Chapter 001: Suffering and Happiness

Du Fan gave an awkward smile. To be honest, even in Ming Wei’s current state, any normal person would know what Ming Wei meant by “eternal life.” Anyone who was somewhat sensible wouldn’t choose “eternal life”!
But Du Fan had already made his decision clearly before. Now that Ming Wei specifically asked him, what could he say? Say no? That would mean denying his own words earlier. Say yes? Hmph, from now on, Du Fan Green would have to live like that. How could he still face the world openly? He was still a duke! He couldn’t avoid showing himself!
Still, Du Fan remained calm and said, “Who wouldn’t want eternal life? But it affects my future life. May I ask you a few questions first?”
Mr. Ming Wei was momentarily stunned before saying, “Of course, go ahead and ask.” He said this just to test Du Fan; he actually didn’t believe that Du Fan would accept his offer. Though it wasn’t right to doubt his “friend” like this, let’s forgive him—this poor kid.
Du Fan pointed at Ming Wei’s lower body and asked the most straightforward and convincing question, at least in his opinion. “Can you stand up?”
Ming Wei didn’t expect Du Fan to ask this. He was stunned for a moment before shaking his head. Without a body, how could he possibly stand up?!
Du Fan looked disappointed. “Actually, I’d really like to try eternal life too. But I’m not as great as you. I like women, you know? Can you understand?”
Ming Wei probably hadn’t been with a woman in tens of thousands of years. He nodded shyly. “I won’t force you. We’re still friends.”
Phew…
With a smile on his face, Du Fan thought, Finally, I passed!
Du Fan glanced at the two people on the ground, then at Ming Wei. Ming Wei disappeared knowingly. Before vanishing, he told Du Fan to send those people upstairs first and then come back to find him.
After Ming Wei disappeared, Du Fan waited until those two people recovered. Then he woke up the three people Ming Wei had given him, gave them some instant food to regain their strength, and finally took them back upstairs.
When Old Mark saw Du Fan return, he couldn’t help but give him a lecture. But Du Fan said he needed to go back down. There was no danger inside, as he had already brought those people back safely. That was enough to prove there was no danger.

Old Mark naturally couldn’t say anything more. When Du Fan returned to the dungeon, a giant tentacle wrapped around him. Looking at the massive tentacle, Du Fan sensed a trace of Ming Wei’s presence and didn’t struggle.
“You’ve come. Quite quickly.” Ming Wei had spoken a lot earlier, but now he spoke rapidly, no longer as awkward as a dried-up river.
“I’ll finish explaining and then leave. Mainly, I’m interested in this place. You don’t know—there’s a band of thieves outside. I’m the lord of this city. You don’t know, but those people are all extremely strong…”
Du Fan remembered Ming Wei saying he was only passable, while the others were utterly insignificant, so he didn’t continue. Changing the subject, Du Fan asked, “Nether Mage, what’s your main specialty?”
Ming Wei was busy doing something in his magic tower and explained, “Nether refers to the abyss, symbolizing great power. In my era, it represented a certain status.”
He explained indifferently, as he really didn’t care about such things. As for immortality, he understood why Du Fan hadn’t chosen it. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t either. But Du Fan’s excuse was indeed interesting.
Thinking of this, Ming Wei pointed outside the magic tower and said, “Apart from this magic tower, everything else has turned to dust. So if you want to build a city here, all these areas need to be rebuilt. If it’s about lighting, I can help you too.”
Du Fan was surprised that the problem he’d been most worried about was solved so easily, and his mood improved instantly.
“But it’s best no one approaches within a kilometer of this magic tower. Also, I can’t leave this area,” Ming Wei said, continuing his work.
Du Fan was astonished. “But I thought you had already gone beyond that earlier?”
“It was you who entered here,” Ming Wei replied. “Although your magic mark is useful, you were still affected—just perceptually. If you didn’t have the Divine Origin, you wouldn’t be able to sense your magic mark either. After all, the Divine Origin is a being even more advanced than me.”
Du Fan was even more surprised. “You know I have the Divine Origin?”
Ming Wei nodded. “I’m not interested in power. I just happened to reach my current strength. If I could, I’d rather be an ordinary person.”
Du Fan had nothing to say. Everyone has their own desires, after all.

Suddenly, a flash appeared before Du Fan’s eyes, and soft lights emerged in the vast black space. Though not very bright, they were enough to dispel the darkness. Du Fan was stunned as he watched this scene. The entire city came into view, but in the next instant, it turned into particles of dust and scattered into the air…

“This…”

“Time,” Ming Wei said sadly. Over ten thousand years, a spiritual entity might be able to endure, but these ordinary things couldn’t withstand the passage of time. Before the city could function again, everything remained frozen. By the time Ming Wei restored time flow here, everything vanished in an instant.

After mourning his former hometown for a while, Ming Wei said, “This city used to be on the surface. That day, I wanted them to rest here with me, so I moved the city underground. This magic array was originally meant for lighting at night, but now it has other uses as well.”

Looking at the endless magic array, Du Fan could imagine just how large this city must be—about the same size as their imperial capital. And this place belonged to him, Du Fan! It was a unique underground city!

This magic array… magic array!!

Suddenly, Du Fan remembered that magic arrays required energy. So what about this one…

As if reading Du Fan’s thoughts, Ming Wei calmly said, “This magic array was originally created by two Nether Magic Masters. It doesn’t need to be refueled regularly. You just need to add a piece every three days… Well, times have changed. I don’t know if you still have such things. Let me give you an example—like the magic crystals in dragons. One crystal can last a year. Quite economical, right?”

Du Fan almost fell off the magic tower. He hadn’t had time to rejoice for long before Ming Wei pulled him back down!

Hmph, one magic crystal from a dragon per year. Quite economical! He still hadn’t seen what a dragon’s magic crystal looked like! And it only lasted a year? That meant he had to kill a dragon every year! Not to mention whether he could even find dragons—just killing one per year to sustain the magic array in this city would mean the Dragon Island would send dragons to destroy his city in less than two years!!

“I was just giving an example. Why are you so nervous? After all, creatures like dragons are far beyond your current capabilities.”

Du Fan breathed a sigh of relief. Ming Wei continued, “If it’s someone with your strength, even ten people, inputting magic power once a day should work.” Someone like him? Du Fan counted on his fingers—was that possible? “Stop joking, will you? Consider me arrogant then. In this era, it’s not easy to find someone with my strength. Even if there were ten, I couldn’t afford them!” It was truly frustrating—having such a large city right in front of him yet being unable to use it at all! As Du Fan thought this, Ming Wei seemed to have more to say. Du Fan groaned weakly, “Please, can you say everything at once? Are you trying to break my heart?” Ming Wei smiled, as if he had teased Du Fan, and felt a bit better. “The last solution—I guess you don’t have many strong people left. Just look at those few over there. Another option is up there, probably in the forest.” Du Fan thought for a moment before responding, “That’s right, it’s the forest.” “Then don’t build a city there. Build another magic array up there to absorb magic power and support the magic arrays below.” Du Fan had never heard of such a magic array and became curious. He asked Ming Wei how to do it. Ming Wei said, “I’ve always liked these things, so after researching them, I kept them. Um, let me find it.” Suddenly, a spatial door appeared in front of Ming Wei. Du Fan drooled at the sight—when could he control spatial doors so easily? Ming Wei said calmly, “Once you understand the essence of power, you’ll be able to use all magic. By the way, since you’re skilled in both magic and martial arts, you’ll have to wait until your combat energy reaches that level too.” Du Fan glared at Ming Wei—was he here just to frustrate him? “Ah, I found it. Here.” Ming Wei handed Du Fan a yellowed document, but Du Fan couldn’t understand a single word. Ming Wei took the document back. “I forgot again. You can’t understand it like this.” Ming Wei quickly listed a bunch of items, all measured in tons. Not to mention the quantities, Du Fan had never heard of any of those items before! How was he supposed to find them?! “Don’t worry.” Seeing Du Fan panic, Ming Wei felt pleased. It was rare to have someone to talk to, so he would be very kind to Du Fan.

Du Fan was also puzzled as to how Ming Wei could know about a unit of measurement like “ton”. Ming Wei had already said that whenever someone thought about things related to him, he would automatically receive that person’s thoughts, so it wasn’t strange at all that he knew what Du Fan was thinking. Therefore, he explained, “As for why, look here.” With that, Ming Wei projected a light screen, on which the situation in Doha City was clearly displayed!