Li Ban forgot about Priest Yao.
By the time he remembered, he could no longer even see the shadow of the city walls.
Shrinking Ground to an Inch had only succeeded once; he really had no confidence in his ability to transfer back onto the wall.
However, when the carriages entered the city lord's estate in Zhongbei City, Li Ban still saw Priest Yao emerge from her original carriage.
Her expression was as calm as ever, seemingly unbothered by the fact that Li Ban had left her behind on the city wall.
Priest Yao stayed in the main courtyard of the city lord's estate, while Li Yuan and Li Ban settled into the left and right side courtyards, respectively.
Once the carriages had stopped and their belongings were unpacked, Li Ban headed to the main courtyard.
Whether she minded or not, Li Ban felt he ought to apologize in person.
Admitting straight out that he had forgotten her was a bit insulting to her dignity. It would be better to say, "I only succeeded by chance, and I couldn't pull it off again afterward. I am deeply sorry. There were simply too many eyes watching, so I had to wait until now to call on you."
"It's fine," Zhu Yao said softly, gesturing for Li Ban to sit across from her.
Seeing her breezy demeanor, it seemed she really didn't mind. Or perhaps she had just returned on her own right after Li Ban left?
"If you can succeed once, you will succeed a second time. After that, it is just a matter of constant practice and consolidation. Until your intent follows your heart, and your body follows your intent."
Li Ban sat down and drank the water Priest Zhu Yao had poured for him herself.
He found the water crisp and sweet. Even in the growing heat of July, it remained refreshingly cool. It didn't seem like ordinary water.
With one gulp, an icy sensation pierced through his body, followed by an indescribable feeling of comfort.
No wonder Priest Zhu Yao only drank water every time she came here, showing absolutely no interest in tea, wine, or juice.
Seeing Li Ban drain the water in one gulp, Priest Zhu Yao finally brought up the other spell.
"Since you have gained some understanding of Shrinking Ground to an Inch, let me explain the Terror Spell."
"Initially, the Terror Spell was only a strike aimed at the soul, scattering it so it couldn't reform. It was mainly used to prevent massive numbers of evil spirits and raw souls from entering the Wizard World and causing chaos."
At the words "raw souls," Li Ban's eyelids twitched.
In truth, he and Lord Du An had essentially been raw souls at the very beginning too.
But after being acknowledged by a Priest of the Wizard World, they were considered legally transplanted souls.
However, according to Priest Zhu Yao's earlier explanation, any other raw souls that entered the Wizard World through the Nine Heavens Sea or other channels were either sent back or dealt with directly.
The specific method of dealing with them was to shatter them and throw them into the River of Helplessness.
The River of Helplessness flowed toward the Unreturning Place.
But the River of Helplessness wasn't exactly the same as the corpse-filled River of Forgetfulness.
There weren't many corpses in the River of Helplessness. It was just that ordinary people couldn't enter it; they could only draw water from specially treated points.
This was also recorded in the Gazetteer of the Nine Provinces.
The River of Helplessness was originally located in the westernmost part of the Nine Provinces.
West of the River of Helplessness was the Mist Zone. Once inside, life and death were up to fate.
But after the original Yun Province was transformed into the Nihility State by a certain Mutated Element, the River of Helplessness took a few years to naturally change its course, arriving at the borders of Lan Province and Yingzhou.
From then on, it sealed off the dangerous Nihility State, becoming the new border for the remaining eight provinces.
The area west of the River of Helplessness remained a land of great peril, forbidden to ordinary people.
Because the River of Helplessness isolated the dangerous regions, the locals had revered it since ancient times.
Even though the River of Helplessness itself was a dangerous existence.
Now, Li Ban finally understood that the River of Helplessness was actually a river meant to transport raw souls.
Transporting them to the Unreturning Place, so they would never return.
"Ahem." Seemingly noticing Li Ban's wandering thoughts, Priest Zhu Yao coughed lightly to bring him back. "Later, while making adjustments to the Terror Spell, we discovered that trembling the raw soul could also cause someone to lose control of their physical body. Therefore, when adopting different attack methods for different targets, the intent behind our use of the Terror Spell changes as well. It is always twenty-one steps, but from the fifteenth step onward, you can make fine-tuned variations and controls."
Li Ban clicked his tongue lightly. That sounded incredibly difficult.
Next, Priest Zhu Yao earnestly explained the Terror Spell and its practical variations to Li Ban, even giving him a vivid demonstration.
There was no one else present, so the target of this demonstration was naturally Li Ban himself.
Because he didn't resist, Li Ban was knocked flat by Priest Zhu Yao's Terror Spell almost instantly.
When he collapsed onto the exquisite bamboo mat woven from Yingzhou petal-bamboo for the third time, he looked at Priest Zhu Yao sitting leisurely across from him with a peaceful expression. In his heart, Li Ban was absolutely certain—
This was definitely retaliation for him leaving her on the city wall earlier!
Although he had been roughed up a bit, Li Ban truly experienced the different effects caused by various casting methods.
He also vaguely grasped some of the spell's structural rules.
So when Priest Zhu Yao lifted her cup of water to see her guest out, telling him to go back and practice on his own, Li Ban still bowed respectfully to thank her.
After Li Ban left, Priest Zhu Yao suddenly sat up straight, her expression turning serious.
She was the only one in the room.
"Acting recklessly and indulging a playful heart. As punishment, I will cultivate against my inner demons tonight," she muttered to herself.
She raised her hand and brought out the Self-Seeking Mirror from her Cubic Space. The corners of her peach-blossom eyes drooped slightly; clearly, cultivating against inner demons wasn't something she was looking forward to.
Returning to his room, Li Ban first treated Cat Girl's internal injuries. Hearing that Shi Ming had taken Deng Jun out to play in the city, he felt a restless urge.
He hadn't gone strolling through the streets in a long time either.
Of course, Li Ban wasn't looking to buy daily necessities or food; he planned to see if he could find any suitable elements.
Priest Zhu Yao had said that since he was already a Priest, it was best to replace all his elements with ones of Good grade or higher.
Others might have to consider replacing their previous elements, but Li Ban didn't need to.
However, he wanted to prepare a few elements of Good grade or higher for future fusion.
Aside from the Excellent grade Cyan Silk Algae Seed currently gestating and growing, he had two Ordinary grade elements on hand: a Throwing Axe and an Alluring Fragrance. He could sell both.
Coupled with the two thousand plus taels of silver in his possession, he could exchange them for a very nice Good grade element.
If he was lucky enough to encounter an Excellent grade element, he could certainly try for it.
Naturally, Li Ban didn't hold out much hope for an Excellent grade element.
Such things could only be stumbled upon by chance, not actively sought.
The two ownerless Excellent grade elements he had seen before weren't found in the market.
It showed just how highly sought after they were.
Every time, before they could even hit the market, someone else would snatch them up through various means.
Therefore, Li Ban's true goal remained a suitable Good grade element.
After asking Cat Girl, who likely declined out of professional habit, having no intention of wandering the streets, Li Ban had no choice but to go out alone.
When he emerged from the eastern side courtyard of the city lord's estate, one of the guards outside immediately stepped forward and respectfully asked, "Lord Priest, what are your orders?"
Before this, whenever Li Ban came out, someone would always step up to ask—even when he was just heading to the main courtyard to see Priest Zhu Yao.
But this time, Li Ban actually had a use for them.
"Are there any places in Zhongbei City that trade in elements?"
The guard didn't hesitate. "Yes, my lord. There are two places in Zhongbei City that sell elements. One is the Eternal Trading Association, and the other is the fish market, spontaneously organized by civilian spirit practitioners. The elements at the Eternal Trading Association are priced higher, but they have a complete variety; you can even spot energy-type elements occasionally. The fish market mostly consists of individuals selling elements. Their origins are often untraceable, and they're cheap, but it's rare to find particularly good ones."
Although the guard felt Li Ban wouldn't visit the fish market, since he was asked, he had to explain the situation clearly.
"Wherever Lord Priest wishes to go, this subordinate can lead the way."
Li Ban thought for a moment. "Let's check out both. And when we're outside, don't call me Lord Priest."
"Yes, Lord Li. Please wait a moment while this subordinate calls for a carriage."
By the time Li Ban's carriage drove out of the city lord's estate, the guard had swiftly stripped off his armor and changed into casual civilian clothes.
According to his own introduction, his name was Ming Zhengxuan, a 3rd Tier lieutenant.
He was originally from Yuezhou but had been urgently reassigned to Yu Province to escort the First Prince to the Capital City.
The First Prince's original guards and soldiers were also in the convoy.
Though Ming Zhengxuan didn't explicitly say it, Li Ban could hear that the First Prince's people were essentially under surveillance.
As for how they would be dealt with once they returned to the Capital City, he didn't know.
The carriage trotted along the streets of Zhongbei City.
The streets were wide, with peddlers weaving through the alleys and thoroughfares everywhere.
Zhongbei City was much larger than Qingcheng County. Even with no one blocking the road, it took the carriage a long time to reach Li Ban's first destination: the Eternal Trading Association.
Li Ban had heard the name of the Eternal Trading Association a long time ago.
It was just that, firstly, he needed to seize every moment to cultivate his spiritual rhinoceros, and secondly, he really didn't have much money on hand, so he had never visited.
He hadn't expected to see a branch of the Eternal Trading Association here in Yuezhou, so far from the three Myriad Ancient Pagodas.
Even though it was just a branch in a city, the Eternal Trading Association was still the most eye-catching building on the entire commercial street.
It had a tall, mixed brick-and-wood structure, just like the Myriad Ancient Pagoda in Yu Province.
Although it only had three floors, the ceiling height of each floor was nearly equivalent to two floors of any other building.
The carriage Li Ban rode in bore the crest of the city lord's estate. The moment it parked in front of the association, it immediately caught the attention of the manager inside.
But before the manager could approach, the first young man to step down stopped him, turning around to speak respectfully into the carriage: "Young Master Li, we've arrived at the Eternal Trading Association."
At first, the manager didn't recognize the young man who had stepped down first. He merely saw his fine, embroidered clothes and extraordinary bearing, and noting his seemingly profound spiritual rhinoceros, judged him to be a powerful spirit practitioner.
But as he drew closer, he suddenly realized that the man seemed to be a military officer from the First Prince's convoy. When they had entered the city, this man had been guarding an inconspicuous carriage.
It was exactly because that carriage contrasted so sharply with the rest of the convoy that the manager and a few others had gossiped about it from the second floor, which was why he remembered the officer beside it.
And now, riding in a carriage from the city lord's estate and being called "Young Master" by a military officer... Could this be the First Prince coming out in disguise?
Ordinary spirit practitioners naturally wouldn't know the inside story of the First Prince's house arrest. In their minds, the First Prince—a Seventh Tier prince—was undoubtedly the most important figure in the entire convoy!
The enthusiastic smile on the manager's face suddenly faltered.
If such a monumental figure saw a mere 1st Tier Spirit Cultivator coming out to receive him, would he think the association was slighting him?