# Chapter 16: More Peaceful Than the Moon God?
"Undercity? Never heard of it."
"Built by Emperor Okaz? That was a thousand years ago."
The surrounding officials murmured among themselves. Frost Snake Councilor coughed lightly, and silence immediately fell.
"The undercity will be opened. All civilians must enter within two days. Some supplies will be stored there as well."
Though Frost Snake Councilor's voice was not loud, his words brooked no argument.
"What about Angor City where we are? Semi-abandoned? The undercity can indeed hold a million people, but hiding there means abandoning all surface resources. How long can we last?"
Rose Councilor clearly did not intend to fully open the undercity. Once completely opened, it would provide a path for cowardly survival, making it difficult to fight back. Soldiers defending Angor City above would resent why they must die while others could hide in the safe undercity.
"I never said we should defend Angor City."
"Frost Snake, you've finally come to agree with me."
"Civilians and some soldiers enter the undercity. If those monsters truly attack, we immediately dispatch forces to meet them. Angor City has no walls or fortifications—it's merely a garrison point. Taking the initiative to strike gives us a chance. Passive defense will only lead to encirclement."
Frost Snake Councilor's words made the officials nod in silent agreement. They had previously considered defending Angor City, but that now seemed like digging their own graves.
Without walls or fortifications, holding position would only result in encirclement. Active engagement was different—at least they could clash head-on with the enemy. Even without numerical advantage, they could extend their battle lines and establish defensive positions.
Currently, Angor City had at least 900,000 soldiers combined. The reason the Four Kingdoms fell was not that the monsters were too powerful to resist, but that they appeared too suddenly.
Imagine a fleeing civilian suddenly drying up and transforming into a monster—how passive would nearby soldiers be?
The Four Kingdoms had far more civilians than soldiers. Coupled with a 'black orb' hanging high above, soldiers could only fight for a few minutes before gasping for breath, their combat effectiveness reduced to less than a third of normal. Protracted warfare was essentially impossible.
Fighting head-on with extended battle lines, soldiers were not afraid of those monsters. As long as the black orb wasn't enveloping them, they had confidence in fighting the monsters.
The only problem was the sheer number of those dried-up monsters.
"First, we must secure the territory around Angor City. Here, here, and here can all be used for farming. After establishing initial defenses, we must consider long-term fortification. Building high walls is a good solution. With the current population, it's estimated to take two years."
Frost Snake Councilor said this to stabilize morale. He wanted the officials present to see hope.
"We still have secret technique masters. Some can accelerate wall construction. By that calculation, maybe one or two months would suffice."
A smiling official chimed in.
"There are no more secret technique masters. Their secret patterns have been stripped away. Whether family lineage or imprint type, all secret patterns are gone. Without secret patterns, secret technique masters are merely soldiers with strong bodies—some are even inferior to ordinary soldiers."
Rose Councilor's words chilled many officials to the bone. Those usually arrogant secret technique masters had already lost their secret patterns.
"Councilor, I suggest arresting all secret technique masters. Without their secret patterns, they will become extreme."
"Handle this matter yourself. Go now."
Frost Snake Councilor was very ruthless, as he was widely recognized to be cold-blooded.
"Yes."
A stern-faced official quickly left the council hall. His bold proposal elevated his status. If he succeeded, he would become Frost Snake Councilor's trusted subordinate.
Su Xiao never spoke. He was unfamiliar with Angor City, but this visit yielded considerable gains.
The secret pattern masters losing their secret patterns was indeed unexpected. It wasn't that this world had lost its supernatural elements. Rose Councilor made it clear—the secret patterns were stripped away, not disappeared.
When he first entered this world on the steam train, Su Xiao sensed that secret technique masters were special. Su Xiao's combat power came from his strong body + passive/active abilities + techniques + equipment + combat experience, etc. Secret technique masters were different—all their combat power was concentrated in one point, some on their arms, some on their backs.
This concentrated point was where the secret pattern was located. It felt like this power wasn't their own, somewhat similar to divine believers whose power came from their gods. Secret technique masters' power came from their secret patterns. Without them, they only had the strong bodies cultivated while perfecting their secret patterns.
This made Su Xiao feel that secret patterns were a good thing. He certainly wouldn't engrave them on himself. If he could obtain secret patterns, he could engrave them on temporary alchemical creatures. Or better yet, research the principles of secret patterns and engrave them on the core formation diagram while creating temporary alchemical creatures.
The black orb, the dried-up humanoid monsters, and the secret patterns—these three were definitely related.
After the 'black orb' appeared above, within its enveloping range, the weaker one's constitution, the higher the chance of becoming a dried-up monster. As the black orb persisted, soldiers could also transform into dried-up monsters.
The stronger one's constitution, the stronger the monster they became. These monsters attacked living people not for food or blood—they simply rejected living things. That was the most terrifying part.
The 'black orb' not only turned people into monsters but also caused plants to wither, buildings to become pitted as if weathered, wooden items to rot into debris within a short time—everything decayed.
Above the Four Kingdoms, four 'black orbs' had appeared. This seemed to fulfill some condition. The secret technique masters' secret patterns were stripped away, or rather, reclaimed.
Su Xiao speculated that the black orb, dried-up monsters, energy decay ability, soul ash, and 'resentful orphans' were all related to Gulu.
If Gulu had such abilities himself, he wouldn't need to hide. He seemed to be relying on some place or existence to achieve this.
Su Xiao first thought of an Ancient God—a very powerful one far beyond the seventh rank. The soul ash contained Ancient God characteristics but differed greatly from all Ancient God energy Su Xiao had seen. It appeared lifeless, corrosive but not aggressive.
Just the black orb's ability indicated that if there truly was an Ancient God in this world, that god's rank was close to the Underworld God. The Underworld God was the strongest Ancient God Su Xiao knew.
Do not spy on the Underworld God, do not communicate with it, do not listen to its voice, do not look upon its appearance, do not chant its divine name.
This was the introduction of [Underworld God Umbilical Cord]. If Su Xiao encountered the Underworld God now, it wouldn't be this exaggerated, but death was certain—no suspense.
Assuming there truly was an Ancient God in this world with a rank close to the Underworld God, the current situation wasn't surprising. No, the current situation was too 'gentle.' With such a powerful Ancient God in the Light and Dark World, it was a miracle this world hadn't half-collapsed.
"More and more puzzling—what exactly is that place?"
Su Xiao muttered quietly. He was now basically certain how Gulu managed to destroy the Four Kingdoms. The other party had relied on some place. The black orb, energy decay ability, and soul ash all came from that place. The 'resentful orphans' were currently in that hidden location.
All of this occurred because of an Ancient God—the least troublesome Ancient God Su Xiao had ever seen, more peaceful than the Moon God. Its mere existence in this world caused the black orb, soul ash, and 'resentful orphans' to appear.
If it truly liked causing trouble, this world would be a hundred times more exaggerated than Herlu City. It wouldn't need to do anything else—just releasing some energy would leave no normal living creatures in this world.
Almost all doubts were resolved. Su Xiao was in a good mood.
"Three councilors, have you decided to open the undercity?"
Su Xiao's words made Frost Snake Councilor, Rose Councilor, and Rayman King stop their conversation. The three certainly didn't trust Su Xiao, but they wanted to hear what this representative of the Holy Realm Councilor had to say. Su Xiao→Puli→Old Councilor—the councilor position had become third-hand goods. Being unpopular was understandable.
"The person planning and implementing these matters is named Elvis·Gulu."
Su Xiao raised his hand. Azaz handed a document to him. He tossed it on the table and walked out of the council hall.
Rose Councilor picked up the document, glanced at it, and her expression grew serious. It contained Elvis·Gulu's information, along with the train hijacking incident, the old councilor's situation, and other intelligence. Connected together, all arrows pointed to Elvis·Gulu. What couldn't be ignored was that these documents came from the council itself.
Leaving the council hall, Su Xiao took out a finger-length glass bottle containing soul ash. Burning soul ash could open a gap. Where did the gap lead? The answer was—the place where that powerful Ancient God resided. Gulu relied on that place to destroy the Four Kingdoms.
Su Xiao was very curious—why was an Ancient God this powerful more peaceful than the Moon God?