After giving Nana her instructions, Li Ban joined Priest Zhong Ye and the others to head for the rift location sent by Priest Huangzhi.
Priest Zhong Ye's condition had visibly improved. The Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruit had nourished his body, and since he hadn't needed to use his abilities recently, he was already able to walk freely.
However, to avoid drawing attention, he still sat in a wheelchair.
When they arrived beneath the rift, Li Ban looked up at the massive tear nearly a hundred meters in the sky and frowned slightly.
"Can this still be considered a minor rift?"
The rift above was over ten meters long and more than three meters wide, shaped like a wide-open eye.
Its passable area was over a dozen times larger than the rifts they had found before.
"Indeed, this rift is close to being a major one. But it hasn't quite reached that level yet, otherwise you would be able to sense it even without a Realm-Breaking Stone. That's exactly why those major rifts attract so many factions to fight over the items that drop from them."
Another point was that a true major rift would definitely drop a massive amount of resources, though the materials genuinely useful to the Trash Realm would still be a minority.
Stepping onto Huangzhi's cloud once again, Li Ban sighed inwardly.
He had only just become a Spirit Awakening Priest. Whether it was the spiritual rhinoceros of his 4th Tier Identity, or the Wizard Embryo Fragment of a 4th Tier priest, both were still in a preliminary stage.
To advance, he didn't know how many years he would have to cultivate or how many times he would have to descend into the Shattered Realm.
The two men rapidly closed in on the rift a hundred meters up in the sky.
"The larger the rift, the more stable it is. This one should last for over ten hours. However, to be safe, we should still return within seven."
Priest Huangzhi had left a three-hour buffer, just in case.
Last time, they had been blocked by strange spatial forces that made it difficult to advance, forcing them to rush back to the Trash Realm with only ten minutes to spare.
"Alright." Seeing Priest Huangzhi as cautious as ever, Li Ban smiled to himself.
With that, they entered the rift.
The rifts in the Trash Realm did not sit flush against the rifts in the opposite world. Some were a minute's journey apart, while others took nearly ten minutes to cross.
Overall, it wasn't too long of a distance.
This time, the large rift was a seven-minute journey from the other side.
Just as they were about to enter the opposite world, Li Ban's Wizard Embryo Fragment suddenly stirred.
Like iron filings pulled by a magnet, the thin mist reacted with a rhythmic tremor.
It was Li Ban's first time seeing his Wizard Embryo Fragment act up like this.
But even before he understood what was happening, he instantly went on high alert.
In a flash, Li Ban leaped off Priest Huangzhi's cloud and shifted into the pitch-black space of the rift passage.
A split second later, Priest Huangzhi, who had been about to charge into the minor world ahead, abruptly slammed to a halt.
He looked at Li Ban in the distance, a look of absolute resolve flashing across his face.
He didn't know how Li Ban had sensed it early and dodged their planned sneak attack.
But since he had already made his move, holding back was no longer an option.
There was no way they could let Li Ban return to the Trash Realm in a normal state.
Priest Huangzhi raised his hand and brought out an illumination lamp.
Though Li Ban still hadn't found the source of his fragment's reaction, seeing Huangzhi's action confirmed that the priest was definitely involved.
He raised his hand and pulled the Realm-Breaking Stone from his Cubic Heaven and Earth. Holding it firmly without activating it just yet, he smiled at Huangzhi. "What's this? Am I the resource you're trying to plunder on this expedition?"
Huangzhi was filled with regret. Li Ban was a decent teammate, but a Realm-Breaking Stone was far more valuable.
He didn't answer. Instead, he slapped his hand against the illumination lamp.
Instantly, the light shifted from inside the lamp into his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, he directed it right at Li Ban.
Having seen the man use this light to pierce right through monsters, Li Ban instantly blinked away.
This time, Priest Huangzhi didn't conserve his spiritual rhinoceros. Rays of blinding white light shot toward Li Ban's location, blanketing the entire area.
However, Li Ban flashed again, reappearing right behind Priest Huangzhi.
In that instant, he unleashed the Terror Spell.
Priest Huangzhi didn't know this spell, so he could only endure it head-on using the power of his fragment.
Li Ban didn't actually intend to fight him in a clash of pure strength; he simply used the Terror Spell to force a momentary flaw in the man's mental defenses.
Since Huangzhi didn't know the Terror Spell, he naturally didn't know the corresponding method to resist it with his spiritual rhinoceros.
He froze for a fraction of a second. Just as he was about to channel his Wizard Embryo Fragment to forcibly dispel the stiffness caused by the Terror Spell, he felt a vicious gust of wind blasting straight at the back of his head.
Priest Huangzhi panicked. How did this Priest Ban still have another spell ready?
However, the attack from behind never actually landed on him.
Just as Li Ban was about to thrust out his fully-charged Iron-Eating Sword, his fragment stirred once more.
The disturbance clearly wasn't coming from the immobilized Priest Huangzhi, which meant the man had found someone else to ambush him.
Li Ban narrowed his eyes. Thinking that it was better to sever one finger than to merely injure all ten, he decided to kill Priest Huangzhi first before dealing with the second attacker.
But right at that moment, countless silver shards of light flared in his peripheral vision.
The sight was far too familiar. Li Ban instantly remembered the prison guard Tree-Person B, who had been sliced into countless pieces.
Du An?
Du An!
Li Ban was no longer the lowly errand boy he used to be, but Du An was no longer just a 4th Tier prison official either.
Li Ban instantly abandoned his original plan and blinked away from Priest Huangzhi's back.
But the moment he reappeared, hundreds of silver shards spawned from all directions, attacking him from above, below, left, and right.
Li Ban swept a quick glance around his surroundings.
A staggering number of silver shards were scattered all throughout the spatial range of his teleportation.
The moment Li Ban showed himself, the nearby silver shards would immediately strike.
He had to be incredibly careful when using Shrinking Ground to an Inch to avoid teleporting directly into someone's weapon.
Shockingly, the only empty space was right next to Priest Huangzhi, and when Li Ban looked over at him, a figure had emerged from behind the priest.
It was indeed Du An.
'He just used the time Priest Huangzhi and I were tangled up to silently fill this entire rift passage with his shards.'
Li Ban could risk the injuries and fight his way out, but once he left the boundaries of the rift, he would enter the gaps between the minor worlds.
Lost in the world gaps without a Realm-Breaking Stone, Priest Ban would wander forever, never finding his way back.
He gripped the Realm-Breaking Stone in his hand. Considering Du An's current strength as a Cloud Hidden Priest, it seemed the man hadn't gone for a lethal strike right from the start.
"What do you want?" Li Ban asked, wanting to know exactly why these two had suddenly turned on him, only to corner him without going for the kill.
Du An stepped forward to stand beside Huangzhi. "You head back first."
He didn't want Huangzhi to know about his relationship with Priest Ban.
And without Huangzhi's broken Realm-Breaking Stone, Priest Ban would have no other way back to the Trash Realm except by cooperating with Du An.
Huangzhi suspected that Du An had ambushed Li Ban because he coveted some treasure on him—like the recently popular "Trojan Horse" bullets.
He wanted a cut for himself, but unfortunately, the other man was a Wizard World priest who could leave the Trash Realm at any time; Huangzhi didn't have the leverage to negotiate with him.
Reluctantly, Huangzhi steered his cloud away through a gap Du An left for him.
There was no point in exploring the rift anymore, but Du An had already handed him a complete Realm-Breaking Stone.
Once he returned and gathered his assets in the Trash Realm, he would immediately abandon everyone and head to another minor world.
Until Priest Huangzhi's figure completely vanished into the darkness, Li Ban could feel Du An's focus locked entirely on him.
It felt like the moment he made a suspicious move, the man would attack without hesitation.
'Last time I ran into Du An, he seemed to be searching for someone or something. But he wasn't entirely sure himself. I suspect it was Gu Yi's Testament, but I can't be certain. I'd better figure out how he tracked me down before making a run for it. Otherwise, I might face a targeted ambush later on.'
With that in mind, Li Ban waited until Huangzhi was completely gone before speaking up. "Well then, Cloud Hidden Priest, care to explain what this is about?"
"We've met once before, Priest Ban." Du An evaluated Li Ban with an icy gaze. "But it seems you didn't tell me your real name. Should I call you Director—or Leader?"
Li Ban's expression shifted drastically as he shouted internally, 'Good guess!'
Just as Li Ban was about to lean into the Leader persona, grab the Realm-Breaking Stone, and make a run for it, Du An quickly added, "There's no need to run. I didn't come here to kill you."
Li Ban was already triggering the Realm-Breaking Stone.
Du An had no idea what Li Ban was doing, nor did he know about the Realm-Breaking Stone in his hand. Seeing Li Ban freeze, he assumed the man had been intimidated by his words.
"A while ago, I sensed the aura of Chen Dong's divine soul in the Trash Realm. But it was incredibly faint—not the aura of a normal living person. Do you have Chen Dong's divine soul?"
Sure enough, he was here for Chen Dong's divine soul.
And hearing him mention that name while guessing he was the Leader—Li Ban had already figured out how the man had 'recognized' him.
The Virus element!
That element was completely alien to anyone from the Trash Realm, but Du An was deeply familiar with it.
After all, that element had been created by Du An himself.
He might have even assimilated it in the past, which was why he knew the capabilities of the Virus so well.
Confirming this, Li Ban felt even less anxious.
"Why are you looking for Chen Dong? You obviously already abandoned him," Li Ban said, imitating the Leader's tone.
"That's none of your business—you?"
Du An was just about to continue his threats and bribes when he suddenly saw Priest Ban risking being skewered by the silver shards as he rapidly shifted toward the edge of the passage.
Was the Leader actually choosing to throw himself into the nine deaths, one life world gaps just to protect Chen Dong?
This caught Du An somewhat off guard, though the absolute resolve fit exactly with what he knew of the Leader.
He narrowed his eyes. Instead of rushing to grab him, he trailed far behind.
Once the Leader felt true despair within the eternal darkness and silence, he would agree to hand Chen Dong over.
No matter what value Chen Dong still held, one's own life was always the most important.
But when Du An purposefully lagged behind and chased him out of the passage, he was met with a jaw-dropping sight.
A dim layer of white light had manifested around Priest Ban's body.
Du An looked down at himself; it was the exact same light he had on his own body!
'This... this is the protection of a Wizard Lord from the Myriad Ancient Pagoda. Why does the Leader have the Myriad Ancient Pagoda's protective halo? When did he join the Myriad Ancient Pagoda? Did the Myriad Ancient Pagoda realize he had become a priest a long time ago and deliberately hide it from me?'
The Leader and Du An were bitter enemies, a fact the Myriad Ancient Pagoda was well aware of.
After all, one side insisted on protecting the Ring World, while Du An, in order to successfully integrate into the Wizard World and shake off the trouble trailing him, had chosen to thoroughly end his burden.
If the pagoda discovered that they had both become priests, to prevent internal conflict from draining their resources, they really might have concealed the news of the Leader becoming a priest.
And having just learned that Li Ban had become a priest, Du An couldn't fathom how a single Ring World could have spawned two incredibly low-probability events back to back.
'Then... does the Myriad Ancient Pagoda know that Chen Dong's divine soul is also with the Leader?'
Du An clenched his fists, a trace of fury coiling in his heart.
But he quickly suppressed his emotions. A cloud mist manifested beneath him—one much thicker than Priest Huangzhi's.
He accelerated in pursuit.
Since the other man had a Wizard Lord's protection, his previous extortion methods were useless.
Du An flew at an astonishing speed.
Li Ban could only rely on Shrinking Ground to an Inch, meaning he had to recast it for every single blink. His reaction speed simply couldn't compete with Du An, who could maintain high-speed flight continuously after casting just once.
'Even though I used the information gap to grab a head start, he's going to catch up to me sooner or later at this rate.'
The gaps between minor worlds were like a pitch-black, silent space. Using his Realm-Breaking Stone, Li Ban randomly locked onto a minor world, planning to hide there first and look for a chance to leave later.
But judging from the feedback of the Realm-Breaking Stone, it was virtually impossible to reach the next minor world before Du An caught up.
Li Ban began considering whether he should just abandon this body entirely.
The fact that his soul could jump back and forth between different flesh-and-blood bodies was a secret that absolutely could not be leaked.
Priest Zhu Yao and the others had once told Li Ban that even 8th Tier Sun Priests needed to follow the guidance of a Realm-Breaking Stone when traveling between minor worlds.
Li Ban had no desire to gamble on whether he was just special, or if he possessed the soul of a 9th Tier or higher priest.
Even if he was lucky enough to be the latter, right now, he was a weakling with no matching power. If someone found out, wouldn't he just be a defenseless piece of prime meat for the taking?
'The secret of Gu Yi's Testament isn't as important as my own secret. The moment Du An catches up, I'll stow away the Realm-Breaking Stone and return to the Wizard World.'
Both being Cloud Hidden Priests, Li Ban felt confident he could defeat Huangzhi, but against Du An, he had no such certainty.
The man had abundant spiritual rhinoceros, and there was no telling what spells he had learned.
Most critically, in a fight, it was highly unlikely that Li Ban would be able to hide his distinct characteristics from Du An.
If he failed to kill him, he would likely be recognized by Du An when they crossed paths in the Wizard World again.
The Wizard World was Li Ban's foundational home base. He would absolutely not give up his identity as Li Ban lightly.
Just as he was about to put the precious Realm-Breaking Stone away, hundreds of silver shards abruptly materialized in front of him. They spread out across a massive area, blocking off three directions and leaving open only the path Du An was approaching from.
Li Ban nearly slammed right into them.
'They appeared out of nowhere this time? Did Du An apply the Shrinking Ground to an Inch spell to his own elements?'
With no time to marvel at his opponent's spell application, Li Ban knew he couldn't delay any longer.
He instantly stowed away the Realm-Breaking Stone, and his entire body was immediately hit by the crushing pressure of the world gaps.
Moreover, he faintly heard a bizarre noise, as if something hidden just out of sight was watching him, calling out to him.
Li Ban looked back at Du An, who was already closing the distance. Just as he was preparing to sever his connection to this body—
Suddenly, the space around him and Du An lit up.
It wasn't that their bodies were enveloped in light, but rather that both of them, along with the surrounding space, were completely illuminated.
The light wasn't blinding; in fact, it could even be considered dim.
And Du An was at the very center of this glow, while Li Ban stood at its edge.
A figure suddenly materialized behind Du An, placing a single hand on his left shoulder.
And instantly, Du An was completely immobilized.
"Look what I found. Two White Robes? Hahahahaha—"