Celestial Human Diagram

Chapter 328 - 59: Sacrifice

As the man kowtowed several times in a row, the flesh and blood on the stone plate gradually turned into a black, putrid substance, while wisps of white smoke emerged from the seven orifices of the Raccoon Cat Stone Carving.

The man raised his head. He knew it was working.

As a renowned Cleaner, he didn’t rely solely on martial prowess to solve problems like other Fighters. In his hands, he controlled a supernatural entity bound by an ancient religion.

This "thing" was far more effective than face-to-face combat or firearms.

The condition to activate the entity was simple: he, the master of the ritual, had to be attacked by someone else.

In the old days, the ritual’s master would have had to be there in person, but with technological advancements, that was no longer necessary.

A person’s Biological Domain is considered an extension of their physical body. Therefore, he only needed to use Domain Technology to project his own Domain onto the scene and create an unnerving atmosphere. Once the target tried to attack it or drive it away, the condition would be met.

The process seemed simple, but it wasn’t. For example, if the target simply turned off their Realm Token, all of his efforts would be for naught.

So, he took three steps. First, he probed to see if the target had a Resonator backing them. It turned out they did, so he had to interfere with and block this Resonator ahead of time.

Second, he had the patient with the functional disorder make contact with the target. This was to plant a strong signal from his own Domain onto the target’s Realm Token at close range. That way, during their next encounter, he could remotely operate it and prevent it from being shut down for a short time.

With the first two steps laying the groundwork, he could proceed to the third.

According to his intel, the target went to the Sea Realm Arena one day every month. Since the area was remote and there was only a single, sparsely populated train running daily, he decided to make his move on the train itself.

And to strengthen the entity’s power and kill the target as quickly as possible, he had even offered up a piece of his own internal organs and fragments of his Mutated Organization, performing the ritual kowtow.

Just then, a contact came through on his Realm Token. A monotone voice spoke: "You Xing, the client is asking when you will be able to eliminate the target."

You Xing replied in a dry, hoarse voice, "Tell the client it will be very soon."

Meanwhile, the train had arrived at its station. As Chen Chuan walked out, he suddenly noticed the fading effect on his Second Self abruptly intensify, and it was getting progressively worse.

Within a few steps, his Second Self had become almost completely indistinct, and even his Realm Token was unusable.

He had encountered his fair share of supernatural entities, but he had never seen one attack so fiercely in such a short span of time.

However, his Second Self had grown much stronger since its initial transformation. This growth came from events like his battle with Wei Wusheng and training sessions that yielded tangible progress. Its manifestation time had now reached two days and four hours. So, despite being constantly worn down, it was still able to hold on.

He looked up at the Profound Palace Building ahead. He wouldn’t be allowed to enter the academy with this abnormal condition affecting him.

’He was sure the academy had a way to resolve this, but they might also take the opportunity to investigate his condition.’ So, after a moment’s thought, he stopped walking and turned to leave.

He made his way to the Jinwei Beverage Shop, the one where Teacher Wu had treated him to a drink, and found a place to sit down. The shop had a retro feel. Outside, a light drizzle had just begun to fall. Listening to the piano music from a record player while watching the rain, he found the atmosphere quite pleasant.

He waved over a server, ordered a hot beverage, and picked up a copy of the shop’s newspaper. Leaning back in his chair, he began to slowly flip through it.

’Now it’s a matter of who can outlast whom.’

Inside the dim residence, You Xing continuously rose to his feet only to slam his knees back down in another kowtow. But slowly, he began to feel something was wrong. He hadn’t gotten the result he was waiting for.

The target wasn’t dead.

’Fighters have strong Life Force and can endure for a long time, I know, but it’s been over an hour. And he’s just a Wuyi Student who hasn’t even reached the Third Limit. He should have been devoured by the entity by now. Is it... because he took some kind of drug?’

He suddenly recalled that, according to his intel, this student had once defeated a Third Limit Fighter by taking a drug. If he sensed something was wrong, it was entirely possible he was using a drug to sustain himself.

’In that case...’

His eyes turned fierce. He took a knife, sliced open his already-healed wound, and sprinkled more fragments of Mutated Organization onto the tray before the statue before slamming his head to the floor in another heavy kowtow.

RUSTLE. Chen Chuan turned to a new section of the newspaper. The paper provided by the shop was surprisingly rich in content, covering everything from back-alley gossip to anecdotes about major figures, as well as reviews of various fashion and beverages. It was certainly not a boring read.

Even without his Realm Token, he didn’t feel bored. It was a rare moment of relaxation for him.

The shop was open all night, with its busiest hours being late at night and in the early morning, so he simply decided to stay there for the night.

By dawn, he found the assault was still ongoing, though it had weakened considerably. Even his Realm Token was gradually recovering, but he still couldn’t contact anyone with it.

Based on his past experiences, he judged that the entity hadn’t just given up. ’This feels more like an intermission. There’s probably more to come.’

’This is the most tenacious entity I’ve ever encountered. It looks like I need to make some preparations.’

After some thought, he got up, paid his bill, and took advantage of the lull in the attack to return to the Profound Palace Building. Back in his dorm, he found the last of the Ritual Materials he had leftover.

He had saved them intentionally. They were enough to set up a simple restraining ritual, but he needed to find a suitable location.

He thought for a moment. ’The area around Teacher Wu’s old house would be perfect. It’s desolate, and no one would disturb me there.’ Having made his decision, he swapped his current Realm Token for an old one, grabbed his duffel bag, and headed out the door, making a beeline for the train station.

Inside the dim room, You Xing’s constant kowtowing had worn a depression into the floor in front of him. He had been at it all night, yet still, there was no news of his success.

He began to have a bad feeling. The ritual had a catch: once it started, it required a sacrifice.

If the ritual failed to kill the target, then the burden would most likely fall on him, forcing him to become the sacrifice instead.

’What the hell is going on?’

He was growing extremely agitated, but he couldn’t stop before he had a result. If he stopped, it would mean he was giving up.

So, even as he kowtowed, he tried to check on the outcome. But the target seemed to have entered the Profound Palace Building, and he couldn’t breach its Biological Domain at all. All he could do was continue.

An hour later, Chen Chuan arrived at the wasteland. He chose a collapsed house that offered some shelter from the wind, drew a simple diagram on the ground inside, and then stood in the center of it.

He waited for a while, but nothing seemed to happen. Then, he sensed something and glanced at a shard of broken glass amidst the rubble.

In the reflection, he saw it: a creature shaped like a Raccoon Cat was clinging to his back.

A glint flashed in his eyes. He reached up, grabbed hold of the creature, and slowly began to peel it off his back.

The creature seemed to be made of coalesced smoke. As he pulled, its four limbs held on to him tightly. But under his firm tug, it finally seemed to reach its limit and abruptly dissipated into a cloud before vanishing completely.

At that exact moment, the kowtowing Ghost Walker let out a bloodcurdling scream. Vicious claw marks appeared on his abdomen and back, the flesh peeling away to expose the bone and organs beneath.

He scrambled to the side and swallowed a drug he had prepared in advance. After a moment, his wounds began to close, but his eyes were filled with a mixture of rage, shock, and terror.

The ritual had failed.

He hadn’t died just now. It wasn’t because the entity had spared him; it was waiting for him to heal so it could return to devour his fresher flesh. This process would repeat over and over unless he could kill the original target.

His expression darkened. ’If that’s how it is,’ he thought, ’then I’ll have to use the most direct method.’

Once Chen Chuan could no longer feel the entity’s presence, he left the wasteland and contacted Wubei to explain the situation. Wubei said he hadn’t been able to reach him since the previous day. At first, he assumed someone was intentionally interfering with the Domain signal, but later it seemed there was a problem with Chen Chuan’s Realm Token.

Chen Chuan said, "It must have been the influence of the entity. I switched to a different Realm Token; my original one couldn’t be shut down. It seems like someone tampered with it remotely. Brother Wu, is that technologically possible?"

Wubei said, "Normally, that’s impossible. Unless you had close contact with... right!" he exclaimed. "That patient with the disorder! Yes, it must have been him!

"If there was close-range Domain contact, it’s possible to transmit a strong Domain signal to your Realm Token, Brother Chen. But the technology required is extremely advanced and also needs the assistance of expensive Domain Creatures."

Chen Chuan asked, "So with all that, it is possible?"

Wubei replied, "If it were me, I could barely manage it with those conditions. For someone with more advanced skills, it shouldn’t be hard."

Chen Chuan nodded. "Brother Wu, you mentioned that they likely transmitted a strong Domain signal to my Realm Token to control it. Since they left a Domain trace, can you use it to find them?"

Wubei said, "If the trace from the strong signal hasn’t been erased, then it’s technically possible."

Domain signal connections are relayed through Boundary Points, and they leave information behind for a certain period. Erasing all traces along the entire path is a massive undertaking. The usual method is to just eliminate the traces at the endpoints, which is like shutting the door on the path and making it untraceable.

Chen Chuan thought for a moment. "It should still be there," he said.

"My Realm Token was unusable at the time, so they couldn’t have used it to do anything else to me. Then I returned to the Profound Palace Building. No matter how good their tech is, they couldn’t have tampered with it through the Profound Palace Building’s Domain shield."

Wubei said, "If it’s still there, I have a way to find him."

Chen Chuan nodded and immediately headed back to the academy. He was concerned that bringing the Realm Token out might allow the culprit to detect it and erase the trace. So, following Wubei’s instructions, he placed it back in its original packaging—a box filled with a special resin that could block any Domain interference.

After retrieving the item, he didn’t go to Wubei’s residence. Instead, they arranged to meet in a temporary garage. Chen Chuan arrived first, and Wubei showed up a few minutes later.

The two exchanged brief greetings. Wubei opened the box, quickly took the Realm Token, and inspected it. "The signal’s still here!" he said, pleasantly surprised. He placed his hand on the device and added excitedly, "Let me see if I can find him. Let’s see exactly where he is."

...

...