Fu Qian's look hadn't been chosen at random.
From the moment he had opened Teresa's skull, he had been thinking about the relationship between the Inner Eye and the See Me Sect.
In his view, the two had quite a bit in common, even if their approaches were diametrically opposed.
Both involved opening up the mind. The members of the See Me Sect, represented by Collins, tended to open themselves completely, abandon their subjective consciousness, and accept the gods' scrutiny and guidance.
Claudio's Inner Eye was the reverse. Its core seemed to be peering into the mysteries of the gods.
In a sense, you could call it the See Me Sect.
And everyone knew that heretics were more detestable than heathens.
When they met, their eyes were especially hostile.
That was why Fu Qian had chosen to become a key figure in Bailuoke, to test Claudio's reaction.
And it was obvious that Collins's appearance had shocked the two men in front of him.
Li Min, for one, seemed not to have expected Fu Qian's true face to be that of an old man. She stood there, dumbfounded.
As for Claudio, he was genuinely startled, then seemed to grit his teeth.
"Collins..."
"You still recognized me. Should I consider that an honor?"
Fu Qian replied with a smile, as if greeting an old friend he hadn't seen in years.
So they did know each other, and it seemed they had quite a bit of history.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"
Claudio looked rather suspicious.
"You still have a concept of 'I'? I thought you'd given up your own will long ago and completely lost yourself in submission."
"What do you know? That's not called giving up your own will. Quite the opposite: it's using a new perspective to