So becoming a menial worker grants you an identity?
Li Ban never expected that simply becoming a menial worker could make him a Spirit Practitioner who could absorb spiritual essence for cultivation.
It sounded prestigious, but wasn’t the starting level for a Spirit Practitioner a bit low?
Of course, this was good news for him.
This meant he could truly begin cultivating!
Although Li Ban had been practicing punches and kicks with the cat-woman, watching the fight between her and Tree-Person A showed that the abilities of a Spirit Practitioner were far beyond mere martial arts.
As Li Ban examined the identity tag in his hand, Tree-Person A waited a moment before saying, “From now on, you are a menial worker of the Death Prison. Although menial worker is a first-tier identity, you can begin cultivating. I will teach you the cultivation method and give you the menial worker’s clothing. In the future, you will receive five hundred big coins every month.”
Tree-Person A led Li Ban out of the interrogation room and showed him around the second floor.
“You are responsible for the menial worker duties on the second floor of Death Prison. You must get used to this environment. Simple cleaning, delivering meals, and inspecting the prisoners are all your responsibility. There are currently eight prisoners on the second floor, all barely alive. If anyone shows abnormalities, you must report to me.”
“I usually stay in the room on the side of the stairs between the first and second floors. You can come find me there.”
There was a room by the stairs?
Li Ban had completely missed it when coming down.
“You... still live in the storage room on the first floor. I will get you another bedding set. Remember, without permission, you cannot go down to the third floor. Also, open flames are prohibited on the first and second floors.”
This time Tree-Person A explained in much more detail than when Li Ban was still a slave.
It was just a small change in status, yet the attitude of the tree-person jailer had changed so much.
Of course, it was also possible that the influence of Officer Zhou Gu’s “follow me from now on” remark had something to do with it.
Then Tree-Person A gave Li Ban a cotton quilt, two sets of brown clothing, a pair of cotton shoes, and most importantly, a small booklet.
The booklet explained how to sense spiritual essence and how to absorb it.
Tree-Person A thoughtfully gave Li Ban some precautions as well.
Although Li Ban hadn’t fully understood yet, he did his best to memorize all the information.
While memorizing, Li Ban thought that if his colleagues who had mission memory were here, they might have already known the cultivation methods in the Witch World.
Learning would definitely be much easier for them.
But that might also expose the fact that they had known the cultivation method all along, which could raise suspicions.
It was better for him to remain ignorant.
After Tree-Person A finished speaking, he left, as Li Ban had already taken up too much of his time.
Li Ban returned to the storage room, tidied his things, and eagerly opened the booklet to try out the cultivation method inside.
“Calm the mind and gather spirit, keep the spiritual platform clear.”
Maintain a quiet state and don’t let your thoughts run wild.
“Open your mind and sense the spiritual essence.”
Feel the surrounding environment and sense the presence of spiritual essence.
This step felt a bit abstract.
“Let your intention follow your heart, adjust the rhythm.”
This step was even less clear. Tree-Person A’s explanation was only to keep your intention consistent with the fluctuations of the spiritual essence.
But what exactly was intention?
The following sentences described the cultivation process after the spiritual essence entered the body.
Li Ban felt the cultivation booklet was not very clear.
It was like wanting to learn swimming, and the coach said, “First float in the water, then swim forward.”
Li Ban wanted to try it out but was afraid of making mistakes, so he changed into the menial worker’s clothes, put on the identity tag, and took the booklet to find the cat-woman.
The cat-woman had seen the easing of relations between Li Ban and Tree-Person A earlier, and thought Li Ban was safe.
But she did not expect that when Li Ban appeared again in front of her, he was already wearing the menial worker’s uniform.
The cat-woman covered her mouth and laughed, “Having an identity is good. Slaves fight desperately just for this one identity, right?”
Li Ban also felt sentimental and looked down at his new clothes.
They didn’t fit well.
He was about fifteen or sixteen years old now, and very thin.
The clothes were adult male size.
The clothes were baggy, and the sleeves and pant legs were way too long.
Li Ban could only roll them up repeatedly, exposing his hands and feet.
But no matter how ill-fitting, it was much better than the sack-like slave clothes.
“Yeah, with an identity, others treat you differently.”
The cat-woman sighed, “With an identity, you can be treated like a person in this world. But... don’t celebrate too early. In the eyes of those with high-tier identities, you are still nothing.”
Li Ban nodded in agreement. In his original world, it was the same.
Things and people were ranked by importance and status.
“Do you have an identity too? What is it?”
The cat-woman, who had wanted to introduce her identity to Li Ban before, suddenly lost interest.
“No matter what identity, it was taken away after I entered the Death Prison.”
“An identity can be taken away?”
After asking, Li Ban actually understood.
For example, if Officer Zhou didn’t want him to do the menial worker job anymore, his identity would immediately be revoked.
It was a bit like a job.
You needed an identity to earn spiritual essence.
“Of course. If an identity can be granted, it can be revoked. After losing your identity, although the elements you have fused remain, you cannot continue to absorb spiritual essence. Once the spiritual essence contained in the elements is used up, your elements become unusable.”
So that was how it was. Spiritual essence was really important, like the batteries inside an electric toy.
Luckily, he hadn’t used his right eye much before and hadn’t exhausted the spiritual essence inside it.
Thinking of this, Li Ban quickly took out the cultivation booklet Tree-Person A had given him. “This is the cultivation method given by the jailer. I have never touched spiritual essence before, so I don’t know if I will make mistakes while cultivating.”
“I thought you were just here to show off.” The cat-woman lifted her chin. “Just sit here and cultivate. If anything’s wrong, I’ll tell you directly. Don’t worry. With an identity, cultivating spiritual essence is as simple as drinking water.”
That was exactly Li Ban’s purpose. He immediately sat cross-legged in front of the cat-woman—this time without leaning against the wall behind him, but still about a meter from the railing.
The cat-woman moved her fingers slightly and then put them back down.
Li Ban closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind.
But sometimes, the more he tried to clear his mind, the more chaotic his thoughts became.
He didn’t know how long he had sat when he unconsciously began to think about other things.
The prison cells nearby were so quiet.
The cat-woman across from him didn’t even make a sound when breathing.
It felt like he was the only person here.
If it weren’t for the cold, hard ground pressing against his buttocks, Li Ban might have felt like he had returned home or was back in that small cubicle unit, one square meter in size.
“Your eyeballs are moving;
you’re not calming your mind.” The cat-woman suddenly spoke. “You already have the qualification to sense spiritual essence. Go look for the things in the air that keep stimulating you.”
After a while longer, Li Ban still couldn’t sense the spiritual essence and his body was almost stiff from sitting.
Li Ban helplessly opened his eyes. “Does it usually take a few days to feel spiritual essence for the first time?”
The cat-woman squinted. “When I first got my identity, I could feel it as soon as I closed my eyes.”
Although he knew the cat-woman was very powerful, Li Ban still felt a bit discouraged.
He had another hidden worry.
Could the soul of a transmigrator sense spiritual essence?
Things that were commonplace for others seemed a bit difficult for him.
Li Ban stood up and stretched his legs.
He had just tried to ask the mission assistance system for help, but it still hadn’t responded.
After moving his limbs, he sat down again, this time without crossing his legs because sitting cross-legged was uncomfortable for him.
He leaned back against the wall and suddenly remembered the first time he met the cat-woman, how she leaned against the wall, one leg bent and the other stretched out in a relaxed posture, sitting like she was about to sleep against the wall.
In fact, he was a little sleepy.
However, just as he closed his eyes...
Dots of starlight lit up. He seemed to have come to the vast universe, becoming the most insignificant speck of interstellar dust.
But even as the most insignificant speck, he still sped through the universe.
Thousands upon thousands of light-years passed like a fleeting moment.