xiaohui remained a Lieutenant, left behind by her two sisters, which made her rather gloomy.
Li Xiang comforted her, saying she would have her chance in the future.