There had originally been two more cities like this one, but as the population dwindled, they were gradually abandoned.
Chao Xiaoshu learned from several Mystic Insight masters about a secret passage leading to Qinghe Commandery. However, there was a Dragon-Slaying Stone there that could only be opened from the outside.
The people of Qinghe Commandery usually opened the Dragon-Slaying Stone only once a month to deliver supplies. That was why they hadn't been able to get word of their situation out.
After learning this, Chao Xiaoshu promptly told Wang Yue. Wang Yue hesitated, deciding that even if Qinghe Commandery returned to Great Tang, it would be impossible to govern properly. So he had Chao Xiaoshu lead the Shushan disciples in taking control of the underground world's rulers. Then they found an interpreter and told the underground residents the truth, letting them decide whether they wanted to go out and see the sunlight.
The dwarves of the underground world had far more backbone than the serfs on Suspended Mountain. Once the interpreter explained the truth, they immediately rose up in revolt.
With the Shushan disciples' tacit approval, they killed most of the underground world's tyrannical rulers, sparing only a few Mystic Insight masters. Only then did they kneel before Chao Xiaoshu and ask him to lead them into the light.
The reason things had turned out this way was that when Shushan opened a passage into the underground world, they hadn't harmed its people at all. That had also earned the dwarves' trust.
One day, the people of Qinghe Commandery opened the Dragon-Slaying Stone again to deliver food, only to have Chao Xiaoshu wipe out most of them with a sword aura.
Seeing hope, the underground dwarves swarmed forward and quickly dealt with the remaining guards. Armed with their weapons,