Chapter 712: The Celestial Artifact: The Mighty Power Drill
Li Daoxuan was searching for a tool!
Chopsticks? Don't be ridiculous! Even if Dadunliang Mountain were shrunk two hundred times in every dimension, it would still be a massive rock, not something you could pierce with chopsticks. What kind of tool do you need to drill through rock? An electric drill, of course!
Li Daoxuan hurried out the door and approached his apartment complex's management office. He cheerfully greeted the property manager, a young woman, “I need to drill a hole at home. Could I borrow an electric drill from you?”
The property manager smiled charmingly, handing him a compact, one-handed electric drill. She also offered a box filled with a dazzling array of interchangeable drill bits, long and short, in various sizes.
Li Daoxuan thanked the property manager and returned home with the drill.
He plugged it in and tried a practice run in the air. The drill whirred to life with a startling "whizz," making him jump. His hands trembled, nearly dropping the tool. Indeed, he realized, it was hard for an amateur to handle such a device skillfully right away.
No matter. He'd just have to muddle through. He walked to the diorama box, adjusted his perspective, moving Dadunliang Mountain to the edge of the box, within easy reach of his hand. First, he extended his left hand to stabilize the mountain, then, with his right, he slowly lowered the large electric drill.
Cheng Xu exclaimed, “Here it comes!”
Zhong Gaoliang pointed, “Look, look! The celestial artifact is here!”
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, an incredibly strange, colossal machine descended from the sky. It resembled a short musket, but instead of a barrel, it had an odd drill bit at its front. This reminded Cheng Xu of the minor bandit leader, "Vajra Drill," whom they had captured and executed a few days prior.
The colossal drill bit extended to the base of Dadunliang Mountain. It hovered, making a couple of exploratory motions, before settling on a section of the rock face. Then...
“Whirrr!” The switch clicked, and the drill bit began to spin with astonishing speed.
The seven thousand labor reform prisoners cried out, “Wow, the celestial artifact is spinning! So fast, so incredibly fast...”
“CRASH!” The massive drill bit slammed into the mountain wall. In an instant, a gaping hole was gouged into the rock, sending debris flying and kicking up a cloud of dust. The terrifying spectacle left everyone speechless.
The seven thousand labor reform prisoners cried out again, “Wow! This thing can drill a huge hole through a mountain in one go. What if it drilled through *us*?” Many shivered in fear, their minds racing: *If the Heavenly Lord had used this on us when we were doing evil, would any of us still be alive? We are truly fortunate that the Heavenly Lord is merciful; he spared our wretched lives, and now we have the chance to witness his divine power.*
The celestial mega-drill continued its furious assault. Dadunliang Mountain offered no resistance. The hole deepened rapidly, and within moments, the mountain's core was half-pierced, revealing a profound cavern.
The celestial artifact ascended back into the sky. Before long, it returned with an even longer drill bit, plunged it into the growing tunnel, and continued its work...
Cheng Xu and Zhong Gaoliang watched, utterly mesmerized. Such divine power, they thought, could only belong to the heavens! They silently thanked the Heavenly Lord for granting mere mortals like them such an eye-opening spectacle.
“CRASH!” It had broken through!
Dadunliang Mountain had finally been pierced through. Li Daoxuan leaned his head into the diorama box, peering through the small hole. Excellent, he could see straight from one side to the other.
He then gently shook Dadunliang Mountain to test the tunnel's stability. Tunnel stability was crucial; frequent rockfalls, collapses, or a loose structure simply wouldn't do. A preliminary shake of the mountain would reveal any potential collapses.
To Cheng Xu, that gentle shake was nothing short of a monumental upheaval, as if an earth dragon were twisting the very mountains. The entire Dadunliang Mountain before him swayed violently from side to side, an utterly terrifying sight.
After a short while, there were no rockfalls or collapses within the tunnel. Only then did Li Daoxuan feel satisfied. To be absolutely safe, he decided to insert a large PVC pipe straight through the new tunnel...
Then, with a *whoosh*, his consciousness shifted through the co-sensing connection, jumping to the golden-thread Heavenly Lord statue on Cheng Xu’s chest. “Alright, the tunnel is dug! Next, have the labor reform prisoners clear it out, and a cement road can be laid straight through, connecting directly to Yan'an Prefecture.”
“It’s done?” Cheng Xu burst with delight. He sprang to his feet with a *whoosh*, not uttering a single word to the labor reform prisoners, but instead dashed towards the tunnel, gesticulating wildly.
The golden-thread Heavenly Lord statue spoke, “Hey, what are you doing?”
Cheng Xu’s face was alight with excitement. “I want to be the first to go inside and see! I want to touch the great hole blasted out by the celestial artifact!”
The golden-thread Heavenly Lord statue was speechless.
Cheng Xu sprinted into the tunnel. The large, cylindrical PVC pipe inside left him slightly bewildered. He touched the tunnel entrance here and there, then let out a triumphant roar into the depths: “I’m here!”
His voice echoed, bouncing off the tunnel walls, reverberating again and again. This sent Cheng Xu into a frenzy of excitement, and he dashed deeper into the tunnel, laughing wildly: “Hahaha, hahaha! I’m the first one in! I’m the first!”
The golden-thread Heavenly Lord statue was momentarily speechless. *Fine,* Li Daoxuan thought. *Too lazy to bother with this lunatic.*
With another *whoosh*, his consciousness shifted via co-sensing, jumping to Zhong Gaoliang’s chest. “Tell everyone to go in and build the road.”
Zhong Gaoliang was actually still in a state of stunned bewilderment. Only when Li Daoxuan called out did he snap back to awareness, cheering, “Everyone, let’s get to work! The rounded floor isn’t good for travel, so flatten it out, pave it with cement all the way to Yan'an Prefecture! Then our project will be finished, and you’ll all be released from labor reform to join the army!”
The seven thousand labor reform prisoners cheered in unison: “Good!” “Long live the Heavenly Lord!” “The celestial artifact is incredible!” “My last days of labor reform!” “Hahaha, finally getting out! So happy!” “Charge!”
The labor reform prisoners also surged towards the tunnel.
Zhong Gaoliang chuckled, watching the tunnel before him. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him: “This tunnel should have a name, shouldn’t it? I think... let’s call it the Heavenly Lord Tunnel.”
Li Daoxuan replied, “Terrible! No!”
Zhong Gaoliang paused. “Huh? But the Heavenly Lord dug it. The name ‘Heavenly Lord Tunnel’ sounds great!”
Li Daoxuan insisted, “No, it’s truly awful.”
Zhong Gaoliang mused, “Or how about the Red Sorghum Tunnel?”
Li Daoxuan was momentarily speechless. “Go amuse yourself,” he muttered. “I’ll name it.”
He pondered for a long time. “Hmm! Decided. Its name will be the Huangqiu Terrace Tunnel.”
Zhong Gaoliang looked utterly perplexed. “Does that name have any special meaning?”
Li Daoxuan had no special meaning in mind. It was simply that on future maps of his own dynasty, a tunnel in this very location bore the name Huangqiu Terrace Tunnel. He had merely borrowed it.
Once inside the tunnel, the labor reform prisoners immediately set to work.
A labor reform prisoner wearing a Blue Hat, without needing any prompting from Li Daoxuan, loudly began barking orders at the Yellow Hats: “Get some men! Bring in soil! First, we need to flatten this round, slippery floor into a level road.”
“Make the ground solid, then pave it with cement.”
“And ditches! Don’t forget to leave drainage ditches on both sides of the road, or it’ll be a disaster when it rains.”
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