Stepping on one would launch you high and far.

It was easy to get hurt from the fall.

However, I’d heard that most people in Ruijia had relatively strong Constitutions, so taking a tumble wasn’t a big deal.

Sigh.

’No wonder this is the land of Warriors. Such barbaric customs.’

’Lorren’s Celestial Passage Bridge was so much better.’

Lu Cang leaped between rooftops and walls, using one springboard after another.

A single jump could cover several hundred meters.

Leng Qingying followed at Lu Cang’s side. As Lu Cang passed by each Church, his Perception enveloped it, and he simultaneously finished breaking its Restrictions.

The Dark Church still had a Level 7 Restriction.

’It’s the same in both Lorren and Ruijia. Did they hire a powerful expert to lay down the Seals when the Churches were first built?’

’After all, the major Churches are all global organizations.’

’In terms of influence, any single Church is far more powerful than the nations of Lorren and Ruijia.’

’Even if both these nations were to fall,’

’These Churches would remain powers that ordinary people could never afford to provoke.’

"The Light Church still has a Level 6 Restriction... The others—the Cold, Lucky, Peace, and Life Churches—all have Level 6 Restrictions as well."

’The Restriction on Ruijia’s Cold Church seems to be one level higher than the one in Lorren?’

’Oh, I heard that Iz was the one who robbed the Cold Church in Ruijia. Did they deliberately reinforce security because of that theft?’

’I’ll rule out the Life Church for now.’

’We have someone on the inside, after all.’

The Light, Dark, Cold, Lucky, Peace, and Life Churches were the mainstream denominations on the Ruelun Continent.

They were basically the Churches related to the Moon.

Of course, that wasn’t all of them... Some of the less reputable Churches weren’t established out in the open.

For example, worship of Death and War was forbidden.

Additionally, the Fourth Moon, which represents chaos and madness, was also considered a Cult.

Beyond that, the White Tower, which venerated knowledge, was equivalent to a Church of Knowledge.

After a quick survey, Lu Cang returned to the inn.

"Hmm... let’s start with the Dark Church. Then, we’ll see what’s worth taking from inside the Light Church. After that, we’ll check out the Lucky Church, then the Cold Church, and finally the Peace Church, which probably has the least to offer."

"After we’re done with the Churches, we’ll go to the Imperial Palace and find the Forbidden Book Library..."

Having scouted the area, Lu Cang had already planned everything meticulously.

Iz: "Alright, we’ll do it your way."

...

「Afternoon.」

In the sky during the month of Death and Destruction, the sun gave off little light or heat. It was merely a pale disk hanging in the sky, casting a miserable light upon the land.

The entire sky was cloudless, yet it was filled with numerous holes.

It was as if something had bitten chunks out of it, piece by piece.

This was the month’s celestial phenomenon of ruin. Just by looking up at the sky, one constantly felt that the world was broken.

Lu Cang and Leng Qingying were situated outside the Dark Church. They sat facing each other in a restaurant, having ordered two bowls of noodles...

They were a mere 800 meters from the Forbidden Hall.

Leng Qingying remained in her seat, while her Illusion materialized directly inside the Forbidden Hall.

SWOOSH!

Sensing the Illusion appear inside the hall, the corners of Lu Cang’s mouth lifted into a smile.

’It worked!’

’Just as I thought. This is the safest way.’

’With the door sealed by a Restriction from the outside, it was indeed inconvenient for me to barge in.’

’I don’t know Space Magic, so I can’t just walk through walls.’

’The door is sealed tight and can only be opened via the Restriction.’

’Even though I have control over the Restriction, directly using it to open the door would cause too much of a commotion.’

’Of course, I also considered letting the "Source" float inside and then switching places with it.’

’But the door was truly seamless, without the slightest crack.’

’After thinking it over, even though I could come up with plenty of ways to get in...’

’...doing it myself just didn’t seem safe, no matter the method.’

’What if they had other detection methods? What if they’d laid other traps inside the Forbidden Hall, ones I couldn’t sense, in addition to the Restrictions?’

’Having Leng Qingying’s Illusion do the job was the safest approach.’

Inside the Forbidden Hall, the great doors remained sealed shut.

There wasn’t a sliver of light in the entire hall, only absolute darkness.

However, as a Level 4 Assassin, Leng Qingying possessed Dark Vision and could see clearly in the darkness.

At this moment, Leng Qingying was wearing a mask, her face also disguised.

If anything went wrong, the Illusion would be canceled immediately...

"Nothing’s out of the ordinary."

Leng Qingying’s Illusion and her real body shared the same Perception. So even though she was sitting right in front of Lu Cang...

...it was as if she were personally there, inside the Forbidden Hall.

"Mm."

With a slight nudge of his will, Lu Cang guided Leng Qingying’s gaze.

Leng Qingying’s Perception focused on a sealed scroll.

"Copy this first."

This was the scroll with the most Restriction Seals on it. If they were going to copy anything, it had to be this one first.

Next, under Lu Cang’s guidance, Leng Qingying created Replicas of everything recorded in text and images, one by one, in order of value.

The copies of these scrolls were all drawn into her Storage Space.

The greatest strength of Leng Qingying’s Illusion was its ability to replicate the Effects of all the equipment she carried.

However, any Special Effects were activated by her real body.

For example, with the Storage Space, it didn’t mean eight new Storage Spaces were created for her eight Illusions.

Instead, anything stored by the eight Illusions would flow into her main body’s Storage Bag.

Replication complete...

Lu Cang took another look around.

There was indeed a murky, dark sphere at the very center, constantly rotating and sealed by hundreds of Restrictions.

But these were mostly Restrictions that sealed its Effects, sealed its power, and prevented its use.

’I have a feeling that if this thing were ever truly released...’

’...it wouldn’t be a question of its usefulness, but of its danger.’

’I feel like it would explode if I let it out...’

’Not everything can be controlled just by removing its Restrictions.’

’It’s also possible the Restriction itself is what’s sealing away something dangerous. Undoing it might just be setting it free.’

’Forget it,’ Lu Cang thought. ’I don’t want to do anything too risky.’

He had Leng Qingying swipe two pure black Daggers, a bag of pure black crystals, an ink-colored bone, and a complete set of ink-colored Light Clothing before having her leave.

In fact, every single item had a corresponding Restriction Seal on it.

Too bad for them...

The Restrictions could be broken with a single thought.

The two paid for their noodles and returned to the inn, where Iz had already set up a Restriction, to rest for a bit.

"Lu Cang! These two Daggers!"

Leng Qingying brandished the Daggers. A faint black crack appeared in Space where the blades passed.

「Black Rift」 and 「Dark Erosion」

A pair of Daggers.

And that suit of ink-colored clothing—after Leng Qingying put it on, she vanished from Lu Cang’s Perception.

A moment later, she stepped out from the nearby shadows.

The whole process was silky smooth. Even more terrifying, she was completely outside his Perception...

’It couldn’t be that my Perception was being blocked.’

"This clothing... it lets me merge completely into the darkness..."

Leng Qingying looked at the two Daggers and the clothing on her body, unable to tear her eyes away.

But soon, she was looking at Lu Cang with pleading eyes.

"Lu Cang..."

"Sigh. I don’t have a use for them right now, so you can go ahead and use them...

"Consider it a reward for coming on this adventure with me."

’Stealing from the Church was risky, after all.’

’And since I had Leng Qingying take the risk, I couldn’t just have her do all the work without sharing the spoils.’

Lu Cang said, "This is just the first one."

"I don’t know if they regularly inventory the contents of the Forbidden Hall."

"We have to finish this operation as quickly as possible."

"The longer we drag it out, the more likely something will go wrong."

"Oh, right... When you go to the Light Church in a bit, don’t wear anything related to darkness."

...

「Half an hour later.」

Lu Cang and Leng Qingying were in a shop, standing before a shelf and staring at the merchandise.

Meanwhile, Leng Qingying’s Illusion had already infiltrated the Light Church.

’Things I didn’t dare take back in Lorren... but now, here in the Ruijia Kingdom and with two accomplices, the situation was completely different.’