By the end of November, Liu A'dou had handed everything else over to others and secretly returned home with Chu Yuxuan.
"How long has it been since you were last back in the country?" Chu Yuxuan asked curiously as they sat inside the Archimedes.
"A few years," Liu A'dou replied. It really had been years.
This time, they were headed to the country's newest cosmic energy development base, which also included the secret realm in Kunlun Mountain that the General had found after Liu A'dou's tip.
Since there was the Celestial Master's palace on Themyscira, according to myth and legend, there should also be the Taoist temple of Yuanshi Tianzun on Kunlun Mountain. Liu A'dou had given the white jade to the General and asked him to look into it. To his surprise, they really found it.
They had even discovered a lot of books. In Kunlun Mountain, each of the Twelve Golden Immortals had their own Taoist sanctuaries, and many places were still untouched. The books were undoubtedly the most precious treasures—even though many of the characters looked like incomprehensible scribbles, careful study would definitely lead to huge rewards.
Today, Liu A'dou was visiting Kunlun Mountain at the General's invitation.
"At the end of this year, our first experimental pulse spaceship will head to the moon. If successful, we'll build the first helium-3 refinery on the lunar surface tomorrow."
"That soon?"
"It's not soon at all. Time waits for no one," Chu Yuxuan said. "We're already way behind."
Liu A'dou understood the feeling. Before he crossed over, he'd been just as impatient. But after crossing over, armed with all kinds of advanced tech, he stopped rushing, since success was inevitable—sooner or later.
But for his countrymen, each generation wanted to finish their part of the work. A sense of mission drove them to build a better future for the next generation as quickly as possible.
Kunlun Mountain, the first sacred mountain of China, had been surrounded by countless myths since ancient times. Who could have guessed that many of those legends were actually real?
"It's right there," Chu Yuxuan said, pointing to a gap between two peaks.
"We're going straight in?"
"Yes. They should already know we're here. Just fly straight in," Chu Yuxuan replied.
Then let's go.
Like a colorless waterfall, the air rippled as the ship flew through.
Inside was a world completely unlike the cold, desolate peaks outside. Birds sang, flowers bloomed, and it felt like the difference between deep winter and early spring. This space was even bigger than the Celestial Master's realm on Themyscira—truly boundless.
In the distance were lakes and towering mountains, mountains within mountains, white clouds swirling around the peaks. Faintly, rows upon rows of grand halls could be seen, layer upon layer of pavilions and terraces packed together in majestic splendor. This was a place straight out of ancient times, the residence and sanctuary of immortals, where they lived, thought, and cultivated—a true blessed land.
"Please follow the guide to Landing Pad Three," a voice instructed. But now, this immortal paradise had become a secret military base, with countless volunteers dedicating themselves here for the good of the country.
A helicopter flew ahead of the Archimedes, leading it slowly to an open space—Landing Pad Three. Liu A'dou landed the ship and disembarked with Chu Yuxuan.
"Mr. Liu A'dou has arrived," announced the General, whom Liu A'dou had met once before. Next to him stood an elegant woman, with a high, refined nose and a pair of rimless glasses hiding her intelligent eyes.
"Hello," Liu A'dou said as he shook the General's hand, while Chu Yuxuan offered a perfect military salute.
"Good work, Little Chu," the General nodded to Chu Yuxuan before turning to Liu A'dou. "Let me introduce you. This is Dr. An Rong, a renowned physicist."
"Hello, Dr. An."
"Mr. Liu, it's an honor to finally meet you," An Rong replied, her hand soft and delicate in his. It was a surprisingly pleasant handshake.
This time, the only reason Liu A'dou could come to the secret base was thanks to the General. Earlier, A'dou had casually told Chu Yuxuan that he wanted to see how the country's space program was coming along. Chu Yuxuan reported it up the chain, and in the end, the General pushed past all objections and brought Liu A'dou straight to this most classified place. As he put it: "Kunlun Mountain's secret realm was uncovered thanks to Liu A'dou's tip, and the tech inside came from him. If we're talking about keeping secrets, he's the last person we should hide things from. And if you're worried he'll betray us—if he wanted to sell out the country, why would he give us so much in the first place?" The technology Liu A'dou provided had already been tested and proven correct, cutting at least 50 years off their development timeline.
If everything went well, Liu A'dou would be the nation's greatest hero—and heroes shouldn't be treated coldly. In the end, the country's top leader gave the nod, and Liu A'dou was cleared to visit Kunlun Mountain.
"Welcome to Kunlun Mountain Base," the General said.
The name sounded rustic enough, but Liu A'dou wasn't surprised. He actually found it kind of endearing. "Then I'll trouble you all," he said, already itching to look around. He might have given them the technology, but that didn't mean he could build every product himself.
Right now, Kunlun Mountain Base had more than 5,000 soldiers, over 700 elite scientists from every field, and 8,000 engineering troops working day and night to transform the secret realm.
The base had cracked multiple scientific achievements, the biggest being the nuclear fusion pulse engine. With a nuclear pulse engine, a trip from Earth to the Moon would only take 5 hours. They were also training space miners, and helium-3 extraction techniques had been repeatedly verified—it would absolutely work.
As Liu A'dou walked past rows of marching soldiers, he suddenly stopped and looked at a loquat tree by the road. Its fruits were round and pearly like jewels, making his mouth water.
'Are these immortal fruits?' he thought. No wonder this place felt like a blessed land, even the fruit looked perfect. The General walked over, picked a few, and handed them out. "The fruit here doesn't have any magical effects like in the myths, but the taste and appearance are amazing. Our agricultural scientists have already studied it and said we can grow these trees outside too. Look over there."
The General pointed deeper into the grove, where a clearing was filled with rows of tomatoes and cucumbers. Liu A'dou figured they must have planted those later.
Sure enough, the General explained, "The soil here is incredible. Vegetables grown in it are rich in nutrients. If we can fully understand the fruit trees and soil from this secret realm, we could raise our country's food production to a whole new level," he said with pride.
"Not bad at all," Liu A'dou laughed. "That way we can even plant vegetables on the Moon."
"How did you know our plan?" An Rong, standing nearby, couldn't help but ask.
Liu A'dou chuckled to himself. 'Every Chinese person knows: wherever we go, we bring vegetables.' The idea of sprawling vegetable fields on the Moon was just exciting to imagine. "Ms. An, how exactly are we planning to plant crops on the Moon?"
An Rong didn't hold back. Growing vegetables wasn't as classified as helium-3 mining. "We'll use hydroponics and also send soil up there. Even a small amount of this secret realm's soil can nourish an entire acre of crops, better than any fertilizer. With a pulse ship carrying 1,000 tons of pure cargo, there's no problem at all."
"Wow, 1,000 tons?" Liu A'dou was shocked. The biggest rockets right now could only carry a little over 100 tons. 1,000 tons of pure payload was unbelievably impressive.
"In the future, we'll set up orbital transfer stations and build even larger cargo ships in space. The 1,000-ton ships will be launched from Earth to deliver supplies," An Rong said proudly. She had every right to be proud—after all, they were the first people in the world truly preparing to venture into deep space.