Those who are destined to be enemies will surely perish or lose their destiny!

"Greedy fellow, speak. What is it that you want?"

Mapha spoke indifferently.

A flash of cunning crossed Chen Ming's eyes as he immediately spoke, "Great Lord Mapha, leader of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm, as the master of construction among the Seventy-Two Pillars, you once helped the Lord of the Demon Realm build the world's greatest palace—the Demon God Hall."

"As your most devout Believer, I hope you can grant me a blueprint for constructing a main city."

This was the reward Chen Ming had planned for a long time.

As one of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm, Mapha was the possessor of the strongest Construction Techniques.

The Demon God Hall he helped the Lord of the Demon Realm build was known as the most fortified palace in the history of Eternal, capable of even defending against attacks from a Main God.

While building a main city didn't necessarily require a [Construction Blueprint]...

Certain powerful [Construction Blueprints] could provide various strong buffs to the main city.

However, items like [Construction Blueprints] were inherently very rare.

Generally speaking, only Construction Technique Masters had the ability to produce them.

And as everyone knew, the Construction Technique Master profession was far too niche.

Moreover, the blueprints designed by ordinary Construction Technique Masters provided very limited bonuses.

"Very well, human. I shall grant your request. In return, you must help me break the seal and set me free."

Mapha spoke indifferently, then pointed a finger, sending a bolt of energy into Chen Ming.

The next moment, a notification popped up before Chen Ming's eyes.

[Demon God Contract.]

[Contract Content: Mapha of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm shall bestow upon his Believer a main city Construction Blueprint. In return, the Believer must help him break the seal.]

[Violation Penalty 1: Maximum HP/MP permanently reduced by 90%.]

[Violation Penalty 2: All attributes reduced by 50%.]

[Violation Penalty 3: Luck attribute reduced by 1000 points.]

[Contractor 1: Mapha - Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm.]

[Contractor 2: (Vacant).]

"Human, sign this contract, and I will give you what you want," Mapha said calmly.

Chen Ming gave it a quick glance and signed decisively.

Immediately after, the contract was formed.

"Respected Lord Mapha, the contract is signed. The item I want..."

Chen Ming rubbed his hands together, putting on a show of being impatient.

"Here."

Mapha didn't waste words and flicked a ball of light directly in front of Chen Ming.

Chen Ming reached out and touched the light sphere.

[Ding! You have obtained a special item—Heavenly Demon City Construction Blueprint (God-grade).]

[Heavenly Demon City Construction Blueprint]

[Quality: God-grade.]

[Effect 1: When used on a main city, provides a super-large magic array—Heavenly Demon Array, capable of resisting attacks from God-grade experts.]

[Effect 2: Increases the main city's physical/magic defense by 50%.]

[Effect 3: Main city population capacity +300%.]

[Effect 4: All players located in the main city gain 1000 experience points every 24 hours.]

[Effect 5: Main city prestige +100 points, with a chance to attract powerful experts to join.]

[Effect 6: All main city guards will receive the [Heavenly Demon] suffix bonus while in the city.]

Heavenly Demon: All attributes +25%, each attack deals an additional 1500 points of true damage.

[Effect 7: All players holding office in the main city will receive extra attribute bonuses.]

[Description: A masterpiece of Mapha, one of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm. It contains incredible power and can be used to construct the strongest form of a main city.]

...

Holy cow!

As expected of a God-grade item.

Chen Ming's eyes couldn't help but light up.

The effects of this [Heavenly Demon City Construction Blueprint] could be called the best of the best.

The various added attribute bonuses could provide powerful enhancements to the main city.

"A God-grade blueprint, after being enhanced by my Forbidden Talent and Enchantment, will be Overlord-tier at the very least."

"Coupled with the [Eternal Stone]..."

"In the future, I might be able to build a divine city that stands above the entirety of Eternal."

As he muttered under his breath, the smile on Chen Ming's face was almost impossible to suppress.

Quickly putting the blueprint into his backpack, Chen Ming turned to leave.

Seeing this, Mapha inside the light screen suddenly felt a bad premonition and hurriedly said, "Human, I have given you what you wanted. According to the contract, you should help me break the seal now."

Now that he had what he wanted, Chen Ming didn't even bother to pretend anymore. He turned his head and sneered, "I'm sorry, but I refuse."

The moment those words were spoken, Mapha realized he had been tricked. He spoke in a rage, "Human, you dare to deceive a great member of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm? You will surely pay the price!"

"You have violated the contract; you will certainly be punished..."

However, before Mapha could finish, Chen Ming gave a cold laugh. "Contract? You've been locked up so long you've gone stupid, haven't you? I'm not your Believer. That so-called contract has no binding power over me whatsoever."

The one who signed the contract with you was your Believer.

I don't worship you, so what does it have to do with me?

Chen Ming turned and walked away without hesitation.

"Damn it! Despicable, insidious, cunning human, just like a Goblin!"

Seeing this, Mapha was nearly exploding with rage, letting out constant roars of fury.

Chen Ming's figure, however, slowly disappeared from the cave.

It took a full half-hour for Mapha to calm down, and the dark cave gradually returned to silence.

Behind the light screen, Mapha's chest heaved. "Despicable human..."

He gritted his teeth, anger burning in his chest. He wished he could skin Chen Ming alive right now.

But after a moment, Mapha suddenly calmed down and realized something was wrong.

"How could I be deceived by a weak human?"

Mapha pondered to himself.

One had to remember that as one of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm, he had lived through countless ages.

What kind of storms had he not weathered?

Logically, he shouldn't have been fooled by such a weak human.

Furthermore, as a member of the Seventy-Two Pillars of the Demon Realm, his core abilities—besides construction—were mind-reading and deception.

In the past, it was always he who toyed with and deceived others.

But now...

The more Mapha thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

He carefully recalled the conversation with Chen Ming in his mind.

He realized there were simply too many loopholes.

Moreover, the contract he signed with Chen Ming was far too crude.

This wasn't his style of doing things at all.

Even when facing Chen Ming, he hadn't fully displayed his best mind-reading and deception abilities; he had subconsciously ignored them.

"This feeling..."

"Is extremely wrong!"

Just as Mapha thought of this, a flash of insight hit him, and he subconsciously looked at his own attribute panel.

There, he saw a dark cloud icon that had appeared at some unknown time.

[Luck attribute is -369 points.]

[Notification: You are under the influence of a Misfortune Buff.]

[Misfortune Buff]

[Duration: Random.]

[Effect 1: You will become dull, and your thinking ability will decrease by 1000%.]

[Effect 2: You are destined to lose some precious items.]

[Effect 3: All things will develop in a direction unfavorable to you.]

[Effect 4: All your wishes will end in failure, and what you seek will be unattainable.]

[Description: The Goddess of Luck detests you. Those who oppose destiny shall either perish by it or be forsaken by it!]

...