I Finally Mined Some Cryptocurrency

"Seriously... what the hell is this spirit root even good for?! What's the point!!!"

Zhou Yue was on the verge of losing his mind.

Mu Yawen's Fire Spirit Root boosted damage, Zhou Qiaoling's Thunder Spirit Root could paralyze enemies, and Zhong Yi's Wind Spirit Root made him more agile.

But his own Earth Spirit Root?

Digging up dirt to get two blocks of soil?!

Who the hell designed this?!

He’d tried digging a few times earlier.

Damn, the soil collected ridiculously fast.

At this rate, his inventory would be full in no time.

But what was he supposed to do with all this dirt?

The live chat was having a field day.

[LMAO what a legendary spirit root]

[Why does Senior Brother Zhou have the worst luck everywhere he goes…]

[Look on the bright side—extra loot when mining!]

[Mining? What’s mining?]

[Newbie spotted. Yesterday, Senior Brother Zhong and the others found some colored stones. Digging them up gives you ore.]

[So the Earth Spirit Root isn’t that bad, right?]

[Depends on who’s using it… The trigger rate, uh… never mind, I won’t judge.]

……

"Don’t worry, Lao Zhou, maybe soil will be super useful later!"

Zhong Yi patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Yeah, yeah! Maybe it’s secretly an amazing spirit root!"

Zhou Qiaoling chimed in.

"Wait… this spirit root can be unequipped… Anyone wanna trade?"

Zhou Yue made a new discovery.

He pulled the spirit root out of his equipment slot and held it in his hand.

The other three immediately turned away, pretending not to see it.

"Ah, so much to do today!"

"Right, right!"

"Busy, busy, busy—so much ore waiting to be mined!"

……

……

Though the four of them had obtained spirit roots,

anyone with eyes could see these things barely improved combat power.

The spirit roots were too low-tier, with unreliable trigger rates.

Remembering the hordes of monsters from last night, they decided building a house was a must.

"Let’s divide the tasks."

Zhong Yi, the brains of the group, took charge.

"Since our combat strength is still lacking, we need to build a shelter and maybe even craft some gear before nightfall."

"Lao Zhou, your Earth Spirit Root is perfect for mining. You’re on ore duty."

"Junior Brother Mu tends to burn wood when chopping trees… You’re mining with Lao Zhou."

"We’ll need a lot of planks for the house, so Zhou Qiaoling and I will handle lumber."

The plan was unanimously approved.

Soon, they split up to work.

Zhou Yue grabbed three stone pickaxes and started digging downward, striking the ground relentlessly.

[Soil x2]

[Soil x2]

……

Mu Yawen: "Holy crap, I found a cave! It’s full of shiny ore!"

……

[Soil x2]

[Soil x2]

[Cobblestone x1]

……

Mu Yawen: "Weird, these green and blue stones aren’t dropping anything…"

……

[Soil x2]

[Cobblestone x1]

……

Mu Yawen: "Hahaha! Senior Brother Zhong, I got iron ore!!"

……

Crack.

Zhou Yue’s stone pickaxe shattered as its durability hit zero.

He opened his inventory, unequipped the Earth Spirit Root, and clutched it in his hand.

"I’ll make you dig! Dig this!!!"

Furious, he started smacking the soil with the spirit root itself.

He’d been digging underground for who knows how long.

First-time mining rookie mistake—no torches. Everything was pitch black.

Then, as he struck the soil with the spirit root,

a crimson glow pierced the darkness.

"HAHAHA! Lao Zhong, I finally found ore!!!"

Tears of joy welled up in his eyes.

A second later, realization struck.

"Wait—"

Zhou Yue felt himself falling.

That "ore" wasn’t ore at all.

It was lava.

The fiery red grew terrifyingly clear in his widening eyes.

"GODDAMMIT!!!"

[“Unbreakable” attempted to swim in lava!]

……

……

Minecraft is a magical game.

In its vanilla form, the game never forces players to do anything.

Only when players feel a need will they be driven to act.

That’s the charm of sandbox games.

To fill their hunger, players learn farming and cooking.

To survive the night, they build shelters.

To craft gear, they explore the world and mine ore.

And in doing so, more needs arise…

Lu Ze’s Spiritual Awakening modpack follows the same philosophy.

But it adds cultivation elements—spirit roots, formations, skills…

Since vanilla Minecraft focuses on creation over combat, Lu Ze deliberately toned down these features.

Take spirit roots, for example.

Early-game spirit roots are low-tier, barely affecting combat balance.

Even mid-game, when spirit roots grow stronger,

monsters scale accordingly.

Players still rely on "creation" to gather resources.

Resource acquisition remains central throughout.

This fuels endless creativity.

Zhong Yi’s squad spent the entire day preparing for the night’s monster siege.

Chopping wood, building a house.

Mining ore, crafting gear.

They worked from dawn till dusk, exhausted but loving every minute.

As darkness fell, a massive rectangular structure stood at their spawn point.

"So? Not bad, huh?"

Zhong Yi wiped his brow, grinning at the chat.

The chat roasted him mercilessly.

[No roof? Looks like a tomb.]

[Add a gravestone outside for maximum effect.]

[Why build it so huge…]

……

"Zhou Qiaoling suggested making it big so we can each have our own room later."

Zhong Yi explained.

Their house was enormous—26 blocks long.

Zhou Qiaoling’s plan was to assign individual rooms, plus a main hall and kitchen, so space was a must.

Zhong Yi agreed.

He and Zhou Qiaoling spent the afternoon flattening the land.

After a full day’s work, only the outer walls were done.

Night fell.

Monsters closed in.

The four didn’t push their luck, darting inside and slamming the door.

"Three-block-high walls… monsters shouldn’t be able to—"

Zhong Yi started.

The others instantly panicked, clamping hands over his mouth.

Too late.

The hiss of spiders echoed nearby.

"Lao Zhong, can you PLEASE shut up sometimes?!"

"WTF?! Spiders climb walls anyway—how is this my fault?!"