After finishing breakfast, Gong Qu made his way to Pingyuan, not far from home.
He quickly set up a simple workstation. With a soft clunk, a shovel materialized on the crafting table.
Gong Qu picked it up and weighed it in his hand.
Just like always, he couldn't feel the supposed heft of a one-cubic-meter iron ingot. It felt no different from an ordinary farm shovel.
Was this due to Minecraft's incomplete physics engine, or had he truly assimilated into Steve's superhuman physique? Hard to say—without a proper reference point, it was impossible to tell.
Back to the present.
In the world of Minecraft, water is a miraculous substance.
Dig a 2×2 hole, pour a bucket of water in two diagonal corners, and voila—an infinite water source is born.
"That's incredible," Keqing remarked, marveling at the quirky logic of Minecraft as Gong Qu explained.
The shovel made quick work of the soil.
In under thirty minutes, Gong Qu had dug out a 9×9 pond, one to two blocks deep.
Technically, a 2×2 pool would've sufficed.
But now that he was in the real-life version of Minecraft, a tiny puddle seemed embarrassingly stingy.
Besides, in this world, water was always clean. When farming got exhausting, he and Keqing could even take a couple's bath together in the pool—a tempting way to unwind.
But reality, as always, struck back.
"How many buckets have I poured in? Why isn't it full yet?"
He stared at the still-swirling currents in confusion.
He'd already gone back and forth several times. Even for a 9×9 pool, it should've stabilized by now.
Thankfully, he had the foresight to build a 2×2 infinite source first—without it, the trek between the river and the pond would've been a whole workout on its own.
"Yeah... I asked for this. Keep going."
He obediently continued hauling bucket after bucket.
It wasn't until several dozen trips later that the surface of the pool finally calmed, forming that mirror-like stillness unique to infinite water.
"Games are games. Reality is... something else."
Gong Qu let out a soft sigh. This world was too different from the game he knew. He had to stop treating it like a simulation. Nature demanded reverence.
He filled in the original 2×2 well with dirt and dismantled the old water source that had served him well. Then, he filled three iron buckets with water from the new pond—his land reclamation project was officially underway.
Farming—it runs in the blood of every Chinese soul.
And in the world of Minecraft, farming was more than just a pastime—it was the lifeblood of every adventurer.
Here, agriculture was surprisingly simple.
Dig a single block of water, and it could irrigate a 9×9 area—enough for 80 blocks of crops.
Scatter the seeds and wait. A few days later, the crops would mature, ready for harvest and replanting.
No pests. No fertilizer. Pure, lazy-man farming.
"Now that I think about it, the Dragon's Quest modpack came with Farmer's Delight."
Halfway through tilling, Gong Qu noticed his seed inventory was laughably sparse. Without a steady supply of staple fruits and veggies, buying from the general store long-term just wasn't sustainable.
Especially since non-vanilla items always came in stingy batches—twelve at a time. A total ripoff.
Still, Gong Qu resisted the urge to load the modpack.
Not out of caution, but wisdom.
Dragon's Quest was a monstrous survival pack, blending farming, magic, exploration—nearly 200 mods bundled into one. It had been his favorite in his past life.
And because he knew it so well, he understood its dangers.
There was no such thing as loading a single mod. Once installed, the whole bundle activated—unleashing chaos on the world.
A dragon nest might spawn right beside the cabin, or a dungeon could suddenly appear beneath their storage shed.
Who knew if this mutated version of Minecraft could even withstand a dragon's wrath?
He certainly didn't want to die in some random area-of-effect attack with his new wife by his side.
"Better to lay low for now. The general store just opened anyway. Once we grind out two full sets of diamond gear, we'll be ready to take on the supernatural."
Pushing aside his spiraling thoughts, Gong Qu resumed tilling with renewed focus.
And it paid off.
In the final hour before noon, he cultivated three plots of farmland—each with 80 blocks, totaling 240.
By afternoon, Keqing—unable to stay idle—came to join him.
Together, they cleared weeds and reclaimed seventeen more plots. They sowed all the wheat seeds they had scavenged.
That night, under the glow of the full moon, the two of them sat inside their makeshift workshop, each with a grilled fish in hand.
"It's finally done. Now we wait for the harvest," Gong Qu said with a satisfied sigh.
He did a quick calculation.
They had reclaimed 1,600 blocks in total. It sounded massive, but in truth, it was less than three mu of land.
Given the game-reality differences, each block yielded one to three bundles of wheat—each weighing around 500g.
After accounting for their daily meals, they could sell about 200 bundles per 100 blocks. That meant 3,200 bundles per cycle—equivalent to 2,500 World Coins.
A profit of 500 coins per day.
Far more efficient than fishing up trash and pufferfish.
Day 8 in the Minecraft World
✅ Phase One Farming Project Completed
📈 Expected Wheat Yield: 3,200 bundles per cycle
💰 Estimated Income: 2,500 World Coins
💳 World Coin Balance:
Keqing — 400 coins
Gong Qu — 650 coins
📌 Next Objective: Phase Two Mine Expansion, Search for Diamonds
After a long day's work, Gong Qu and Keqing weren't in the mood for "exploring the mysteries of life."
At the desk, Gong Qu recorded the day's results in a notebook using paper and ink he'd bought from the general store.
Behind him, Keqing rested her chin gently atop his head, wrapping her arms around him in a quiet embrace.
"Worried about mining tomorrow?"
Gong Qu reached up to hold her delicate hand as it slid down the back of his neck, his tense brow easing slightly.
"Yeah. This world... it's so vast, so much more real than the game. Without a deep scanner, finding diamonds could take forever."
"Maybe you should save up for a Vision," Keqing said softly. "I can feel it—my abilities haven't been restricted much in this world. If you could awaken a Geo Vision, it might help with mining and locating ore veins."
Coming from someone born in a world of supernatural elements, her logic naturally leaned that way. She was thinking of the Earth-wielding vision bearers from Teyvat.
"Huh... I don't really get how it works, but that actually makes sense."
"Of course, it's not like we get to choose our element. Odds of awakening Geo are, what, one in seven?"
"Still better than blind luck, digging forever with no direction."
Gong Qu nodded and flipped back to his journal. He delayed the mining expedition and added a new short-term goal:
Expand the farmland.
Save up money.
Acquire a Vision.