No matter how capable the Myriad Ancient Pagoda was of wrestling for power with the Imperial Court, that was a matter for high-tier spirit practitioners. Low-tier spirit practitioners, no matter where they were, were destined to be nothing more than lackeys and cannon fodder.
Because of this, no matter how many undercurrents surged among the higher-ups, the people at the bottom never took it too seriously.
The manager wore a practiced smile as he waited behind the military officer, subtly gesturing to the young attendants inside.
A big shot! Manager Ding!
Seeing the signal, an attendant immediately turned and sprinted upstairs.
Li Ban had been slightly delayed getting out of the carriage. When he finally pushed the door open, he saw a whole row of people waiting at the entrance.
He glanced at Ming Zhengxuan, who was standing at the very front of the crowd with an expression that said this was entirely a matter of course.
"There's no need for this many people," Li Ban said. He wasn't at all used to being surrounded by such a large entourage.
It hadn't felt this obvious while he was inside the carriage, but now, being stared at so eagerly by all these people, he felt a distinct lack of security.
The man stepped forward and cupped his hands. "Lord Li, my surname is Ding. I am a manager of this association and a 2nd Tier spirit practitioner. Please allow me to lead the way."
Manager Ding led Li Ban and Ming Zhengxuan straight up to the third floor.
Along the way, people kept stealing glances at the two of them, but anyone who tried to approach was intercepted by the attendants.
Upon reaching the third floor, they entered the largest private room. Manager Ding bowed once more and asked, "Since Lord Li has graced our humble establishment, what type of element might you be looking for?"
"Do you have any superior elements here?" Li Ban asked right out of the gate, not standing on ceremony.
"Uh." Manager Ding was clearly taken aback for a moment. He quickly offered a bitter smile and cupped his hands. "My apologies, Lord Li. Currently, aside from the Eternal Trading Association in the Capital City, no other branches have any superior elements for sale."
The Capital City was a place Li Ban would be passing through anyway, so he hurriedly asked, "The Capital City has one right now? What element is it? How much?"
"This—" Manager Ding hesitated.
"Lord Li," Ming Zhengxuan leaned in and whispered into Li Ban's ear. "This subordinate has also heard of that superior element in the Capital City. It's been sitting in the Eternal Trading Association for thirty years and hasn't sold."
Li Ban asked in surprise, "Why? Is it too expensive, or are there hidden dangers?"
"Thank you, officer. I'll take it from here." Seeing this, Manager Ding thanked Ming Zhengxuan and, hesitating no longer, detailed the situation regarding the superior element in the Capital City.
"That superior element in the Capital City branch was discovered by the Myriad Ancient Pagoda thirty years ago in the Nine Heavens Sea. It is named the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor."
"In appearance, it looks like an ordinary, fist-sized stone. It is mostly grayish-black, and its surface is covered in small pits and brown spots. When a person or any creature of flesh and blood approaches it, it discharges powerful silver lightning. But when metallic objects approach, they are repelled."
A magnet? But a magnet in reverse.
Magnetism generating electricity is understandable. Could there be a fluctuating magnetic field inside the stone?
Just by listening to the manager's introduction, Li Ban had already formed numerous theories about the abilities the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor might possess.
"Just from the name alone, this superior element isn't ordinary. Lord Li, this element is incredibly difficult to fuse with, yet exceptionally easy to separate."
"Separate? Aren't they all separated from corpses?" Ming Zhengxuan didn't know the inside story either and was somewhat confused upon hearing about separation.
"Exactly!" Manager Ding nodded heavily. "It has had twenty-two previous masters, and nineteen of them failed the fusion."
Li Ban raised an eyebrow. "After undergoing nineteen failed fusions, this element hasn't been ruined?"
"That's right. The Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor is extremely durable in every aspect."
Manager Ding continued.
"The remaining three masters successfully fused with it—two men and one woman. However, all of them died within a month of their successful fusion. Their deaths were gruesome, as if their life essence had been sucked dry by an evil spirit."
"Just stick to the introduction. Why bring evil spirits into this? Utter nonsense!" Ming Zhengxuan was a military man and naturally disliked talk of the supernatural.
"Yes, yes," Manager Ding apologized carefully.
He had actually just wanted to make it sound more terrifying so that the First Prince would drop any ideas about that dangerous superior element.
Although the First Prince in front of him looked a bit young, the man was, after all, a Seventh Tier spirit practitioner with a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary people. Perhaps he only looked young.
He corrected himself, "For whatever reason, that Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor has killed every single one of its masters. After the Myriad Ancient Pagoda collected their corpses, every time they separated the element, it came out easily. Moreover, upon inspection, the element itself hadn't sustained the slightest bit of damage."
"Did no one find out the cause of death?"
"No."
Li Ban thought to himself, Could it be radiation?
Besides, a superior element should be a powerful element that even priests desired.
For it to be left at the Eternal Trading Association in the Capital City for thirty years—could it be that even the priests couldn't handle it?
Li Ban decided to ask Priest Zhu Yao about it once he returned.
"Since you've kept it in the association, you must still want to sell it, right?"
Manager Ding cupped his hands. "Yes, my lord. The asking price is two thousand liang of silver. The Eternal Trading Association will also provide a site for the fusion, as well as food and lodging during the process. Should the fusion fail, we are also willing to refund half the silver to buy the element back."
"Then if I were to buy the element, take it back, and flip it—" Ming Zhengxuan mused. "There's always someone unwilling to accept defeat, fantasizing that they'll be the one to succeed."
Manager Ding stood up and smiled. "The Myriad Ancient Pagoda does not permit the private buying and selling of elements."
Ming Zhengxuan curled his lip.
The Myriad Ancient Pagoda supposedly didn't allow the private trading of elements, yet wasn't the fish market in Zhongbei City operating perfectly fine?
It was only because the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor was a superior element, making it far too conspicuous.
Li Ban, however, thought of another angle entirely.
Isn't this just spending a thousand liang of silver to enjoy a few days of room and board?
Even the most expensive courtyard at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion didn't cost a tenth of that price!
Moreover, in the event of a successful fusion, there was still a very high probability of dying.
It was hard to say whether failing was a bigger scam, or succeeding was.
Li Ban didn't think he would fail the fusion, but if the issue of certain death upon success couldn't be resolved, he absolutely would not risk his life.
It wasn't as if he didn't have his own superior element. He just had to wait another thirty to fifty years for it.
Even inside his Cubic Heaven and Earth, a Cyan Silk Algae Seed would need at least ten years to grow into an element ready for fusion.
"In that case, I'll take a look at it when I get to the Capital City."
Since the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor had sat unsold for over thirty years anyway, Li Ban saw no reason to rush.
Manager Ding cast a cautious glance at Li Ban, starting to doubt whether this person really was the First Prince after all.
The Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor was incredibly famous in the Capital City. Even if the First Prince stayed in the military camp all day, he still should have heard of it.
If he isn't the First Prince—could he be the Imperial Grandson?
Manager Ding maintained a respectful expression, not daring to show the slightest neglect.
"Then do you have any good fine-grade elements here? Ideally, mental-type or creation-type."
Li Ban could only use these two types of elements in the Shadow World.
He guessed that he might be able to inhabit bodies in other worlds in the future. In that case, fusing with mental-type and creation-type elements would hold much greater value.
"To answer Lord Li, we have no fine-grade mental-type elements. We do have one fine-grade creation-type element. However, it has already been reserved."
"Since it's still in the association, bring it up for a look. If our lord wants it, he will naturally seek out the other party to negotiate," Ming Zhengxuan said, his chin lifted slightly. He felt he was already being quite polite.
Otherwise, with Li Ban's status as a priest, he could just buy it outright. There would be no need to consult with the other buyer at all.
It was just that white-robed priests valued the rules.
Having traveled all this way with Priest Yao, Ming Zhengxuan had come to understand something of how white-robed priests operated.
"Just tell me what the item is first," Li Ban said, shaking his head.
Manager Ding immediately explained the details of the element. It was a weapon whose functions highly overlapped with the Iron-Eating Sword, and it lacked the Iron-Eating Sword's charged strike capability.
Li Ban didn't want to waste his spiritual rhinoceros nurturing it, so he waved his hand and passed on it.
"Whatever other fine-grade elements you have, just introduce them all at once."
Seeing that his targeted questions hadn't yielded any good results, Li Ban simply had Manager Ding introduce all the fine-grade elements they had.
Yet even in the prosperous Zhongbei City of Yuezhou, there were still very few fine-grade elements currently for sale here.
Among the three fine-grade elements currently available, none were the defensive-type element that Li Ban wanted most.
Buying and fusing with one would only add a burden to him in his current state.
It was a situation of having demand with no supply, or supply with no demand. He had money but nowhere to spend it.
Finally, Li Ban shook his head and sighed softly. "Forget it. You don't have what I'm looking for. I'll just go look elsewhere."
Li Ban decided to go check out the fish market instead.
He didn't harbor any delusions about picking up a rare treasure at the fish market; he was merely curious and wanted to take a look.
Seeing Li Ban disappointed and ready to leave, Manager Ding hastily asked, "Lord Li, I have one more special treasure here. I wonder if you might be interested?"
"If you have something good, hurry up and bring it out. Stop keeping us in suspense!" Ming Zhengxuan said bluntly.
He figured that if Priest Li Ban hadn't been keeping a low profile, they would currently be in the Eternal Trading Association's vault picking out whatever they pleased.
"Yes, yes." Manager Ding offered an apologetic smile and raised his hand, pulling out a small box.
The box was carved from yellow pear wood, and its lid was pierced with intricate fretwork depicting the motifs of fortune, prosperity, longevity, and joy.
Seeing that both Li Ban and Ming Zhengxuan had fixed their gazes on the small box, Manager Ding smiled broadly and opened the lid.
Resting quietly on a cushion of golden silk was a silver ring, completely devoid of any engravings or patterns.
"A Plain Ring?"
At first, Ming Zhengxuan hadn't recognized what it was, but the moment he heard Li Ban say "Plain Ring," a look of pure astonishment spread across his face.
A flicker of deep yearning also flashed through his eyes.
Elements were ubiquitous in the Wizard World.
Even for rare elements, Ming Zhengxuan had seen his fair share.
It was just that his spiritual rhinoceros was already full. Before he advanced in rank, any element was nothing more than an illusion to him—like a flower reflected in a mirror, or the moon in the water.
But a Plain Ring was different.
Although he had never seen a Plain Ring in person, he was well aware of its legendary reputation.
It allowed the user to wield an ability without needing to fuse with an element. Though the number of uses was limited, it could absolutely serve as a lethal trump card at critical moments.
Moreover, Plain Rings were excessively rare. The vast majority of spirit practitioners only ever heard of the name in their lifetimes, never once laying eyes on the actual object.
This was why Ming Zhengxuan—who hadn't been overly moved even upon hearing about a superior element—was genuinely tempted when he laid eyes on the Plain Ring.
Besides, he came from a good background and had money on him. As long as Li Ban didn't plan to take the Plain Ring for himself, Ming Zhengxuan had a very high chance of purchasing it.
However, Li Ban was also highly interested in the Plain Ring. "What ability does this Plain Ring hold?"
"To report to Lord Li," Manager Ding lowered his voice, "the ability of this Plain Ring is called the Exile Spell. It can arbitrarily banish a person or object of no more than three meters in size to a location a thousand zhang away. However, it can only target one entity at a time."