Chapter 438 - 437: Mountain of Gold and Sea of Silver Landscape
"The diameter of the base is roughly forty meters and the height is about ten meters, forming an irregular cone."
"Using the formula for the volume of a cone, V = 1/3*π*r²*h, its volume is approximately 4,200 cubic meters."
"With the density of gold at 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter and the mass formula m = V*ρ, its mass comes out to over eighty thousand tons."
"Just look at the glittering surface of this Golden Mountain—its purity is clearly extremely high. Even if we estimate its purity at around eighty percent, similar to gold nuggets, that’s still over 65,000 tons of pure gold."
"Alright, let’s be even more conservative. The Golden Mountain is made of irregular chunks of metal, so there are definitely gaps inside. We’ll subtract another 10,000 tons, or even 15,000 tons."
"Even then, the amount of gold in this Golden Mountain is still over 50,000 tons!"
Online, some brainiacs who’d passed middle school math quickly calculated the Golden Mountain’s gold content, then proceeded to explain it for everyone who’d apparently slept through class.
"In all of history, only a little over 200,000 tons of gold have been mined worldwide. Huaqi Country’s gold reserves are just over 8,000 tons, and as of this morning, Celestial Xia’s publicly declared gold reserves were just over 2,300 tons."
"In other words, this Golden Mountain the three Masters gave to the central bank just increased our nation’s gold reserves twenty-two-fold."
"..."
"This reminds me of that story from back in the day, when Saudi Arabia spent 3.5 billion on our Dongfeng missiles, which increased our foreign exchange reserves by one-and-a-half times."
"This is even more insane."
"I already dumped all my gold futures and bought Celestial Xia Coins instead."
"The guy above is a whale."
"So, the old Taoist Masters really have the magic for touching stone to gold?"
"Even if it’s fantasy, there have to be some physical principles involved, right? Directly changing molecular structures is a bit too insane, don’t you think? I bet they can fly and dive into the ocean, and they just happened to find a gold mine on the seabed and brought it all up for the nation."
"All mineral deposits within the nation’s borders, including the four major seas, belong to the state. Makes perfect sense."
"Class act! The old Taoist Masters are that powerful, yet they still voluntarily follow the law. They’re setting a great example for all of us!"
"Hahaha, that’s hilarious!"
"The old Taoist Masters are long past caring about gold and silver. They knew the nation needed gold reserves, so they’re doing their part."
The Celestial Xia System dispatched armed personnel and the central bank sent staff to guard the Golden Mountain. It was displayed at the main gate for three days, where citizens and even foreign tourists were free to take photos and videos. Afterward, a convoy of trucks arrived to haul the Golden Mountain away in batches.
In just three short days, photos and videos of the Golden Mountain had spread across the globe, causing a sensation both domestically and internationally.
"Fifty thousand tons of gold! The foundation of the international monetary system is about to be rebuilt!"
"The only thing that could possibly compare is if Huaqi Country took out all of its own gold plus the gold other countries have stored there. And that’s assuming the gold inside Fort Knox is even still there."
"It’s fake! All of it! Celestial Xia is just putting on a show! Where in the world could that much gold come from?!"
"I’m not asking for much. Just let me grab one little piece from that Golden Mountain..."
For a time, the world was abuzz with discussion. There were those who were envious, those who were skeptical, those urging their own governments to respond, and those who hoped to come to Celestial Xia to learn Cultivation. The phrase "touching stone to gold" suddenly went viral.
Within three days, international gold prices began to tumble. The Celestial Xia System had yet to issue an official report, so global powers were still in a wait-and-see mode, but the savvier players had already bailed.
At the same time, the identity of the last of the Daoists, Jing Chun Taoist, was also uncovered. Netizens from Mountain City were ecstatic, immediately puffing out their chests with pride in front of the netizens from Shu Province.
Now that only Celestial Xia’s Extraordinary Beings had demonstrated the ability to fly and carried out world-shaking feats, it didn’t matter how much the Huaqi Superpower Special Service Bureau, the Sakura Paste Yin-Yang Masters, the European missionaries, or Ah San’s various "great masters" bragged. They might be able to fool the nationalists and their followers, but they couldn’t fool people who could actually think for themselves.
Celestial Xia’s tourism market boomed. People flocked from all over the world, and in doing so, spread the word about the country’s true, present-day situation.
...
While countless netizens were still abuzz about the Golden Mountain and the Daoists, the Taoist Office had already received a detailed report.
"The entire Golden Mountain weighs 66,953 tons. Sample testing shows the ore has an average purity of eighty-four percent."
"Based on preliminary estimates, after this Golden Mountain is refined, we can obtain 56,200 tons of pure gold."
The office fell silent. Even though they had all been mentally prepared, they were still stunned speechless by the figure.
"And that’s just the value of the mundane gold," the presenter added. "After extracting and analyzing the other impurities from the ore, most of them were indeed familiar substances. However, there is also 0.7 percent of an unknown substance."
Everyone’s eyes lit up. Zheng Hongsheng asked, "Didn’t we also get several hundred kilograms of soil from the Otherworld?"
"Yes. After Taoist Yan Qi and the others delivered the Golden Mountain, they made a special trip to the office to drop off several hundred kilograms of Otherworld soil. We’ve already sent all of it to the research institute. All related experiments are classified as top secret."
The presenter continued, "The preliminary analysis results are similar to the gold ore’s, but the proportion of unknown substances is somewhat higher."
"I wonder what new discoveries we’ll make." A middle-aged man adjusted his glasses, a flash of anticipation and eagerness glinting in his eyes behind the lenses.
Chen Yao said, "Let’s not get our hopes up too high. Yan Qi Master mentioned that many of these substances are related to Spiritual Qi. The Spiritual Qi here is incredibly thin, so many things lack the fundamental basis to exist."
"That’s fine," the man with the glasses replied. "Even if it only helps us discover new materials or inspires new ideas, it can spur new developments. The value would be immense."
The middle-aged man gave an example. "Take the Moon Soil, for instance. We only brought back a few kilograms last time, but as for the developments it helped facilitate... they may not be public knowledge, but we’re certainly aware of them, aren’t we?"
Chen Yao nodded. "I’ve heard a few things."
The man with the glasses sighed with a mix of emotion and anticipation. "I really hope they can bring back more soil, plants, and animals from the Otherworld. A little bit from every kind of terrain and environment... We’re talking about a whole other world!"
Zheng Hongsheng shot him a sidelong glance. "You want them to bring a ghost back for you? It’s an Otherworld specialty!"
Everyone burst out laughing. The man with the glasses chuckled sheepishly. "Right, let’s just focus on figuring out what we have first."
...
Not long after, the central bank issued an official announcement.
[This bank has recently received a donation of raw gold ore from a group of patriotic Daoist practitioners. According to preliminary tests, the ore weighs a total of 66,953 tons with an average purity of 84%. It is estimated that after refining, this will increase our nation’s gold reserves by over 56,200 tons.
In recognition of the contributions made by these patriotic Daoist practitioners, it has been decided that after the gold is purified, this bank will use 50,000 tons of the gold and allocate an additional 200,000 tons of silver to construct a "Mountain of Gold and Sea of Silver" scenic display. It will be open to the public for viewing on designated dates.]