In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

What do I want from you?

Lu Mingze repeated the words slowly and deliberately, his hands clenching tightly in secret.

"Hmm...you can't take my life, and neither can Jing Shu and the attendant monk—and neither can you have them either—as well as the spirit of the pot and Louisiana, none of the five will do." It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, but now Lu Mingfei counted on his fingers and realized that he already had four people around him without realizing it.

Moreover, they weren't just any "four people," but four magical elves, four people who completely trusted him and were even willing to die for him. Lu Mingfei felt that even for their loyalty, he couldn't exchange them for his safety.

"Besides that... ah, besides that, I don't seem to have anything else." Lu Mingfei wanted to say something more about what he had, but upon further calculation, he realized he had nothing at all.

It's not that he had nothing at all; the gifts the magical spirits had given him in return were still there. But whether it was the beggar's version or the simplified version of the Philosopher's Stone, or the branches and leaves of the tree's children that he had cut down in battle, or the trinkets he had collected from modern society...

Lu Mingfei felt that the devil in front of him would definitely not be interested.

He might as well keep quiet to avoid making a fool of himself.

"And some amber, do you want some?" Lu Mingfei pulled out a handful of Philosopher's Stones that looked like amber from his pocket.

This is the Philosopher's Stone, created by the spirit of the pot when it traveled to another world, by refining the Imprint Worms. The Philosopher's Stone itself isn't particularly novel, but Lu Mingfei believed that the demon before him could definitely see what was hidden within it:

A brand new path to the extraordinary.

This was the only high-value item he could think of left.

"Brother, when did you develop a hobby of collecting things?" Lu Mingze took Lu Mingfei's hand in his, letting the Philosopher's Stone lie in his palm. "—However, this is not what I want."

"Then what do you want?" Lu Mingfei flipped his hand and put away the insect amber.

"What do I want..." Lu Mingze looked into Lu Mingfei's eyes and suddenly laughed, "Brother, let's make a trade."

"To exchange one's life for power, a quarter of one's life for unparalleled power—would you make the trade?"

"You want me to sacrifice my life for you?" Lu Mingfei stroked his chin. "Speaking of which, I've always wondered, what use do you demons and devils have for your lives?"

"Those righteous gods require faith, but what is the purpose of that faith?"

"Could you tell me about it? Maybe if I hear it, I'll think, 'Oh no, this won't kill me,' and then I'll switch places with you."

"...Brother, what did you experience in that universe?" Lu Mingze looked at Lu Mingfei with a strange expression. "This is my exclusive trade secret, I will never reveal it to anyone. Brother, you're asking about this kind of secret right off the bat..."

"Do you also want to become a demon?"

"I'm just curious. It's not recorded in the scriptures, and no other demon will tell me, so I can only ask you, right?" Lu Mingfei simply squatted down on the ground, looked up at Lu Mingze, and said, "Brother Demon, tell me about it?"

"If faith were useful, could I offer my faith instead of my life?"

"I'll burn you congratulatory messages and offer you incense every year, and I might even write your name in the ancestral tablet. Anyway, my father isn't here, and according to the rules, I'm the eldest son of the main branch, so I can decide what's written in the tablet..."

"Alright!" Lu Mingze couldn't stand Lu Mingfei's incessant chatter any longer, so he slapped his thigh to shut him up. "I'm not called a devil, I'm called Lu Mingze."

"As for exchanging lives... that's a long and complicated secret..."

Lu Mingze brought his head close to Lu Mingfei's ear, even though they were in a near-stagnant state of time, he still chose this method to convey information—but Lu Mingfei felt that he simply wanted to emphasize the weight of the word 'secret'—

"In the distant past, within the dragon race, there were four kings:"

"The master of fire and metal, the first alchemist, the king of bronze and fire;"

"The chief god of Norse mythology, who wields the power of storms and rain, and is the king of the sky and the wind."

"There are also the King of Earth and Mountains, and the King of Ocean and Water. Although these two did not leave behind any legends among humankind, they are still dragon kings comparable to the previous two."

As Lu Mingfei listened to his story, he suddenly asked, "So you want me to exchange a quarter of my life for these four? You don't mean you want me to kill them, do you?"

Lu Mingze nodded and looked at Lu Mingfei with expectant eyes.

"That's impossible." Lu Mingfei shook his head without hesitation. "Why would I risk my life to kill these four Dragon Kings for no reason? Just because they are powerful?"

"Stop joking. They're powerful, but I can still escape, right? Even if I can't now, once I reach a higher level, maybe even legendary status, traversing worlds isn't impossible..."

"If I can't beat them, I can just retreat. But if I can't swallow this insult and we really become enemies, I can fight a guerrilla war with them and come back to launch a surprise attack every now and then."

"Trust me, I'm really good at playing Terran, especially the cruiser, an economic unit. I can make a lot of mistakes with it."

Lu Mingze looked at him in surprise, his eyes filled with astonishment. "Brother...do you know what you're saying?"

"I know, it's just..." Looking at Lu Mingze, who seemed about to cry, Lu Mingfei suddenly realized that he couldn't repeat what he had just said.

"Why are you running away? This is our home, this is our throne. Those rebellious ministers can simply be killed—why are you running away?"

Lu Mingze spoke almost in a murmur, reaching out to grab Lu Mingfei's face—or more accurately, shoving his own hand into Lu Mingfei's mouth.

He didn't just stuff it into his mouth; he also grabbed Lu Mingfei's chin, trying to help him chew the hand up.

"Pah, no, what are you doing?"

Releasing the clean, white child's hand from his mouth, Lu Mingfei twisted his body, breaking free from Lu Mingze's control. "Alright, alright, we won't run away. We won't run away. We'll fight those four dragon kings to the death on Earth, okay...?"

At this point, Lu Mingfei dared not utter any more nonsense to provoke Lu Mingze's mentality.

Just a few words about escapism were enough to provoke this devil into wanting to devour him alive. If he were really pushed to the limit...

Lu Mingfei thought that he might just cut open Lu Mingfei's stomach and crawl inside.

—Especially when Lu Mingfei thought that he had gained 'immortality,' even if he did this, he might not necessarily die…