Yessar, Du Chen, God!

After a busy night that stretched past midnight, Du Chen finally returned to his Dormitory Number Eighteen. Looking out from his own door, Annie's room was completely dark, yet the attic window remained ajar. He could well imagine that after eavesdropping on his conversation, Annie hadn't returned directly to her dorm but likely sought out Betty instead. As for how Betty, currently rampaging through the casinos, would react to this, or whether the Batuk Family would feel their prestige had been slighted... who knew? And even if they did, what of it?

Flaying was right; hesitation should not be a word in his vocabulary. Once a deed was done, worry and regret served no purpose. It was better to face the consequences head-on, with a smile.

Yet, Flaying truly was peculiar to the extreme. Even Deboning, who had worked alongside him for decades, claimed he had changed! But the `Battle God Secret Technique` and `sacred artifact`—two marks that could not possibly be counterfeited—still proved beyond doubt that he was the genuine Flaying. So, what exactly had transpired with Flaying during the more than a decade since Phil's graduation, marriage, and subsequent passing, to cause such a profound transformation in him?

Lost in thought, Du Chen pushed open the door to his dorm. Just then, a voice, a mix of surprise and delight, called from behind him, "Senior Brother, you're finally back!"

Cassian, the young rascal, came jogging over to Du Chen, beaming, and spoke as if presenting a treasure: "This Junior Brother of yours has done good deeds all day! This morning, I helped the dockworkers..." He prattled on endlessly, then finally, with a sheepish grin, revealed his true nature: "Could you... hehe, advance me some of the antidote, give me a bit more, so your little brother can go find a couple of women to, ah, satisfy his cravings..."

*Whack!* Du Chen slapped him on the back of the head, his face darkening. "Don't even dream about it. You won't touch a woman until I'm satisfied! Unless you want to lose your manhood! I, your Senior Brother... in short, it's for your own good!"

Instantly, Cassian's demeanor swiftly changed. He stomped his feet and cursed, "You damn bastard! You have so many women yourself! Today, two top-tier beauties were squabbling over you! But, but you eat all the meat yourself, not even giving your old man a drop of soup..."

Du Chen suddenly reached into his sleeve, rummaged around, and pulled out a rod. He brandished it before Cassian's eyes. "Little Junior Brother, what do you see here?"

Cassian stared, bewildered. The object was two feet long, as thick as a thumb, and dark red all over... The scoundrel, whose mind was perpetually filled with impure thoughts, chuckled, "Senior Brother, is this some new invention for the ladies at the Pavilion of Whispers...? It's certainly long enough, just a bit too thin!"

Du Chen nodded as if enlightened. "A bit too thin, you say?" With a casual flick of his wrist, the dark red rod thickened by several circles.

Cassian's eyes went wide. "This... that's thick enough! Too thick! People won't be able to handle it!"

"Thick enough, is it?" Du Chen smiled faintly. Just as Cassian felt something was amiss, *whoosh*, Du Chen swung the rod, striking the back of the young man's head and knocking him unconscious!

Du Chen weighed the rod in his hand—'Old Eight', whose functions were currently unknown. He shrugged. "My apologies. Your Senior Brother needs to hold a `Secret Convocation` with his family, and it wouldn't do to leave you outside alone in the middle of the night. So, I had no choice but to knock you out!" He casually tossed Cassian into his sleeve.

Turning around, Flaying was smiling at him from the second-floor balcony of the attic, while Deboning stood beside him, a few fresh bruises adorning his face.

Deboning's helpless expression momentarily startled Du Chen, who quickly understood. Flaying had already explained, "I hadn't noticed until just now, but Brook has followed you for over a year, and his strength has improved astonishingly! Haha, he was able to withstand over a hundred moves from me and didn't even fall behind!"

Du Chen ascended to the attic, woke a sleeping Beibei and Harry, gathered them all in his bedroom, and then chuckled, "Did you figure out why Brook's `battle qi` has advanced so rapidly? He and I are still completely clueless!"

"If he himself doesn't know, how could I possibly figure it out?" Flaying pursed his lips and chuckled. "Are those two girls dealt with? Then let's hear about my matter first!"

"Mmm, what matter do you have to..." Before Du Chen could finish, he found Flaying had abruptly vanished from before him.

Appearing behind him, Flaying struck towards Du Chen's shoulder with a single palm. His sudden disappearance and the ferocity of his palm strike made it seem less like a sparring match and more like an attempt on Du Chen's life! In Du Chen's mind, Old Five's urgent cry even echoed: "Run! He wants your life!"

Du Chen was greatly alarmed. But sometimes, knowing something is one thing; being able to evade it is another. In haste, he could only throw out his combined `Lotus Azureveil Shield`. But what incredible force did Flaying possess? His palm strike remained undiminished, actually pushing the `Lotus Azureveil Shield` back, reflecting its own attack, and forcefully smashing the shield into Du Chen!

The shield, meant to protect Du Chen, whistled through the air as Flaying seized it and slammed it into the back of Du Chen's head!

"Flaying, what are you doing!?" Deboning exclaimed in shock, rushing to intercept. But at that moment, Flaying abruptly retracted his palm force, shook his head, and sighed. "Alright, my business here is done!"

Du Chen, utterly bewildered, froze for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Your 'business' was to test my strength!?"

Flaying sat before Du Chen, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Indeed, it was to test your strength. If you met the standard, I would have pointed you to a path. Unfortunately, I overestimated you!" He pursed his lips. "Here's a suggestion: merge the strange internal force within your body with your `battle qi`. That way, you'll reach my expectations much faster..."

Du Chen stared at Flaying with a slight hint of displeasure, then shrugged helplessly. "There's no dealing with you. Fine, we'll talk again when I meet your expectations. But right now, I have a small announcement to make..." His gaze swept across everyone present—the excited Harry, the little Beibei who, seeing her 'Papa' was fine, wanted to go back to sleep... finally resting on Flaying, he smiled faintly. "This small matter is—I'm going to reorganize the `Yessar Church`!"

After speaking, Du Chen quietly awaited Flaying's reaction. Among those present, only Flaying, the devout religious follower, was likely to object!

To his surprise, Flaying pretended not to hear, looking around blankly, then picked up little Beibei and started playing with the little girl. "Don't look at me. I've said it before: I only care about your life and death, nothing else! Big matters or small, I pay them no mind!"

Du Chen chuckled. "Very well, then the reorganization is settled. However, the first step in this little plan of mine is... to rename `Yessar God`!"

Deboning's eyes flashed with brilliance for a moment, then dimmed. Renaming the God worshipped by fanatics... this was a grave taboo. Yet, he could not defy Du Chen's decision, so Deboning looked towards Flaying—Flaying, also a fanatic of `Yessar God`, hoping he would stop his young master's nearly insane idea!

In fact, Du Chen felt a pang of sympathy. If, in his previous life, someone had suggested, 'Hey, buddy, how about we just rename Jesus for fun?' how would the `Papal Curia`'s fanatics have reacted? What would their response have been?

So Du Chen genuinely worried that this proposal would affect Flaying's attitude towards him!

But Flaying still seemed not to hear, continuing to play cheerfully with Beibei.

"You have no objection?" Du Chen watched Flaying curiously, thinking, 'Everyone says you've changed, but can a fanatic's spiritual belief also change? How can you be so indifferent to my proposal to change `Yessar God`'s name? This is too strange.'

Du Chen said in a peculiar tone, "Since no one objects, then from today onwards, `Yessar God` shall be renamed... `Du Chen`!" Deboning's eyes were dull and lifeless. Flaying was still happily playing with Beibei, but Harry was ecstatic—*Heavens, he had participated in his master's `Secret Convocation`! Praise everything, I, Shieb Harry, am now a trusted confidant highly valued by my master!*

Flaying's unexpectedly calm reaction emboldened Du Chen. He smiled. "The second step: I will rewrite all the doctrines and regulations of the church. The core purpose will be four words: `Guiding Towards Goodness`. Specifically..." Du Chen spoke voluminously, laying out his entire method.

*Clap, clap!* Flaying clapped his hands. He chuckled, "According to your idea, then what we'll do in the future can be summarized in three sentences: First, help those in need. Second, eliminate the utterly irredeemable scoundrels. Third, save those scoundrels who haven't yet gone completely rotten... Ultimately, it's about expanding our strength, then doing good deeds! Is that right?"

"Precisely!" Du Chen nodded.

"Then I have three questions," Flaying stated. "First, with just a few of us, is our strength sufficient? Second, are the church's resources adequate? Third, and most importantly, can the `Holy Church` tolerate the existence of a heretical sect? The `Yessar Church` of past eras, under the rule of successive `Grand Pontiffs`, was able to survive because it avoided worldly conflict, never spread its doctrines, and never competed with the `Holy Church` for believers! But your intention is to have the church widely recruit believers and vigorously preach its doctrines... the `Holy Church` will undoubtedly declare you a heretical evil cult and spare no effort to exterminate you!"

Flaying's voice was calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority!

'For such a monumental good deed, no matter how difficult, I will do it. In any case, I am determined to do good deeds!' Du Chen secretly resolved, then said gravely, "Your questions ultimately boil down to one word: strength. If we possess sufficient strength, what's to stop us from deposing the `Pontiff` ourselves and enlightening all beings!?"

Meeting the astonished gazes of everyone, as if they had never truly known him before, Du Chen smiled mysteriously. "I have already begun preparations to expand the church's strength. First and foremost, I will reorganize the `Four Saints`..."

Deboning, who had been subdued for quite some time, now interjected, "Young Master, `Tendon-Severing` and `Corpse Dissolution` defected to follow Philip. It won't be easy to find believers of comparable strength to form the complete `Dark Sacred Punishment` with me and Flaying!"

Du Chen waved his hand. "Who said they would form the `Saints` with you? Heh, that's precisely what I was about to say—the new church's positions—you will no longer serve as a `Saint`! My dear Mr. Brook, your position will be the... `Grand Pontiff` of the Du Chen Church!"

Deboning was utterly taken aback. "I'm to be the `Grand Pontiff`? What about you, Young Master?"

"Ha, haha, Francis, I have truly re-recognized you today!" Flaying burst into hearty laughter. "I'm very curious to know what could awaken the... ambition that I've always hoped to see in you!" He glanced back at Deboning, then said with a strange smile, "Still don't understand? Everything Francis just said has only one meaning—`God-Making`! You will be the `Grand Pontiff`, and he will become the supreme, a `True God` to be worshipped by billions across the `Three Continents`!"