Though he did not know how to explain his promotion to Cloud Hidden Priest, growing stronger was an undeniable blessing for Li Ban.
This was especially true since Du An was still tracking him in the Shadow World.
Li Ban had previously considered spending some merit to learn the Flight Technique, but that would no longer be necessary.
He took a moment to adjust his condition, finding his body and mind in peak form.
It seemed he did not even need to adapt to the power surge that came with becoming a Cloud Hidden Priest.
Everything felt so natural that it was as if he had always been a Cloud Hidden Priest.
Just as the Faceless One said, Cloud-Hidden is merely an accumulation beyond Spiritual Initiation, Li Ban thought. And since I am already used to housing a massive amount of elements in my body, along with the assistance of the Star River, this power enhancement barely registers.
After advancing to Cloud-Hidden, Li Ban also discovered that his Wizard Embryo Fragment was no longer lifeless—no longer just a wisp of fog lingering in his mind.
Now he could draw it out of his body, step on it to fly like the other priests, or shroud it around himself for concealment and defense.
This was not a change in proficiency, but a shift in the form of power application.
After familiarizing himself with his capabilities as a Cloud Hidden Priest, Li Ban lay straight back down on his bed.
He decided to head to the Shadow World immediately and use his Realm-Breaking Stone to reach another small world, evading Du An.
Once he adapted to his Cloud Hidden Priest power, he would no longer have to fear being hunted down by Du An.
Li Ban closed his eyes and opened them again; he had already arrived in the Shadow World.
He checked his Cubic Space, finding it had doubled in size.
Although two cubic meters still did not count as a large portable space, it at least meant he could carry more things away.
This time, Li Ban refrained from touching the Faceless One's Self-Seeking Mirror for now.
Even though the Faceless One seemingly knew a lot and was aware of Li Ban's "identity," Li Ban still did not want him to discover the existence of the Star River.
This was his greatest secret between the two worlds.
Leaving the mountains of steel scrap, Li Ban took out his Realm-Breaking Stone and performed a lock-on.
Because the Trash Realm was located on the fringes of the Shattered Realm, there were quite a few small worlds nearby. Li Ban picked one with relatively large energy feedback. Once it was selected, he used the Realm-Breaking Stone to find a random rift in the nearby sky and left the Trash Realm.
Entering the rift passage once more, he saw the small world just a short distance ahead.
However, he did not enter to explore.
After his several expeditions with Priest Huangzhi, he was certain that any small world that slipped through to the Trash Realm held no exploration value for him.
Even if he wanted to wait for a Wizard Embryo Fragment from a shattered world, it was best to wait near the shattered world itself.
Halfway down the path, Li Ban slipped out of the rift passage and prepared to fly off, following the lock-on from his Realm-Breaking Stone.
I should bring the cloud out first to take a look, Li Ban thought.
Just as he was about to manifest the cloud formed by his fragment's power, Li Ban froze.
He looked up toward the distance.
A familiar figure was rapidly approaching from afar.
Du An! Without the slightest hesitation, Li Ban turned and fled. Why is he waiting for me on the outskirts of the world?
Li Ban did not use the cloud mist to escape, instead continuing to use Shrinking Ground to an Inch to run forward.
Du An was riding on a cloud, making his speed naturally faster than Li Ban's.
Though he had not yet arrived, his voice transmitted over through the power of the spiritual rhinoceros.
"Director, can we talk?"
Director?!
Du An had actually started calling him Director too!
That Main Brain really is unreliable, Li Ban thought. Fortunately I was cautious and did not blow my cover in front of the Main Brain.
Li Ban stopped and turned to look at Du An. "What is there for us to talk about?"
His voice was cold and hard, entirely different from how he spoke in the Wizard World.
Du An had destroyed the Ring World the Director guarded; it was only natural for the two to bear a grudge.
"I received some information from the Main Brain. I want to confirm it with you."
Because Li Ban stopped, Du An had already arrived in front of him.
The two stood more than ten meters apart, maintaining a mutually vigilant distance.
Only, for priests, a distance of ten meters was virtually non-existent.
"How much of the Main Brain's words can be trusted? Now that the Ring World—we had best not see each other again."
Li Ban moved to leave, but Du An instantly appeared in his path.
"I do not care how you became a priest, or what deal you struck with the Myriad Ancient Pagoda. But Director, you have Chen Dong's divine soul, do you not?"
"Why are you looking for Chen Dong's divine soul? Were you not the one who abandoned him in the first place?"
"With a fractured divine soul, advancing to Star Glow Priest will take a very long time." Du An raised his eyes, his expression unreadable. "I assume you have this problem too, right? You refuse to hand over Chen Dong's divine soul because you want to absorb it yourself, correct?"
Li Ban stepped back, but Du An closed in step by step.
"The Ring World was destroyed; heh, the vast majority of Gu Yi's divine soul vanished with it. Did Priest Zhu Yao tell you that, with our divine souls so severely fractured, we might need hundreds of years to advance?"
Li Ban could tell that Du An had likely already learned the truth about Gu Yi's fragmentation from the Main Brain.
And in all likelihood, the Main Brain had sought him out.
After all, Du An was a pure splintered entity of Gu Yi.
Only, he did not mention the horrifying concept of "progress."
Did he not believe it, or had the Main Brain not mentioned it?
Li Ban did not bring it up either. Right now he was more than happy to let Du An misunderstand, afraid that saying too much would make Du An suspect his identity.
"Do you want Chen Dong's divine soul, or—do you want mine as well?"
Du An raised his eyes. "I will have to—try them one by one!"
Before his voice faded, a massive swarm of silver fragments appeared around Li Ban.
This time, the fragments were no longer floating silently in the air, but roaming rapidly and chaotically.
Li Ban had no way to immediately shift out of the fragments' range. If he tried to teleport through the gaps, he would very likely be injured by the roaming silver shards.
The other man had deliberately waited outside the Trash Realm for Li Ban to emerge. Clearly, through his conversation with the Main Brain, he had guessed Li Ban was planning to leave.
The Main Brain did not know Li Ban possessed a Realm-Breaking Stone, but Du An did.
And knowing this, he had immediately camped outside the Trash Realm to wait for Li Ban.
Was he not afraid Li Ban might wait a year or two before coming out?
I remember Du An has an ability for secretly monitoring people, Li Ban thought. He might have used that ability through the Spirit Attachment Art.
"I will not let you escape again," Du An said expressionlessly as he watched Li Ban's eyes dart around to observe his surroundings. "If you hand over Chen Dong's divine soul, I will fuse with his first. If it can make up for the deficiency, I might spare you."
"But if you refuse to hand it over—I will fuse with yours first!"
Compared to their last encounter in the Shattered Realm, Du An's strength seemed greater, and his application of elements and spells was far more deft.
The array of silver light filling the surrounding air was indeed as tight as an inescapable net.
But Li Ban was no longer the Li Ban of that time, either.
He had just advanced to Cloud-Hidden.
Only, when he saw Du An rushing over, he had realized the other man's speed was absolutely faster than his own flying speed.
Even if he exposed his identity as a Cloud Hidden Priest and used Cloud and Mist Flight to escape, he would still very likely be caught by Du An.
That would instead make him lose his trump card for a desperate counterattack.
Therefore, he suppressed the thought of escaping and restrained his fragment's spiritual rhinoceros, preventing it from being exposed.
"Fine." Li Ban gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at Du An, looking as though he were suppressing a fiery inner rage. "I will give Chen Dong's divine soul to you."
He raised his hand and retrieved an item from his Cubic Space—the Virtual World Necklace!
Seeing the necklace, a fleeting look of shock crossed Du An's face.
Now!
Li Ban knew that this necklace, which had created the false Ring World, would undoubtedly stun Du An.
"Rending Technique!"
Li Ban immediately released the spell he had learned but was not yet very proficient at.
One of Du An's arms dropped instantly, and a massive wound tore open across his chest, even exposing his beating heart inside.
Having successfully released the Rending Technique twice in a row, Li Ban gave a silent cheer.
He knew his success rate at applying spells in actual combat was very high, because he desperately wanted to achieve the spell's effect.
Unfortunately, managing to kill Du An is still unlikely, he thought.
The Rending Technique Li Ban released at Du An's neck was originally supposed to take effect, but it was blocked by the Protection Spell Du An instantly reacted with.
The other strike, meant to rend his heart, had been displaced to the surface of his body for unknown reasons.
Since his strike had failed, that attack had definitely exposed his strength; Li Ban turned his head, summoned the cloud mist, and charged into the silver fragments.
This time the cloud mist lingered around him, turning into a shield to help him withstand the deadly silver fragments roaming through the space.
Just as Li Ban was charging forward, on the verge of smashing aside the silver fragments and escaping, two beams of starlight suddenly descended, enveloping him and Du An.
The battle between the two men instantly ceased, and the silver fragments no longer attempted to attack Li Ban.
He and Du An both peered into the depths of the darkness.
"I knew it. Little mice can never resist returning to their mouse holes."
In the darkness, two pitch-black figures surfaced.
"Lao Yu, look, there are two little White Robes here. I will let you have that one, and then I will not have to pay your reward."
Li Ban recognized the speaker as a Black Robe—impressively, it was the Black Robe who had captured Du An before.
He had not expected him to be guarding this place as well.
Du An was the mantis stalking the cicada, but had not anticipated the oriole behind.
Only, the problem this time was that the oriole had called for a helper.
Li Ban turned his head with difficulty and glanced at Du An; surprisingly, the latter was still looking at him.
Even at this point, did Du An still want to capture him?
That is fine. If he keeps his attention on me, he might get killed by the Black Robe, Li Ban thought.
Li Ban even considered discarding this body of Gu Yi to drag Du An down with him.
Ultimately, however, Du An had no intention of perishing together with Li Ban; he withdrew his gaze, turned, and fled.
Li Ban was already a considerable distance from Du An, and at this point, naturally, he was not going to chase back after him.
Seeing the black-robed priest called Lao Yu flying toward him, Li Ban knew the two Black Robes had already divided their spoils.
Li Ban did not know how Du An had escaped last time.
He had not realized that, because ostensibly he had not yet entered the Shattered Realm, the priests of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda had not yet told him all the functions of the Realm-Breaking Stone.
Only, seeing the flying speed and full-body starlight of the black-robed Lao Yu, he knew that he would be caught long before he could run to the next small world!