The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 415 - 245: The Secret of the Ruishui River_2

Ning Xiaoxian smiled: "Afterwards, I conducted some experiments and threw many objects of different masses into the water."

Miluo suddenly raised his eyebrows: "So that’s why you threw those pebbles, wood shavings, twigs, iron blocks, and... cough... that thing into the water?" Even with his thick skin, he was too embarrassed to directly mention that she was carrying something like sheep intestines on her person.

She gave him a curious look, wondering why this fellow was beating around the bush. "Well, this river is quite interesting. The lighter the object, the faster it sinks. The heavier the object, the slower it sinks. Later on, I threw a floating ball into it, and it sunk instantly."

"So, you think the buoyancy of the water in this river is vastly different from normal currents, that something as light as a feather sinks quickly because it is too light?" Quan Shifang understood her meaning.

He was a good listener. Ning Xiaoxian nodded: "Exactly. Moreover, the buoyancy here is abnormally strong, many times greater than that of a normal river." She said to the attentive crowd, "My theory is that the buoyancy of this river is the opposite of normal rivers, not acting upwards, but downwards. Therefore, it drags everything on the surface down."

"Over the years, many people have thrown gold, silver, and iron blocks into the river in order to uncover its secrets," Miluo spoke with a light tone, "If what you say is true and heavier objects are less likely to sink, then why haven’t these things floated up?"

She revealed her pearly teeth, obviously confident in her knowledge: "It’s true that heavy objects really are less likely to sink. The fact that they’ve thrown so many things into the river and still haven’t discovered its secret, just means that those items are not heavy enough!"

She walked back to the ferry, grabbed a bamboo valve, and cut off half of the bamboo section, then returned.

"Senior Brother Quan told me that this type of Kong Bamboo grows only on copper mountain." Quan Shifang nodded when she mentioned him, "If that’s the case, this plant absorbs copper and gold, and its weight must be astonishingly heavy. I’ve cut a section of the bamboo to check, and indeed, the inside appears faintly yellow."

"However, to keep the secret, Jishi Building also tampered with this seemingly ordinary bamboo valve." She lifted the bamboo tube for everyone to see.

Surprisingly, the inside of the bamboo tube was solid, filled with a purple substance, which emitted a faint purple glow in the slanting sun. Everyone’s eyes sharpened, what was this?

"It’s Purple Lead. Pill Masters occasionally use it during alchemy. It’s not expensive, but it is extremely heavy." She was also an alchemist, naturally recognizing the substance. Ning Xiaoxian said indifferently, "This small bamboo tube in my hand weighs over one hundred and seventy jin (approximately 102 kg)! Gentlemen, how much do you think an entire set of bamboo valves weighs?"

The crowd fell silent, only for Jin Manyi to coldly say, "Not more, not less, precisely three thousand seven hundred and fifty jin (approximately 2250 kg)!"

Despite her blunt tone, her anger seemed to have dissipated. Ning Xiaoxian looked at her before speaking, "When I first saw the bamboo valves, I found it peculiar that despite the Earth Python’s immense strength, it took five Earth Pythons to pull together just to move this small set of bamboo valves. It seems that on one hand, the waters are extremely sticky and difficult to navigate. On the other hand, the valves are too heavy, making them particularly challenging to drag in water."

Jin Manyi nodded, "When we first made the agreement with the Earth Python King, we had the Earth Python try to pull the valve. We discovered that although a valve weighing three thousand seven hundred and fifty jin could barely stay afloat without sinking, a single Earth Python could not pull it at all. Later, we increased from two to eventually five pythons, only then could they move it smoothly without revealing any flaws. According to my family’s estimates, to pull this valve in the water, the effort needed is a hundred times the weight of the valve itself."

To make the Earth Pythons pull this specially crafted bamboo valve, a force of thirty-seven thousand jin (approximately 22,500 kg) was needed! Everyone present was shocked. Quan Shifang sighed, "The name ’Forbidden Land’ of the Ruoshui River is indeed well-deserved. Even to get a set of bamboo valves moving, there are so many factors to consider."

Gazing at Jin Manyi, Ning Xiaoxian exhaled deeply and said, "It seems that there are many more peculiarities to the Ruoshui River, and I don’t fully understand them all. My explanation only goes this far, Miss Jin, are you satisfied?"

Jin Manyi stared intently at her, her gaze probing, and after a long while, she spoke, "The reality is mostly as you described. However, don’t be too smug, there are others who have cracked the secrets of the Ruoshui River; they just disdain to fight over such small profits because their cultivation has reached the heavens."

She deemed the bet, for which Ning Xiaoxian had exchanged her freedom for the second half of her life, as a mere small profit. But Ning Xiaoxian was not angry, instead she sincerely responded, "You are absolutely right. It is the seniors of Jishi Building that are formidable for having discovered the secret of the Ruoshui River first. I am simply reverse-engineering their findings. Standing on the shoulders of giants, one can indeed see further."

Jin Manyi unexpectedly glanced at her, not expecting her to speak well of Jishi Building in return. What she did not understand was that Ning Xiaoxian, having won the bet and secured the Ruoshui Ferry’s business, had already gained tangible benefits, so what did a few harsh words from Jin Manyi matter? After all, Miss Jin, despite her impetuous personality, was rather straightforward and willing to accept her losses, a quality far better than the average gambler’s by untold times.

Nobody present knew that while Ning Xiaoxian’s words sounded sincere, she was secretly laughing inside. Because the true secret of the Ruoshui River was likely unknown to anyone in the world. The so-called experts referred to by Jin Manyi had only seen the surface of the Ruoshui River a step ahead of her.

Because Changtian had already secretly told her, the buoyancy of the river was very normal, just many times greater than a regular river. The various anomalies of this river water, when traced to their true cause, are due to—(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to cast your recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)