Li Yan bit her lip, saying nothing.
Li Yuan was obstinate and self-opinionated, but he genuinely had the skills to back it up.
She believed he wouldn't insult their second brother without basis.
Yet, she could also understand her second brother, Li Fu.
He was a deposed former crown prince condemned to lifelong house arrest. If he didn't find an opportunity to act, he would be trapped in this small courtyard for the rest of his life.
He was, after all—an 8th Tier Spirit Practitioner!
Li Yan had thought it through and taken the initiative to offer her goodwill to Li Ban for the exact same reason—she refused to resign herself to being a useless cripple.
Hearing Li Yuan's words, Li Fu offered no defense. "Perhaps Old Sixth already knows. He hasn't come to see me even once since he returned."
Li Yuan let out a cold snort.
Though he didn't know the full context, his imagination had already filled in a sprawling drama of brothers turning against each other and ruthless palace intrigue.
'Is this part of the journey to temper the heart?' Li Ban thought. 'And the takeaway is that all bustling under heaven is for the sake of profit?'
Li Yuan had likely just come to show off—to boast that even though he had fallen on hard times, he had still ended up in a better position than Li Fu.
After dealing this blow to Li Fu, he turned around with a smug air, preparing to leave.
But just before he stepped out, he caught sight of Li Ban standing nearby with his arms crossed. Li Yuan tried to hold his tongue, but couldn't help himself.
"Who could have imagined that in the end, two discarded pawns would climb over our heads?"
The color instantly drained from Li Yan's face.
Since Li Ban had agreed to take her away, she already considered herself one of his people.
Naturally, she couldn't allow Li Yuan to mock him like this. "Li Yuan, how dare you show such disrespect to a Priest? It seems you no longer want that general's seat of yours!"
She didn't even bother calling him 'eldest brother' anymore.
Li Fu hurried forward to hold Li Yan back. He offered an apologetic bow to Li Ban, then stepped between them and said softly, "Who in this world isn't a discarded pawn? Just go, Li Yuan, and never come back."
Li Yuan bit back his temper. Ultimately, he refrained from saying anything harsher, turned on his heel, and strode away.
The moment Li Yuan was gone, Li Fu bowed deeply to Li Ban. "I am terribly sorry, Priest Ban. Please forgive my eldest brother's insolence. Where he is going... he may not make it back alive."
"Where is he going to fight?" Li Ban wasn't so petty as to lose his temper over a single provocation.
"Most likely the Nine Heavens Sea. Over there, even a Seventh Tier Spirit Practitioner can easily become cannon fodder." Li Fu offered this explanation hoping it would help vent some of Li Ban's annoyance.
Li Ban recalled that Priest Zhu Yao seemed to be fighting in the Nine Heavens Sea.
So it was actually that dangerous.
He nodded, then finally looked at Li Yan. "You don't need to try and curry favor with me. This is nothing more than a transaction."
With that, Li Ban vanished in a blur.
Having visited Shunyi Palace twice now, he had figured out how to teleport away with style.
After seeing the defeated, Li Ban went to see the triumphant the following day.
Entering the Crown Prince's Palace where Li Zhai resided, he noticed the prince starting to rise in greeting. Li Ban quickly waved a hand. "Go about your business. I'm just looking around."
But Li Zhai insisted on standing up to deliver a full, formal bow before sitting back down to his work.
With his elevation to Crown Prince fast approaching, an invisible set of shackles seemed to weigh upon him.
The carefree Zhai Liu who had been so unrestrained even in the Death Prison now seemed like an entirely different person.
Li Ban took a lap around the palace hall before leaning comfortably against a window frame.
Concealing his aura, he blended seamlessly into the shadows of a pillar.
Although Li Zhai was swamped with work, he had kept a fraction of his attention fixed on Li Ban.
Watching Li Ban melt into the shadows right before his eyes, his mouth twitched. Ultimately, he could only lower his head and pretend he hadn't seen a thing.
Just then, an attendant brought over a fresh stack of memorials and scrolls. A hint of anticipation flickered across Li Zhai's face, and he immediately grabbed the topmost memorial to review it.
After just two pages, his brows drew together in a slight frown. He subconsciously licked his lips, which were dry from working for so long without a sip of water.
He rapidly skimmed the rest of the memorial before picking up the next one.
From the shadows, Li Ban had been observing the movements and expressions of everyone in the hall. Noticing that something was amiss with Li Zhai, he immediately shifted his focus back to him.
Li Zhai called back the attendant who had just delivered the stack, pointing at the memorial he had just read. "Is this the full list of elemental gifts in this batch?"
The attendant shrank back slightly and replied, "Reporting to the Sixth Prince, that is all of them."
Though the gifts wouldn't be formally presented until the day of the ceremony, their manifests were always submitted in advance for the officials to review, in order to prevent errors or unforeseen issues.
Li Zhai didn't care about the other tributes; his only real concern was the offered elements.
At the attendant's reply, his fingers curled slightly over the bright yellow cover of the memorial. "Why are there no superior elements among the tributes?"
Li Zhai remembered clearly that during his second brother Li Fu's investiture ceremony, the Six Ministries and the various provinces had offered a total of two superior elements. It was just that Li Fu had only successfully fused with one; the other was later traded for political leverage and given to Li Yuan.
Following his own upcoming ceremony, he, the Sixth Prince, would assume the 8th Tier identity of the Crown Prince, granting him an opportunity to fuse a new element.
Thus, Li Zhai had eagerly been anticipating a superior element of his own.
Yet he never expected that there wouldn't be a single superior element on the entire tribute manifest!
Once he became the Crown Prince, he would advance to an 8th Tier Spirit Practitioner, and no one understood what the 8th Tier meant better than he did.
Therefore, no matter what, the new element he fused upon reaching the 8th Tier had to be of superior grade.
Li Zhai abruptly stood up. Glancing at the provincial tribute lists, he knew it was too late to send them back to the provinces, so he threw the list from the Capital City's Six Ministries straight at the attendant.
"Tell the Six Ministries to redraw their list. I don't care about anything else, but there must be a superior element."
"This...?" the official held the memorial, caught in a terrible bind. "Your Highness, the ceremony is the day after tomorrow. At this late hour, I'm afraid—"
"Then what have you all been doing this whole time?" Li Zhai wanted to hurl a few more insults, but suddenly remembering that Li Ban was likely still in the hall, he forcibly suppressed his anger. "Go!"
The official had no choice but to retreat with a bitter expression.
Halfway to the door, the Realm Emperor suddenly walked in with his hands clasped behind his back, prompting a throng of people to drop to their knees at the entrance.
"Royal Father?" Li Zhai paused in surprise, then hurriedly stepped out from behind his desk to bow.
The Realm Emperor plucked the memorial from the official's hands. He paused after just a glance at the first page, but quickly handed it back. "Nonsense. Put the memorial back where it belongs."
Li Zhai's breath caught in his throat. Dropping his head, looking very much wronged, he murmured, "Yes, Royal Father."
The official, who had been dreading the impossible task, secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly set the memorial neatly back in its place.
Li Ban found this highly amusing from the shadows. Li Zhai was a Seventh Tier Spirit Practitioner; his father was probably the only person who could make him show such an expression.
However, since the Realm Emperor was present, it wasn't appropriate for Li Ban to keep hiding. He revealed himself and stepped forward.
"Realm Emperor."
The Realm Emperor didn't seem surprised to see him. Instead, he offered a warm, approachable smile. "Priest Ban is here as well. Please forgive the embarrassing display just now."
Li Ban shook his head.
Why would he laugh?
That was a superior element—something even Priests coveted.
The Realm Emperor turned to Li Zhai. "Times have been turbulent recently, and expedition teams heading into the mountains have all been recalled. It's not unusual for there to be no superior elements. I will requisition one for you from my private vault."
His eyes rimmed with red, Li Zhai thanked him.
The father and son exchanged a few idle words, chatted briefly with Li Ban, and then the Realm Emperor departed to attend to state affairs.
Once he was gone, Li Zhai lifted his head, flashing Li Ban a bitter look. "Do you think I'm acting too childishly?"
Li Ban stroked his chin. "I'd really like a superior element too."
Li Zhai's mouth twitched, and he spoke in a low voice, "Being the Crown Prince isn't easy. No one knows if I'll successfully become the next Realm Emperor. The only benefits that truly belong to me are the ones I can hold in my own hands."
Li Ban nodded, strongly agreeing with that sentiment.
Seeing Li Zhai's obsession with securing a superior element—losing his composure to angrily demand one, and then acting like a chastised child in front of the Realm Emperor—reminded Li Ban of another superior element.
Back in Zhongbei City, Manager Ding of the Eternal Trading Association had told him about a master-killing superior element called the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor.
Li Ban wasn't set on fusing with the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor.
Its three previous owners had all died mysterious, unexplained deaths. If the risk was too great, he had no intention of courting trouble.
After all, the Myriad Ancient Pagoda was a massive faction backed by Great Wizards and Priests, yet they had never been able to sell off this single superior element. It was highly suspicious.
Still, there was no harm in just going to take a look.
Before deciding to go, Li Ban pulled out his Self-Seeking Mirror. He tapped his finger lightly against its surface, using his intent to trigger the mark Priest Yao had left on it.
Soon, Priest Yao's cold, aloof face appeared before him.
Li Ban directly told Zhu Yao his idea. "...Will it cause any problems if I go at a time like this?"
"That is actually for the best."
"Is the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor really as cursed as the rumors say? Is there something strange about it? Do no Priests want to fuse with it?"
In the mirror, Zhu Yao blinked slowly.
"That object was discovered in the Nine Heavens Sea. It was likely tainted by too many evil souls, so it possesses a deep-rooted wicked nature."
"In fact, one of the three deceased former owners was a Priest."
"Priests who shatter mirrors to travel also face the risk of death. But the strange part is that the Priest in question was clearly on the verge of death while in the lesser world, yet he somehow managed to hold on until he returned to the Wizard World before finally perishing."
"Qian Que was present at the time. He said it was almost as if the Priest had forced himself to stay alive specifically to bring the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor back."
Wow. Never mind, then.
Li Ban instantly extinguished any thought of fusing with the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor.
However, just as Priest Zhu Yao had said, simply going to take a look was a good idea.
And so, the next day, Li Ban headed straight to the Capital City branch of the Eternal Trading Association to inspect that superior element, the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor.
Since Li Ban was now a bona fide Priest of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, he naturally didn't have to wait in line just to view a superior element.
Upon arriving at the Capital City branch, Li Ban didn't openly broadcast his identity as a Priest. Even so, the moment he appeared, the branch president rushed out to welcome him.
Knowing that Priests generally disliked high-profile spectacles, the branch president came out alone rather than assembling a massive greeting party.
He guided Li Ban up to the finest private room on the third floor, then ordered someone to box up the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor, which had been on public display, and bring it inside.
The Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor was nothing more than a palm-sized, grayish-black stone with an uneven, pitted surface, resting inside a complex and exquisitely carved wooden box.
The moment the branch president opened the lid to display it, a crackle of lightning shot out from the gap and struck his hand.
Fortunately, the branch president had come prepared and had put on rubber gloves in advance.
Even so, the shock left him breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Lord Li, this is the Nine Heavens Thunder Meteor. If you wish to handle it, please wear these specially crafted gloves for your own safety."