Chapter 002: Da Hei

“Du Fan.” Before Du Fan could say anything, Nai Xiu began to speak softly again. “I know you’re also a big figure among the human race. I also know that a man as outstanding as you must have many girls who like him. So no matter how many wives you have in the future, as long as you have me in your heart, that’s enough for me.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t be many,” Du Fan said with joy upon hearing Nai Xiu’s words.
“You… it seems so,” Nai Xiu sighed.
Before she could finish her sigh, a voice called out loudly from outside, “Du Fan, where are you? I’m here to find you.”
It was clearly the Great Leader of the Magical Beasts who had arrived. Hearing the Great Leader’s voice, Du Fan felt something stir in his heart. He quickly bent down to kiss Nai Xiu and said softly, “My darling, don’t worry. No matter what happens, I will love you for a lifetime.”
Upon hearing Du Fan’s words, Nai Xiu’s face turned red all at once.
“But, my little darling, I have to go see the Great Leader now. After we finish this, we can go back to human society together. Then we’ll hold a grand wedding. After all, you’re my first wife!” Du Fan said with a smile. He gently laid the still-red-faced Nai Xiu on the bed and then left.
Watching Du Fan walk away slowly, Nai Xiu murmured softly, “As long as she’s your wife, it’s enough for me. Du Fan, my dear husband.”
But by then, Du Fan had already left and couldn’t hear her soft words.
When he stepped outside, he saw the Great Leader walking toward him with a smile. Du Fan went to meet him. This Great Leader of the Magical Beasts was as famous as the Dwarf King. If not for the loose rule among the Magical Beasts, their strength would definitely be greater than that of the Dwarves.
The Great Leader’s purple complexion gave off a sense of mystery and nobility.
“Great Leader, it’s really unnecessary for you to come in person,” Du Fan said with a smile as he met him.
“Haha, Du Fan, don’t say that. Anyway, let’s get down to business right away. Phile is waiting for us,” the Great Leader laughed heartily.
“Is it related to Prince Phile too?” Du Fan asked in confusion.
“Yes, to be precise, it’s related to the three of us,” the Great Leader replied.

Soon, the two arrived at Phile’s house.
“Du Fan, back then, I entered the Divine Ruins with Phile. There were eight of us in total, and six died. Only Phile and I remained,” said the Grand Commander after settling down and starting to talk.
“We reached the river and were about to cross it when someone stopped us. To be precise, it wasn’t a person but a god. That god appeared and prevented us from crossing. As you know, Du Fan, once we reach the river, crossing it is generally not a difficult task,” the Grand Commander said to Du Fan.
Hearing this, Du Fan nodded. Indeed, for experts who could reach that river, crossing it was not hard at all.
“That god directly told us that the place ahead was not meant for us, and that Phile and I weren’t the ones they were waiting for,” the Grand Commander said with a smile.
“From what that god said, it seems he was waiting for a soul from another world,” Phile added.
“That’s why, Du Fan, as soon as I noticed something unusual about your soul, I knew you were the one they were waiting for in the Divine Ruins. Otherwise, do you think you would have been allowed to enter so easily?” Phile said with a smile.
“That’s right. If not for your arrival, no other outsider could have entered the Divine Ruins,” the Grand Commander said with a smile as well.
“What secret do I actually hide? That I’m a soul from another world?” Du Fan pretended to be clueless.
Of course, Du Fan couldn’t reveal that he had indeed come from another world, carrying the memories and knowledge from that world.
“We don’t know either. We only know that your soul is different from that of any native of this continent,” Phile said.
“It’s strange. Is it because my soul only bears the mark of this world?” Du Fan asked.
“You know about this too?” the Grand Commander asked in surprise.
“Yes. It was your second-in-command who told me,” Du Fan said with a smile.
“That guy always spreads around whatever I tell him without reason,” the Grand Commander said with a faint smile after hearing that Du Fan knew about the world’s mark.

“By the way, what happened after that god stopped you?” Du Fan asked.
“After that god stopped us, he gave each of us a divine essence, and then assigned us a task before sending us away,” said the Grand Commander with a smile.
“Assigned you a task? What was it?” Du Fan quickly asked.
“The task was to take you to a certain place once you appeared. Before your arrival, we had to protect that place and prevent anyone else from destroying it,” the Grand Commander explained.
“Wait for me to appear??” Du Fan asked in confusion again.
“Haha, in that god’s exact words, it wasn’t ‘wait for Du Fan to appear,’ but rather ‘wait for a soul from another world to appear,’” the Grand Commander laughed loudly.
Hearing this, Du Fan felt a little more at ease.
“Since it’s clear now, Du Fan, let’s set off for that place,” Phile said suddenly.
“Are we going just the three of us?” Du Fan asked.
“Of course. Only the three of us can enter. Come on, Du Fan,” the Grand Commander replied.
After the three left, the Grand Commander and the Dwarf King wrapped Du Fan in divine power and flew swiftly in one direction.
“Grand Commander, where exactly is that place?” Du Fan asked after flying for nearly forty minutes.
“That place is deep within our realm of magical beasts, right where I live!” the Grand Commander replied.
Thinking there was still some time, Du Fan looked down from the air. Flying at such speed was indeed different—everything below seemed tiny. The scenes, greatly reduced in size, rushed past behind them.
Soon, the three stopped in front of a valley. Seeing it, Du Fan was shocked! All around the valley were large groups of magical beasts! The higher they went inside, the more powerful the beasts became!
Eventually, magical beasts at the sacred rank could be seen everywhere!
Just then, Tek suddenly appeared.
“Big brother, you’re back! Princess Phile, it’s been a long time! Hehe, Du Fan, here we meet again.” This second-in-command of the magical beasts greeted them one by one.
“Tek, I heard you helped Karu during his rebellion?” Phile asked.
“That’s right. He said if I helped him, he’d give me a divine essence,” Tek replied honestly.
“He still has divine essences?” Hearing this, the Grand Commander and the Dwarf King asked in unison.

“Yes, and not just one. If he hadn’t shown me those divine essences, how could I have agreed? Besides, I have my conditions—I absolutely will not lay a hand on Basha,” Tek said seriously.
Indeed, during the war, Tek really never attacked Basha.
“And if Basha is in danger, I will definitely step in to save him,” Tek added earnestly.
“Hmph. Even if what you say is true, I hope such a situation doesn’t happen again,” the Dwarf King said with a snort.
Tek’s words reflected his true thoughts, but who could tell whether they were true or not? After all, it was just his word.
Yet, the Dwarf King had no choice. Basha had already won the battle and was unharmed, so it would be unwise for him to take action.
Moreover, Tek was the sworn brother of the Grand Commander—how could the Dwarf King do anything to him?
Upon hearing the Dwarf King’s words, the Grand Commander became furious. Tek hadn’t mentioned helping Karu when he returned.
“Tek, what Phile said is true. You helped Karu during his rebellion?” the Grand Commander said grimly.
“Brother! I was possessed by madness! But I went there in my own capacity, without using any forces from the magical beasts,” Tek panicked at the Grand Commander’s outburst.
“Go and apologize to Basha right away!” the Grand Commander shouted.
“Yes, brother! I’ll be there right away.” With that, Tek whistled loudly, summoning his giant golden eagle. He mounted it and soared into the clouds, disappearing from sight.
“Let’s go in,” Tek said with a smile after seeing him vanish.
Along the way, Du Fan finally understood what it meant to have strict defenses, to be impregnable, or to have an unbreakable barrier.
Entering the Grand Commander’s residence, there were sentries every three steps and soldiers every five. Various animals roamed around. From the outside, they seemed ordinary, but under Du Fan’s powerful psychic detection as a mage, it was clear that these were all formidable magical beasts!

As he walked along, in various passages and corners, Du Fan sensed faint magical fluctuations. Clearly, ingenious and highly concealed magic arrays were placed in those unassuming spots. Right at the entrance to the Grand Commander’s room, a large black dog was dozing off lazily. Even when it saw the Grand Commander arrive, it merely opened its eyes lazily before going back to sleep. Yet, from this very dog, Du Fan sensed an energy that was no weaker than his own. As he passed by, Du Fan glanced at the dog with surprise. “Du Fan, surprised? Actually, Da Hei is already a domain-level magical beast. If it hadn’t followed me for thousands of years, it would never have been able to guard this place for me,” the Grand Commander said with a smile as he noticed Du Fan staring at Da Hei.