After Li Ban left the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, he turned around just in time to see Priest Qian Que sitting atop its spire.
Qian Lailai, whom he had just seen, bore a passing resemblance to Priest Qian Que.
It seemed she shared a bloodline with the priest, just like Qian Jing.
Priest Qian Que, who had been gazing out over the Unreturning Place, seemed to sense Li Ban's gaze. He looked down, met his eyes with a faint smile, and waved.
Is he calling me over? Li Ban thought, nodding in greeting. He doesn't have his translator with him this time. How are we supposed to communicate?
Even so, he vanished and reappeared beside Priest Qian Que.
"Priest Qian Que."
"Qian Jing. Granddaughter," Priest Qian Que said curtly, pointing below them.
"I see. Your descendants are quite formidable."
Among spirit practitioners, these were incredibly impressive levels.
"Bloodline. Talent," Priest Qian Que replied, shaking his head without much pride.
Li Ban tried his best to interpret the fragmented words.
"Because they are the descendants of a priest, their bloodline grants them talent in spiritual rhinoceros cultivation and element fusion that surpasses ordinary people?"
Qian Que chuckled and pointed at Li Ban. "Shortcut."
Realization dawned on Li Ban. No wonder he had felt it was strange for Pagoda Master Qian Jing to specifically call Qian Lailai over. Now it made sense—she was genuinely playing matchmaker.
Because Pagoda Master Qian Jing had a grandfather like Priest Qian Que, she naturally hoped her daughter would also bear children with a priest's bloodline.
If that happened, it was highly likely that the next pagoda master of the Unreturning Place's Myriad Ancient Pagoda would still belong to their Qian family.
However, Li Ban had no interest in finding a woman to have children with.
Deep down, he did not truly identify with his current body, nor did he feel that a child born from it would be a continuation of his own bloodline.
Of course, he cared even less for Gu Yi's body in the Shadow World.
The self he truly identified with was still the man who had worked himself to death at his desk in his past life.
"My apologies." Li Ban cupped his hands toward Priest Qian Que. "I have no heart for romance or—love right now."
As he said this, a figure suddenly surfaced in his mind, causing him to stumble slightly over the final word.
Priest Qian Que laughed and shook his head again. "No matter. Follow your heart."
Huh? Is he calling me a coward? Li Ban blanked for a moment, then hurriedly dismissed the thought. No, no, Priest Qian Que's words must literally mean following one's heart. It's part of a priest's mental cultivation.
"You two can actually hold a conversation?"
Priest Jun's voice was as stern as ever. Anyone unfamiliar with him would likely think he had come to scold them.
"Priest Jun."
"—" Priest Qian Que simply stared at Priest Jun in silence, not bothering to speak a single word.
"Are you showing Li Ban around the Myriad Ancient Pagoda?" Priest Jun scoffed lightly. "What could you possibly introduce him to?"
Priest Jun waved at Li Ban, as if trying to steal a disciple right out from under Priest Qian Que. "Come, Priest Ban. Let me show you around the Unreturning Place."
With that, he forcefully grabbed Li Ban by the arm and flew him directly above the Shattered Eye.
Suspended in the air above the Shattered Eye was a pavilion. Slender chains extended from it, anchoring to massive rocks protruding from the waterfalls on all four sides.
However, the pavilion hovered entirely under its own power. As a result, the connecting chains actually sagged downward, dangling loosely in the air.
Landing inside the suspended pavilion, Li Ban noticed a small well in the center of the floor, its opening aligned directly over the Shattered Eye.
"Back when I first became a priest, the daughters of the Qian family approached me too. Including the Pagoda Master Qian Jing you see today."
Upon landing in the pavilion, Priest Jun unexpectedly brought up the Qian family's affairs.
"This granddaughter of Priest Qian Que is incredibly ambitious, but she knows her limits. Since you rejected her, she won't dare to keep pestering you."
Li Ban nodded. He did not feel offended.
"It's fine. I've already refused."
Although he had given the refusal to Priest Qian Que, it was probably even more effective that way.
"The Myriad Ancient Pagoda serves as the main force for clearing out the insects, but when an insect tide occurs, we priests still need to step in."
Priest Jun gestured for Li Ban to look at the well in the suspended pavilion.
Naturally, there was no water beneath the opening; it looked more like an empty cylinder.
Right in the center of his view was the eye-shaped rift—the Shattered Eye.
Further below lay a deep, dark pool constantly battered by crashing water.
Logically, it should have been a bottomless abyss. However, the priests, or perhaps the Wizard Lord, must have used some kind of spell to make it look like a deep pool, even though its lowest depths possessed no true bottom.
"From here, you can see if an insect tide is forming. Normally, though insects will scurry out from beneath the surface and launch attacks toward the top of the pool, those small bugs are weak. The 3rd-Tier and 4th-Tier spirit practitioners are enough to handle them."
"Only when the abyss turns purple do the stronger insects swarm up. Only spirit practitioners of the 5th Tier and above can fight those."
"But the spiritual rhinoceros of a spirit practitioner is limited. They cannot fight for long periods. That's when we must step in to provide timely support, using our spells to eliminate the most powerful insects as quickly as possible."
Li Ban looked down through the well. Currently, the abyss was a deep blue. Aside from the areas pounded by the waterfalls, the water in the center remained perfectly still.
However, the surface did not reflect the surrounding scenery. When Li Ban looked down, he could only see fragments of light and the deep blue water of the pool.
Tearing his gaze away from the stone well, Li Ban walked to the edges of the suspended pavilion.
From this angle, he could finally see the bottom ends of the iron chains anchored to the extended platforms around the waterfalls.
A spirit practitioner was attached to the end of each chain.
The chains acted as safety tethers. These spirit practitioners leaped nimbly across the large boulders jutting out from the waterfalls. Whenever they spotted an insect, they immediately raised their weapons to strike it down.
Most of the spirit practitioners moved in groups of two or three.
This maintained their mobility while allowing them to watch their surroundings, preventing the bugs from launching sneak attacks.
"Every squad carries a Signal Flare. When they get tired or run into trouble, they fire the flare, and the gears on the high platforms turn to pull them back up," Priest Jun explained.
The ring-shaped waterfall at the Unreturning Place was incredibly vast. Even with hundreds of Myriad Ancient Pagoda members down there, they looked like scattered drops of water from a distance.
Suddenly, a winged black insect, half a meter long, shot out from the rushing water above the waterfall.
A sharp black arrow snapped from a stone tower behind the high platforms, piercing clean through the insect's head.
The bug tumbled unsteadily into the depths below, the arrow still lodged in its skull.
Li Ban followed the falling insect with his eyes. In a nearby squad, one person pushed forward, leaped into the air, caught the arrow, stripped the bug off the shaft, and slid the arrow back into their quiver.
"They're quite frugal," Li Ban said with a laugh.
Priest Jun glanced over, frowning slightly. "That is a Black Steel Arrow, sharp and durable. A single arrow is worth two liang of silver."
"Oh."
Li Ban's expression changed. "Then they definitely need to be frugal."
The price of a single arrow wasn't high, but once an insect tide broke out, who knew how many thousands or tens of thousands of Black Steel Arrows would be spent? It would add up to a massive sum.
Although priests didn't care much for wealth, the operation of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda and the basic living expenses of its members still required a great deal of money.
The Myriad Ancient Pagoda at the Unreturning Place had a few more identities than the one at the Mass Grave.
One was the vice layer master, which was also a 4th-Tier Identity.
The regular layer master, meanwhile, became a 5th-Tier position here.
Because of his special status, Li Ban had been allowed to become a layer master directly, even though his actual spirit practitioner identity was still only at the 4th Tier.
Another set of identities involved the roles fighting insects at the Unreturning Place.
The 3rd-Tier flying generals, and the 4th-Tier high pagoda guards.
Because of this, there were an exceptionally large number of spirit practitioners at this Myriad Ancient Pagoda.
There were many practitioners, but the casualties were equally high.
Even with priests keeping watch from above, they couldn't split their attention a hundred ways. Furthermore, to temper the combat abilities of the pagoda members, they wouldn't baby them at every moment.
"No wonder Du An recommended I join the Myriad Ancient Pagoda here. Not only is it short on manpower—it's also easy to die here."
Back then—Du An might still have harbored a bit of murderous intent toward him.
Before deciding to leave his fate in the hands of heaven.
Unexpectedly, while Li Ban had still entered the Myriad Ancient Pagoda at the Unreturning Place, he had joined as a priest.
"Alright, there's no need for you to watch over these people just yet. Let me teach you a few spells. Which ones do you know right now?"
Li Ban and Priest Jun sat on opposite sides of the suspended pavilion.
"Right now, I know Shrinking Ground to an Inch, the Terror Spell, and the Protection Spell."
"Hm? How long has it been since your Spiritual Initiation?" Priest Jun asked in surprise.
Li Ban calculated the time. "Almost three months."
Priest Jun's expression turned somewhat complex. "You and Du An both have quite a bit of talent when it comes to spells."
Li Ban blinked. "Lord Du—Priest Du An has learned many spells as well, hasn't he?"
"He learned five in one breath. However, he stopped learning more so he could save up merit points to enter the Shattered Realm."
"Which spells did he learn? Were they all to prepare for the Shattered Realm?" Li Ban tried his best to sound merely curious.
"He learned the same three as you, as well as the Spirit Attachment Art and the guiding art."
Li Ban blinked, making a mental note to guard against those two abilities the next time he ran into Du An.
"The names of priest spells sound quite vague."
Priest Jun nodded expressionlessly. "Spells are techniques driven by transformations of will. They represent a proactive form of control. How many spells you learn isn't what matters most; you must strive to master the variations of each one, applying them in the proper situations."
"I can see your Shrinking Ground to an Inch is reasonably practiced. What about the other two? Cast them so I can see."
Without holding back out of politeness, Li Ban immediately cast the Terror Spell on Priest Jun. He could tell the priest wasn't the type to appreciate false courtesy anyway.
Priest Jun shifted under Li Ban's Terror Spell, feeling the intensity of the magic.
"Too weak. Use your full strength."
Li Ban pursed his lips. After a moment of thought, he still chose not to go all out.
Even so, the resulting Terror Spell caught Priest Jun completely off guard.
"You—" It was almost approaching the level of a Star Glow Priest.
Priest Jun swallowed the rest of his sentence. He pointed outward to a spirit practitioner currently battling an insect. "Try casting protection on him. Can you reach?"
The practitioner was over a hundred meters away from them. Li Ban tried, but ultimately shook his head. "No."
This time, Priest Jun nodded as if to say 'as expected.' "It seems your spell intensity is quite good, but your flexibility and range are lacking. For the coming days, focus on practicing these two aspects."