Night’s Nomenclature

Chapter 973: Forbidden Artifact ACE-015 Wooden Fish

Outside the battlefield, Li Dongze watched the gradually subsiding sandstorm: "Qing Ji hasn't appeared yet, we don't have much time. Once the sandstorm in this city stops, the Air Fortress above will regain its vision, and everyone will be in danger."

San Yue responded: "The Treasure Hunting Beast is still searching for the eye of the Spiderweb Barrier, and it has already swallowed one, but the Spiderweb Barrier is unaffected. It seems that it needs to devour all the eyes."

Li Dongze frowned: "The people inside the Spiderweb Barrier probably won't last that long."

San Yue raised an eyebrow: "So little faith in your Boss?"

"No," Li Dongze shook his head, "If it's a Demi-God one-on-one fight, Boss can certainly win, but this is Fate Weaver's home turf, and they've already prepared."

Just then, the sandstorm haze dissipated slightly, and everyone saw hundreds of Roosevelt Kingdom elites infiltrating the edge of the Spiderweb Barrier. Their movements were swift, and some already showed signs of beast transformation, clearly high-level Gene Soldiers!

"These people are going in to hunt Qing Chen," Ye Wan said, "There must be more in other directions, perhaps more than a thousand in total."

San Yue calmly said, "Their gifts are ready."

At that moment, the elite forces infiltrating the Spiderweb Barrier suddenly saw a steel box placed in front of them on the street. In the distance, San Yue pressed a switch, and the sides of the steel box suddenly opened, revealing the eerie puppet inside.

Forbidden Artifact ACE-016, killer of witnesses. It will kill everyone who has seen it at the most opportune moment. This eerie puppet has C-class strength and is immortal. When facing a group of Gene Soldiers below B-class, it will judge when is the best time to kill them?

Now is the time.

The eerie puppet on the base of the steel box flexibly turned its head, rotating 360 degrees to survey its surroundings. Its originally pursed red lips suddenly stretched to its ears, laughing terrifyingly.

It jumped up without warning, leaping across dozens of meters to pounce on the group of Gene Soldiers!

No one expected that the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal would actually use the Forbidden Artifact labeled "dangerous' for this battle, completely violating the organization's internal rules!

Li Dongze looked at the dissipating sandstorm: "It's not enough, we need to end the battle quickly."

Saying this, he took off his black trench coat and threw it on the ground, walking towards the Spiderweb Barrier in a black suit, combing his semi-long hair back and tying it as he walked: "You guys wait here for support, I'll go in and take a look."

San Yue calmly said: "Don't die, I don't want to personally contain you."

Li Dongze laughed: "Then let Si Yue do it."

Can Qing Ji defeat Storm Duke? He knew very well he couldn't.

On one side is a Demi-God, and on the other side is an A-class. This gap cannot be bridged by slogans or determination.

Black Widow turned and left with Qing Chen on her back. Storm Duke wanted to pursue and kill, but Qing Ji stood in his way.

"Get out of the way," Storm Duke forcibly accelerated, intending to kill Qing Chen first and then return to kill Qing Ji.

But as soon as he moved, Qing Ji shadow-like judged his path, instantly throwing dozens of punches in his path, causing the entire space to vibrate.

The Qing Family's martial arts heritage is strange. Storm Duke didn't want to withstand this spatial vibration, and was forced to retreat.

He calmly looked at Qing Ji: "An A-class blocking a Demi-God, commendable courage."

Qing Ji said seriously: "My duty is to protect him."

Although Qing Chen is already a Demi-God, he is only A-class, but his duty is to protect Qing Chen.

Even if Qing Chen becomes a god one day, Qing Ji will still earnestly protect Qing Chen from the wind and rain. This is the meaning of his Cultivation.

Only in this way will his epitaph deserve those six words.

In the long street, Storm Duke slowly put on a pair of black knuckle dusters, the deep black seemed to swallow light, causing the area around his hands to fall into darkness for a moment.

Storm Duke disappeared in place, reappearing in front of Qing Ji.

Qing Ji only had time to block his arms in front of his chest. With a loud bang, he was knocked flying.

Everyone underestimated Storm Duke's strength.

Arbiters are not good at close combat, because they are like Chen Family painters and Yin-Yang Masters, synonymous with mages. While they can curse invisibly, their physical bodies are extremely weak.

If it were ordinary A-class Arbiters, Qing Ji might be able to take on three at once.

But this Storm Duke is different. He is a hybrid of a giant and a human, lacking the giant's height and clumsiness, but possessing more power and speed, and he can also grow by consuming food.

This is also why the Roosevelt King believes that new humans are the future of the kingdom: The future world does not belong to the current old humans, nor to giants, but to new humans.

So when Storm Duke fought Qing Ji, as an Arbiters, he displayed a speed almost comparable to a Knight, and his body was naturally stronger and tougher than a Knight!

Qing Ji spat out a mouthful of blood. He is a top expert in East Continent, and even when facing a Demi-God, he has confidence in fighting for a while, or even escaping.

But in front of this Storm Duke, he was at a disadvantage in just one round.

Moreover, when the black knuckle duster struck Qing Ji, black mist seeped into his body, causing his movements to gradually slow down, like a neuroparalytic toxin.

Forbidden Artifact, a black mage's boxing gloves.

The figures of the two were shrouded in the shadows of the buildings. Qing Ji opened a Shadow Gate to get behind Storm Duke. The Key Gate and Shadow Gate could no longer leave the Spiderweb Barrier, but they could still be used within the barrier.

Qing Ji threw a punch, but Storm Duke seemed to foresee the future, as if waiting there, catching his fist and kicking him in the waist!

Qing Ji's hip bone made a crunching sound, it was broken!

Fate Weaver!

Preemptive strike!

This inheritance that Storm Duke was willing to live only 60 years to master showed its terrifying power in this battle.

It's not that Qing Ji is weak, but Storm Duke possesses too many advantages, so that no one can deal with him in a head-on battle.

A physique far exceeding that of human Cultivation practitioners, speed comparable to a Knight's, god-like battle intuition, all these added to one person, the Roosevelt King actually created a monster.

Storm Duke calmly said: "Do you think Black Widow can take him away? There are already thousands of death soldiers waiting for them to throw themselves into the net inside the Spiderweb Barrier. Your sacrifice is meaningless."

Qing Ji wiped the corner of his mouth, but did not retreat: "I only need to do my own thing. I rarely trust others, and I hope she won't disappoint me."

He wanted to stand up, but with his broken pelvis, he couldn't.

"Foolish…" Storm Duke disappeared again.

Qing Ji's eyes showed a look of relief, and he secretly held a copper coin in his hand.

Forbidden Artifact ACE-062, Judgment Coin.

Containment condition: If the host dies to protect others, the Judgment Coin will automatically be thrown before death. If it lands on the reverse side, the perpetrator will be judged, those below A-class will die without a doubt, while those above A-class will be bound by rules, their eyes blinded.

This is the Forbidden Artifact most suitable for Qing Ji's lineage. They are born to protect the Qing Zhen bloodline, and their last resort is to use their lives to pay the price.

The containment condition of this Forbidden Artifact is the host's life.

But just as Storm Duke was about to smash Qing Ji's head with a punch, the path he took suddenly had an air burst, blasting him back!

Storm Duke slid backward more than ten meters on the ground, and after standing still, he calmly looked at the high-rise building beside him. Li Dongze stood on the rooftop thoughtfully: "You are a Demi-God, we are A-class, it shouldn't be shameful to team up to fight you."

Storm Duke looked up at Li Dongze: "Useless struggle."

In an instant, he leaped, his body defying the laws of physics, sprinting upward along the vertical wall of the building!

Qing Ji's pupils constricted, he saw that Storm Duke's black boots were unusually strange, old in appearance, yet supporting…

Another Forbidden Artifact!

The battle of Demi-Gods continued without damage.

Now that it's a life-or-death situation, all the top experts from East and West Continents have taken out their trump cards. Li Dongze raised his right hand, constantly compressing the air between them to create air bombs one after another, but Storm Duke seemed to be divinely aided, dodging them time and again. He sprinted vertically on the building wall, able to run in a zigzag path.

One glass window after another shattered behind Storm Duke, showering the ground like a rain, like the dust and sand stirred up by a car in the desert.

Li Dongze knew he couldn't win, and immediately retreated, but Storm Duke was too fast, he had nowhere to retreat.

Storm Duke, clad in black robes, leaped up, flying like a great owl, leaping onto the rooftop.

Storm Duke threw a punch, Ye Wan flashed out from behind Li Dongze, using a honeycomb-shaped, virtual yellow energy shield to withstand the blow!

However, the honeycomb-shaped energy shield shattered!

Three A-class experts attacked in succession, but couldn't even stop Storm Duke!

At this time, the cracks in the Spiderweb Barrier began to slowly close, as if this land had never been affected by the Forbidden Artifact. This world within a ten-kilometer radius was "healing'.

Li Dongze flew back, pulling Ye Wan and leaping from the 21st-floor building. He shouted, "Qing Ji, the Spiderweb Barrier is open, run!"

He and Ye Wan jumped from the building at the same time. Ye Wan opened her glider wings, pulling Li Dongze to fly into the distance.

Qing Ji hesitated for a moment on the ground, but finally opened the Shadow Gate, and someone pulled him into the gate.

The battle stopped.

The sandstorm had dissipated, the cracks in the Spiderweb Barrier were gone, and the cockroach tide hid underground.

Fires were burning everywhere in the Royal Capital, leaving only a mess.

Storm Duke pressed the communicator: "Have you found Joker?"

Someone hesitantly responded from the communicator: "Sorry, Your Grace, we haven't. Our encirclement failed, two directions were broken through by the enemy, and Joker may have escaped from those two directions."

Storm Duke was expressionless. Once the Spiderweb Barrier failed, with the existence of Shadow Gate and Key Gate, it would be unrealistic to keep Joker.

Storm Duke stood on the rooftop, but showed no disappointment. Fate Weaver had already gotten what it wanted.

When fate intersects, even the enemy may not know what Fate Weaver has taken from the river of fate.

It's just strange that after Qing Chen injected the medicine, his figure gradually disappeared from the God's-eye view.

Black Widow carried Qing Chen and quickly ran towards the edge of the Spiderweb Barrier.

However, Black Widow didn't wait for the Spiderweb Barrier to disappear. She whispered: "While the sandstorm obscures the surveillance's vision, let's hide in my safe house first. I understand Fate Weaver, there must be a backup at the edge of the Spiderweb Barrier, it's unrealistic to just barge out. Hiding in the safe house, we'll wait for the storm to pass before notifying Qing Ji to come and pick us up."

Black Widow brought someone to the underground parking lot. She opened a sewage system inspection door and waded forward carrying the unconscious Qing Chen.

They walked upstream for two kilometers, and Black Widow groped for something on the wall.

Half a minute later, she found a brick and pressed it hard, and a stone door opened, inside were many boxes wrapped in oiled cloth.

Black Widow found a plastic bucket and splashed the liquid inside outside the stone door.

Someone curiously asked: "What is this?"

"Something to mask the smell…" Black Widow said, "We just walked against the drainage direction, this liquid will mix with the sewage and float down, erasing our trail. It will all evaporate in 5 minutes, leaving no trace."

Entering the safe house, Black Widow finally breathed a sigh of relief. She carefully placed Qing Chen on a camp bed: "When will he wake up?"

Someone shook their head: "I'm not sure, there's no information to refer to."

Black Widow sat beside Qing Chen. The Cancer cell recombination is complete, but Qing Chen still hasn't woken up.

Someone looked at Black Widow and said: "My father once said that for that path, body reconstruction is just the "preface' before the beginning. Qing Chen's danger is just beginning."

The safe house fell silent. Qing Chen lay quietly clutching the black True Sight Eye, even his breathing had disappeared, as if he were already dead.

City 5 Ginkgo Garden, Old Master Qing Xun looked at Qing Ji's miserable state: "You've worked hard."

Qing Ji shook his head: "Not hard, having a broken life is fortunate enough."

A woman in a white suit, Li Kerou, had already summoned a mute servant to urgently treat Qing Ji's injuries.

Old Master calmly shook his head: "No, the four teams responsible for picking him up didn't wait for him, but it doesn't matter."

Qing Ji asked: "Has Qing Chen been brought back?"

Qing Ji struggled to get up: "I'm going to find him!"

Li Kerou said: "Pelvic fracture, even if you're an A-class expert, you need to stay in bed for a month."

Old Master smiled: "This is the best arrangement of fate, don't worry."

"What about the future?" Qing Ji asked, "Can he become a god?"

"I don't know…" Old Master admitted frankly.

"Huh?" Qing Ji was puzzled, "Can't you see fragments of fate with the Heavenly Chessboard, why don't you know?"

"It's okay to tell you now…" Old Master said, "The moment he finished injecting the medicine, he began to be peeled away from this world. Whether it's Fate Weaver or the Heavenly Chessboard, they were ultimately born in this world, relying on the will of the world to exist. Their rules can forcibly judge everything, only because the will of the world allows them to do so."

Old Master: "But it's different now. Qing Chen no longer belongs to this world. He himself is a world. Simply put, from today onwards, all Forbidden Artifacts will no longer be useful to him, they may even repel each other. The Heavenly Chessboard can't see his fate, and neither can Fate Weaver."

Arbiters can't curse him.

Fate Weaver's God's-eye view doesn't have him.

He is no longer a pawn on the Heavenly Chessboard, but another heaven and earth outside the chessboard.

From now on, only Qing Chen himself knows his fate.

Qing Ji was stunned: "Since you can't see, why did you… What if he fails?"

"Why did I go to such great lengths to help him reach this point? I'm gambling, even I'm not sure if I can win," Old Master laughed.

"Then why are Li Shutong, Li Yunshou willing to cooperate with you…" Qing Ji asked.

Old Master sat beside Qing Ji's bed, lost in thought: "I, along with them, have seen thousands of fates, but no matter which fate it is, the outcome is failure. Only the current fate is one we can't see."

In fact, before Li Yunshou died calmly, he didn't know whether East Continent could win.

Thousands of methods couldn't save East Continent, whether this last one would work or not, no one knew.

No one knows if Qing Chen can become a god, no one knows whether Qing Chen will live or die after this step, but these humans with great determination dare to gamble.

In fact, those who have sacrificed themselves for fate are braver than imagined. They didn't choose victory, but after seeing thousands of failures, they chose not to give up.

Old Master laughed: "It's like the last meter of Qingshan Cliff, the rest is Qing Chen's own path."

Qing Ji: "If he succeeds?"

Old Master: "Then what is Roosevelt Kingdom?"

Qing Ji: "Then if he fails?"

Old Master: "At least we tried."

At this time, Li Dongze, Li Shutong, San Yue, and others returned to City 5 through the Key Gate. Everyone's pupils suddenly constricted, Li Shutong was actually carrying the half-dead Phoenix Duke!

This Knight Demi-God actually captured a Duke from West Continent!

The Phoenix Duke's body was covered in porcelain-like cracks, brutally beaten to pieces by Li Shutong!

Old Master laughed: "Not a small harvest."

Li Shutong didn't ask why Qing Chen didn't come back. He had already seen today's fragment of fate, and naturally knew that Qing Chen's whereabouts were currently unknown, they couldn't find him, and neither could West Continent.

He threw the Phoenix Duke to the ground: "He should still have a Forbidden Artifact keeping him alive, taking the Forbidden Artifact will kill him."

San Yue said: "Kill him, I'll interrogate him."

Li Shutong thought for a moment, personally gouged out the Phoenix Duke's eyes and handed them to Li Dongze: "Qing Chen's friend Shendai Yunluo seems to need this, send it to him."

He groped on the Phoenix Duke's body for a moment, and found a porcelain doll from the other's chest. The porcelain doll was also covered in cracks, and the cracks were exactly the same as those on the Phoenix Duke's body.

The moment Li Shutong took away the porcelain doll, the cracks on the Phoenix Duke's body immediately gushed with blood, and he died.

San Yue took out a wooden mallet and a wooden fish, sat cross-legged beside the corpse and softly recited the opening verse of the Earth Store Sutra: "The unsurpassed, profound, subtle Dharma, encountered with difficulty over hundreds of millions of kalpas. I now see, hear, obtain, and uphold it. May I understand the true meaning of the Tathagata."

In an instant, a green soul appeared on the Phoenix Duke's corpse, the gouged-out eyes were empty, and the expression was dull.

Forkbidden Artifact ACE-015, the wooden fish from Fayun Temple. Sacrificing a life can interrogate a soul, and the soul exists for 5 minutes.

San Yue asked: "What is the containment condition of the porcelain doll?"

The Phoenix Duke said dully: "Marry it, never betray it for life."

As soon as the words fell, everyone turned to look at Qing Ji. This thing seems suitable for Qing Ji!

Qing Ji raised an eyebrow: "Why are you all looking at me?! Are you giving me a single buff?! I have the Shadow Gate, I must stay single for life, even if the marriage partner is a Forbidden Artifact, it won't work!"

Li Shutong pondered: "That's true!"

San Yue coldly said: "Only five minutes, don't chat."

Old Master said: "I'll ask, what is West Continent doing outside this battlefield?"

Phoenix Duke: "Covering the Kingdom's land army's arrival in East Continent. The King is worried that the transport ships on the coast will be destroyed, so he designed this trap to divert attention. At this time, the land army should have already arrived in the six northern cities of East Continent, preparing to attack the southwestern Qing Family."

Old Master asked: "How many troops does West Continent have left?"

Phoenix Duke: "Apart from the garrison troops, none. The Guardians' Union has the Key Gate, its mobility is too strong. His Majesty the King wants to attack the southwestern Qing Family, so the Guardians' Union must give up high mobility to protect the southwest."

Everyone's hearts sank. Roosevelt Kingdom was actually going to abandon its original base, using offense instead of defense in East Continent!

And this plan to hunt Qing Chen was just a prelude to a full-scale invasion.

The most bizarre thing about this battle is that even if they were fully prepared, Fate Weaver shouldn't have suffered such a loss: none of them died, but West Continent lost a Phoenix Duke.

This is not up to Fate Weaver's standard.

Like the battle of Silver City, all the people of East Continent thought they had won, but the other side took away the Death's Cup, a key Forbidden Artifact. Fate Weaver always likes to hide the real target in the deep sea.

Old Master solemnly asked: "Who is the target of this hunt? What does Fate Weaver want?"

Phoenix Duke: "Forbidden Artifact, Ant Queen."

Qing Ji frowned: "Xiao San is in danger."