Li Fan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Li Fan (李凡)
Alias(es)	Collector; Night Watcher; Lord/Master of the Prison of Suppression
Species/Race	Human soul inhabiting the Collector's body; later revealed as a divine persona formed from humanity's yearning for ease and comfort 748 749
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Central Province Anomaly Bureau; Cleaning Association, as its Collector and later High Shepherd; the Museum organization 19 327 660
Occupation/Role	Anomaly Bureau investigator and Dissection Department section chief; Special Investigation Team deputy leader; bureau director; Cleaning Association Shepherd/High Shepherd; Night Watcher 10 59 357 660 719
Status	Alive; defeats the corrupted Lord of the Prison of Suppression, frees imprisoned humans, and assigns the defeated gods and rulers to aid humanity's exploration of the multiverse 750
First Appearance	1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Ordinary trainee investigator	1, 184	Began with only 18 points of mental strength, despite previously ranking highly in training.
Prison of Suppression Key wielder	9	The Bronze Key merged into his right palm, allowing him to draw psychic chains from the Prison of Suppression and call upon imprisoned entities.
Tiger Pillar God possessor	17, 32, 33	Gained enhanced strength, agility, reflexes, body control, and the ability to consume mental projections; later learned to control the Tiger Pillar God's fear and unleash its full power.
Measured mental-strength growth	184, 237	His recorded mental strength rose from 18 to 28, then 38 points.
Dominator within the Prison of Suppression	135	Realized that inside the prison, he possessed enough authority to crush prisoners such as Eight-Headed.
Old God devourer and secret-realm master	269, 271, 349	Devoured the Witch God's consciousness core, obtained control of the Witch God Grotto-Heaven, and later refined the Ghost Emperor Secret Realm's Imperial Eye.
Dual spiritual-core cultivator	570, 579	Condensed a Night Watcher spiritual core from gratitude and a Collector spiritual core from fear.
Saint	617	The two spiritual cores matured into Saint Cores, giving him power he considered second only to Abyss Lords.
Dual divine-spark bearer	646, 685	His two Sacred Cores expelled the malevolent thought controlling the Prison of Suppression; his sea of consciousness was later described as containing two divine sparks.
Temple of Light wielder	671, 687	Could summon guardians and heroes shaped by collective human recognition, including Sun Wukong, to oppose divine forces.
Supreme Sovereign	728	Absorbed the remaining former gods of the Heavenly Court through Purgatory, reaching the strength of a Supreme Sovereign.
Divine persona / dominant third identity	749	Awakened as the third member of a trinity with the Night Watcher and Collector identities, asserting himself as the dominant ego.
Victor of the Extreme Abyss	750	Defeated the corrupted Lord of the Prison of Suppression and sent him to the Origin Land.

Background / History

Li Fan had lived a previous life as an antique dealer, which gave him expertise in identifying ancient jade, bronze, and artifact craftsmanship. After dying, his soul was drawn into the dead Collector's body as part of the original Lord of the Prison of Suppression's final contingency plan. The Collector had been a “fortune puppet”; Li Fan was meant to gain enough power to stop the Lord after that being's corruption in the Extreme Abyss 17 651 750.

Upon arriving in Gu City, Li Fan found himself nominally employed by the Anomaly Bureau while his parents, household staff, and the Cleaning Association regarded him as the Collector. He initially wanted only a stable, low-pressure job in the Dissection Department and repeatedly tried to avoid advancement, unaware that his efforts would continually be interpreted as integrity, courage, and leadership 1 4 10 19.

By the end of the conflict with the Heavenly Court and the Extreme Abyss, Li Fan understood that the Night Watcher, the Collector, and Li Fan were three divine personas within one existence. He rejected the corrupted Lord's contempt for humanity and chose to protect humanity's capacity for comfort, beauty, and ordinary life 749 750.

Appearance

Li Fan is ordinarily described as plain-looking and easily mistaken for an unremarkable bureaucrat or ordinary investigator 156 205.

• Can alter his face, build, and height while using the Tiger Pillar God's power 404.
• As the Night Watcher, he wears a black combat suit, black cloak, and an obscured or indistinct face 671 710.
• When manifested as the Lord of the Prison of Suppression, he appears as a pale, gaunt specter with massive black horns, a floating black-flame crown, compound eyes, and a mask-like smile 38.
• Tiger Pillar God possession can produce brilliant patterns across his head and face, along with predatory spiritual limbs 17 127.

Personality

Li Fan's defining personal wish is an easy, comfortable life: a safe job, ordinary work hours, and freedom from responsibility. He repeatedly attempts to appear lazy, corrupt, incompetent, or undisciplined so that the Anomaly Bureau and Cleaning Association will stop promoting him. These plans routinely fail because others interpret his behavior as humility, generosity, courage, or political talent 4 59 117 241.

Despite his self-serving calculations, Li Fan consistently protects colleagues and civilians. He gives Ke Ke money for her sister's treatment, refuses Mu Jiu's attempted bribe, risks himself during anomaly incidents, and ultimately releases humanity from the Prison of Suppression 20 173 243 750.

His kindness coexists with a ruthless capacity for violence. As the Collector or Lord of the Prison of Suppression, he intimidates, tortures, imprisons, and refines enemies when he deems it necessary. He is particularly willing to weaponize fear, false identities, and other people's assumptions to preserve his cover or eliminate hostile forces 64 213 349 579.

Abilities & Skills

Prison of Suppression Authority

Li Fan's Bronze Key grants access to the Prison of Suppression and its prisoners.

• Opens doors into and out of the prison, including direct transfers of enemies into confinement 704.
• Draws psychic chains from the void to summon, restrain, or return imprisoned entities 9 17.
• Holds overwhelming authority inside the prison, where he can impose punishment, control prisoners, and reshape its functions 135 705.
• Can connect secret realms and use them as routes into the Prison of Suppression without exposing its aura 704.

Entity Possession and Borrowed Powers

Li Fan can channel the powers of entities held in the Prison of Suppression.

• Tiger Pillar God — grants predatory physical ability, ceiling traversal, extreme agility, enhanced stamina, and refined bodily control 17 30.
• Eight-Headed Dharma King / Eight-Heads — provides powers associated with the Eight Sufferings, including spiritual-energy absorption, perception, and combat manifestations 50 250.
• King Dian Li / Faceless One — supplies psychic force, wind manipulation, transformation, and disguise capabilities 214 471.
• Dream Demon — grants dream manipulation, large-scale mental control, illusion, concealment, and access to opponents' consciousnesses 269 542.
• Kesur — can spread Li Fan's consciousness through a target area or object, including an entire airplane 198.

Divine Cores and Faith Power

Li Fan cultivated separate sources of divine power through his two public identities.

• Night Watcher core draws on gratitude, admiration, and belief from those he protects 570.
• Collector core draws on fear generated by his reputation and authority 579.
• The two cores mature into Saint Cores and later divine cores, forming a paired system within his sea of consciousness 617 728.
• Their domains can resist possession and expel hostile spiritual entities from his body 646.

Temple of Light

The Temple of Light manifests figures sustained by human belief and cultural recognition.

• Summons legendary and fictional guardians, including Sun Wukong, Nezha, Yoda, Batman, and other heroic figures 672 687.
• The strength of each manifestation depends on the breadth and durability of public recognition 687.
• Can empower investigators by merging their spiritual fantasies with Li Fan's power, transforming them into heroic combat forms 715.

Combat and Physical Ability

Even without openly relying on his strongest powers, Li Fan is a dangerous close-quarters combatant.

• Fights with exceptional speed, agility, and evasive movement while possessing the Tiger Pillar God 89 210.
• Has dismantled Huo Lei's Tai Sui body with his bare hands despite suffering a severe mental attack 47.
• Uses direct, brutal strikes as a preferred fighting style, even when more elaborate powers are available 347.
• His body was repeatedly tempered by divine possession, improving his strength and durability beyond normal human limits 586.

Anomaly Investigation and Antiquities

Li Fan combines dissection work with practical knowledge from his former life as an antique dealer.

• Identified and reconstructed the Tree Spirit Jade Figurine from fragments hidden in infected corpses 16.
• Recognizes the periods, workmanship, and value of ancient jade and bronze artifacts 107 247.
• Uses observation and deduction to connect anomalies, archaeological incidents, cult activity, and anomalous objects 17 18.
• Remains composed during dissections and anomalous-containment work 16 285.

Deception and Persona Management

Li Fan maintains overlapping identities as an Anomaly Bureau official, the Collector, and the Night Watcher.

• Studies films and adopts mannerisms to portray the Collector convincingly 13 14.
• Uses disguises, altered bodies, controlled appearances, and staged incidents to keep his identities separate 127 404 471.
• Manipulates both the Anomaly Bureau and Cleaning Association into misreading his motives and threat level 141 193 539.
• Ultimately reveals himself as both Collector and Night Watcher during the Heavenly Court crisis 703 710.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Bronze Key / Key of the Prison of Suppression — merged into his right palm; opens prison doors and binds prisoners through psychic chains 9 214.
• Prison of Suppression — his primary source of confinement authority, prisoners, punishment, and interdimensional access 135 704.
• Bronze sword — a Warring States-style short sword that consumes spiritual power to unleash devastating strikes; its cloud patterns recharge as Li Fan absorbs stronger spiritual entities 194 195 276.
• Windproof lighter — reveals eerie mold-covered manifestations and otherwise invisible anomalous traces to Li Fan 16.
• Pen Immortal “Gelding” — a sentient pen retained as a secretary, researcher, and report writer 288 289.
• Night Watcher combat suit — black, hooded combat clothing used for his vigilante identity 127.
• Imperial Eye — refined into a mark on his right ring finger, granting control over the Ghost Emperor Secret Realm 349.

Relationships

• Li Fan's parents — Initially appear as caring parents, but are tied to the Collector and Cleaning Association. Their deaths are confirmed after the villa explosion, becoming a source of guilt for Zhao Yifeng 1 12 552.
• Wu Qian — Dissection Department head and Li Fan's early superior; promotes and fiercely supports him while sharing his own philosophy of avoiding work whenever possible 4 10.
• Ke Ke — Dissection Department colleague and long-term partner in anomaly work. Li Fan helps fund her sister's treatment, while Ke Ke becomes deeply concerned for his safety and identity 16 20 721.
• Ke Lan — Ke Ke's younger sister and awakened ally; treats Li Fan with open affection and sees him as a protective older-brother figure 384 717.
• Yang Gan — Special Investigation Team leader, friend, and frequent partner. Yang supports Li Fan even when Bureau orders turn against him 59 173 663.
• Zhao Yifeng — Director of the Anomaly Bureau's Southwest Branch. He initially dismisses Li Fan as unimportant, later respects his achievements, and struggles with Li Fan's Collector identity 4 77 538.
• Daoist Gou — Loyal subordinate, aura reader, and occasional stand-in Night Watcher. Li Fan rewards him with powerful artifacts and divine eyes 258 484 726.
• Zhang Lan — Anomaly Bureau psychologist placed under love hypnosis connected to Li Fan; Li Fan avoids removing it because of the danger of exposing his Night Watcher identity and provoking her retaliation 144 384.
• Liang Ying and Lv Yalian — Formerly connected to the Unity Society and later serve Li Fan out of fear, ambition, and recognition of his power 64 141 701.
• Auntie Zhang, Old Sun, Old Chen, and the Cleaning Association Five — Collector's core subordinates, who become increasingly loyal as they witness Li Fan's power and political rise 57 327 357.
• Lord of the Prison of Suppression — Li Fan's ultimate predecessor and adversary. The Lord's final human remnant arranged Li Fan's arrival as a last chance to defeat his corrupted self 646 749 750.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Anomaly Bureau Recruit

Li Fan joins the Anomaly Bureau intending to resign, but is assigned to the Dissection Department and discovers that its relaxed work culture suits him. His first anomalous incident instead earns him full employment and a section-chief position, beginning the pattern of unwanted promotion 1 4 10.

Discovery of the Prison of Suppression

After the Bronze Key merges into his palm, Li Fan gains access to the Prison of Suppression and begins acquiring prisoners' powers. His investigation of the Gutuo Kingdom jade incidents leads to his first possession by the Tiger Pillar God and his growing involvement with the Unity Society 9 16 17.

Rise of the Night Watcher and Collector

Li Fan secretly performs heroic acts as the Night Watcher while being forced to impersonate the Cleaning Association's Collector. His defeat of King Dian Li and Huo Lei secures his authority among the Cleaning Association, even as the Anomaly Bureau credits him for saving colleagues 50 53 57.

Special Investigation and Regional Authority

His repeated successes elevate him from Special Investigation Team deputy leader to increasingly senior Bureau positions. At the same time, the Cleaning Association promotes him from Southwest Shepherd to joint Shepherd, Eastern Shepherd, Chief Judge, and eventually High Shepherd—positions he repeatedly tries to avoid 59 141 357 660.

Old Gods and the Secret Realms

Li Fan defeats the Witch God, gains the Witch God Grotto-Heaven, uncovers the nature of evolution and dimensional ascension, and later seizes the Ghost Emperor Secret Realm. These victories establish his ability to consume divine consciousnesses and control divine domains 269 271 349.

International Crisis and Godslayer Reputation

During the Mulberry Country crisis, Li Fan's Night Watcher identity battles Susanoo and emerges as a public godslayer. His actions establish the Night Watcher as a legendary protector in the eyes of the international anomaly community 464 472.

Demon Den and Collector Revelation

Li Fan openly reveals himself as the Collector during the battle against Hunter in the Demon Den, while still attempting to protect the Anomaly Bureau personnel caught in the conflict. He defeats Hunter through dream power and takes control of the Demon Den 539 542 545.

Heavenly Court Conflict

After the Central Bureau is infiltrated by old gods, Li Fan exposes himself as the Night Watcher, uses the Temple of Light to oppose the Heavenly Court, and rescues those possessed by divine beings. Gu Ze appoints him director of the Central Anomaly Bureau before dying 703 710 717 719.

Extreme Abyss and Final Battle

Li Fan learns that he was created as a safeguard against the corrupted Lord of the Prison of Suppression. In the Extreme Abyss, he awakens as an independent divine persona, defeats the Lord's corrupted self, frees the humans imprisoned in the Prison of Suppression, and gives the defeated gods a new purpose serving humanity's multiversal future 749 750.

Trivia

• Li Fan repeatedly tries to earn demotions or discipline through apparent laziness, extravagance, corruption, and diplomatic provocation, but his actions usually improve his reputation instead 59 117 328 441.
• He regards the Pen Immortal as a “portable secretary” after discovering that it can write reports but cannot perform scientific work 288.
• His former experience as an antique dealer repeatedly proves useful in anomaly investigations involving jade, bronzes, tombs, and cultural relics 17 107 247.
• Daoist Gou ultimately describes Li Fan's fire of fortune as a planet-destroying “Death Star” beam, too immense to conceal with ordinary aura-hiding techniques 726.