Long Ge froze in place, and Dao Feng had no intention of actually fighting him in the manor grounds. After overturning countless flowers and plants, he offered a ladder: "Long Ge, this whole affair was instigated by this attendant. He has already paid the price; why must we damage the harmony over him?"

With that attendant resembling charred coke preceding them, Long Ge did not think Dao Feng was backing down out of fear. He was in a position where neither advancing nor retreating was ideal, so he conveniently took the offered ladder. "Hmph. Our purpose here is to investigate Hadak's death. I can set other matters aside for now, but whether I hold this against you later depends on whether you tell me the cause of Hadak's demise. If I do not get the truth, I will certainly not be civil with you!"

Long Ge retracted his energy blade into his sleeve. Although he accepted the gesture of peace, he had no intention of showing weakness; the inherent arrogance of a Kustar native forbade him from appearing inferior before an Earthling.

Dao Feng could see him using telepathy to issue instructions to the few attendants behind him. Then, those attendants stepped forward, lifted the charred body, and headed toward the port.

Most spaceships were equipped with medical facilities. Dao Feng surmised they were taking the attendant for treatment. While he wasn't sure if Kustar technology could cure a brain that had been cooked, it was none of Dao Feng’s business. He had already delivered his punishment, so he harbored no further resentment. Whether the attendant lived, died, became paralyzed, or remained an imbecile was up to fate.

Dao Feng ushered Long Ge and his entourage into the viewing platform, and then they began to converse.

Evidently, this conversation was just circling the drain. Both sides held reservations deep down and could not speak with complete candor. As they spoke, they inevitably fell into argument.

Dao Feng and Long Ge were, after all, both at the peak of the Third Level. Their minds were lightning-fast, their reactions sharp, and they wielded words like weapons, aiming directly at the flaws in the other’s rhetoric while weaving their own arguments into elaborate tapestries. It was said in ancient Buddhist cultivation that there existed the path of unimpeded eloquence; the Buddha himself, when preaching, was said to make lotus flowers bloom from his tongue, causing iron trees to blossom and stubborn stones to nod—truly, language art cultivated to a degree that shocked heaven and moved ghosts.

The few Kustar attendants listening on the side were dumbfounded. They had never witnessed speech that carried so many variations—attacks and defenses, step-by-step traps, interspersed with feints and calculated retreats—like masters sparring, or like generals deploying troops on a battlefield: offense like mercury spilling across a floor, defense like an impervious moat. They could only sigh internally that a master at the peak of the Third Level was truly beyond their comprehension.

The debate stretched on for over half an hour. While this was far short of the multi-day scriptural debates of ancient monks, Long Ge realized that even if the argument continued, he would never extract a single piece of information from this Colonel Dao Feng.

With the example of the charred attendant preceding him, Long Ge understood that using the prestige of the Kustar people to exert pressure was useless. Even invoking the name of Kalagunis was deftly sidestepped by Dao Feng several times with slight shifts in topic. Although Dao Feng claimed great respect for Kalagunis, who had been at the Fourth Level for ten millennia, Long Ge did not believe for a second that Dao Feng would remain tight-lipped about the specifics of the Pluto battle. Every time Long Ge steered the conversation toward it, Dao Feng would talk around the issue.

"Enough." Long Ge stood up abruptly, his gaze burning with fierce anger. "I will not engage in pointless quibbling with you. Regardless, my teacher commanded me to investigate Hadak’s death in the Solar System, and I will absolutely not disappoint my teacher. Since I have employed every means and exhausted my rhetoric, and you still refuse to disclose what happened that day, I can only conclude that reasoning with you is futile. Where is Yang Ying, the commander of the Telen Mercenary Corps? I want to see him; have him speak with me."

"The Commander is absent. I am responsible for this area," Dao Feng replied casually. "Even if the Commander spoke with you, the outcome would be the same. Why waste more breath?"

With a zi sound, Long Ge drew his golden energy blade from his sleeve and pointed it at Dao Feng. "Very well, I shall waste no more breath. If you do not provide me with a satisfactory answer today, this battle will be inevitable."

"Indeed, conversation cannot resolve the conflict between us. This battle seems unavoidable," Dao Feng said, rising, his expression turning serious. "However, this place is full of beautiful scenery, unsuitable for fighting. If we must fight, let’s go to Mars. There are plenty of open spaces there; I will fight you there."

"Agreed. If I win, you must tell me every detail of what happened on Pluto," Long Ge commanded.

Dao Feng snorted. "And if you lose?"

"I will immediately take my team and leave the Solar System!" Long Ge declared without hesitation. Internally, however, he believed that with the combat techniques taught by Kalagunis—which he suspected were even more comprehensive than what Hadak received—he would not lose to the Dao Feng before him, despite the slight disadvantage in the probing skirmish just now.

"Then, it is settled," Dao Feng said. He could largely guess Long Ge’s thoughts. He mused, Having a Fourth Level master as a teacher makes him so confident, does he? It’s a pity that Earth has produced far more Fourth Level masters, yet they all journeyed out into the star-sea. I didn't quite understand it in the past, but after leaving the Solar System and seeing the splendor of the galaxy, I realize that in their eyes, the 'Home System' isn't much worth staying in. However, Earth's advancement to a higher civilization is due to me, and since the Kustar people are directly threatening Earth, I cannot stand idly by.

He thought again: Fighting a match like this might actually be good. Jin Siler and the others are figuring out a graceful refusal. This duel is an opportunity; if utilized well, it should allow us to temporarily navigate this crisis.

Once the duel time was set, Long Ge and his entourage left the viewing platform, eager not to linger another moment. They returned directly to the port, boarded their ship, left Manor City, and headed toward Mars.

At the same time, Long Ge notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the impending duel, causing an uproar among the officials.

For the past few days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been praying to every god and deity, hoping the Kustar people would arrive peacefully and depart safely without causing trouble. Who knew such a thing would happen?

"That Long Ge actually wants to engage in a duel, and demands we arrange a location on Mars for it? What are we going to do?"

"Who is the opponent in the duel? I heard Long Ge visited the Telen Mercenary Corps' manor today. Could it be that he is fighting Commander Yang Ying?"

"No. The official document Long Ge sent states that he is dueling Dao Feng, the Colonel Commander and a peak Third Level master within the Telen Mercenary Corps. Why have I never heard of this name?"

"I have heard of him. He appeared in both the Jupiter Retreat Battle and the Jupiter Campaign. He is an Awakened under the Telen Mercenary Corps, but I never heard he reached the peak of the Third Level! Doesn't this level correspond to the peak masters of the Psionic Temple?"

"What? No, that's impossible! Does the Telen Mercenary Corps have another peak master besides Yang Ying? Are they a den of monsters?"

The officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were bewildered. How could another peak master emerge without anyone knowing? Although they weren't part of the Awakened world, they understood some things about it. Yang Ying had only been a peak master for less than a year, and now there was Dao Feng. If peak masters could just pop out one after another, was there any way for others to survive?

"Hurry up and notify Mars to prepare a venue first, then relay this news to the President and the Psionic Temple! What are you waiting for, go!"

"Yes!"

Following a flurry of activity in the Ministry, the news of the duel spread.

"Greenwich Mean Time, noon tomorrow, a duel on Mars," Jin Siler received the news in his presidential office. He had a cup of strong coffee nearby; having slept very little these past few days, he would have likely dozed off at any moment without this stimulant. "Dao Feng is the combatant. I didn't expect the Telen Mercenary Corps to quietly produce another peak master. If this duel is won, it will be an excellent opportunity to reject the Kustar people. They will voluntarily withdraw, and then we can push forward and achieve our goals."

Not far from the Presidential Palace, at the Song Xing Embassy, Jiayouna also heard the news immediately but remained stunned for several minutes.

"Colonel Dao Feng has also become a peak master. This confirms that the Telen Mercenary Corps is truly a human force. Otherwise, Earthlings could not cultivate so quickly. If only Yang Ying had achieved such divine speed, it might be explained by extraordinary talent or genetic mutation. But with Colonel Dao Feng added, two individuals cultivating this rapidly—even the Loya people, who live in the most suitable environment for cultivation in Orion’s Arm, cannot manage this. Perhaps only Atlanteans could."

On Mand Island in the Pacific.

"The seventh peak master in the Solar System!" Master Tu Xin exclaimed. "Besides Yang Ying, the Telen Mercenary Corps has produced another peak master? This speed is simply too fast."

"Perhaps there will be an eighth, ninth, and tenth," Master Kong Li said. "The Telen Mercenary Corps is clearly not using Earthling methods, but we’ll set that aside for now; there’s no use guessing here. We’ve met Yang Ying more than once. Can you not see that he has no interest in worldly authority? The strengthening of the Telen Mercenary Corps benefits Earth."

"I never said it was detrimental," Master Tu Xin replied. "Some things only the Telen Mercenary Corps can do, which the Psionic Temple cannot. Take this duel, for example. If it were me, I probably couldn't drag the Kustar people onto a dueling platform. Even if I forced a fight with that Long Ge, regardless of the outcome, it would only make things worse. But Colonel Dao Feng fighting Long Ge does the opposite; it will make things better, precisely because they killed the Fourth Level Hadak, which makes the Kustar people wary—something the Psionic Temple cannot achieve."

Similar scenes were unfolding in many other locations. At this moment, the eyes of all factions on Earth were turning toward Mars, focused intensely on this duel!

There is a third update!

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