Even without its body, the Mechanical Dog's head continued to function.
However, the moment Li Ban reached out and touched it, the head completely powered down, slamming into his palm like a heavy iron hammer.
Although Li Ban could raise his hand, he had no strength left. Unable to stop the momentum of the Mechanical Dog's head, his hand was carried backward, smashing right into his own chest.
"Cough, cough, cough—"
The impact left him coughing violently.
As he coughed, he looked down. The eyes of the Mechanical Dog's head that had rolled into his lap had turned into a black screen filled with garbled code.
The head, which had just been endlessly gnashing its teeth in midair, had fallen completely silent the moment it landed on Li Ban.
Even Nana noticed that something was wrong.
She looked at the quiet dog head in Li Ban's hands, then glanced at the frantic battle the others were fighting.
Li Ban gripped the dog head, thinking to himself, 'The Virus can only spread through direct contact. This efficiency is a bit too slow. Especially since this body of mine still can't move.'
As if sensing Li Ban's dissatisfaction, the system actually chimed in again.
[Detected that the element "Virus" has acquired a second ability: Command Override.]
"What did you do? That's amazing. Can you help my companions?" Nana whispered her plea when she saw Li Ban remain motionless, quickly spraying an icy mist onto his wounds.
Li Ban glanced at the bald Luca not far away.
Just a moment ago, when the second Mechanical Dog had lunged at them, it was Luca who shattered it with a single shot.
Otherwise, if Li Ban had wanted to use the Virus to stop the second Mechanical Dog, he probably would have had to let it take a bite out of him first.
He tossed aside the dog head in his hand and reached out to touch a fully intact Mechanical Dog lying nearby.
Activating ability, "Command Override"!
In the next second, the Mechanical Dog that had been lying motionless suddenly stood up. Its eyes lit up once more, but they were no longer their original blue; instead, they shone a terrifying, bloody red.
The metal teeth in the dog's mouth trembled slightly, still stained with Li Ban's blood.
Hideous and bizarre, it looked far more like a villain than any of the other blue-eyed Mechanical Dogs.
Then, this red-eyed Mechanical Dog that had suddenly sprung to life didn't attack Li Ban or Nana right beside it. Instead, it spun around and charged at another Mechanical Dog attacking Ah She and the others.
The most shocking part was that any blue-eyed Mechanical Dog whose head was bitten by the red-eyed Mechanical Dog would instantly act as if it had been touched by Li Ban. Its eyes would dim, and it would collapse motionless to the ground.
Because the chips in those Mechanical Dogs simply lacked any programming to defend against their own kind, they didn't know how to dodge or fight back even when attacked by the red-eyed Mechanical Dog.
Meanwhile, the command the red-eyed Mechanical Dog had received was simple: kill all blue-eyed Mechanical Dogs within its line of sight.
As a result, the members of the Ash Alliance quickly noticed that one of the Mechanical Dogs seemed to have suffered a programming bug, rushing around to bite its own kind.
And the bitten Mechanical Dogs would crash and power down in an instant.
The exceptionally agile Mechanical Dogs, which had been so difficult to fight against, were quickly all taken down.
Out of the fifty or so members of the Ash Alliance, only ten were injured; the rest narrowly escaped disaster.
The most heavily injured among them was still Li Ban, whose body couldn't dodge freely.
After all the blue-eyed Mechanical Dogs completely crashed, the red-eyed Mechanical Dog finally stopped its attacks.
Like a true hunting hound, it wagged its tail, slowly walked over to Li Ban's side, and lay back down, as if waiting for his next command.
Li Ban let out a long breath.
Using the element "Virus" drained him far more than he had anticipated.
His vision was currently darkening in waves, making him feel as though he was on the verge of passing out.
He could only admit that it truly lived up to being a high-grade element.
In the distance, two people carrying a mechanical chair approached, bringing their Priest over.
The Priest sitting on the chair forced himself to sit up straight and nodded to Li Ban in greeting. "Thank you for your help, Your Excellency. I am Zhong Ye, a Priest of the Ash Alliance. May I ask what Tier of Priest you are?"
Before the old man even finished speaking, an uproar immediately swept through the shaken crowd around them.
If they had been filled with shock and fear when Li Ban was manipulating the red-eyed Mechanical Dog to destroy the others just a moment ago, hearing that Li Ban was also a Priest turned that fear into sheer reverence.
They were still afraid, but a glimmer of hope began to appear in the eyes looking toward him.
Only Nana, who was supporting Li Ban, started to tremble.
Li Ban looked at Zhong Ye and shook his head. Sensing that his body was nearing its absolute limit, he simply fell backward and closed his eyes.
He didn't know how to explain, had no way to explain, and couldn't be bothered to explain.
He simply returned to the Wizard World.
He believed that after his little display just now, these people would most likely think he was a stranded Priest with the power to protect them, yet suffering from a severely weakened body.
This group wouldn't easily abandon him again, nor would they try to sell off his limbs.
He had actually learned this trick from Cat Girl.
Either way, I'm not explaining anything. You guys can guess for yourselves.
Upon returning to the Wizard World, Li Ban still felt deeply tense, exhausted, and miserable.
He rubbed his forehead and opened his eyes, immediately hearing Cat Girl speaking from above.
"What happened to you?"
"I overused my elemental ability." Li Ban sat up, still rubbing his forehead. "You sleep first. I need to replenish my spiritual rhinoceros tonight."
Cat Girl flopped down onto the bed with a thud. "You still need to get some proper sleep after you finish replenishing it."
"Yeah, I'll sleep for a bit before dawn."
Cat Girl didn't ask why Li Ban had overused his elemental ability while sleeping, just like she didn't ask why he had suddenly insisted she keep watch the other night.
The night passed wordlessly.
Early the next morning, someone came knocking on their door.
The servant knocking was the same one who had attended to them yesterday. Standing behind him were Miss Lan Xue and a woman dressed in men's clothing.
The one who answered the door was "Jun'er."
After Deng Jun opened the main door, he looked at the two women outside in confusion, shooting a vicious glare at the servant.
"What is it?"
Bringing two pretty girls over this early in the morning made the maid "Jun'er" very unhappy, and his tone was stiff.
Lan Xue stepped forward and bowed, speaking softly. "Miss, yesterday Young Master Wen wished to invite our Lady Kui for a medical consultation, but Lady Kui was away. Lady Kui returned this morning and came straight here to see him. Could you please notify him?"
Deng Jun's heart skipped a beat when he heard that the famous physician of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, Lady Kui, had personally come for a consultation.
'Could it be that Li Ban or Cat Girl is severely injured and had to call for a doctor?'
Having interacted with them for the past few days, Deng Jun hadn't noticed anyone being seriously hurt.
However, Li Ban and Cat Girl were definitely on guard against him, so it was only natural that he wouldn't know.
Standing behind the others, Lady Kui did not miss the flash of surprise that crossed Deng Jun's eyes.
She rubbed the jade pendant at her waist with her fingers, her face remaining entirely composed.
Since they were here for a medical consultation, Deng Jun naturally couldn't stop them, so he led the two women to wait in the main hall.
When Li Ban and Cat Girl emerged, Li Ban was still yawning, while Cat Girl looked utterly radiant and full of energy.
Lady Kui looked at the lethargic Li Ban before her gaze ultimately landed on Cat Girl.
Since there was someone in the room who didn't know the patient's true identity, as an experienced physician, she wouldn't be the one to expose it.
When Li Ban saw Lady Kui, something about the look in her eyes stirred a reaction in him.
He wasn't formidable enough to confirm someone's identity merely from the feeling of being watched, so he only felt a vague sensation without knowing where it came from.
Lan Xue was the first to step forward and bow. "Young Master Wen, this is our Hundred Flowers Pavilion's Lady Kui. Lady Kui just returned this morning and came over immediately."
Dressed in silver-white men's clothing, Lady Kui stepped forward and cupped her hands in greeting. "Young Master Wen, may I ask who is in need of a consultation?"
Li Ban pulled Cat Girl forward from behind him. "It's my maid, Miaomiao. She's usually lively and active, but whenever it gets slightly cold or hot, she always feels unwell. I must trouble Lady Kui to help examine her. If there's no actual illness, please just prescribe some nourishing tonics. Don't worry, the consultation fee is not a problem."
"Very well. Then please have Miss Miaomiao rest in the inner chamber for a moment."
Li Ban and Lady Kui entered the east bedroom, while the others were held back outside.
Having completed her task and without any other arrangements, Lan Xue had no choice but to take her leave.
As she left, she cast an envious glance at the window of the east room.
Once the servant also left the courtyard, Deng Jun turned his head and asked Shi Ming, "Is Miaomiao feeling unwell?"
Shi Ming, however, punched his palm. "Those two aren't normal."
Deng Jun secretly rolled his eyes, thinking that Shi Ming was just playing dumb.
Meanwhile, in the east bedroom, Lady Kui wasn't in any rush to check the pulse of Miaomiao, who had lain down.
After carefully closing the door, she walked over to Li Ban and suddenly bowed deeply in formal salute.
Li Ban frowned, completely baffled.
"Lady Kui, what is the meaning of this?"
Lady Kui straightened up, her face extremely solemn and serious. "Does Young Master Wen possess Cyan Silk Algae Seeds?"
Li Ban's expression instantly changed. He reached out with a backhand grip, seizing Lady Kui by the throat and slamming her against the table.
A teacup on the table was swept aside by Lady Kui's long hair and toppled off the edge.
Halfway to the floor, it was caught by a delicate, pale hand.
Cat Girl sat on a stool holding the teacup, sipping the leftover tea while looking at the two of them with a giggling smile.
It was as if she were just watching a good show.
Even she didn't know that Li Ban had Cyan Silk Algae Seeds on him. How did this Lady Kui find out?
It seemed the other party wasn't here for a medical consultation, but to make a deal.
After pinning her down, Li Ban didn't immediately deliver a lethal strike.
Cyan Silk Algae Seeds could be cultivated into the high-grade element, Cyan Silk Algae.
That alone was enough to make many people murder for the treasure.
But this Lady Kui, who only had the strength of the 3rd Tier, chose to lay everything out in the open while visiting alone. He wanted to hear what she had to say.
Of course, if they couldn't come to an agreement, he would just kill her, and they would evacuate immediately.
The Pavilion Master, the highest authority of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, was only at the 5th Tier.
Neither Cat Girl nor Li Ban had much to worry about.
Lady Kui initially felt her throat tighten, but after being pinned to the table, the other party actually loosened his grip slightly, allowing her to speak and breathe normally.
She cleared her throat, offering no resistance and making no struggle to get up, signaling that she harbored no ill intent and posed no threat whatsoever. She knew that coming here today was incredibly risky, but she had her own reasons for taking that risk.
"What do you mean by that?" Even though Li Ban already had her pinned down, he did not verbally admit to anything. "Do you realize that claiming we possess Cyan Silk Algae Seeds could easily get us killed?"
Li Ban wore a cold expression and spoke with absolute certainty, yet he didn't strike with heavy force. This actually made Lady Kui doubt herself for a moment.
However, until she confirmed for certain that the other party did not have the Cyan Silk Algae Seeds, she was not going to easily back down or give up.
"Please don't be angry, Young Master Wen. I came here entirely alone, so I have absolutely no intention of leaking this information. As for why I said it—"
"Young Master Wen is also a Spirit Practitioner. Did you know that last September, our Hundred Flowers Pavilion won the main stalk of a Cyan Silk Algae at an auction held by the Eternal Trading Association?"
"I happen to carry that sprouting main stalk on my person. Because of this, I am extremely sensitive to the scent of Cyan Silk Algae sprouts, and Young Master Wen happens to carry that exact scent. Therefore, I took the risk of asking."