Li Ban's mouth twitched.
If Priest Zhu Yao knew that Du An had just tried to devour his divine soul, who knew what she would think.
"Perfect timing. I'll explain the situation of a Cloud Hidden Priest to you."
Priest Jun once again took over from Priest Qian Que to instruct Li Ban.
Li Ban also realized that despite his stern appearance, Priest Jun rather enjoyed playing the teacher.
However, a priest like him probably wouldn't endear himself to those with strong personalities.
"Since you've already become a Cloud Hidden Priest, cultivating your state of mind must be put on the agenda. Parting clouds to see the stars isn't something you can achieve just by accumulating power."
Priest Jun was a Star Glow Priest himself, and had been one for many years. As he explained things to Li Ban, he wove in much of his own personal insight.
He raised his hand. A cluster of mist materialized in his palm, very faint, like the thin haze of early morning.
The mist in his palm gradually thickened into a white cloud resembling cotton candy. "Cloud-Hidden actually possesses much greater control over the spiritual rhinoceros. With enough Wizard Embryo Fragments, you can house a massive amount of spiritual rhinoceros. When needed, you can draw upon it at will, and amplified by the fragments, it becomes the foundation of your spells. Because of this, it can be hidden, or it can be revealed."
In an instant, Priest Jun concealed all of his spiritual rhinoceros.
In Li Ban's eyes, he went from a priest to an ordinary man.
Then, he displayed his fused elements, turning into a Spirit Practitioner.
This was the effect of mastering the spiritual rhinoceros.
Li Ban followed suit and gave it a try, but he still couldn't completely hide his spiritual rhinoceros.
He could, however, carefully disguise himself as a Spirit Practitioner.
Priest Jun waited for Li Ban to practice for a moment before continuing, "Now that you are a Cloud Hidden Priest, you should practice controlling the spiritual rhinoceros every day. This will also help you better grasp the variations in your spells. In the future, you'll be able to learn even more complex spells."
Li Ban nodded. While manipulating the spiritual rhinoceros, he truly did find that his mental focus was being tempered as a result.
"But if you want to advance to Star Glow Priest, simply strengthening the fragments won't be enough. You also need a state of mind capable of controlling it."
"Parting clouds to see the stars is the first sign of the spiritual rhinoceros gradually transitioning from energy into rules."
"Rules..." Li Ban fell silent.
Truth be told, he actually did have the experience of advancing from Spiritual Initiation to Solar.
It was just that because the Star River had helped him blur out most of his damaged mind, his feelings from that time had also become incredibly hazy as a result.
Still, during that fleeting advancement, he had felt some of the enlightenment that belonged to a Star Glow Priest.
Previously, the Faceless One had mentioned that advancing to Star Glow Priest required "epiphany," and now Priest Jun was talking about "rules."
Li Ban vaguely felt he had grasped onto something within it.
But that flash of insight was fleeting. Lowering his eyes, Li Ban remained silent as he felt around for that passing thought.
The mist on his body faintly trembled, and a muffled rumble of thunder seemed to echo from within it.
The strange noises coming from Li Ban left the two highly experienced priests completely dumbfounded.
They exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in the other's eyes.
It wasn't entirely unheard of for someone to immediately become a Star Glow Priest after experiencing the Rite of Heaven-Seizing Breath.
But they had never seen a priest who, after becoming a Spirit Awakening Priest, advanced to Cloud Hidden Priest within three months and was already faintly brushing against the edge of Star Glow.
Being sent straight to Star Glow by one's own Wizard Embryo Fragments was a matter of good luck.
But steadily groping one's way from Spiritual Initiation to Star Glow—that could not be explained by luck alone.
The two priests fell silent in unison. Neither of them tried to offer Li Ban any further guidance.
Parting clouds to see the stars involved self-awareness and control; other people's experiences could actually lead a priest astray.
Moreover, that flash of insight was crucial. Many people simply failed to find that enlightenment, remaining trapped at the Cloud Hidden Priest stage for a long time.
If they spoke up and interrupted Li Ban's train of thought now, they might very well ruin his chance at advancement this time.
However, Priest Qian Que and Priest Jun's good intentions were thwarted.
The silence of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda was suddenly broken by the deep, piercing blast of a horn.
Li Ban's thoughts were abruptly interrupted. Not taking it too seriously in the moment, he turned to look in the direction of the sound.
Priest Jun frowned and sighed inwardly, though he didn't point out that Li Ban might have just missed an opportunity for advancement.
The disappointment of failing to grasp that flash of insight could have a negative impact on Li Ban's state of mind.
It wouldn't be too late to tell him once his mental cultivation reached a certain level.
Meanwhile, Priest Qian Que stood up and walked over to the edge of the pagoda's peak.
"An insect tide!"
Of all times, an insect tide had to break out now.
Li Ban followed the two priests to the edge of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda.
It was his first time witnessing an insect tide.
At the very bottom of the Unreturning Place, the ground churned like boiling water, bubbling and gurgling.
A fat, dark-purple bug squeezed out of every bubble that popped in the air.
These bugs had popped up completely out of nowhere.
A careless Spirit Practitioner who had descended a bit too low was suddenly snagged by a purple bug that leaped exceptionally high.
The bug was fat, but its body was covered in fine bristles with tiny hooks.
Using these bristles, the bug instantly latched onto the unfortunate Spirit Practitioner's clothes.
The Spirit Practitioner immediately looked down, raising his weapon to chop the bug off.
But the dark-purple bug's body suddenly swelled up, and its front mandibles violently spewed out a massive wad of purple webbing.
It was just like a spider spraying webbing from its abdomen.
The purple web flew blindingly fast, instantly enveloping the Spirit Practitioner's weapon and his arm.
"Sticky bugs."
Before Priest Qian Que even finished speaking, he vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already by the Spirit Practitioner's side.
He grabbed the Spirit Practitioner, yanked him back, and swept his hand downward.
Like a blizzard sweeping across a freezing tundra, the deep pool at the very bottom of the Unreturning Place was instantly frozen solid.
"Everyone, retreat immediately!"
The figure of another priest appeared on the Hanging Pavilion.
This was Li Ban's first time seeing him.
He had taken over Priest Jun's previous job—supervising the battles in the Unreturning Place and coordinating all the Spirit Practitioners.
The Spirit Practitioners, despite not yet knowing what was happening, fell back from the bottom of the Unreturning Place with great discipline.
"Everyone is to remain stationed on the high platforms. No one is permitted to leave."
The priest on the Hanging Pavilion shouted out again.
"Are sticky bugs really that much trouble?" Li Ban asked. He thought Corpse Worms were tricky enough, but during the last Corpse Worm outbreak, the priests hadn't ordered the Spirit Practitioners to retreat and stay out of the fight.
"Yes, they are extremely tenacious. Corpse Worms eat human brains; they go into a frenzy and attack any living thing they encounter, making them easy to identify. But sticky bugs are different. Their eggs are right inside their slime. Once it touches a person's skin, the eggs burrow underneath and quietly grow. By the time someone realizes something is wrong, the parasitized person's body is already packed with half-mature sticky bugs."
Just briefly imagining that scene reminded Li Ban of the condemned prisoner in the Death Prison, whose entire body had been crawling with bugs.
Though the scene caused by sticky bugs was probably far more disgusting.
"That's why sticky bugs are more troublesome than Corpse Worms. If even one escapes, there's no telling how long it will take to clean up the mess. In times like this, every priest must step in. We absolutely cannot let a single one slip away."
After Priest Jun finished speaking, he looked at Li Ban. "Coming?"
"Yeah!" Li Ban nodded, duty-bound.
The two of them flew down toward the lowest point of the Unreturning Place.
Including Priest Qian Que, there were already four priests here.
The other three were all new faces.
There wasn't even time for introductions before the frozen pool right in front of them began to melt.
The power of a Dark Moon Priest was naturally more than enough to freeze a simple pool of water.
However, the Unreturning Place was no ordinary deep pool; many spells simply couldn't sustain their effects on its waters for long.
It seemed the frozen pool water had suppressed them too harshly.
The moment the water thawed, a massive horde of purple sticky bugs surged out.
They poured forth like grain spilling from a sack.
As these bugs flew out, they immediately began spraying pale-purple webbing toward Li Ban and the others.
Standing among the priests, Li Ban instantly cast the Protection Spell.
The silk landed on the surface of his barrier and stuck fast, piling up thicker and thicker.
Li Ban could clearly see that the pale-purple strands were dotted with slightly darker purple granules.
Meanwhile, the sticky bugs that had just spat out these eggs looked entirely unfazed, turning to spew webbing at yet another angle.
"Such a terrifying reproductive rate, no wonder the priests are so unusually tense."
Faced with so much webbing and eggs, the best method for extermination was naturally fire.
Spirit Attachment Art!
Blazing Flame Art!
A stream of flames condensed in front of Li Ban.
Empowered by the Spirit Attachment Art, the flames were no longer a rigid, straight pillar.
Guided by Li Ban's mental will, the fire transformed into a massive fire dragon that spiraled through the air, charging toward the sticky bugs flying out of the water.
Li Ban thought correctly. Those fine threads of silk were essentially something similar to protein, and beneath the fierce flames, they rapidly burned to ash.
The eggs on top of them had no defense either, similarly crumbling to ash in the scorching heat.
There were two other priests using intense flames to incinerate the swarm alongside Li Ban.
The three of them didn't discuss it, yet through tacit understanding, each took control of a specific zone.
The other two knew that Li Ban was a new priest, so they deliberately expanded their own areas of responsibility to reduce the pressure on him.
Meanwhile, Priest Qian Que, Priest Jun, and the last unfamiliar priest stood slightly behind the three of them. They used other spells to sweep up any stragglers, ensuring not a single bug flew out of the pool's bottom.
Although those three didn't have to continuously cast spells like Li Ban's group, their responsibility was heavier, draining more of their energy.
Unlike Li Ban and the others, who only had to focus entirely on setting fires.
Up on the high platforms, the people of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda were also busy.
They checked over and over to ensure no one had been parasitized by a sticky bug, while simultaneously watching closely to see if any sticky bugs had slipped past the priests' blockade.
Just as everyone was busy dealing with the insect tide, the usually quiet Shattered Eye suddenly gave a faint tremble.
Priest Qian Que was the first to notice. He merely glanced up at it before retracting his gaze.
Priest Jun, however, backed up slightly, drawing closer to the Shattered Eye.
"Excellent, another priest has returned from the Shattered Realm. I just hope his condition is decent enough to join this fight."
Although the six priests could handle it for now, he was also afraid that other unexpected variables might arise.
With an extra person's strength, there would naturally be an extra layer of security.
Under Priest Pei Jun's somewhat expectant gaze, a White Robe stepped through the Shattered Eye and returned to the Unreturning Place.
"Priest An," Priest Jun nodded, seeing that Du An was in perfect condition. "An insect tide has broken out in the Unreturning Place. It's the rather troublesome sticky bugs. Hurry over and help."