Chapter 004: The Beast Lord

“Can it be done right away? Can we choose them now?” Moses asked.
“Indeed. Our dwarves have a very powerful message dissemination system. As long as I release a message from the main magic array, the entire city’s residents can hear it quickly,” Basha said proudly.
“That’s amazing,” Nayxiu exclaimed upon hearing this.
“Actually, it’s nothing special. It’s just a combination of magic arrays—just on a larger scale,” Basha said with a smile.
“Then when are you planning to spread the message?” Du Fan asked.
“Actually, this main magic array is right where your elves currently reside. Come on, let’s go,” Basha said.
Upon arriving at the elves’ temporary residence, Basha led the way. At a stone wall, he placed his hand on it.
The stone wall slowly opened to reveal a hole about fifty centimeters wide and long. Inside the hole was a magic array, with magical fluctuations emanating from it.
“Fellow tribesmen, I am Basha. A new conflict with the beast tribes over the Divine Ruins has begun. Twenty people are needed this time, with eight spots still available. Those who wish to participate should go to the broadcast station to register,” Basha shouted at the magic array inside the hole.
Almost simultaneously, Basha’s voice could be heard in every corner of Glass, repeating his words. It was repeated three times within six minutes. After the third repetition, Basha pressed the stone wall again, and the hole slowly closed back to its normal state.
“Second brother, it seems your message dissemination isn’t very effective, is it?” Du Fan estimated the time—about twenty minutes had passed. In those twenty minutes, not a single dwarf had come to register!
“You heard it yourself. Everyone in the city could hear me when I spread the message,” Basha said.
“Or maybe your dwarves value their lives too much. Hearing they have to go to the Divine Ruins, they’re too scared to go?” Du Fan said with a smile.

“Third brother, you can’t insult our dwarf race like this. Even if you’re my third brother, it doesn’t change anything. We dwarves are all brave warriors who face life and death without flinching! How could such a race be afraid of death? You must know that entering the Divine Ruins and fighting against magical beasts is a matter crucial to our dwarf race’s reputation!” said Basha.

On the road leading to the broadcast hall, several dwarves emerged from various paths, and one dwarf stood in the middle of the road. This dwarf was none other than Basha’s cousin, Karu.

The other dwarves also gathered around Karu. Once everyone was there, Karu asked, “Is everything taken care of?”

“Everything’s done. Those dwarves who wanted to join the battle have been stopped by us,” they replied in unison.

“That’s good. Let’s go register now.” Hearing that those who wanted to join the Divine Ruins had been stopped, Karu decided to register right away.

While Du Fan and Moses were bored and Basha felt a bit embarrassed, Karu arrived with a group of dwarves.

“Cousin Basha, I heard you’re gathering our people to go to the Divine Ruins. Look, I’ve already brought so many skilled members of our clan for you. It took some time to gather them, so we arrived a bit late. I hope you won’t mind,” said Karu.

“Cousin Karu, what are you saying? I’m already very happy that you could come! Third brother Du Fan, see? So many of our people have come at once. Our clan’s ability to spread news is really useful, right?” said Basha happily.

Seeing Karu arrive, Basha felt relieved. He had been boasting about Grass City’s ability to spread news and the honor of the dwarf race, but after all that talking, not a single dwarf had shown up in half an hour, which left him frustrated.

Karu’s arrival inadvertently resolved Basha’s embarrassment. Naturally, Basha was glad to see him.

Du Fan smiled at Basha but said nothing. Karu suddenly appeared with a large group of dwarves—this situation was far too strange.

“Basha, should we wait a bit longer? After all, only one group has arrived so far,” Moses said, seemingly sensing something as well.

“Cousin Basha, the ones I’ve brought this time are all top fighters from our dwarf race, all at level eight or above. Including me, there are two of us at the Saint level. With such strength, you don’t need to worry, right?” Karu said loudly.
“Second brother, just let your cousin lead them,” Du Fan said with a smile.
Just two Saint-levelers? What’s there to fear? Du Fan thought to himself with a slight smile. Two Saint-levelers—on our side, isn’t that person also at the Saint level? With such a huge difference in strength, what could Karu possibly do?
The list of those entering the Divine Ruins was thus finalized: Du Fan, Nai Xiu, Moses, Basha, Hong, Huang, Lan, Lü Zi, three Saint-level mages, and eight elite dwarves including Karu.
For the dwarf race, entering the Divine Ruins was always a grand event. Every time such an occasion arose, on the night before setting off, those about to enter were regarded as heroes of the dwarf race!
Although Du Fan and the others were going as Basha’s friends, for the dwarf race, anyone who dared enter the Divine Ruins was a great hero!
According to statistics, the death rate among those entering the Divine Ruins was as high as 83%!
Facing such a high death rate, those who still dared to go in—what else could they be but heroes?
Generally, those from the dwarf race or magical beasts who entered the Divine Ruins died mostly in battles. The actual death rate inside the ruins was even higher!
That night, those around Basha were mostly elves or humans. Compared to Karu, the dwarf race dedicated a more grand farewell ceremony to him!
That night, it seemed like all attention had shifted to Karu.
After a night of celebration, the group of twenty set off. The two thousand people brought by Du Fan had to be transported in batches to the vicinity of the Divine Ruins.
The teleportation array here could only transport 100 people per day.
On the other side of the teleportation array, when Du Fan saw the scene before him, he was stunned. In the distance stood a prominent mountain, clearly distinct from the surrounding Dusk Mountains.
The Dusk Mountains were mostly desolate and yellowish, but this mountain was lush, covered in a thin layer of mist. Looking at it, rays of glow could be seen shining from within from time to time!

Obviously, in these Twilight Mountains, even a fool would know that there must be something special in that area. What surprised Du Fan even more was that there were magical beasts wandering everywhere at the foot of those peaks. Judging from their levels, there wasn’t a single low or mid-level beast below level six!
Seeing these magical beasts seemingly everywhere, Du Fan’s first thought was, Could it be that I’ve arrived in a world of magical beasts? Suddenly, a giant golden eagle flew in from the sky at incredible speed!
The golden eagle landed in front of Bashah and his group. Du Fan estimated its height—it was even as tall as the chest of that giant eagle! The towering eagle stood two and a half meters tall on the ground!
After landing, the eagle let out a loud cry proudly toward the sky. It flapped its huge wings a few times before standing firmly.
Then, a man with a metal mask covering his face climbed down from the eagle. As soon as he stepped down, Bashah quickly called out respectfully, “Uncle Tek, how did you come?”
“Bashah, you’ve grown so tall already! Not bad, not bad. But didn’t your father tell you that the Divine Ruins are extremely dangerous?” The man, whom Bashah called Uncle Tek, spoke in a slightly reprimanding tone as soon as he saw Bashah.
“Uncle Tek, my father approved my entry to the Divine Ruins this time and even allowed me to bring a group of friends to explore,” Bashah said with a smile.
“Your friends are really good. It seems we magical beasts have no chance of winning in the battles inside the Divine Ruins this time.” Tek carefully examined Du Fan and the others before finally saying those words.
At first, seeing Bashah getting along so well with this man, Du Fan thought he might belong to the dwarf faction. But turns out, this man was on the side of the magical beasts.
Sensing the faint yet unique aura around this man, Du Fan couldn’t determine his true cultivation level. Suddenly, he felt a shock—Could this man be the legendary leader of the magical beasts?
“Elder brother, third brother, this is Uncle Tek. Uncle Tek is the second leader of the magical beasts,” Bashah quickly introduced Tek to Moses and Du Fan.
Second leader, leader of the magical beasts—so there’s more than one? Du Fan thought after hearing Bashah’s introduction. If that’s the case, then this leader probably hasn’t reached the legendary level.

“Uncle Tek, this is my eldest brother, the son of Saito, the leader of the Ancient Tree Elves. This is my third brother, Du Fan, the Duke of the Gavin Empire,” Basha introduced Moses and Du Fan to Tek as well. “And this is Nai Xiu, the wife of my third brother from the Elf tribe,” Basha added, not forgetting to introduce Nai Xiu. “Moses, is your father Saito doing well?” Tek asked Moses. “My father is fine, thank you for asking, Lord Tek,” Moses replied promptly. “It’s been hundreds of years since we last met; that guy’s magic skills must have improved a lot,” Tek remarked. “Our father has long been a master of his domain. Not long ago, when our Elf tribe was attacked, he was already able to control nine bolts of lightning,” Moses said. “That’s impressive. I remember that hundreds of years ago, Saito could only control six bolts of lightning. Now he can control nine—his skills have improved greatly! You see, the more advanced this magic becomes, the harder it is to add another bolt of lightning, far more so than before.” Tek spoke subtly, as if he was very familiar with Saito’s magic. “Du Fan, your soul is quite strange,” Tek suddenly said to Du Fan. Du Fan was shocked—could this second-in-command of the magical beasts tell that he had a soul from another world? “It’s really strange, Du Fan. Why are there so few world imprints in your soul? It feels almost the same as my eldest brother’s,” Tek said slowly.