Chapter 010: The Stele of the Dwarf Race

Watching this scenery, Du Fan and the others felt immense pleasure. Yet after a while, they were pulled back to reality. After all, Du Fan hadn’t explored this place deeply enough to be completely at ease. If they indulged in enjoyment here recklessly, trouble might soon find them.
“Sis,” Lan Xin’er asked Naixiu beside her, somewhat surprised, “Is this place the same as the human world? Is the human world really this beautiful?”
“Mm,” Naixiu nodded at Lan Xin’er and then looked in Du Fan’s direction. “The scenery here is just like one season in the human world. In winter, it even snows in the north.”
No sooner had Naixiu finished speaking than heavy snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Seeing this strange sight, they covered their mouths in astonishment.
“Trouble,” Bashaa said cautiously as Du Fan and the others gathered together. “Remember, in this place, never harbor any illusions. Any illusion you voice will become reality here. But creating such an environment requires a great deal of energy. Let’s exit first and figure out a solution later.”
Hearing Bashaa’s words, everyone nodded readily. Just as they turned around, the previously open Gate of Hell silently closed behind them.
“What’s going on?” Rob smashed against the gate several times, but it didn’t budge at all. He then said despondently, “It’s over. The gate is closed too.”
“What do we do?” Moses complained anxiously. “It’s still snowing. Who knows what kind of monster this snow might turn into? We’re in trouble.”
Hearing Moses’s words, Du Fan quickly covered his mouth, but it was too late. Three enormous snow beasts were already eyeing Du Fan and the others menacingly.
“Third brother,” Bashaa pulled Du Fan aside and said helplessly, “It’s best not to speak now. Although these snow beasts have appeared, they won’t harm us in the short term. So we should hurry up and find a way to deal with them.”
“Mm.”

After discussing tactics, Du Fan and Basha assigned tasks to the strongest fighters around them: “Moses, Rob, you two are the most combat-effective among us right now. If the snow beasts attack, hold them off while we go find the switch for this illusion.”
“No problem,” Moses and Rob replied simultaneously, nodding at the others before turning to face the stationary snow beasts.
At that moment, Du Fan and the others also dodged in the direction away from the snow beasts and rushed forward desperately.
“Boom!” A violent explosion came from the direction of the snow beasts, and they suddenly moved.
“Hey!” Rob shouted, leaping into the air and kicking in their direction.
Perhaps sensing Rob’s move, the snow beasts weren’t panicked at all. With a simple wave of their arms, they easily blocked Rob’s attack and then punched him hard, sending him crashing to the ground.
Seeing this, the people who had stopped moved to express their surprise.
Rob was currently at the lower god level, but his true form was a magical beast. Even a normal kick carried such immense power that no one could easily counter it. Yet these snow beasts managed to do so. It was then that Du Fan and the others truly realized the terror of these two snow beasts, strengthening their resolve to find the switch.
“I’ll take it,” Moses said, stepping in front of Rob. Holding his great sword, he looked down on the two snow beasts with disdain and charged at them.
“Bang!” One of the snow beasts punched Moses, but his great sword blocked it. Just as Moses managed to block the punch, the beast quickly swung its fist again and repeatedly struck Moses’ sword!
After several exchanges, Moses was nearly thrown away by the snow beasts several times.
However, through their battles, both Moses and the snow beasts gained insights. These beasts weren’t as formidable as everyone had thought. Rob had been knocked down so quickly because he had been careless, giving the snow beasts an opening.
Meanwhile, Du Fan and the others in another direction witnessed a truly astonishing scene.
…
Before Du Fan and the others stood a towering stone monument. Its length was over fifty meters, and its width was at least ten meters.
What was inscribed on the monument wasn’t anything else—just as Basha had predicted, it was created by the dwarf race.

“Our Dwarven clan, once prosperous, has now fallen into such a hellish place. The supreme god of the divine realm must be blind. As for our old friends, the dwarves, we don’t know where they are now; their situation probably isn’t any better…” This was the inscription at the end of the stone tablet. Seeing Du Fan and the others, they couldn’t help but feel shocked. If they were guessing correctly, this must have been carved secretly by some unknown leader of the Dwarven clan. Although the disappearance of the Dwarven clan happened a very long time ago, it was due to the War of the Gods. It seemed more likely that they were exiled to this place by the supreme god of the divine realm. If their assumptions were correct, then this valley was likely a territory planned and built by the Dwarves themselves. The energy gate at the front further confirmed that the Dwarves feared these supreme gods descending to the underground world to destroy their race. Recalling the use of the energy gate earlier, even Du Fan was surprised—such a man-made environment could be created merely using the magic cores of those who entered. It seemed what Lambowan had mentioned earlier referred to this very scene. After all, having whatever one wishes doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing. “Du Fan, look,” Lan Xin said strangely, pointing at the bottom line of text. “The method of creating the Hell Energy Gate cannot be revealed. But those who can read the inscription on the stone tablet must have some connection to our Dwarven clan. As long as they can withstand the energy emitted by the stone tablet, all the additional functions of the energy gate can be unlocked. Those without divine-level power should not try it. Remember, remember.” “Without divine-level power, one can’t unlock this energy gate?” Du Fan stared at the stone tablet in astonishment. Only now did he understand why Lambowan could escape the energy gate. His current strength was already that of a mid-tier god, and back then he must have been at least a lower-tier god, so it made sense he could escape. However, Du Fan and the others were in a very awkward situation. Robo and Moses were being pushed back step by step by two snow beasts, and among them, only Basha still had strength at the divine level. “Let me do it,” Basha said resolutely before Du Fan could speak. Stepping forward, he looked at the stone tablet and said, “Among us now, I’m the only one with divine-level skills. If even I can’t withstand it, then there’s no point even talking about it.”

After speaking, Bashah pressed his hands firmly on the tombstone. At the same time, an extremely powerful energy surged from the stone toward Bashah’s body in an instant. Feeling this endless flow of energy, even a god-like warrior like Bashah found it hard to bear. If this continued, his body would surely explode. Seeing Bashah’s situation, Du Fan became anxious and accidentally touched Bashah. The impact was severe—powerful energy rushed into Du Fan’s body as well. “What should we do?” Lan Xin’er watched Du Fan and Bashah, both gritting their teeth to endure the massive energy, and anxiously asked Nai Xiu beside her, “Sis, what should we do now? I don’t think they can hold on much longer.” “Mm,” Nai Xiu also grew anxious upon seeing the scene, but then her eyes lit up as she said, “Given the immense energy from the Energy Gate, it must be due to a magic core placed by Du Fan. Right now, Du Fan and Bashah are probably absorbing the energy from that core. But this energy is far too great. If they don’t have a proper outlet, they’ll definitely explode.” “That’s right!” Hearing Nai Xiu’s reminder, Lan Xin’er excitedly shouted at Du Fan, “Hurry up, Du Fan! Take out your divine artifact—it can help you absorb this energy.” Hearing Lan Xin’er’s words, the storage ring in Du Fan’s hand glowed, and Instant Star transformed into a sphere that appeared in his hand. As soon as the Star-Grabbing Sphere appeared, the Star Domain activated automatically. The entire sky within the Energy Gate turned black, with stars twinkling in golden light. In the next moment, Du Fan’s body acted like a conveyor belt—visible energy flowed through him and was sent into the sky. The stars, which weren’t very bright before, now emitted intense golden light, and more and more stars began to grow larger. “Cough, cough,” Du Fan felt lighter and coughed twice with difficulty before whispering, “Thank you, Xin’er, for reminding me. My domain is now absorbing the energy from these magic cores. If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to drain all of it in another hour. You two go help Rob and the others.”

“Mm.” Hearing Du Fan’s words and seeing that neither of them was smiling, the two women ran towards Rob’s direction with great relief.
“Bang!” Another heavy punch struck Rob hard. Rob, who had just been spared a hit, spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.
“How are you?” Moses helped Rob up worriedly. Moses wasn’t in much better condition either; his upper garment had been torn by the snow beast, but fortunately, his sword wasn’t damaged at all.
“I’m fine.” Rob wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood up, and looked at the two snow beasts ahead with helplessness. “The strength of these two monsters is far too formidable—they’re both at a divine level. Yet the two of us can only use a partial amount of our divine power.”
“You’re wrong,” Lan Xiner said, frowning slightly as she spoke to Rob. “The Domain Gate isn’t under the control of the divine realm anymore. If you want to use divine power here, I don’t think there’s any problem.”
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Rob glared at Lan Xiner angrily, then turned to look at the snow beasts not far away. His clenched fist emitted an immense amount of divine power at that moment.
But just as Rob was about to swing his fist, the two snow beasts suddenly disappeared in a strange way. There was no longer any heavy snow either; it was as if they had just entered, with sunlight filling the area.
“It worked!” Nai Xiu exclaimed excitedly, looking in Du Fan’s direction.