'I probably won't be able to save this body after all. But that's fine. I'll let Du An believe the souls of the Director and Chen Dong were destroyed by the Black Robe.'
From now on, in the Wizard World, he would just be Li Ban, a man who knew nothing.
Mist swirled around Li Ban, tearing him free from the starlight's suppression.
Even knowing he was in lethal danger, he refused to give up.
'Even if I can't keep this body, I won't let that black-robed priest have it easy.'
The immense power of the fragment shattered the starlight's bindings just before Lao Yu could catch up.
Behind him, the black-robed priest faltered in surprise. He hadn't expected a mere Cloud Hidden Priest to break his starlight so quickly.
"Hmph, Bailie was right. The little white-robed priests these days are far from simple."
Lao Yu chuckled darkly, his starlight sweeping toward Li Ban once more.
'Fleeing toward safety won't work. He's even faster than Du An.' Li Ban's gaze darted to the side.
It was the spatial rift he had just emerged from—a passage leading to a minor world on the verge of total destruction.
'I'll go inside and use the rift to evade the black-robed priest.'
Entering a spatial rift recklessly was extremely dangerous.
Even a Star Glow Priest couldn't guarantee their survival in a collapsing world.
Yet it was currently Li Ban's best path of escape.
If he lost the gamble, it wouldn't be a total loss—he would only lose this vessel.
His mind made up, Li Ban immediately flew toward the crumbling minor world.
There was just one problem. The black-robed priest would definitely catch up to him before he reached it; he had to find a way to shake the man off at least once.
'A Terror Spell definitely won't suppress a Star Glow Priest. My Flight Technique isn't as fast as his, either. The rest are all basic, rudimentary spells that probably won't catch him off guard—but I have no other choice.'
The black-robed priest, Lao Yu, had assumed Li Ban would flee in the opposite direction. He was just preparing to pursue at full speed and lock him down with a spell when Li Ban suddenly veered to the left.
Immediately realizing Li Ban's intentions, Lao Yu sneered. "Trying to escape into the minor world? Hmph, keep dreaming."
Compared to the stillness of a spatial rift, the complex and ever-changing environment of a minor world was indeed an easier place to hide.
But they weren't close to the entrance. Did a mere Cloud Hidden Priest really have the confidence to make it inside before getting caught?
He was underestimating him. He was vastly underestimating the speed of a Star Glow Priest.
Discerning Li Ban's destination, Lao Yu immediately pivoted and gave chase.
However, instead of trailing directly behind Li Ban, he flew toward the midpoint between Li Ban and the minor world.
Calculating their relative speeds, he knew he would intercept him precisely at that spot.
As he flew, Lao Yu continuously intensified the pressure of his Starlight Domain. Watching Li Ban struggle as if wading through thick glue, his speed dropping second by second, Lao Yu's lips curled into a victorious smirk.
"If I didn't need him alive to extract the Wizard Embryo Fragment, why would I ever need to go to such lengths for a Cloud Hidden Priest?"
The gap between them rapidly closed. Lao Yu raised his hand, aiming directly at Li Ban's forehead.
Just then, Li Ban, who had been staring intently at the rift, abruptly turned his head and locked eyes with Lao Yu.
Spirit Attachment Art!
Attachment element: 'Flute Sound'!
Mental Piercing!
Just as he was about to unleash his Flash Freeze Technique, Lao Yu's mind suddenly went blank.
His shifting intent was forcibly severed.
The aborted technique sent a sharp spike of agony through Lao Yu's brain, further prolonging his mental stagnation.
One second. Two seconds.
Two seconds later, the black-robed priest Lao Yu flew into a towering rage.
A mere Cloud Hidden Priest had actually interrupted his technique!
Seeing that Li Ban had seized the opportunity to reach the edge of the minor world, Lao Yu stopped holding back. He unleashed his deadliest killing technique.
Flash Freeze Technique.
But the moment the technique formed, Li Ban plunged through the spatial rift and vanished into the collapsing minor world.
Refusing to let him go, Lao Yu sent the technique hurtling through the rift right on his heels.
A moment later, Lao Yu charged in after him.
The instant Li Ban crossed the threshold, a heavy impact slammed into his back.
Instantly, his entire body lost all sensation. The very breath he exhaled crystallized into ice in midair.
His heart stopped beating; his blood ceased flowing.
Deprived of oxygen, his brain rapidly lost consciousness.
Unable to sustain his flight, Li Ban plummeted straight down the moment he entered the minor world.
Fortunately, the rift he had taken wasn't high above the ground—only a dozen meters or so—and the terrain below was a grassy expanse.
With a heavy thud, Li Ban smashed into the ground.
If not for the natural resilience of a priest's body and the protection of the Wizard Embryo Fragment, the impact would have shattered his frozen body into pieces.
Even so, he suffered severe injuries.
His internal organs were nearly pulverized.
However, the violent jolt also forcibly shocked him back to consciousness.
The Wizard Embryo Fragment rapidly went to work, repelling the technique cast upon him. The biting chill receded, and his body temperature slowly returned.
Li Ban stiffly pushed himself up on his arms and vomited a mouthful of blood mixed with ice shards and organ fragments.
Spirit Attachment Art!
Element 'Flesh on White Bones'!
He rapidly healed his body while searching for the nearest spatial rift.
Li Ban had originally planned to hide within this world. But while he had successfully stalled the black-robed priest, his injuries had cost him precious time.
The man would undoubtedly catch up soon.
Turning his head, he spotted another spatial rift nearby. Gripping the Realm-Breaking Stone tightly, he charged right into it.
A spatial rift was not a simple hole in a wall.
The rift he had used to enter and the one he had just exited were only a few meters apart within the minor world. But when he plunged through this second rift and re-entered the void between worlds, his position had completely shifted from where he first entered.
Nor could he sense the spiritual rhinoceros of the other black-robed priest and Du An anywhere nearby.
'That black-robed priest shouldn't have seen which rift I took, but he'll likely test them one by one.'
Li Ban immediately moved out, searching for yet another spatial rift.
He hadn't flown far when a massive fluctuation of spiritual rhinoceros rippled from behind him.
'The black-robed priest found me. Thank god I've already found the next spatial rift!'
Li Ban accelerated once more, diving headlong into the next spatial rift without looking back.
Meanwhile, Lao Yu finally caught up, but he ground to a halt right at the rift's entrance, hesitating to enter.
'Is he insane? Does he even know what's on the other side of this rift before charging in?'
Under normal circumstances, Lao Yu would never recklessly enter an unknown rift. But—Li Ban's recent stunt had completely enraged him!
'If a measly Cloud Hidden Priest dares to go in, why wouldn't I?'
He hesitated for only a second before his boiling anger drove him forward, plunging into the rift.
However, the moment he crossed over, the color drained from his face.
The world before his eyes had already shattered completely. There were no spatial rifts hanging in the air—only massive, abyssal chasms tearing through the void.
The entire world resembled a shattered vase. It hadn't fully disintegrated yet, but it was held together solely by the last threads of residual interacting forces.
At any second, it could burst entirely apart. The remnants of the world would fall into the Dark Side of the Universe, leaving only a few lucky survivors drifting through the crevices of the Shattered Realm.
In the distance, Lao Yu spotted Li Ban flying straight toward a massive fissure separating two chunks of the world.
He immediately gave chase, bellowing furiously, "Are you an idiot?! That's not a spatial rift! The Dark Side of the Universe is waiting on the other side! If you go in there, you're dead!"
Li Ban, who had been charging headlong toward the fissure, slammed to a halt upon hearing this, stopping just short of the massive chasm.
He glanced back and saw Lao Yu lingering warily about two hundred meters away, refusing to come any closer.
"You really have a death wish, kid." Lao Yu's mouth twitched. "Even if I take your fragment, you won't die. Wouldn't you rather keep your life and crawl back to the Wizard World?"
Lao Yu took a step forward; Li Ban immediately took a half-step back.
He smiled at the black-robed priest. "Aren't you only chasing me for the Wizard Embryo Fragment? You might as well give up now. I'd rather throw myself into this chasm than hand it over to you."
"I'd like to see you try."
The black-robed priest lunged forward. Without a shred of hesitation, Li Ban stepped back.
Lao Yu stopped, narrowing his eyes. "I actually ran into a stubborn one today. If I had known, I would've just gone after the other White Robe."
Still, there was absolutely no way he would give up.
Lao Yu kept walking forward.
By now, Li Ban was standing directly on the edge of the massive fissure; he couldn't afford to take another step back.
Yet, with his back flush against the fissure, Li Ban took another half-step backward without a hint of hesitation.
One of his legs sank into the fissure.
Instantly, the Realm-Breaking Stone in his hand began to tremble, as if subjected to a crushing pressure.
'The feeling behind this fissure is completely different from the other rifts.'
It didn't feel like stepping through a thin membrane; it felt like plunging a foot deep into a thick swamp.
Sinking in was hard enough, but pulling back out would be even harder.
Nevertheless, Li Ban continued to retreat until his back was fully pressed against it.
All traces of anger vanished from Lao Yu's face. In a blink, he arrived less than ten meters in front of Li Ban.
Li Ban stepped back again, half of his body vanishing into the fissure.
"I can see your resolve," Lao Yu sneered. "Since I can't get the fragment, I'm certainly not letting you go back alive. Get in there. Now, even if you don't want to go in, I'll shove you in myself."
Li Ban merely narrowed his eyes and stopped retreating.
"Hesitating? Are you scared now?" Lao Yu continued closing the distance. "Like I said, even if you want to live now, I won't allow it."
Stopping three meters away, Lao Yu thrust his hand fiercely forward.
The air between them solidified into a transparent but hard wall, slowly but firmly driving Li Ban's body deeper into the fissure.
Li Ban thought, 'As expected, tricking someone into getting close so I can drag them down with me isn't that easy.'
Despite his apparent fury, Lao Yu remained highly vigilant, refusing to approach Li Ban and the massive rift behind him.
Once again, Li Ban unleashed an attached Mental Piercing directly at Lao Yu.
But Lao Yu was fully prepared this time. He only froze for half a second before shaking it off.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Ban threw his hands back and fiercely slapped the surface of the massive rift.
He channeled nearly all of his remaining spiritual rhinoceros into his hands. Wrapping them in dense, cotton-like clouds of mist, he hammered the surface of the rift.
The already unstable fissure immediately triggered an even more terrifying reaction.
The rift, which was already half-swallowing Li Ban, tore abruptly open. Like a towering tidal wave, it surged upward, instantly devouring Li Ban, while crashing down upon Lao Yu, who was only a few meters away and had just regained his senses.
When Lao Yu snapped back to reality, he saw the space in front of him fluctuating. He instantly threw himself backward, desperately chaining his Flight Technique and Shrinking Ground to an Inch.
But no matter how fast he retreated, he still couldn't escape. The surging rift crashed down, swallowing him whole.