Lord of Prayer

Afterward, the number of bizarre deaths in Feng City grew. After some investigation, the Star Association discovered that Abyssal Cultists were unusually active in Feng City. Concluding that the Abyssal Cultists were involved, they launched an operation to apprehend them.

And that was indeed the case. When the four of them disposed of the Painter's body, they didn't forget to get rid of the bloodstained items. They had the man take the paintings and easel out to the wilderness, dig a pit, and burn them. But the man never expected that the unfinished painting, "Silver Moon," had been transformed into a Forbidden Object, catalyzed by the Painter's final moments of anger and bitterness. It was not destroyed by the fire—even an ordinary person has a chance of creating a Forbidden Object after death if they experience intense emotional turmoil right before dying.

However, because the painting was at the very bottom of the pile, the man burning the evidence didn't notice it. Just as he was about to fill in the pit, a few tourists happened to pass by. The man fled in a panic before he could fill the hole, and the tourists, in turn, discovered the unburnt painting. Seeing the bloodstains on it, they immediately concluded it must be related to a murder and hurriedly brought it back to the city.

Unfortunately, the driver of the taxi they took was an Abyssal Cultist. When the tourists took out the painting in the car, the Abyssal Cultist, being an Ascender, instantly identified it as a Forbidden Object through its Essence Fluctuation. He ruthlessly murdered the tourists and took the Forbidden Object for himself.

During the murders, the victims' blood was absorbed by the painting, turning the Silver Moon into a complete Blood Moon. At the same time, the Painter's final obsession was transmitted into the Abyssal Cultist's mind via Essence Resonance. The Abyssal Cultist, knowing the dangers of a Forbidden Object, didn't dare to be careless. He proceeded to kill everyone connected to the case, and then killed many more people to "feed" the Forbidden Object, thinking this would earn its recognition.

But he had underestimated the danger of the Forbidden Object. After consuming a massive amount of blood and souls from the dead, the Blood Moon painting developed a consciousness of its own. It deliberately pretended to be contained by him, but in reality, it was using the Abyssal Cultist as a tool to catch its food. When it no longer needed the Cultist, it devoured him as well.

When the Star Association came knocking, they happened to witness the Blood Moon painting devouring someone. The painting dropped its pretense and unleashed its full power. That night, a crimson full moon rose into the sky. Every living being irradiated by its red light died in an exceedingly gruesome manner.

In just a few short minutes, all of Feng City had become a mortal Purgatory, with countless dead and wounded.

The blood and soul power of all the dead were absorbed by the Blood Moon, making it even stronger and more crimson.

If it wasn't stopped, the entire city would fall under the Red Moon.

The Life Church, being the closest to the Crimson Full Moon, was the first to act. As it happened, an Uncrowned was present. They intervened, dragging it down from the sky. Afterward, the Church used a high-level artifact to reduce the Crimson Full Moon's activity, forcing it into a "dormant" state.

Then came the task of attempting to contain the Crimson Full Moon.

After dozens of death row inmates paid with their lives, the Church finally determined the conditions for containing the Crimson Full Moon.

—Constantly painting next to the Crimson Full Moon can effectively reduce its activity, causing it to revert to its "painting" state. Simultaneously, soothing classical music must be played without interruption to keep it stable.

—Absolutely no personnel combinations of one man and three women, or the Crimson Full Moon will instantly go berserk.

If even one mistake is made, the Crimson Full Moon will gradually become active again and spiral out of control.

That is why for all these years, the Crimson Full Moon has been contained beneath the Feng City Life Church without being moved. The cost of relocation would be astronomical, not to mention the risk of an accident. It was better to contain it on-site.

—And this entire story was pieced together from the visions seen by researchers during containment attempts, when they experienced Essence Resonance with the Crimson Full Moon, thus revealing the full truth of the matter.

"Wait, could this be another one of 'Ghost's' tricks to lure the tiger out of the mountains?" Zhou Chen said, pinching his chin. "He tricked you with the mark before. Maybe he's using Soul Rest Cemetery to trick you again. What if he's only pretending to have left?"

"That's impossible," Wang Yaoting said decisively. "'Ghost' can't go too far from Soul Rest Cemetery. The moment he's more than five kilometers away, the cemetery will automatically return to the Church, and the ritual he's been preparing for all these years will be for nothing."

'It automatically returns to the Life Church if he goes more than five kilometers away? So that means there's still a restrictive power left by the Life Church in Soul Rest Cemetery. That makes sense, they can still sense its location...' As Zhou Chen thought of this, another question occurred to him: "But 'Ghost' has blocked the Sensing between the Church and Soul Rest Cemetery before. What if he finds a way to block or disable the return restriction?"

"The return restriction was created and improved over time by three successive generations of the Church's Alchemical Great Sages. He doesn't have the ability to break it. Temporarily blocking the Sensing is already his limit." Wang Yaoting paused. "Still, we have to be cautious. 'Ghost' has too many tricks up his sleeve. That's why I'm planning to lead a team and remain in Feng City, just in case."

Zhou Chen's expression turned strange. "You're not planning to send me after 'Ghost' alone, are you? I can call for backup, but I still can't beat him."

'If Li Xiye's true self were here, she could definitely face 'Ghost' head-on with some preparation, but even then, there's no hundred-percent guarantee of victory. 'Ghost' is cunning and has a vast array of methods, making him extremely difficult to deal with.'

Zhou Chen suddenly thought of Tang Ling. 'If I could get Tang Ling over here, killing 'Ghost' would be as easy as eating and drinking. After all, Tang Ling even managed to take down 'Merchant,' who's even trickier than 'Ghost'.'

But ever since his last battle against the three Demigods, there had been no news of Tang Ling. No matter how Zhou Chen tried to contact him through his phone or computer, there was no response. He had no idea what had happened.

"Of course not. Another Knight Order will take over the mission. You can rest for a while," Wang Yaoting said in a low voice. "Besides, this incident in Feng City has become a pretty big deal. I doubt the Star Association or the Dawn Church will just stand by and watch."

"The Dawn Church?" Zhou Chen was taken aback for a moment. 'He could understand the Star Association getting involved, but what did this have to do with the Dawn Church?'

"Daun."

Wang Yaoting reminded him. "Daun vanished for many years. Many people thought he was dead. It wasn't until the recent battle at Jinzhu that he returned to the public eye. To be honest, he used to be my idol. A few years ago, I also thought he was dead. I never expected him to still be alive.

In recent years, the Dawn Church has been on the decline. Daun must have come to a decision and wants to re-emerge, which is why he gave you the token to find White Bird. If he truly wanted to leave the Extraordinary World behind, he wouldn't have gotten involved in this. In other words, this is the signal of his return.

Since he's re-emerging and wants to rebuild the Dawn Church, he'll definitely want to make a bigger splash. I'm guessing the Dawn Church will send people to get involved in this matter soon. And not just the 'Ghost' case—the Dawn Church will probably start taking action everywhere to reassert its presence.

Heh, if the Dawn Church ends up solving this, we at the Life Church will lose a lot of face."

Wang Yaoting said that last part in a half-joking, half-serious tone. The Life Church and the Dawn Church have had good relations for a long time—you can tell just by looking at Father Daun and the White Bird Palace Mother. There have been many romances between the men and women of the two great Churches. Many in the Life Church would be happy to see the Dawn Church rebuilt.

'Father Daun is one of the Seven Great Bishops of the Dawn Church. During the battle at Jinzhu, he went head-to-head with a Tier Five Monarch's clone. He's absurdly strong. If he returns to the Dawn Church, the declining organization would be revived in an instant. Even if it doesn't return to its former glory, it would regain at least thirty or forty percent of its strength, which would still make it a massive power...'

Zhou Chen had never imagined that this one mission could actually affect the world's balance of power.

If the Dawn Church were rebuilt, the world's balance of power would be completely upended!