Chapter 003: The Seven Sins

Elvis stood outside the gates of Duke Green’s residence, frowning slightly. Though he was seething with anger, he wasn’t yet impulsive enough to storm in and kill Du Fan outright. After all, the Green family had managed to thrive in the Gavin Empire for years—so the duke’s residence was certainly not a place he could enter casually.
But when he noticed the guards guarding the residence ignoring him completely, something stirred in his heart: it seemed that in the Gavin Empire, if two people were to engage in a life-or-death duel, their respective families would likely stay out of it. After all, matters related to noble reputations and prestige were something everyone of status took very seriously.
Only that damned swindler didn’t seem to care about such things at all!
Elvis hesitated, pacing back and forth at the gate. His earlier fury had gradually faded. Even he wouldn’t commit such a foolish act of storming into the duke’s residence.
From a distance, Kris, who was following behind him, softly whispered. She had a strange feeling—she didn’t want either Du Fan or Elvis to get hurt. She felt a sense of camaraderie toward Elvis, but as for Du Fan, she couldn’t quite describe her feelings. Perhaps it was because Emily’s furious descriptions of him had been so vivid that she had already imagined what he looked like before even meeting him. But when she finally saw him, Kris realized that her vow to Emily to help her get justice somehow slipped her mind.
“What’s wrong with me?” Kris shook her head. For some reason, her face grew redder. Thankfully, the hiding spot she was in was very concealed, and no one noticed her. Otherwise, she would have died of shame.
Forcing herself to suppress that strange feeling, Kris turned her attention back to Elvis.
Elvis was somewhat astonished as he watched the old man with a smiling face approaching him. He was surprised to realize that he hadn’t recognized this man, who looked like a stable hand, and hadn’t even noticed his presence until he suddenly appeared before his eyes. Who was this man?

The old man glanced at Elvis’s strange expression and suddenly smiled gently. “This must be Lord Elvis. Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Mark. I can be considered a servant of the Green family, or perhaps Lord Du Fan’s personal guard.”

“Du Fan?” Elvis said coldly. “That coward who only knows how to run. Doesn’t he even have the courage to face me? Sending an old fool to die instead?”

Old Mark smiled slightly. “Lord Elvis, it seems you don’t quite understand my young master yet. Though he has a somewhat peculiar personality, he always keeps his word. Since he said he would have a life-or-death duel with you, he definitely won’t hide until the outcome is decided. But the young master said…”

“What did he say?!”

Old Mark seemed unable to hold back his laughter as well. After struggling for a while, he said, “The young master said it’s time for dinner and a bath. Besides that, as a devout priest, he also needs some time to pray. If Lord Elvis doesn’t mind, he suggests waiting outside first. After those matters are taken care of, the young master will come out to fight you again.”

“What!!!” Elvis roared, his suppressed anger erupting once more.

In the history of the Roland Continent, there had never been anyone who left a duel halfway to eat, bathe, or pray. Du Fan’s behavior showed complete disregard for Elvis.

It was as if a master was playing with his pet—throwing a bone aside with a sneer, saying, “Go away. Wait until I’ve finished eating and bathing before I play with you again. Wait outside… Be good, okay?”

Elvis’s face turned pale and blue alternately. For the first time, he felt a strong desire to kill. If before, his desire to take Du Fan’s life was partly out of trying to please Emily and partly out of respect for Bruce, now he truly wanted to kill Du Fan.

In his fury, he gradually calmed down. Staring at Old Mark, who was smiling smugly, he said in a deep voice, “It seems Lord Du Fan really does have a carefree life. It’s a pity I don’t have time to play around with him. You can tell him that I’m going in right now to take his life. If he doesn’t even care about his face, then have everyone in his ducal household come out. I promise to kill one for every one who shows up, and two if there are two!”

Hearing Elvis’s aggressive words, Old Mark sighed and said, “Well… Lord Elvis, you really underestimate our young master. He even said that if you’re not willing to wait, you can go in and find him—he’s waiting inside. And with the Green family’s century-long reputation as guarantee, if you go in now, your opponent will still be just our young master alone. Then go ahead…” With that, Old Mark stepped aside and clapped his hands gently. As he did so, several crystal lamps suddenly lit up in the otherwise pitch-black duke’s mansion, illuminating a courtyard deep within.

“Go ahead. Follow these lights, and you’ll reach the young master’s private courtyard. There, it will be just him alone.” Old Mark’s expression was oddly strange. “Please… go ahead.”

Elvis hesitated no longer. With a grunt, he rushed toward Du Fan’s courtyard at full speed.

Watching him go, the guards standing at the gate exchanged glances before one of them spoke up, “Butler Mark, are you really letting him in like this? Is the young master truly fine?”

“Our young master has never suffered a loss even when he didn’t possess combat energy. Now that his combat energy is already at level three, how could he possibly lose? Disperse! There’s nothing to worry about,” Old Mark waved his hand.

“That’s true!” The guards nodded and returned to their posts.

Yet Old Mark took a deep breath. He suddenly realized that ever since the young master developed combat energy, he had become even harder to understand.

Third young master… what do you plan to do this time? Could it be… you want to enlighten this guy? But that won’t work. The people from Roland Academy are clearly here to cause you trouble. If you show mercy, it will definitely be you who suffers!

The old servant, still unable to see through that person’s true nature, worriedly thought. When it came to loyalty, he was undoubtedly number one in this duke’s mansion.

…

Du Fan sat calmly on the third floor of the basement. In front of him was a crystal ball showing the scene in the courtyard above. Chenchen had drawn a magic array on the crystal ball, which resonated with the one in the courtyard, creating something akin to a surveillance device.

Chenchen had somehow returned to her human form, still wearing that scandalously revealing outfit. But obviously, Du Fan’s attention wasn’t on her at the moment.

His gaze swept over Chenchen’s curvaceous figure, then he looked at her enchanting face and said in a low voice, “What, you don’t believe that Elvis will definitely come in?”
“To be honest, I don’t!” Chenchen smiled gently, her expression so alluring it could make any man’s blood boil. “Although he’s impulsive, he’s by no means stupid. To recklessly enter such a place—what else could it be but seeking death?”
“That’s something you don’t understand.” Du Fan raised his index finger and waved it in front of him. “If my strength were greater than his, or at least on par, then even if I insulted him severely, he wouldn’t dare come in rashly. But in reality, even ten of me might not be a match for him. Yet it’s precisely someone like me, a ‘minor figure,’ who insulted him. So as long as he feels even a hint of anger, he’ll definitely come to settle accounts with me, because in his mind, once he finds me, I’m dead.”
“Is this what’s meant by human weaknesses?” Chenchen asked softly.
Du Fan wore a pious expression. He made a praying gesture and said solemnly, “Arrogance, envy, wrath, laziness, greed, gluttony, and lust—these are the seven deadly sins bestowed upon humanity by the gods. Although Elvis has only committed arrogance and wrath, that’s enough, isn’t it?”
“Enough for what?”
“Enough to turn an extremely intelligent person into one whose mind has been kicked by a pig. Though Elvis isn’t yet at the absolute peak of intelligence, is it really that difficult to ‘kick’ his mind?” Du Fan smiled. “Besides, hasn’t he already arrived?”
As he spoke, Du Fan pointed at the crystal ball, and indeed, a faint figure with an angry expression appeared inside—it was Elvis.
Chenchen gave Du Fan a strange look, feeling a slight admiration for his foresight. But she said nothing more, instead staring intently at Elvis in the crystal ball. She really wanted to know how this sixth-level powerhouse would be utterly defeated by Du Fan today.