The Three-Strike Pact, in the Name of the Moon

Deboning frowned slightly upon hearing this. Truth be told, he harbored a deep disdain for this lazy, gluttonous noble Snow Wolf, who squandered dozens of Gold Coins daily yet contributed not a single copper. And yet, this particular Snow Wolf was destined, one day, to possess battle prowess rivaling that of a god. A future powerhouse deserved at least basic respect!

Deboning said, conflicted, "You want moonlight? Fine, I'll tell you. Moonlight is formed when Earth-elemental energy absorbs and refracts fire-elemental brilliance. The Dragon God, currently wielding both Earth and fire-elemental energies, is creating moonlight. If you can manage to enter the range of his Secret Technique's moon-aligned influence, then you can have as much moonlight as you desire! But do you have that capability?"

Andy whimpered, dropping his head.

Du Chen, in his Battle Soul, chuckled, "Also, if you could completely devour that Golden Behemoth, you wouldn't need to beg others; you could just create moonlight yourself... But how much have you eaten so far? The day before yesterday, Beibei told me that over the past year or so, you've only managed to eat a few tufts of the Golden Behemoth's fur!"

"Woof!" Andy collapsed completely onto the ground, prostrating himself – he had one more tail than a human.

But one should absolutely not assume Andy prostrated himself out of shame. He merely thought: Since there's no moonlight, there's no food. Why bother standing? Better to lie down and conserve energy...

Yet, the Moon Goddess's favored pet was truly starving!

Forget it, Andy wasn't stupid; he could tell that in this situation, his master, Deboning, and Miss Beibei had no time to get him food... Sigh, I guess I'll use the method Miss Beibei taught me and go into the soul world to take a few bites of the Golden Behemoth. While it won't truly fill my physical stomach, a little spiritual satisfaction is pretty good, eh, heh heh!

Andy entered the world of souls.

The Golden Behemoth stood majestically in the ethereal space. The moment he saw Andy appear before him, he wasted no words, stepping forward and bringing his massive claw down towards Andy's head!

Andy likewise said nothing, leaping high to dodge the Golden Behemoth's colossal claw, then twisted his head to bite at its wrist... The two had been old rivals, battling for over a year. Everything that needed to be said, everything that needed to be cursed, had long since been spoken and cursed. At this moment, there was no need for further words; it was time to fight!!

Outside, the Andy visible to others was sleeping soundly, his faint snores even somewhat pleasant to the ear. But everyone's attention was fixed on the Dragon God and Du Chen, the Divine. No one could have imagined that a wolf and a Golden Behemoth were already locked in combat within the world of souls!

Near the arena, every member of the Dragon Clan secretly rejoiced. His Majesty's "Azure Moon Starlight" possessed earth-shattering power, but it had one flaw: it was a Secret Technique belonging to the Divine Empress, and to activate it with the Dragon God's Eleventh-Tier battle qi required an exceedingly long charging time!

Therefore, its efficiency in actual combat was extremely low. But today was different. Du Chen, the Divine, had actually set a three-strike pact, allowing His Majesty the Dragon God to unleash his full power without restraint, using ample time to charge... Hmph, Du Chen, the Divine, you are indeed strong, but today, the victor might not be you!

Thinking this, Thorog recalled His Majesty's words about the technique's power, and suddenly, atop the golden giant dragon's head, he raised his arm and bellowed, "My Clan, heed my command! All ascend one hundred meters! Pieres, lead the Dragon God's Royal Guard to deploy the Miglie Seal Water Array!"

Almost simultaneously, the Pontiff's calm voice echoed across Moon Lake, "Temple's Twelve Golden-Armored Battle Gods, heed my command! Position the Life Vines at the front of the formation! Black-armored Warriors retreat fifty paces! Heavy shields, guard!"

They were all concerned about one thing...

The Dragon God's technique was simply too powerful. The mysterious Moon Lake could no longer fully absorb and neutralize his explosively rampant battle qi! If even a shred of battle qi broke free from Moon Lake's containment, then... Pontiff-level experts might not fear it, but disaster would befall the ordinary soldiers!

Du Chen retreated while calling out in his Divine Sense, "Fifth Brother, how is it? Can you withstand this move from the Dragon God?"

Dus pondered for a long while before grumbling, "Earth conceives fire, fire contains earth; fierce flames evolve the Earth's profoundness, and the Earth's profoundness fuels the fire's momentum. Francis, that moonlight is actually silver flames of extremely high temperature! However..."

As Dus spoke, the Dragon God danced his scepter in the sky, the scepter spinning rapidly in his hands, as swift as a crimson full moon. Gradually, the crimson moon's color faded, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the silver moonlight in Moon Lake.

"Du Chen, the Divine, my third strike is an indiscriminate attack on the entire Moon Lake arena, you must be careful!"

The Dragon God roared, pressing down the "full moon" in his hand. Instantly, moonlight showered down, like a falling meteor moon, the silver-white moonlight engulfing the entire sky above Moon Lake!

Seeing the silver flames about to reach Dus's head, Du Chen urgently cried, "Fifth Brother, why aren't you using your shield to protect yourself?"

Unexpectedly, Fifth Brother snorted, "The brethren of the second trigram are all water-elemental. During the first strike, the Dragon God's flames weren't strong, so my water shield could not only defend against him but even rebound his attacks. But this strike... the flames are too intense!"

Du Chen was startled. Indeed, when the Dragon God's flames were merely 'fist-sized', the water-elemental power of the Water Veil Shield was naturally effective. But when the Dragon God invoked the Moon Secret Technique, conjuring these silver-white, high-temperature flames... water could extinguish fire, but if the fire was too fierce, it could also evaporate the water! Fifth Brother continued, "If I continue to use the second trigram, even if the Dragon God can't completely evaporate the brethren of the second trigram, he can suppress all the water on them—causing my deceptive golden mist to dissipate! In that case, everyone will know that I was actually flattened by the Dragon God, that I'm just a fake god with super recovery ability but no offensive power!"

Du Chen touched his nose, "Fifth Brother, the success or failure of this matter hinges on this strike. If you truly cannot withstand this move while maintaining your image, surrender immediately and leave the rest to me!"

"Surrender? Hmph! I, Dus, am only a year and a half old, I don't know what it feels like to be crushed to death! Just watch, I'll both maintain Du Chen, the Divine's image, and withstand the Dragon God!"

Their Divine Sense exchange completed in an instant. By then, the Dragon God's silver-white flames had arrived!

"Francis, Fifth Brother, let me ask you a riddle! What is the thing least afraid of fire?"

Du Chen was slightly taken aback, then burst into silent laughter...

Dus also chuckled. Just as the fierce flames bore down, several items suddenly flew out around him – a single lotus flower, a round rod, a wisp of cotton thread, and an invisible, mysterious small object!

These were all the Arcane Artifacts of the third trigram!

With the round rod as the base, the lotus flower was precisely embedded at one end of the rod, the cotton thread rested on the lotus root, and that invisible little something, which even Du Chen couldn't see... faintly shimmered with a spark of fire!

The third trigram's combination was complete!

A lamp stand, a lamp base, a wick, a flame... This was the third trigram – the Fire Lotus Lantern!

"The thing least afraid of fire, of course, is fire itself!"

After unleashing the Azure Moon Starlight, the Dragon God showed no trace of arrogance or contempt. He continued to spin his scepter, his sharp eyes fixed on Du Chen, the Divine!

Du Chen, the Divine's power was unfathomable and mysterious. Although the Azure Moon Starlight was mighty, the outcome against him remained unknown! Let's see how Du Chen, the Divine, who could neither dodge nor be injured, would cope!

The Dragon God observed Du Chen, the Divine's every move clearly. Just as the flames descended, Du Chen, the Divine, suddenly withdrew the blue shield around him and threw out several small items. Subsequently, these small items merged together, and instantly, a brilliant red light erupted, so bright that even the Dragon God's eyes were stung into a blink!

In that single blink of an eye!

When the Dragon God looked again, Du Chen, the Divine, was seated within a lotus-shaped sacred artifact, still enveloped in a golden mist, but now surrounded by an additional shield: a red flame shield!

The silver-white moon flames and the red lotus flames intertwined, not as if battling, but as if blending seamlessly, indistinguishable from each other, mutually comforting...

"Fighting fire with fire?! Controlling fire with fire?! Your Excellency Du Chen truly possesses ingenious methods!" Involuntarily, the Dragon God used an honorific, yet his voice remained dominant, "If it's fire against fire, then let's see whose flames are fiercer! Come, let's see if your lotus flames can defend against my moon flames, or if my moon flames will assimilate your lotus flames!"

With that, the Dragon God accelerated the movement of his scepter, and the moon flames intensified!

Du Chen closed his eyes, thinking, "Fifth Brother, you're working hard!" Although the Fire Lotus Lantern of the third trigram wouldn't be evaporated like the Water Veil Shield, thus exposing Du Chen, the Divine's true form, the Dragon God's moon flames were simply too hot. Dus, hidden within the Fire Lotus Lantern, was enduring an unknown degree of scorching heat!

"Daddy, how is it?" little Beibei asked in the Battle Soul.

Du Chen replied with a touch of reluctance, "While your Uncle Laipisi has maintained his image under the cover of the firelight... just look at the metal arena, which is almost melting into liquid iron, and you'll know how your uncle is doing!"

The Dragon God and Du Chen, the Divine, confronted each other! Silver-white moon flames and red lotus flames intertwined, locked in a stalemate above Moon Lake.

Drip! Drop!

Hiss...

People suddenly heard a series of strange noises and averted their gazes from the two duelists... The arena had already melted from the flames, liquid iron dripping down. As the molten iron hit the waters of Moon Lake, it instantly evaporated with a "hiss," but simultaneously, a large section of the lake water was vaporized into steam by the intense heat!

"The battle qi-absorbing arena is melting! My Clan, heed my command! Retreat another two hundred meters! Pieres, assist me in deploying the Divine Retribution Array!" Thorog of the Dragon Clan shouted.

The Pontiff looked up at Du Chen, the Divine, who was suspended in mid-air due to the melted arena, and calmly stated, "The arena has melted, and the waters of Moon Lake alone can no longer completely prevent the battle qi from spreading! Black-armored Warriors, retreat! Battle God of War, Battle God Enforcers, Guardian Battle Gods! Join forces to form a barrier and prevent the spreading battle qi from harming anyone!"

At this moment, the Dragon God roared from the sky, "Your Excellency Du Chen, the arena is melting! How about we both control our flames and confine our struggle to the surface of Moon Lake?!"

Du Chen, the Divine, did not reply, only nodding slowly – the recording metallic sphere certainly didn't have any messages for dealing with *this* situation!

The two confined all their flames to Moon Lake. This ensured that the spectators would not be affected, but all the immense heat was now concentrated within Moon Lake!

Hiss! Hiss! Steam billowed. After the arena completely melted into liquid iron, Moon Lake directly bore the brunt of the high temperatures... Its water level began to drop! It was sinking at an incredibly fast rate!

"Damn it all! If this continues, the entire Moon Lake will be completely dried up!" someone exclaimed loudly.

In an instant, the waters of Moon Lake rapidly evaporated due to the high temperatures, dropping by at least twenty-seven or twenty-eight meters!

If the battle continued, Moon Lake might truly turn into a dry basin! But who could stop now!? This was the final strike! Whoever ceased would be defeated, and there would be no second chance to turn the tide!

Everyone's expressions grew solemn. Only little Beibei whispered to Du Chen, "So much steam, Daddy! Is this what you mean by feeling like a sauna?"

At this moment, the struggle between the Golden Behemoth and Andy had entered a white-hot stage.

The Golden Behemoth let out a miserable "Aiya!" as Andy savagely tore a large chunk of flesh from its shoulder! "Damn it, how did you suddenly get stronger? You couldn't hurt me before!"

Andy, too, felt it was strange. He thought, *How odd, someone out there seemed to have conjured moonlight just now, such powerful moonlight! Haha, as the moonlight flashed, why did the Golden Behemoth in my, Chris Andy's, eyes seem to weaken? Hmm, it's because I'm the Moon Goddess's favored pet, that's right!*

Let's see, Master Francis, your Andy has already eaten seven or eight chunks of the Golden Behemoth's flesh. Surely, my strength must have increased by several tiers, right? Hehe, Andy wants a reward, a grand feast...

Thinking this, Andy fought even more ferociously!

"Hey, why are you even weaker?" Andy excitedly yelled.

Could it be that even stronger moonlight had appeared? Besides the Dragon God's moon flames, where else could moonlight come from!?

The bottom of Moon Lake!

As the lake water dried up, the abandoned sacred artifact of war — a black rock — was exposed. It was enduring the Dragon God's moon flames... but it was also emitting a lunar illusion! And because there was no lake water to obstruct it, this illusion was like true moonlight, stretching between the Dragon God and Du Chen, the Divine, and naturally irradiating Andy...

The Dragon God's moon flames, the Silver Moon Illusion, and Andy, the Moon's Favored Pet... all converged at the edge of Moon Lake!