The moment Xu Yunfan's boots touched the rammed-earth road, the soles of his feet went numb.
A muffled, thunderous pulse emanated from the ground every few seconds. Three hundred feet below, twelve Profound Steel Mountain Drilling Mechanisms—forged jointly by the Mechanical Hall and the Celestial Craft Department—were gnawing through the rock strata.
Bare-chested laborers, lined up like worker ants, carried barrels of faintly glowing green Thunderfire Rock into the tunnels. Each barrel was branded with a vermilion Fire Seal that read, "Melt Gold Hall, Bingchen Creation." From a distance, the procession looked like a red-scaled fire dragon winding its way into the earth.
"The earth dragon's about to turn over again!"
An unknown voice cried out, and the entire plain plunged into a dead silence.
A few moments later, the ground in the southwest corner suddenly bulged into a mound, and a screech of metal on metal tore through the sky.
