"Come on," Li Ban sneered. "If you made the rules, you'd make sure you were the only priest left in the world."
Xiao Suo blinked, then surprisingly nodded in agreement. "You make a fair point. That's why a priest's lifelong pursuit is to become a Wizard Lord with a divine kingdom of their own!"
While Li Ban and Xiao Suo spoke, the Realm Emperor—who had been sitting cross-legged in absolute silence—suddenly shuddered. His body began to age rapidly.
If he had looked like a man in his seventies or eighties before, he now appeared to be at least two hundred years old.
He grew so withered and ancient that the sight was genuinely terrifying.
The Realm Emperor slowly opened his eyes, which were now startlingly bright.
"It seems the Realm Emperor is ready." Xiao Suo glanced at him, then reached out toward the center of Li Ban's brow. "To make his fusion easier, I'll shatter your Wizard Embryo Fragment first. It will hurt. Try not to die from the pain before I'm done."
"Li Ban," Li Zhai suddenly asked, breaking his despondent silence. "Back in the Myriad Ancient Pagoda... were you the one who threw the White Jade Ocarina to me?"
Li Ban's body was suppressed so thoroughly he couldn't move a muscle. He could only roll his eyes toward Li Zhai in confusion, wondering why the prince was bringing up the Myriad Ancient Pagoda right now.
"Thank you," he said.
"I probably can't save you," Li Zhai said, lowering his head. "And I probably can't save myself either."
Xiao Suo ignored Li Zhai. In his eyes, the moment Li Zhai fused with the Blood Demon Vine, he was already a dead man.
Yet Li Ban sensed that Li Zhai hadn't said those words because he was genuinely waiting to die.
Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Suo's hand touched the center of his forehead.
Li Ban snapped his attention back, bracing himself to resist with everything he had.
He was no longer the clueless, newly advanced Spirit Awakening Priest he used to be. Besides—
Before their clash could even begin, Li Ban heard a massive tearing sound erupt beside him.
It sounded like something ripping through flesh and blood.
A split second later, several thick vines slammed into Li Ban, sending him flying.
Xiao Suo, who had been crouching right in front of him, dodged to the side a fraction of a second before the vines struck.
Li Ban crashed heavily onto the floor, a dull ache throbbing in his chest. However, he used the opportunity to finally break free from Xiao Suo's Terror Spell.
He scrambled up and raised his hand—another Self-Seeking Mirror materialized in his palm!
Meanwhile, Li Zhai was completely gone from where he had just been sitting. In his place was a massive, hideous cluster of writhing vines.
The vines grew at a terrifying speed, seemingly aging decades in a single second.
They expanded rapidly until they nearly reached the ceiling of Zichen Hall.
The Realm Emperor, who had also been shoved aside by the growth, let out a terrified scream. "He's going to self-destruct!"
If the vines destroyed the roof or the doors and windows of the hall, the guards outside would immediately realize something was wrong.
With both the Realm Emperor and the Crown Prince inside Zichen Hall, there was no way Priest Chu Zhan, who safeguarded the Imperial Dynasty, wouldn't come to investigate.
If he discovered what was happening before the body-snatching rebirth ritual was complete, everything would be ruined!
"Xiao Suo—" the Emperor croaked, his incredibly aged voice harsh and raspy.
Xiao Suo was his only reliance now.
"Tch."
Xiao Suo's response was a light click of his tongue.
Then, the vines—which had been expanding in all directions in a frantic bid to break through the hall's lockdown—suddenly seemed to lose their sense of direction. They twisted and began to shrink, their movements turning sluggish like a drunken monkey.
Li Ban frowned. It seemed Li Zhai had just used his newly fused element to launch a desperate, suicidal strike.
That strike had caused Li Zhai's body to be instantly torn apart by the rapidly expanding vines. Li Ban didn't even know if he was still alive.
Yet Xiao Suo, the black-robed priest, had suppressed him effortlessly.
Right now, the only thing that could save them was—
"Zhu Yao! Zichen Hall!"
Li Ban roared into the Self-Seeking Mirror in his hand.
Nearby, both Xiao Suo—who was suppressing Li Zhai—and the Realm Emperor—who had just breathed a sigh of relief—froze simultaneously.
Xiao Suo slowly turned his head, staring at the mirror in Li Ban's hand in sheer astonishment. "When did Zhu Yao give you her Self-Seeking Mirror?"
Li Ban flashed a wide grin.
Though he still lacked the strength to stand up, his imposing aura was at an absolute maximum!
"Right before she pretended to leave, of course!"
Crash!
The roof of Zichen Hall suddenly shattered.
Sunlight and fresh air poured simultaneously into the special palace that had been sealed for a century.
Priest Zhu Yao, Priest Chu Zhan, and four other priests Li Ban had never seen before dropped through the massive hole in the ceiling all at once.
Dressed in flowing white robes, they radiated an ethereal grace, looking like immortals descending to the mortal realm.
The six priests locked their gazes onto the black-robed Xiao Suo.
The exact moment they appeared, the Terror Spell suppressing Li Ban was completely shattered.
He quickly scrambled up and used Shrinking Ground to an Inch, immediately darting behind the six priests.
Acting as bait to draw out Xiao Suo had been dangerous enough. There was no way he was going to participate in the real battle that was about to follow.
If he did, outsiders might think the white-robed priest faction was completely out of manpower, forcing a 4th Tier Spirit Awakening Priest to fight a 7th Tier Dark Moon Priest head-on!
A white-haired priest standing in the back walked over to Li Ban. "I'm going to check your condition. Do not resist."
Though Li Ban had never met him, Priest Zhu Yao up front didn't object, so he complied and let the man examine him.
Priest Chu Zhan took a step forward, facing the collapsed Realm Emperor. "Realm Emperor! As the maintainer of order in the Wizard World, you actually colluded with a black-robed priest in a vain attempt to steal someone else's Wizard Embryo Fragment!"
Hearing Priest Chu Zhan's interrogation, the previously panicked Realm Emperor surprisingly began to laugh loudly.
However, his ancient, lifeless body simply couldn't sustain such boisterous laughter for long.
After just a couple of chuckles, a fit of coughing interrupted him. Yet, a complex smile remained on the Emperor's face.
"I've been an emperor, but I might as well have been a common lackey."
"The Ministers of the Six Ministries share equal power with me. Originally, I was supposed to be a half-rank above them, exercising the authority to rule and dispatch. But in reality?"
Getting worked up, the Realm Emperor coughed twice more.
"In reality, they just treat my throne room as a discussion hall for state affairs. They call it 'submitting a memorial,' but it's really just making me stamp the imperial seal."
"You call me an emperor, but I'm nothing but a puppet! A puppet for you priests! You tell me to govern the Nine Provinces, yet you refuse to give me adequate power. You let me advance to the 9th Tier, only to leave me standing at the absolute dead end of the Spirit Practitioner's path, forcing me to watch helplessly as you priests become Great Wizards!"
"On what grounds? Tell me, why?! I am already a 9th Tier Spirit Practitioner, a higher tier than all of you! Why can't I become a priest? Why can't I become a Great Wizard? I was just one single Wizard Embryo Fragment away from achieving it all!"
"I was on the verge of obtaining a Wizard Embryo Fragment, and you use your so-called 'rules' to stop me?!"
Priest Chu Zhan listened to the Realm Emperor's tirade, completely unmoved. "Without rules, there is no order. Without rules, even the Wizard World would cease to exist. And if the Wizard World ceases to exist, what exactly are you?"
"If you're unhappy being the emperor and feel restricted by the Six Ministries, what does that have to do with a Wizard Embryo Fragment? The truth is your own greed was too heavy, which is why others could suppress you. A person without desires is invincible. You're already at the 9th Tier; who could possibly force you to use the imperial seal if you truly didn't want to?"
While Chu Zhan and the Realm Emperor were arguing, the black-robed Xiao Suo suddenly vanished.
Immediately after, Priest Zhu Yao let out a soft snort.
"Hmph!"
Priest Zhu Yao also vanished.
The other three priests scattered, standing at the edges of the rear hall in a triangular formation.
A faint white light surfaced on all three of them simultaneously. The brightly lit hall suddenly grew much dimmer.
A moment later, the air cracked with an explosive sound as Xiao Suo abruptly reappeared right in the middle of the triangle.
Immediately following him was Zhu Yao, descending from the sky once more. She seemed to be stepping on something unseen. With a heavy thud, she landed on the floor, and the black-robed Xiao Suo was pinned beneath a mountain-like force, separated from her foot only by a barrier of air.
He tried to struggle, but Priest Zhu Yao tapped her foot lightly.
In an instant, Xiao Suo's limbs were crushed into bloody paste.
Xiao Suo let out a muffled groan. He forced his head up and offered a bitter smile. "I yield. You win. I surrender."
Hiding at the edge of the battlefield, Li Ban raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to spare him just because he surrendered, right?"
Did this guy have some massive backing that meant he wouldn't be killed even if he lost?
"Of course not," the white-bearded old priest, who had stayed back to examine Li Ban, replied. "We've been tracking him for a long time and even asked you to take this risk. No matter who he is, we aren't letting him leave here alive."
Then why was Xiao Suo acting like this was a game of house instead of a life-and-death struggle?
Catching Li Ban's surprised gaze, the old priest smiled. "I am Hunyou. You can call me Old Hun, or Priest You, either is fine."
"Priest You." Naturally, Li Ban wasn't going to casually call the man 'Old Hun'.
"May I ask which faction you belong to?"
"Aside from you and Zhu Yao, every priest here is an Imperial Dynasty Priest." Priest You looked at the Realm Emperor, shaking his head helplessly.
"To think the Realm Emperor himself colluded with a black-robed priest this time. Your Myriad Ancient Pagoda already helped the dynasty uncover his tracks; we couldn't possibly push all the ensuing battles onto you as well, could we?"
"Alright," Priest You patted Li Ban on the shoulder. "Everything is fine. You're young, and you have excellent talent. You'll be parting clouds to see the stars, and moving from the hidden stars to the manifesting moon in no time."
"Thank you for the praise. I'll take your good word for it."
At this moment, Zhu Yao, having subdued Xiao Suo, walked over.
"Judging by your expressions, Li Ban is fine?"
"I'm fine," Li Ban replied. "Xiao Suo was going to snatch my fragment, but Li Zhai fought tooth and nail to buy me time, which gave me the opening to take out your Self-Seeking Mirror."
He looked over at the Crown Prince, now a tangled mass of vines curled up in the corner of the hall, and let out a sigh. "Priest You, could you take a look at him? Now that he's turned into this, can he still be restored?"
"Alright, I'll take a look and see if I can purge the element and restore him."
Li Ban quickly followed. "I have the Flesh on White Bones element. It can repair physical damage."
"No rush," Zhu Yao stopped Li Ban. "Let Priest You examine him first."
She sized Li Ban up with a smile. "To think you were the one who provided the very first clue, and you were also the one who noticed the anomaly with Li Fu in the end."
Li Ban shook his head, refusing to take the credit. "Honestly, I was just a bit suspicious about Li Yan insisting on leaving with me. In the end, it was my friend Deng Jun who confirmed that the 'Li Yan' leaving the capital with us wasn't actually a woman. That's when I became sure of it and immediately left a signal for you."
"This friend of yours... is quite remarkable." Zhu Yao recalled that Deng Jun was supposed to be Li Ban's carriage driver. She never expected a mere driver to be so capable that he could even see through a quality-tier element like Mimicry.
Li Ban rubbed his nose and smiled. "Deng Jun is highly skilled at disguises, especially cross-dressing as a woman. Even though Li Fu's physical disguise was flawless, his mannerisms gave him away since it was his first time. Deng Jun saw through a ton of flaws at a single glance."
In Li Ban's opinion, Li Fu had actually tried very hard. He just had bad luck and ran into an expert in the field.