After half a day of assembling machinery, the prospecting equipment was finally set up and began detecting the crystal ore veins underground.

Yang Xiao realized that it was time to invite the geology expert, Old Nine, to observe the advanced technology of Witch Star.

When the prospecting equipment was activated, the ultrasonic waves penetrated one hundred meters into the ground, directly displaying the underground information in the form of images for everyone to see.

"Indeed advanced!"

Yang Xiao sighed internally; he remembered that on Earth, using sonic waves for prospecting could never reach a depth of one hundred meters, and it could not display images directly, only some professional parameters which required experts to analyze before yielding results.

The only regret about this prospecting equipment is that it has a very limited detection range, only about 5-6 meters nearby, and it needs to be constantly repositioned to collect information from an area.

Of course, the cost of detection is also very expensive, ten million Crystal Coins per day, and if a vein is detected, an additional one hundred million Crystal Coins for each vein.

No wonder David never had the courage to start his own private mine.

Qin Lu mentioned that many who invested in private mines end up losing their entire investment.

The first day of prospecting didn't find any veins,

and the next two days were the same.

The atmosphere at the construction site became tense instantly, putting great pressure on the confident Yang Xiao.

"Continue the detection!"

Everything is difficult at the beginning; there's no turning back once started.

By the eighth day, they still had not detected any veins.

This made even Yang Xiao somewhat anxious.

The leader of the prospecting team was named Guo Lang.

"Young Master Yang, based on my many years of prospecting experience, this plain might not have any Purple Origin Crystal Stone veins. You should stop prospecting here."

Guo Lang's words felt almost like a death sentence, causing Yang Xiao to feel somewhat suffocated.

It truly was an unfavorable start. After much initial preparation, to be stuck at the crucial point of finding veins—if no veins were found, then all efforts would have been in vain.

"Young Master Yang, will you continue the exploration? Since we've prepaid one hundred million Crystal Coins for the detection fees, there are still 2 days left."

Qin Lu looked anxiously at Yang Xiao.

Although Qin Lu was a second-generation rich, even he couldn't afford to burn ten million Crystal Coins a day.

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and said:

"I've checked this area beforehand. According to Captain Luo Meng's opinion, the rocks here are deep purple, which should indicate the presence of Purple Origin Crystal Stones, right?"

Guo Lang smiled and said:

"Young Master Yang, trust me, I have been prospecting on this planet for ten years. I have seen much of this before—many places seem likely according to the rock layer, but when you actually prospect, you can't find any veins. I advise you not to waste your money."

"Let me think about it for a bit."

Yang Xiao was now at a loss, pondered for a moment, and then said to Qin Lu:

"You stay here, I'll make a trip back to Station Chief Dai's base."

Yang Xiao took a spaceship directly to the mine where Du Tianxing and others were mining.

Luo Meng was at the mine; seeing Yang Xiao descending from the spaceship, he smiled and said:

"Brother Yang, didn't you go prospecting? How is it going? Why do you have time to come here?"

Yang Xiao replied with a bitter smile:

"Brother Luo, it's not going very smoothly. We haven't found any veins yet. You're experienced, and I would like to invite you to help take a look."

Luo Meng laughed and said:

"No worries, don't be discouraged. Initially, it also took us more than ten days to find a vein here."

"I also want to bring a brother to have a look; he used to study geology."

"No problem, bring him along."

Yang Xiao went down to the mine, where he found Old Nine and Du Tianxing and others who were mining.

Du Tianxing and the others had known about Yang Xiao's plan, but before they officially found any veins, Yang Xiao was hesitant to take them out; the pressure was too great.

"Yang Xiao, why are you here?"

"How's the prospecting going, found any ore veins?"

Yang Xiao sighed and said,

"We've been surveying for eight days now, still haven't found anything, the situation isn't optimistic."

Du Tianxing and others immediately consoled him:

"Yang Xiao, don't lose heart, you can definitely find the ore vein."

"Prospecting isn't that easy, sometimes it's a bit about luck,

I've been mining here for several months, and I've been down the four shafts in this minefield. Later I found that these four shafts actually extend from one ore vein,

Moreover, each vein's depth is different, this mine shaft is one hundred and twenty meters deep, the other three shafts are one hundred meters and ninety meters, and one is about eighty-five meters."

Lao Jiu, being a professional, started off with technical data right off the bat.

"Lao Jiu, come with me to the site and see if we can find any traces of the ore vein. The pressure is huge now, ten million Crystal Coins a day, it has been eight days, and the one hundred million Crystal Coins pre-paid will run out soon, without a single clue."

"Alright, I'll go with you right now."

Yang Xiao took Lao Jiu and Luo Meng back to the base on a spaceship.

By now, it was evening, people at the base were resting, Ah Bao was preparing a bonfire with savages, roasting meat.

Recently, there were many Monsters attacking which were all killed by Ah Bao and his team.

Yang Xiao also took the opportunity to collect three Emperor Level Monsters into a black mysterious small vial and refined them into liquid.

Seeing Yang Xiao returning with Luo Meng and Lao Jiu, Prospecting Team leader Guo Lang said:

"Captain Luo, we meet again."

The two had met before while prospecting at the base, so they were familiar.

Seeing Luo Meng, Guo Lang candidly said:

"Captain Luo, there probably aren't any ore veins in this plains area, you might as well persuade your friend to stop. I've seen too many such cases in a year, even losing tens of billions isn't new."

Luo Meng: "..."

Guo Lang continued to boast about his experience, writing a verdict for the plains area.

For Guo Lang and his team, they would prefer to detect ore veins, as a successful detection would earn them an extra hundred million Crystal Coins.

If an area continuously shows no signs of veins for several days, they themselves lose interest, hoping to move to a place with better odds.

Yang Xiao was annoyed and didn't want to listen to Guo Lang's bragging, so he went for a walk near a small creek with Lao Jiu.

Lao Jiu knew Yang Xiao was under a lot of stress, and silently followed.

The two reached the creek, the water clear and transparent, showing the bottom at 1 meter depth.

Yang Xiao sat by the creek, somewhat disappointed.

"Lao Jiu, do you think, there really are no ore veins here?"

Lao Jiu sat down next to Yang Xiao, letting out a sigh,

"Yang Xiao, I know you are ambitious, and I believe you can achieve it, but prospecting really can't be rushed, you're under so much pressure, it won't work,

Prospecting, aside from technique, also relies on luck. Back in university, I read many cases and also interned with the geological team for half a year. Many ore deposits are right underground, but just can't be found,

Our geological team has a saying, it's like finding a needle in the ocean."

Yang Xiao bitter-smiled:

"I understand all that, but our situation is so perilous, this is the only viable way out for us. I heard that in a few months, Earth will send a second batch of Miners. If we can't seize this opportunity, we'll really end up as Miners forever, eventually dying in the mines."

Yang Xiao finished speaking and angrily grabbed a stone nearby throwing it into the creek.

"Splash!"

The creek water splashed up a small wave, among dozens of broken stones, a translucent purple stone mixed in, under the setting sun, glowed faintly purple through the clear water, slowly sinking,

Yang Xiao stared at that translucent purple stone in the creek, froze completely, and with a splash, jumped directly into the creek.

"Damn, Yang Xiao, you're not seriously trying to drown yourself, right? You've really become fragile."

(Tonight there are 2 more updates, maybe 3. Thanks to book friend 2016**4159 for the 500 Qidian Coin reward, Xingyun Piaoxue for the 500 Qidian Coin, 2017**5768 for 100 Qidian Coin, A Modest Reader for 100 Qidian coin, thanks everyone for your support!)