Chapter 011: The Forbidden Land of the Dwarves

Hearing Nayixiu’s words, Du Fan and his companions also looked excited at the stunning scenery before them, feeling somewhat complacent.
“Third brother,” Bashaa said strangely, looking at Du Fan, “The energy inside the crystal core could be extracted so easily. I guess, aside from the power of your divine weapon, your strength must have increased even further.”
Hearing Bashaa’s words, Du Fan nodded and said, “Yes, second brother. Now, my Domain Power and Star Power are purer than before. One part of my Domain Power is equivalent to ten times that of an ordinary Domain expert, or even more.”
Bashaa was astonished. Compared to ordinary Domain experts, Du Fan now possessed a vastly greater amount of energy. If one part of Du Fan’s Domain Power surpassed ten ordinary experts, then his overall Domain Power must be on par with that of ten such experts. It seemed that Du Fan’s strength could easily rival even ten Domain experts combined, or even more.
“Du Fan, congratulations,” Lan Xiner said sadly as she walked over to him, speaking hesitantly, “Your strength must be… incredible now. Then I have no role left here.”
“You want to leave?” Du Fan was surprised by her words and was speechless.
Although they had only spent a few days together, it was clear to everyone that Lan Xiner truly cared for Du Fan—just like during the incident with the dwarf tribe’s stone tablet, she was even willing to die for him.
But even if everyone agreed, Du Fan probably couldn’t easily accept Lan Xiner right now. The situation on the continent wasn’t stable yet. Count Fischer and Count Wade not only possessed formidable strength but also the two elders of the Light Church—Qian and Xun—were not enemies Du Fan could easily defeat.
“Look!” Bashaa pointed in surprise at the slowly descending stone tablet and called out to those around him.
After the tablet descended, a flash of thunder appeared in the sky. Where the tablet once stood, a passage miraculously appeared. Yet even Bashaa didn’t know where this passage led.

“What should we do?” At this moment, Rob looked at the people in front of him and asked cautiously, “Should we go down? Or find another way? I have a feeling this passage is a bit dangerous.”
Hearing Rob’s words, Du Fan shook his head and said helplessly, “If we want to open that energy gate outside, we’ll need someone else to put the demon core inside. But it’s impossible for us to get out. Now, this is the only path left.”
“I’ll go down with you,” Nayixiu said urgently, gripping Du Fan’s hand tightly. “Du Fan, no matter how dangerous it is down there, as long as you’re with me, I’ll definitely go down with you.”
“Mm,” Du Fan nodded upon hearing Nayixiu’s words. He then looked at the others around him and asked, “What about you? What’s your decision? If I don’t go down, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Hehe,” Moses smiled casually and said to Du Fan, “If you’re going down, how can we not follow? Let’s all go down together.”
“Alright,” Rob chuckled lightly and leaped into the passage ahead of the others.
As soon as Rob entered the underground passage, Moses followed closely behind him, and Basha also didn’t hesitate and jumped in right away.
The situation there made Du Fan feel quite troubled.
On one side was the firmly determined Nayixiu—his wife—as an elf. He wasn’t even sure just how dangerous it was down there if he asked her to go with him.
On the other side was Lan Xiner, the princess of the Earth Tiger clan. If she jumped down with him and something went wrong, he might end up being hunted by Lan Bowen.
“Please, both of you?” Du Fan looked at the two of them helplessly, pretending to be extremely frustrated. “My two brothers and companions have already jumped down. If I don’t go, there’s nothing I can do. But I really don’t want to see either of you go down.”
“No!”
At that moment, Nayixiu and Lan Xiner said this in unison, then glared at each other before ignoring each other completely.
“Sigh,” Du Fan shook his head helplessly at the two women’s actions. After thinking for a while, he continued, “Misses, what would make you two refuse to go down? We’re about to enter the deepest part of the underground world, the territory of the dwarves. Who knows if they’ll be hostile to us?”

“I don’t care. I’m your wife, and I’m going down with you.” Hearing Du Fan’s words, Naixiu still insisted stubbornly.
Upon hearing Naixiu’s words, Lan Xin’er also spoke up defiantly, “Du Fan, you promised my father that you’d lead our Earth Tiger clan back to the surface. If we can’t see it with our own eyes, how can we trust you?”
“Alright,” Du Fan said, nearly going crazy after hearing the two women’s demands. “You two can go down, but don’t wander around. Follow my instructions at all times, understand?”
“Mm-hmm.” Seeing Du Fan agree, Naixiu and the others spoke cheerfully. But at that moment, Rob’s teasing voice came from the passage.
“Du Fan, what are you guys doing up there? Hurry down! If you don’t come down soon, it’ll get dark and we might run into wolves.”
At that time, Moses also screeched nearby, “Awoo!”
“Shut up,” Du Fan shouted helplessly toward the passage before looking at the two women beside him and reluctantly jumping down.
Immediately afterward, Lan Xin’er and Naixiu exchanged triumphant smiles as if their plan had succeeded, then jumped into the underground passage.
…
“Chieftain, they’ve entered,” said a very short dwarf, approaching another dwarf and speaking humbly, “From the way they look, it seems they’re targeting our dwarf clan. There’s also a guy who looks like a dwarf.”
“A dwarf?” The old dwarf glanced at the mirror in front of him, which showed Du Fan and the others entering the passage, the image frozen on Bashaa’s face. He said in surprise, “Indeed, this man is a dwarf. But how did they find our dwarf clan’s location? Could it be that the Creator has allowed us to return to the surface? Quick, form a line to welcome them.”
Hearing the old dwarf’s words, the other dwarf asked in confusion, “Chieftain, but the elders said not to trust humans. This dwarf must also be human, right?”
“Idiot,” the old dwarf snapped angrily, looking at the dwarf in front of him. “Elders, elders—what else do you know besides being an elder? Do I, the chieftain of this dwarf clan, not even have this little power? Do you want to be a test subject for our new magic armor?”
“Chieftain, I know I was wrong,” the dwarf said anxiously, kneeling on the ground and trembling as he looked at his chieftain.

“It’s good that you realize your mistake.” At this moment, the dwarf chief said with a smile, “Those old guys are now busy thinking not about how to invent new things, but rather how to push me out of my position. Well, very good. I think it’s time to teach them a lesson. Otherwise, how can I, as the dwarf chief, gain the respect of everyone?”
“Yes, yes.” At this time, the little man helplessly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said to the chief in a somewhat panicked tone, “Chief, what worries me most is that if we go out to welcome these friends from the surface, those elders might stop us. What should we do then?”
“Don’t worry.” The old man, as if his scheme had succeeded, looked at Du Fan and the others in the mirror and murmured softly, “It seems that the Creator has intended for our dwarf race to return to the surface. Haha, it seems the two dwarf races will finally be together this time.”
……
“What kind of place is this?” Robb looked at the smiling dwarves, each less than a meter tall, with frustration and muttered, “Is this really where the dwarf race lives? It’s way too small.”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Du Fan said sternly, stopping Robb. Then he looked at Bashaa beside him and asked curiously, “Second brother, we’ve arrived at the dwarf race’s territory now. Why don’t we see anyone coming to greet us? Could it be that the dwarf race has been wiped out?”
“No,” Bashaa replied, also puzzled, shaking his head. “The Creator once said that if the dwarf race were wiped out, it would be very difficult for us dwarves to survive on this continent. After all, the dwarf race and the dwarf race are closely connected in many ways.”
“Let’s hope so.” Du Fan shook his head helplessly. Suddenly, the ground shook violently several times, and then a sea of dark heads rushed toward Du Fan and the others from not far away.
One after another, the little dwarves rushed toward Du Fan, each holding a tiny magic robe. When they reached Du Fan, all the dwarves arranged themselves in formation and inserted magic cores into the magic cannons.
“Mom!” Robb screamed, looking at Du Fan beside him. “Are these dwarves crazy? Do you think they’ll give each of us a cannon?”

“Possible.” Du Fan also felt cold sweat at this moment. He never expected that the Dwarves’ way of welcoming guests would be so extraordinary—likely leaving those welcomed either dead or severely injured.
“Come, let’s give a proper welcome to our friend, the mighty one from the human world!”
At that moment, three Dwarves were flying in the sky, holding gliding wings and circling continuously. Hearing these words, all the Dwarves instantly activated their magic robes.
Thousands of bursts of magical energy surged toward Du Fan and the others from above. One after another, energy projectiles resembling lights exploded as soon as they reached the sky, creating colorful fireworks that miraculously appeared above everyone’s heads.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” Lan Xiner and Nai Xiuxiu suddenly began to marvel at the fireworks in the sky.
“I was terrified,” Rob said, slapping his chest hard before whispering to Du Fan beside him, “Look, those magic cannons in the Dwarves’ hands—aren’t they just pretending to be something good while actually being something else?”
“Hehe, it’s just our way of welcoming friends,” said an elderly man at that moment, along with several other very old people, as they slowly walked toward Du Fan and the others.