Chapter 2381: Secret Patterns, Alchemy, Extraordinary Steam Technology

Tick, tick.

The black tea cup was overturned on the table, and the dark red tea dripped down, mixing with the bloodstains.

With a crack, Su Xiao snapped the neck of the last hyena wolf man. These hyena wolf men weren't too strong; a 6th-tier contractor with some strength could deal with several.

Obviously, that so-called Lord Moonlight shouldn't be much either. According to Su Xiao's estimation, the average combat power of the hyena wolf clan was around the 7th tier, and what he encountered now was the weakest kind.

A dozen newly promoted secret arts masters escorting him, and the attack of the weakest hyena wolf clan—these added up to a show of force.

Someone wanted to give Su Xiao a show of force. If nothing went wrong, within 3 to 5 days of him being hijacked, a rescue would arrive, find him "hijacked," and then launch a rescue, solving these hyena wolf clan members to seal their mouths.

Su Xiao had used this kind of method when working with Monarch Harold. That time, it was to deal with an official who was disobedient but couldn't be replaced in a short time.

Based on this, Su Xiao evaluated his own alchemy ability. What he was best at was formulating permanent gain potions, followed by solving physical hidden illnesses through alchemy. The identity he disguised as would also be good at these two points.

If they were targeting him because of permanent gain potions, they wouldn't need to be so troublesome, and he hadn't reached the level of being irreplaceable. Inferring this way, someone wanted to save their life, but because of the contradiction in stance, they would definitely be rejected if they came directly to the door, so they used this method.

Analyzing this way, the other party likely came from the Senate, followed by the fact that the other party had direct jurisdiction over secret arts masters, otherwise, sending secret arts masters to save people would easily arouse suspicion.

Su Xiao shook off the bloodstains on the Whisper short sword. This short sword was very handy to use. Although it wasn't as sharp as Zhan Long Shan, under the bonus of soul strength, its sharpness also exceeded most Holy Spirit-grade weapons.

With a bang, Su Xiao smashed a carriage window with the hilt of the Whisper short sword, and then used the tip of the blade to draw half a bloody footprint under the window, completely simulating the different depths of the footprint that would appear due to uneven force when stepping on it, looking exactly like someone had broken the glass and jumped off the steam train after stepping on the window.

Creating these was to simulate a rescuer. Su Xiao didn't want to expose his own combat power yet.

After setting up the traces, Su Xiao sat back in his seat and checked the world introduction that had already appeared.

【Entering World: Light · Dark World】

Location: Continent Center · Chiso Track (Steam train track under Chidorman Company).

World Difficulty: lv. 55 ~ lv. 67 (Semi-open native world).

World Source: 0%.

World Introduction: Light and dark intersect, mysterious and treacherous, the collision of extraordinary steam science and alchemy, the inheritance of secret arts masters, the hatred between the rulers and the hyena wolf clan, a brilliant extraordinary steam era is coming, like a spark mixed in steam.

【Light · Dark Era 312, Emperor Okaz was the sole ruler, and the hyena wolf clan could only live outside the bitter border, not daring to step into the imperial territory.】

【Light · Dark Era 392, Emperor Okaz passed away at the age of 112. He was hailed as the greatest ruler in history. He defied all opinions, abolished a total of seventeen types of writing including ancient script and wedge script, unified the empire's writing and currency, and established a parliamentary system, allowing royal power to be restricted. The era of dictatorship ended there.】

【Light · Dark Era 393, Emperor Okaz's four direct descendants broke up completely. Under the notarization of the parliament, they divided the continent's map into four pieces and established empires respectively. But in the same month, all four empires changed their flags to kingdoms. There could only be one empire, and they weren't qualified.】

【Light · Dark Era 415, the conflicts between the four kingdoms intensified, and a war was about to break out. This made the hyena wolf clan restless. In the same year, the war broke out, and the hyena wolf clan left the bitter cold land.】

【Light · Dark Era 427, the war between the four kingdoms intensified, and one day, an explorer discovered an underground tomb, where he obtained the power of secret patterns.】

【In the same year, the first secret pattern master in history was killed. By studying his corpse, the coastal Storm Kingdom obtained secret pattern knowledge and cultivated a large number of secret arts masters, finally investing them in the war.】

【Light · Dark Era 590, the Storm Kingdom captured more than half of the continent's territory. Unfortunately, the core knowledge of secret patterns leaked, and the other three kingdoms quickly mastered the power of secret patterns.】

【Light · Dark Era 677, the war ceased, and the high-level officials of all kingdoms discovered that their secret arts masters were becoming weaker, some even no different from tricks, and their combat power was not even as good as ordinary soldiers.】

【After a century of research, scholars concluded the truth: secret arts masters need a "free" soul. Under the shackles of royal power, secret arts masters are like being shackled, and the idea of being loyal to royal power for generations makes the secret patterns begin to repel their souls.】

【Due to unknown reasons, secret patterns spread to the folk, and powerful secret arts masters appeared one after another. They created a brilliant and charming extraordinary era, which was also the worst and most chaotic era. The existence of royal power, although it would cause inequality between people, could guarantee the safety and prosperity of civilians. At least the rulers wouldn't release meteor fire on their own territory, but powerful secret arts masters might do so.】

【Light · Dark Era 1176, secret arts masters and the four major kingdoms signed a treaty, and the two sides reached a cooperative relationship to hunt the hyena wolf clan in the dark night together.】

【Light · Dark Era 1255, the four major kingdoms established the Council Chamber. Secret arts masters could no longer interfere with royal power. The Council Chamber became the center of power. During this period, due to the interference of secret arts masters, the Council Chamber was able to curb royal power. This was a situation where all three parties won.】

【Light · Dark Era 1576, alchemy appeared, origin unknown.】

【Light · Dark Era 1651, the first compressed steam engine was born. In the same year, the first steam car traveled 12.6 meters and exploded. Extraordinary steam technology was in the ascendant, and opportunities and wealth were everywhere.】

【Light · Dark Era 1721, extraordinary steam technology matured day by day.】

【World, start!】

Through the world introduction, Su Xiao learned a lot of information. This world was originally an imperial system, then evolved into the opposition of the four major kingdoms, and because of the appearance of secret arts masters, it even evolved into a chaotic secret pattern era.

After bumpy development, extraordinary steam technology became the mainstream today. Secret arts masters were trying to combine secret patterns with steam technology. If successful, this would be the cornerstone of the next era.

Compared to secret arts masters and extraordinary steam technology, alchemy was much more low-key, never publicized, but it made rulers of all generations flock to it. Compared to extraordinary steam technology and secret patterns, the threshold of alchemy was outrageously high.

Even an apprentice would need to consume massive resources to have a chance to become a junior alchemist, and this was under the guidance of a formal alchemist. It was completely impossible to learn by oneself.

Su Xiao closed the world introduction. This was the world with the most active historical changes he had ever seen. There must have been civilizations before the Light-Dark Era. Secret patterns came from that civilization, and alchemy likely came from the Void.

This world gave people the feeling of a treasure house still under development, and there should be many unknown things that hadn't been discovered.

Su Xiao straightened out the relationship between the four major kingdoms and the Council Chamber. The two sides were independent and mutually restrictive. This was also what secret arts masters wanted to see. Their predecessors had once been reduced to war weapons.

The only thing that was unpredictable was the hyena wolf clan. This clan had been active on the continent since the era of Emperor Okaz. Now, after three eras of changes, they seemed to have been beaten all the time, but they were actually living more comfortably. ===== CHAPTER 2382 =====