First, I'll Beat You Into Submission!

Besides, if I don't beat him into submission first, he won't even deign to listen to my 'explanation'!

"The reason for this duel is because you insulted me! Damn it!" Du Chen, moving like a phantom, effortlessly dodged the young man's furious assault. He continued calmly, "I never stole any Beast Emperor’s Seal! That is a relic of the Supreme Father God, and I, Francis, a Divine Scion, would never desecrate the Supreme Father God!"

The young man felt a surge of recognition and agreement at the reverence for Auerbach implied in Du Chen's words, but still lunged forward. "Hmph, many have seen your adopted daughter using the Beast Emperor’s Seal as a toy! For that alone, you deserve to die a thousand deaths! Francis, I'll repeat myself: once we seize you, the Saint Baton Clan will naturally find ways to extract the truth!"

Du Chen effortlessly evaded yet another strike, which utterly astonished the young man. How could a Four-Star Fighter consecutively dodge a Seven-Star Battle God's attacks, twice?! But even more vexing was the burning fury in his heart: his uncle was observing nearby. If he needed an inordinate number of moves just to subdue a mere Four-Star Fighter, wouldn't his siblings and peers within the clan laugh him to scorn?

This time, his uncle, tasked with retrieving the Beast Emperor’s Seal, had made him expend immense effort to defeat all his cousins, just to earn this chance for unparalleled glory!

At this thought, he increased the power in his hands — moments ago, out of sheer disdain, he had only employed Five-Star battle qi, but now, he unleashed Six-Star battle qi!

His speed abruptly doubled, and in the blink of an eye, the young man lunged directly before Du Chen!

To his disbelief, Du Chen remained unperturbed. He reached his right hand into his left sleeve, and with a flash of golden light, produced a lotus. The lotus expanded rapidly, eventually transforming into a resplendent lotus platform large enough to bear a single person. Du Chen stepped onto the platform, once again effortlessly evading the young man's assault.

The young man was utterly taken aback. How could such a massive lotus have been concealed within a sleeve?!

"A mere third-rate illusion!" the young man scoffed, his anger palpable. His figure accelerated further, and in the blink of an eye, he was once again before Du Chen. "Let's see what else you can conjure to withstand this move of mine!" His peculiar sacred artifact spun furiously, churning up layers of whistling wind blades that slashed towards Du Chen.

Still utilizing Six-Star battle qi, he reasoned that unleashing his full power against a Four-Star Fighter would be utterly humiliating, a disgrace to his entire clan!

Du Chen, too, seemed to be provoked by the young man's 'irrationality'. He reached his hand into the lotus once more, rummaging around, and another lotus flew out, parrying the young man's sacred artifact. "You are truly unreasonable! I've already stated, I absolutely did not steal the relic of the Supreme Father God! If you dare attack me again, I shall cease to be polite!"

"I don't care whether you did or not!" The young man was startled once more, taking a hasty step back. His peculiar sacred artifact, its hammerhead now facing backward and axe-head forward, glowed with a hazy gray light as it chopped down directly at Du Chen's head. "Let's see just how many more trinkets you can conjure!"

At this point, explanations were clearly futile, and certainly not the time for patient discourse.

Du Chen merely offered a cold smile. "You irrational scoundrel, I shall conjure something just for you to witness!" With that, he reached into his sleeve, then flicked his wrist...

Nothing appeared!

The young man was just about to mock Du Chen for his empty show of bravado when, with a sharp 'clink,' his sacred artifact seemed to strike an invisible barrier. Immediately after, the very lotus that had first parried his attack had already arced behind him, howling as it descended to strike!

"An invisible shield!? Damn it, you can't possibly be just a Four-Star Fighter!" The young man finally realized his grave error. But with the invisible barrier engaging him from the front and a lotus looming from behind, he had nowhere to dodge. He let out a furious roar, and his body swelled wildly by a full circumference. With a resounding 'boom,' he stubbornly held up against the descending lotus!

"Hmph, do you know why my ancestor was titled the Undying Death God?" He arrogantly brandished his sacred artifact. "Your sacred artifact is no match for me. If you possess the capability, produce an even mightier sacred artifact to shatter my 'Beast God's Undying Body'! You cursed thief!"

Having declared this, he abandoned close-quarters combat with Du Chen, retreating his body. The sacred artifact in his hand suddenly split into a hammer and an axe. The two sacred artifacts clashed, and amidst resounding 'thump-thump' sounds, hammer shadows and axe blades rained down like a tempest. The young man couldn't discern the defensive range of Du Chen's invisible shield, so he simply launched an indiscriminate, all-encompassing assault. Could that shield possibly defend against attacks from all four cardinal directions, and more?!

"Very well, as you wish! I shall produce another!" With that, Du Chen once more reached into his sleeve, and with two fingers, pinched out a small mirror, tossing it into the air.

The mirror instantly transformed into a barrier akin to a city wall. The moment the hammer shadows and axe blades impacted the mirror, they abruptly reversed direction, spinning around and surging back towards the young man himself.

"Hmph!" The young man refused to dodge, steeled himself, and forcibly bore the brunt of all his own attacks. Yet, after the barrage of hammer shadows and axe blades subsided, the young man stared in utter shock at Du Chen... and his sleeve! He had distinctly seen Du Chen reach his hand back into that sleeve immediately after producing the mirror. Could he have conjured yet another item from that peculiar sleeve?!

A muffled 'buzzing' sound echoed from behind his head. The young man fiercely gritted his teeth, feeling as if a small saw was tearing into the small of his back. Gradually, that small saw ripped through his skin and flesh, drawing blood!

"You dare make a descendant of the Saint Baton Clan bleed!? I swear I will kill you!" The young man was consumed by berserk rage, no longer holding back. His Seven-Star battle qi circulated at full power, and he was about to unleash his full might to slay Du Chen!

Du Chen, not to be outdone, fully activated 'Vanishing Snow', imbued with his Lotus Internal Force. The two powerful attacks inevitably collided, but the resulting force was... zero! Both powers had been completely nullified by another ancient force!

"Leihaite, enough!" A deep, muffled voice halted the young man. A burly Lionkin strongman emerged from the water curtain before Du Chen. His attire was identical to Leihaite's, but his anthropomorphic features were even more pronounced; his neck was almost devoid of a lion's mane, and his nose was as distinctly prominent as a human's.

He held no sacred artifact in his hand! Yet, with a mere gesture, he effortlessly nullified the full-power clash between Du Chen and the young man!

"Uncle Hawkins!" The young man was just about to speak when Du Chen cut him off.

"Esteemed Sir, what is the meaning of this?! You baselessly accuse me of stealing the Supreme Father God's relic, denying me even a chance to explain! And now you interrupt my duel! This is utterly outrageous!"

"Hmph, unreasonable?! For the Saint Baton Clan, our rules are absolute law! I do not believe any of your explanations; I only trust the results of our own clan's interrogations!" Hawkins raised a finger and pointed at Du Chen's sleeve. "Solely for the fact that you managed to make my nephew bleed, you will meekly come with me and cooperate with our thorough investigation into the whereabouts of the Beast Emperor’s Seal. Otherwise... Hmph! What, are you attempting to conjure yet another trinket?"

Seeing Du Chen reach his hand into his sleeve again, Hawkins offered a cold smile. "Unless you can conjure a Peak Nine-Star expert from that sleeve, then today, you will dutifully return to the Saint Baton Clan with me!"

"Alas, you desire a Peak Nine-Star expert? I shall simply conjure one for you!" Du Chen waved his hand, and a gaunt figure appeared before Hawkins: none other than Deboning, who had been biding his time!

Hawkins was momentarily stunned, while Leihaite stared, utterly dumbfounded.

Du Chen stated, "They are truly barbarous. Brook, subdue the elder one first! Do not harm him! The young man is mine to handle!"

A cold glint flashed in Deboning's eyes, and his figure already lunged towards the burly Hawkins.

Du Chen turned his gaze to Leihaite, stating coldly, "So, you refuse to listen to my explanation? In that case, I'll simply have to beat you into submission before I bother to explain!"

Leihaite violently shook his head, snapping out of his shock. He glared at Du Chen and roared, "You made me bleed, very well! I acknowledge you as a worthy opponent!" A quick glance revealed that his Nine-Star Uncle Hawkins was already completely suppressed by the suddenly appearing Peak Nine-Star expert; defeat seemed a matter of mere moments. His heart seized with urgency, and he bellowed, "Francis, how many more tricks can you conjure?! Prepare for my ultimate move!"

His ultimate move? Du Chen was secretly startled. Aside from his 'useless Fifth Brother', all his sacred artifacts had already made their appearance. Truly, he had exerted his utmost!

Leihaite was seen holding two sacred artifacts, one in each hand, his body suddenly began to rotate strangely. His burly figure inexplicably gave off an ethereal, illusory sensation. Clearly, he was charging power. Du Chen unleashed his three lotuses in a chaotic barrage, yet not a single lotus managed to strike that ethereal figure — for advanced techniques invariably possess Secret Techniques to protect their masters during the charging phase!

Leihaite had already deemed Du Chen a worthy adversary, and thus, he intended to accord his opponent due respect. While charging power and deftly evading Du Chen's attacks, he solemnly declared, adhering to the ancient tradition observed before a beastmen's life-and-death duel: "You stole the Beast Emperor’s Seal from the Auerbach Grand Canyon. Therefore, I shall employ a Secret Technique passed down by another of my ancestors, His Grace Auerbach, to defeat you! In bygone years, Ancestor Auerbach was trapped in the Great Plains... This very move is the technique he used to obliterate thirteen Titled Battle Gods of the Fiendkind, carving a path out of the Auerbach Grand Canyon! Using it to vanquish you, a common grave robber, shall be my tribute to my ancestor!"

Leihaite's power was fully charged. The surging, immense aura abruptly retracted back into his form, and not a trace of a threatening presence could be perceived around him!

The corner of Du Chen's mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh, but couldn't quite manage it, for he was reminded of a particular individual. What Leihaite had just declared was eerily similar to that person's words. Could the Secret Technique he was about to unleash be...

Leihaite moved. After leaping high, he crossed his legs in mid-air, then knelt to the ground, supporting his knees with his hands, and sharply bowed his head. His golden lion's mane flared upwards with the movement... My heavens, even the actions were precisely the same! Du Chen finally burst out laughing.

Indeed, it was the legendary ultimate divine technique—"Beast Emperor's Unyielding Wall!!"

...

"Fool! Stop laughing!" Almost simultaneously, the 'Fifth Brother' on Du Chen's body roared savagely! "Quickly converge the second trigram, or you're dead! You imbecile!"