Arc 16Rituals and the Dark Moon

Fu Qian helped Li Min pursue her ritual, uncovered Claudio’s role in the revelations around Port City, and killed him. Back in Shangjing, he investigated Gan Zuoxun and reconnected with the Witch, while Yuan Shan began looking into the ocean location Fu Qian had identified.

  • Shang Shiming recruited Fu Qian to help destroy an old bell tower as part of a ritual, but Teresa interfered and the tower collapsed amid strange frost.
  • Teresa explained that rituals drew on divine knowledge, then attacked Fu Qian, who killed her and made her death appear connected to the tower incident.
  • Roland arranged for Li Min to receive a ritual revelation from Claudio, and Li Min enlisted Fu Qian’s help while keeping the ritual’s true purpose secret.
  • Fu Qian drew Night Watcher Andrew away from Li Min’s ritual, then found Roland and Rachel guarding illusions while Li Min confronted Claudio in his courtyard.
  • Fu Qian revealed himself to Claudio, stopped Li Min from attacking further, and killed Claudio after rejecting his offer of supernatural insight.
  • Fu Qian learned that Claudio had orchestrated Port City’s rituals and revelations, received the Starry Sky Prism, and used it to glimpse a starry sky over a black sea before asking Yuan Shan to identify the location.
  • Yuan Shan asked Fu Qian to discreetly assess Gan Zuoxun, and Fu Qian questioned Gan at City Hall before using Blasphemous Embrace to cover the sun in rust-colored haze.
  • The Witch contacted Fu Qian, gave him a mask that concealed his supernatural presence, and said their connection was weakening, and afterward Yuan Shan confronted him about the incident, and Wen Li arrived with another matter.
Chapters 379–403 Vol. 4 Read

Ch. 379Artificial Eye (10)

Fu Qian agreed to help Shang Shiming with a ritual in exchange for a reward, while Li Min asked to observe it and hoped to learn about rituals tied to the Manipulation System. The group planned to destroy a remote ancient structure after daybreak.

  • Shang Shiming offered Fu Qian a reward to help with a simple ritual, and Roland vouched for him.
  • Li Min asked whether the gathering knew of a ritual related to the Manipulation System, but Roland said none was currently available.
  • Li Min asked to observe Shang Shiming's ritual, and Fu Qian agreed to include her and Rachel.
  • After the gathering ended, Shang Shiming explained that the ritual required destroying a structure over five hundred years old and that he needed Fu Qian's strength.
  • Shang Shiming, Fu Qian, Li Min, and Rachel agreed to begin the ritual after daybreak.

Ch. 380379. Chapter 378: Artificial Eye (11)

Fu Qian questioned Shang Shiming about how people discovered supernatural rituals, then joined the group at an old bell tower that Shang Shiming planned to destroy for Li Min’s ritual. They prepared to sneak inside and wait for a thunderstorm, but the tower’s stability and the plan’s risks remained in question.

  • Fu Qian asked how the others learned about rituals, and Shang Shiming explained that revelations usually appeared in people’s minds and were difficult to interpret.
  • Shang Shiming suggested Roland had planted Fu Qian’s ritual revelation, while Fu Qian suspected the newcomers had been set up at the gathering.
  • Shang Shiming led Fu Qian, Li Min, and Rachel to a fifty-meter bell tower he had chosen as the target for their plan.
  • Shang Shiming explained that the tower had been closed to visitors and that a coming thunderstorm would help mask the noise of its collapse.
  • Li Min offered to help bring down the tower, but Shang Shiming said the group only needed to damage a critical point in its stable structure.

Ch. 381An Artificial Eye (12)

Fu Qian and Shang Shiming attempted to bring down the stone tower during a storm, but a strange mist disrupted their movements and Shang Shiming’s ability. The tower seemed to have come alive, and Li Min urged everyone to run.

  • Fu Qian, Li Min, Rachel, and Shang Shiming waited inside the church’s stone tower for a storm to begin.
  • After thunder sounded, Shang Shiming used his ability to weaken the tower while Fu Qian and the others waited.
  • Shang Shiming signaled Fu Qian to prepare to break a cracked load-bearing wall on the ground floor.
  • A strange mist made movement feel sluggish, and Fu Qian’s punch struck the wall without force.
  • Shang Shiming realized the tower was canceling his ability, and Li Min shouted for everyone to run.

Ch. 382Artificial Eye (13)

A sudden frost attack trapped Li Min, Rachel, Shang Shiming, and Fu Qian inside the stone tower, forcing the first three to escape while Fu Qian remained behind. After the tower collapsed and Fu Qian emerged, Shang Shiming received a strange red-and-black nail from his body and pressed it into his hand.

  • Li Min sensed danger as mist rapidly froze the tower, and she used scorching beams to melt a path through the crystalline spikes blocking the exit.
  • Shang Shiming, Rachel, and the exhausted Li Min escaped the tower but realized Fu Qian had not come out.
  • Li Min said the frost did not seem to come from the tower, while Shang Shiming noted that no other transcendent beings had been nearby.
  • As Shang Shiming prepared to attempt a rescue, the stone tower collapsed, forcing the three of them to scatter.
  • Fu Qian emerged from the ruins enlarged and covered in fur and bone spurs, while Shang Shiming's wrist opened and produced a red-and-black nail.
  • Shang Shiming picked up the nail and pressed it into the back of his hand.

Ch. 383Artificial Eye (14)

Shang Shiming used the ritual’s spike to gain a burst of physical strength, and he explained to Fu Qian how true revelation determined who could complete a ritual and receive its reward. After Fu Qian and Li Min declined his invitation, Li Min wondered why Fu Qian seemed familiar, while Fu Qian headed into the rain to meet a cloaked figure he had known was nearby.

  • Shang Shiming drove the spike through his palm and used his transformed body to smash stone slabs before Li Min urged the group to flee the noise.
  • After they escaped, Shang Shiming thanked Fu Qian and Li Min, and Fu Qian demanded the promised payment.
  • Shang Shiming explained that only someone who possessed the ritual’s true revelation could complete it and receive its reward, and that Roland had conveyed the revelation to Fu Qian.
  • Fu Qian and Li Min declined Shang Shiming’s invitation to rest at his home, and Li Min told Rachel that Fu Qian seemed familiar.
  • Fu Qian walked through the rain to meet a cloaked figure, knowing the figure had been hiding nearby during the incident with the white frost.

Ch. 384The Artificial Eye (15)

Fu Qian confronted Teresa, who revealed that she had caused Shang Shiming’s ritual and was trying to stop destruction as part of her own ritual. As Teresa threatened him for disrupting her plan, Fu Qian asked about rituals, and she explained that their essence was divine knowledge.

  • Fu Qian met Teresa in the rain and realized she was a high-tier Transcendent who had secretly interfered with events at the stone tower.
  • Teresa admitted she had disrupted Shang Shiming’s ritual to fulfill her own ritual of preventing a major act of destruction.
  • Teresa revealed that she had given Shang Shiming the revelation that led him to pursue his ritual, as Roland had once influenced Fu Qian.
  • Teresa blamed Fu Qian for causing her ritual to fail and threatened to kill him, but allowed him to ask questions.
  • Teresa told Fu Qian that a ritual’s essence was divine knowledge, a fragment of an unimaginably vast body of knowledge.

Ch. 385The Artificial Eye (16)

Fu Qian questioned Teresa about the ritual and the Inner Eye before she attacked him in the snow. He revealed overwhelming strength, stopped her escape and transformation, and ended the confrontation with her skull in his hand.

  • Teresa explained that rituals granted gifts from higher beings, and Fu Qian asked how revelations worked and whether they were connected to the Inner Eye.
  • Teresa reacted to Fu Qian's knowledge of the Inner Eye, realized he was more than a newly made transcendent, and summoned crystalline serpents to attack him.
  • Fu Qian casually slapped away Teresa's serpents, then caught her when she tried to flee.
  • Teresa escaped his grasp with a liquefied body and a burst of green flame, but Fu Qian dispelled the flame and smashed her back into solid form.
  • Teresa tried to transform and consume the area around them, but Fu Qian stopped her with a sharp snap and examined her cracked skull.

Ch. 386The Artificial Eye (17)

Fu Qian killed Teresa and examined the unusual opening in her skull, confirming that her group was connected to the people of Bailuoke but learning that it was not the Inner Eye. He burned Teresa’s body to frame Li Min and escaped a Night Watcher’s attack, while the investigators began identifying the remains and considering retaliation.

  • Fu Qian examined Teresa’s skull and concluded that its oval opening was linked to the people of Bailuoke but was not the Inner Eye.
  • Fu Qian reasoned that Roland and Teresa’s inner circle knew the most secrets, while Shang Shiming’s group and newcomers like Li Min knew less and were treated as tools.
  • Fu Qian burned Teresa’s corpse with the fireball he had stored in the White Ring, intending to make her death appear connected to Li Min and Shang Shiming’s ritual.
  • A Night Watcher attacked Fu Qian with a mental assault and an arrow of light, but Fu Qian countered with an Air Bullet and escaped into the night.
  • Two investigators found Teresa’s remains, suspected a link to the incident at the tower, and planned to confirm her identity and teach the group a lesson.

Ch. 387Artificial Eye (Eighteen)

Fu Qian tracked down Huang, a survivor of the cruise ship disaster, and witnessed her react to a ritual as Roland arrived. Roland used a cross to calm Huang, then took Fu Qian aside for a conversation about what had happened the previous night.

  • Fu Qian watched Huang exercising and noticed blood and a spike-studded cilice on her thighs.
  • Huang reached her limit, then became flushed and feverish as a strange force surged within her and she approached two men with desire.
  • Roland arrived and found Huang staring at Fu Qian with reddened, desire-filled eyes.
  • Huang recognized Fu Qian as Che Shunyong and approached him, while Roland dismissed her as not good enough.
  • Roland pressed a small cross to Huang's forehead, calming her and clearing her eyes.
  • Roland told Fu Qian to come with him for a talk, and Fu Qian agreed.

Ch. 388Artificial Eye (Nineteen)

After Teresa’s death, Roland gathered the ritual group and warned them that the Night Watchers suspected a connection to the collapsed stone tower. He brought Li Min and the others to Mr. Claudio, who shared the ritual Li Min had been seeking, though its effects left her with a difficult choice.

  • Roland questioned the group about Teresa’s death, while Rachel defended Li Min and Shang Shiming noted that Li Min had little apparent motive or ability to kill Teresa.
  • Roland warned everyone in Bosi to be cautious and told Li Min he had found someone willing to share a similar ritual.
  • Roland received permission for the entire group to come immediately and led them to Mr. Claudio’s courtyard.
  • Claudio comforted the group about Teresa’s death, then used a ritual to convey the knowledge Li Min had requested.
  • Li Min returned from her brief daze and questioned the ritual’s consequences, while Claudio said she could consider how to minimize its impact.

Ch. 389Artificial Eye (20)

Li Min asked Fu Qian to help with a secret ritual and offered him a powerful supernatural glove as payment. Fu Qian agreed despite not knowing what the ritual required, while Li Min promised to protect his secrets and keep him safe.

  • Claudio praised Li Min and Fu Qian, then arranged for the group to leave without revealing what he knew about the Inner Eye.
  • Shang Shiming and Roland offered to help Li Min with her ritual, but Li Min asked Fu Qian to speak with her privately.
  • Li Min showed Fu Qian a high-grade supernatural glove that had belonged to her teacher and offered it as payment for his help.
  • Li Min told Fu Qian she was certain he was not a newly ascended Transcendent and promised that she and Rachel would keep his secrets.
  • Li Min refused to explain the ritual's unusual nature but promised Fu Qian would not be endangered or attract the Night Watchers' attention, and Fu Qian agreed to help.

Ch. 390Artificial Eye (21)

Fu Qian guarded Li Min’s ritual as a strange circular rainbow appeared over the city and drew the Night Watchers’ attention. He lured one pursuer away from the ritual and refused to accompany him, preparing to fight.

  • Fu Qian watched a circular rainbow form above the city while Li Min carried out her ritual in the nearby buildings.
  • Fu Qian sensed a Night Watcher approaching and left the area to draw him away from Li Min.
  • The Night Watcher chased Fu Qian and confronted him with a silvery-white spear.
  • Fu Qian told the Night Watcher that they meant no harm, but refused to return with him and threatened to leave him with his whole corpse.

Ch. 391The Artificial Eye (22)

Fu Qian fought Andrew, a Night Watcher, and revealed that he had helped orchestrate events that accelerated Transcendents’ progress in Bosi. Andrew escaped using a transformation item, while Fu Qian returned to Che Shunyong’s appearance and anticipated the Night Watchers’ response to the information he had planted.

  • Fu Qian transformed his right arm into a huge claw and intimidated Andrew before asking his name.
  • Andrew formed a silver greatsword and confronted Fu Qian, who said his actions were meant to let more people witness the Transcendent.
  • Fu Qian told Andrew that Transcendents in Bosi had been making rapid progress and admitted involvement in the clock tower’s destruction.
  • Andrew let Fu Qian seize him, then used an item to burst into a swarm of bats and escape despite Fu Qian killing many of them.
  • Fu Qian returned to Che Shunyong’s appearance and reasoned that people caught up in rituals could receive Revelations, then looked forward to the Night Watchers acting on Andrew’s report.

Ch. 392Rebirth Club, the title that's been on everyone's lips

Fu Qian discovered that the Li Min he found at the ritual site was an illusion created by Rachel, while the real Li Min was hiding in another tower. He reached her hiding place and found Roland there beside a glowing crystal as the ritual continued.

  • Fu Qian returned to the buildings and found what appeared to be Li Min in a tower.
  • Fu Qian revealed that he knew the figure was an illusion and exposed Rachel, who had been hiding nearby.
  • Rachel explained that the real Li Min was hiding in another tower and warned Fu Qian not to attack her.
  • Fu Qian went to the other tower, where he found Roland beside a glowing crystal resonating with the strange sky.

Ch. 393Artificial Eye (Twenty-Four)

Fu Qian realized Li Min had concealed her real location and used different illusions to mislead Roland and Rachel. He persuaded Roland that the Night Watchers were closing in, but Roland refused to leave first, so Fu Qian departed alone.

  • Fu Qian suspected Li Min had called off the ritual and gone elsewhere while leaving Roland and Rachel with separate illusions.
  • Fu Qian told Roland that the Night Watchers would soon search the area and that Li Min had ordered him to withdraw first.
  • Roland noticed the illusion of Li Min by Rachel's tower and questioned whether Li Min had really told him to leave.
  • Fu Qian claimed Li Min would stay behind to draw attention, making Roland suspect he was being used as a decoy.
  • Roland chose to remain because he believed his strength would help him escape if danger arrived.
  • Fu Qian shamelessly accepted Roland's choice and walked away alone.

Ch. 394Artificial Eye (25)

Fu Qian tracked Li Min to Claudio’s home and found her confronting him over her teacher Clarins’s death. As Li Min broke free of Claudio’s trap with another gift from Clarins, Fu Qian jumped into their fight.

  • Fu Qian reasoned that Li Min had sought Claudio, then slipped into Claudio’s courtyard and sensed a disturbance.
  • Li Min confronted Claudio, identified herself as Clarins’s student, and used a keepsake to infect him with living blue markings.
  • Claudio claimed he had never harmed Clarins, but Li Min accused him of betrayal and revealed that she had used the ritual to mislead him.
  • Claudio swallowed his own finger and trapped Li Min in amber-like space, but she escaped using another power Clarins had left her.
  • Fu Qian watched the confrontation, formed a strange idea, and jumped down to interrupt them.

Ch. 395The Artificial Eye (26)

Fu Qian arrived during Li Min’s confrontation with Claudio and suspected the scene was part of a ritual that could let Claudio escape death. He stopped Li Min from striking, revealed himself as Dean Collins of Bailuoke, and declared that he would kill Claudio himself.

  • Fu Qian reassured Li Min that Rachel was safe and observed that Li Min had used a dangerous technique to reach the Intermediate Tier.
  • Claudio warned Li Min that the flames consuming her body would soon burn her to ashes, then offered Fu Qian supernatural insight if he helped him.
  • Fu Qian suspected Claudio was orchestrating rituals and that killing him might trigger a ritual capable of transcending death and jeopardizing the mission.
  • Li Min prepared to continue her attack, but Fu Qian said he was stopping her because he intended to kill Claudio himself.
  • Fu Qian changed his face to resemble Dean Collins of Bailuoke and declared, “Heretics must die!”

Ch. 396The Artificial Eye (Complete)

Fu Qian confronted Claudio and disrupted the ritual that was meant to make him a demigod. After revealing that he was already a demigod, Fu Qian destroyed Claudio and completed the mission.

  • Fu Qian revealed himself to Claudio and argued with him about their opposing beliefs and Claudio's murder of his older sister.
  • Li Min, badly wounded, prepared to take revenge, but Fu Qian told her to stay calm and struck Claudio with Internal Organ Critical Hit.
  • Claudio tried to repair his injuries with Supernatural Items and offered to share the ritual that would make Fu Qian a demigod.
  • Fu Qian rejected the offer, revealed that he was already a demigod, and struck Claudio again as he charged at Li Min.
  • Fu Qian annihilated Claudio, and the mission was marked complete.

Ch. 397Starry Sky Prism

Fu Qian killed Claudio, learned that Claudio had supplied most of the supernatural revelations in Port City, and received the Starry Sky Prism as a special reward. Back in the Warehouse, Fu Qian tested the artifact by preparing to feed it a pale green bracelet.

  • Fu Qian removed Claudio's brain and saw the strange, eye-filled Inner Eye within it.
  • Li Min lost control of the flames consuming her, and Fu Qian activated the Law Remnants in an attempt to help her.
  • Fu Qian returned to the Warehouse and learned from the mission evaluation that Claudio had orchestrated the rituals and supplied most of the revelations in Port City.
  • Fu Qian received the Starry Sky Prism, an artificial eye that could reveal knowledge about Supernatural Items when fed one.
  • Fu Qian chose his pale green bracelet as the first item to test and held it beside the Prism's entrance.

Ch. 398The Trackless Deep Sea

Fu Qian used the giant eyeball to investigate the mirror and saw a starless stretch of ocean beneath an unfamiliar night sky. He brought his star chart to Yuan Shan at Night Watcher headquarters and asked her to identify the location, but she had a favor to request from him first.

  • Fu Qian fed the bracelet to the giant eyeball, but it showed no apparent effect.
  • Fu Qian fed the full-length mirror to the eyeball and saw an endless black sea beneath a starry sky.
  • Fu Qian drew the unfamiliar stars from memory and returned to the Warehouse to use the Emissary Mask for another attempt.
  • Fu Qian brought his star chart to Yuan Shan and asked her to identify the stretch of ocean within a week.
  • Yuan Shan asked Fu Qian for help with something of her own.

Ch. 399A Small Favor

Yuan Shan asked Fu Qian to discreetly check whether municipal official Gan Zuoxun was under supernatural influence, and Fu Qian agreed after receiving a special access permit. He arrived at East Suburb Hospital at three o’clock to observe Gan Zuoxun, whose event was due to take place there.

  • Yuan Shan explained that the Night Watchers had received a report claiming Gan Zuoxun might be controlled by a conglomerate, though he was known for balancing Shangjing’s competing factions.
  • Yuan Shan chose Fu Qian for the discreet check because of his ability to identify mental pollution, especially after seeing Ariel’s capabilities.
  • Fu Qian joked about being given a dirty job, and Yuan Shan gave him a special access permit he could keep afterward.
  • Yuan Shan told Fu Qian that Gan Zuoxun would attend an event at East Suburb Hospital at three in the afternoon and warned him not to go overboard.
  • Fu Qian arrived at East Suburb Hospital at three o’clock to observe Gan Zuoxun.

Ch. 400An Overreaction

Fu Qian tried to attend a hospital event to observe city official Gan Zuoxun, but his appearance prompted an unusually cautious response and Gan canceled his visit. Fu Qian then used a stolen security ID to enter City Hall, where he found Gan apparently normal and considered testing him with the Law Remnants.

  • Fu Qian was questioned by security at the hospital auditorium and showed them the card Yuan Shan had made for him.
  • Daria identified Fu Qian as Fang Xun and asked whether he was a Night Watcher, but he said he ran a bookstore and was there to hear the work report.
  • The hospital announced that Gan Zuoxun had fallen ill and returned to City Hall, so Fu Qian left for City Hall instead.
  • Fu Qian used a stolen security ID to slip into City Hall and found Gan resting calmly in his seat.
  • Fu Qian considered using the Law Remnants on Gan and following up with a psychological test.

Ch. 401Pressure Test

Fu Qian questioned Gan Zuoxun in a dream about his strange daily craving for sunlight, then used Blasphemous Embrace to test whether the sun was causing the symptoms. The chapter ended as the sun was shrouded in rust-colored haze and an unexpected voice sounded in Fu Qian’s ear.

  • Fu Qian waited until Gan Zuoxun went to the restroom, then used Clear Dream to question him privately.
  • Gan Zuoxun recognized Fu Qian as an extraordinary person and explained that he felt imprisoned by darkness at the same time each day and craved sunlight.
  • Fu Qian watched Gan Zuoxun bask in the sun and suspected that Ariel’s influence might be behind his symptoms.
  • Fu Qian retrieved Blasphemous Embrace from the Warehouse and fired an arrow that covered the sun in rust-colored haze.
  • As Fu Qian prepared to observe Gan Zuoxun’s reaction, an unknown voice sounded in his ear.

Ch. 402The Dark Side of the Moon

Fu Qian encountered the Witch through the colorless state caused by Blasphemous Embrace, then returned to the Warehouse and confirmed their connection depended on that state and place. The Witch recognized him as the Dark Moon Knight and gave him a second mask before their contact faded.

  • As the dusky blue moon appeared, Fu Qian heard the Witch’s voice and was confronted by Daria and her group, who accused him of disguising himself as a guard and harming Gan Zuoxun.
  • Fu Qian dodged Daria’s attack and fled, focusing on the Witch’s voice and realizing it belonged to the cosmic beauty he had met in the World Within the Painting.
  • After returning to the Warehouse, Fu Qian found that his colorless state had vanished and inferred that the Witch could sense him only in that other world while he was colorless.
  • Fu Qian used his wrist mark to return to the Warehouse, where the Witch called him the Dark Moon Knight and sent dusky blue moonlight into him.
  • The Witch gave Fu Qian a delicate second mask, then said their connection was weakening and bid him farewell.

Ch. 403The Dark Moon Knight Seeks Answers

Fu Qian received a mask that concealed his supernatural presence, then told Yuan Shan what he had learned about Gan Zuoxun. After Yuan Shan left, Wen Li visited Fu Qian and said she had come for another reason.

  • Fu Qian tested the mask the Witch had given him and found that it concealed his supernatural presence.
  • Yuan Shan confronted Fu Qian about the commotion in Shangjing and the threat to Gan Zuoxun, and Fu Qian explained what had happened at the hospital.
  • Fu Qian told Yuan Shan about Gan Zuoxun’s strange claims and suggested he might be trying to expose hidden opposition; Yuan Shan said the Night Watchers were investigating the place Fu Qian had asked about.
  • Wen Li arrived after Yuan Shan left, asked whether Fu Qian’s visit was related to the strange event in the sky, and said she had come about something else.
Arc 16 of 113