The next day, Gu Sa and Lu Shi took Li Ban to see their black wheat plantation.
The plantation wasn't inside the cliff, but at the top, usually guarded by dedicated personnel.
A ring of artificial rockeries was built directly above the black wheat. Unless one flew into the sky or managed to climb to the top of the cliff, the fields were completely invisible from the outside.
Li Ban asked Zhu Yao to use the Spiritual Eye Technique to help him observe the details of the black wheat cultivation.
He could also use it himself, treating the observation as practice.
Beneath the black wheat, both of them found specially placed wooden fences. The gaps between the fences were filled with soil containing a small amount of waste elements.
It wasn't much, and they weren't densely packed.
Aside from the waste elements, there seemed to be some unusual soil or other materials beneath the fields.
Li Ban had only just grasped the Spiritual Eye Technique and wasn't very proficient yet.
Gu Sa, the camp leader of Cliffside Camp, had personally accompanied them to the top of the cliff. He watched expressionlessly as the two observed the black wheat fields.
Being a Priest, he naturally knew of the Spiritual Eye Technique.
However, since Gu Sa had agreed to let Li Ban visit the fields, he tacitly allowed him to explore the secrets of their cultivation.
Anyway, this secret wasn't actually that important.
Almost everyone capable of independently establishing a camp knew it.
Even the upper echelons of those camps, like the Guard Team captains, were well aware of it.
Li Ban finished his observation first, but he needed to buy time for Zhu Yao.
He asked openly, "Camp Leader, I think I spotted some waste elements in the fields?"
"Yes. The elements here can't be used, but they contain spiritual rhinoceros, so whenever we get elements, we try to extract the spiritual rhinoceros from them. As for the waste elements from which spiritual rhinoceros can't be extracted, our predecessors discovered during their many attempts to increase the black wheat yield that these waste elements could boost production by ten percent. We just can't use too much, or it will reduce the yield instead."
"Why is that? Do waste elements also have spiritual rhinoceros inside them?" Li Ban asked deliberately, wanting to see how much the people here understood about waste elements.
"The spiritual rhinoceros within waste elements is chaotic because the structure has been destroyed, making it impossible to fuse. However, it wasn't until I came to the Recycling Station that I discovered this use for waste elements. But only the tenacious and somewhat special black wheat can absorb the small amounts of chaotic spiritual rhinoceros it emits; we can't."
Gu Sa said with regret.
"In the Wizard World, waste elements are thrown into the River of Forgetfulness and the River of Helplessness, waiting to be slowly corroded and shattered by the world, waiting for the chaotic spiritual rhinoceros inside to slowly calm down over time."
"In the resource-rich Wizard World, no one wants to use waste elements for farming. Heh, of course, for ordinary crops, waste elements might only have an adverse effect."
Li Ban recalled what the salesman Rayleigh had said about elements on his first day at the camp.
"When I first arrived, I thought no one used elements because they couldn't be fused."
"False information for outsiders," Gu Sa stated the truth bluntly. "Resources only need to be in the hands of a few."
"No wonder I could barely find any elements in the outside world." Li Ban rubbed his chin. "But there are waste elements in the monster nests."
""
"Monsters make broader use of waste elements than we do. But they are the only ones who dare to directly use the chaotic spiritual rhinoceros within waste elements. It's not like they're afraid of becoming even more chaotic."
Originally, for the sake of safety, camps should also clear out waste elements to prevent monsters from using them to grow stronger.
But in this world, monsters held an absolute numerical advantage.
Clearing out a small amount of waste elements wouldn't affect the overall power dynamics, yet it was a dangerous endeavor for a single camp, so no one bothered.
The risk-to-reward ratio was simply too low.
For people who had lived in the Recycling Station for a long time, the risk-to-reward ratio was something they had to consider at every moment.
At this time, Zhu Yao withdrew her gaze and nodded at Li Ban.
"Thank you. We'll be leaving now." Li Ban bid farewell to Gu Sa. "I'll be departing with Zhu Yao, Ed, and the others in two days at the earliest, or within seven days at the latest."
"No problem," Gu Sa said. "The camp has never restricted anyone's freedom. It's just that if you want the camp's protection, you must make a contribution."
He looked at the calm and composed Li Ban, and finally, right before Li Ban turned to leave, he offered a reminder.
"Please use your spiritual rhinoceros cautiously."
"Thank you."
Li Ban led Zhu Yao down the cliff.
Meanwhile, Gu Sa stared blankly at the lush black wheat fields that were about to welcome another harvest.
Not long after, Lu Shi—who had been working outside all night without resting—came up through another passage.
"Why haven't you gone to rest?" Gu Sa asked without looking back.
"I want to wait for the reply from Black Beast Camp before sleeping." A rare hint of bitterness appeared on Lu Shi's face. "Otherwise, I won't even be able to lie down in peace."
Seeing Gu Sa stay silent, Lu Shi asked about Li Ban.
"Did you... tell him about the White Seeds? In the Continental Center, without enough spiritual rhinoceros, it's impossible to survive even for a month."
Gu Sa's voice was cold as he replied, "Whether those who leave the camp can survive is not for us to consider. If they can't last long enough to learn the origin of the White Seeds, then dying early is also a kind of release."
Before leaving Cliffside Camp, Li Ban took Zhu Yao, Ed, and Tail for another trip to the Building Graveyard.
He destroyed all the Spitters he hadn't managed to deal with last time. The waste elements he gathered nearly filled up his Cubic Space, so he had no choice but to ask Zhu Yao to carry some for him.
Zhu Yao already knew Li Ban was collecting waste elements, and she guessed that it wasn't entirely for the sake of cultivating black wheat.
She had asked Li Ban out of curiosity, but he only told her that he would explain when there was a chance in the future.
Zhu Yao had no choice but to temporarily suppress her curiosity.
She faintly sensed that it might be a very important secret.
—
Thinking that Li Ban would share this important secret with her someday in the future, Zhu Yao suddenly felt a sense of anticipation.
'At last, there's more to look forward to in life than just tomorrow's wheat flatbread.'
The two of them needed to venture deep into the Building Graveyard, and there were quite a few other monsters around.
They didn't feel safe leaving Ed alone outside to watch the vehicle, so they brought Tail along as well.
Li Ban and Zhu Yao had already tested Tail's strength.
Like the Cat Girl in the outside world, she used to be a Fifth-Tier Gold Token Assassin.
However, even though Tail hadn't met Li Ban in the Death Prison, she was ultimately drawn into the clash between the First Prince and the Sixth Prince, and had escaped the Death Prison.
Except, when Li Ban asked about the Death Prison's warden, Tail gave him a different name.
But Li Ban clearly remembered the Faceless One—Great Wizard Ming—saying that a Director existed in every Instance.
Then why wasn't Du An in the Instance Tail had experienced?
Could it be that the General of every Instance hadn't chosen to splinter himself again?
Regardless, what happened in the previous Instance wasn't particularly important to someone in his current Instance.
Over two days, at the cost of a small amount of spiritual rhinoceros but without a single casualty, they harvested all the waste elements from the Spitters that had lost their monster nests.
Afterward, Li Ban went alone to the third monster nest and collected a few more waste elements.
However, the sheer number of monsters there was slightly too much for Li Ban to handle alone. Bringing Zhu Yao and the others along risked casualties, so in the end, he merely collected an adequate amount before retreating from the building that was nearly completely swamped by monsters.
When he emerged, Zhu Yao told him, "The density of monsters in the Sea of Monsters around the rift is far higher than what you faced in there."
Li Ban nodded heavily. "I know. I won't charge into the Sea of Monsters recklessly."
Li Ban would comprehensively weigh the danger levels of the Sea of Monsters and the Heaven Beyond Heaven. He would choose the one he was more confident in to attempt a breakthrough and leave the Recycling Station.
Tail walked alongside them. Her cat ears allowed her to clearly hear the exchange between Li Ban and Zhu Yao.
She crossed her arms, not mocking Li Ban for wishful thinking. "I'll follow you to the Continental Center, but if I feel the ensuing adventure is meaningless, I won't brave the Sea of Monsters or the Heaven Beyond Heaven with you."
"Of course." Li Ban nodded. "I won't force you to participate in the final venture. But when you choose to give up, you should also consider that if I succeed, what you're throwing away might be your very last chance."
Tail fell silent for a moment before saying, "I won't give up easily, either."
"I believe that." Li Ban smiled.
Returning to the camp, they spent another two days preparing. On the morning of the fifth day after Tail joined their party, the group departed from Cliffside Camp.
During this time, Gu Sa and Lu Shi of Cliffside Camp were incredibly busy; it seemed there were further developments regarding Red Fruit Camp.
Observing that the camp's atmosphere wasn't tense, Li Ban knew that things were developing in a positive direction for Cliffside Camp.
It was worth mentioning that Ming Kai had ultimately joined their party.
On the other hand, Chu Ke, who loved fighting on the front lines, chose to back out after two days of deliberation.
In the end, Li Ban had four companions by his side when he left Cliffside Camp.
They didn't head straight for the White Strait. Instead, they first went to the border Zhu Yao had mentioned, where she had seen a massive amount of white fuzz.
It took them a day and a half to reach the border.
This was nearly half the time Zhu Yao had originally taken.
Looking at the layers of dense fog appearing at the edge of the cliff, and the short fuzz in the distance that covered the mountains and plains, turning the earth white, Zhu Yao furrowed her brows. "They're moving."
"Gu Sa said this is the world rotting away," Li Ban said, looking around. He noticed Ming Kai and Ed's shock, but Tail had clearly seen this scene before.
"Which is why cowering here is pointless. Everyone will eventually be herded to the Continental Center to fight a final, desperate battle against monsters that have reached their maximum numbers," Tail said coldly. "But there won't be any winners."
Li Ban thought of the scene Tail had described, and of what he had seen in the secret passage of Cliffside Camp. "This world... is making humanity kill itself off."
Setting a rule where eating human flesh turned one into a monster, then reducing the yield of black wheat, and finally constantly shrinking the boundaries of the world.
For ordinary people, this was a world entirely devoid of hope.
A world where, although they wouldn't die of old age, they spent every day waiting for destruction to arrive.
Without enough resources or entertainment, the spiritual world was just as barren as the material one.
This was the Recycling Station.
Its very purpose for existing was not to allow people to live normally.
"I'll go take a look. You all wait here. If anything abnormal happens, don't worry about me—just protect yourselves."
After Li Ban spoke, he took flight right in front of everyone.
Tail and Ming Kai stared at him in shock.
Ed, holding his axe, let out a "Whoa."
Tail turned her head to look at Zhu Yao, who remained silent. "I know he's a Priest, but squandering spiritual rhinoceros like this... he'll lose all chances to cast spells long before he even reaches the Continental Center."
Zhu Yao glanced back at Tail. "He knows what he's doing."
Tail frowned, wondering just how many Spirit Rhino White Seeds Li Ban had hoarded to be able to show off so extravagantly.
For a moment, Tail began to worry about the future of this adventure.
Li Ban knew he needed to conserve spiritual rhinoceros in the Recycling Station, but he was incredibly wary of the white fuzz.
Something capable of rotting the world was extremely dangerous even for a Priest; a single misstep could mean dying within it.
Therefore, he chose to fly. Even when moving in for a closer look, he needed to maintain a safe distance and be ready to retreat at a moment's notice, without worrying about something suddenly appearing under his feet to bind him.
In flight, Li Ban quickly passed over the steep cliffs and the dense, pitch-black forest, arriving above the area covered in white fuzz.
He didn't venture too deeply.
Because further into the sky, Li Ban could faintly make out short, fine hairs drifting in the air.
'Are these white hairs airborne? I originally thought they spread across the ground like moss.'
'No, it must spread through dual mediums—both land and air.'
There was hardly any wind nearby, yet the fuzz still drifted effortlessly through the air.
Li Ban carefully observed the fuzz close by and found that it was moving autonomously, much like microorganisms swimming in water.
And behind this fuzz, which was so fine it was almost invisible, lay the fog.
The transition from thin to thick was incredibly swift.
A hundred meters away, visibility dropped to zero.
Even with the Spiritual Eye Technique, Li Ban couldn't pierce the fog.
He wasn't surprised. He certainly wasn't the first Priest to observe the fog with the Spiritual Eye Technique; he might not even be in the first ten thousand.
He raised his hand and used a pre-prepared plastic bottle to scoop up a little air filled with floating fuzz. Just as he was about to store it in his Cubic Space, he suddenly felt a twinge of unease.
'My Cubic Space is also a small world, and this fuzz can rot worlds.'
Li Ban pondered for a moment, then prudently tossed the plastic bottle right back into the fog.
'There are surely many people in the Recycling Station who have studied the white fuzz. This thing is highly unusual. I'd better look at other people's research results before considering whether I need to study it myself.'
After all, Li Ban's current goal wasn't to save the Recycling Station.
Li Ban mentally reviewed the spells he had learned, ultimately attempting to use the guiding art to move the fuzz in the air.
He cast the spell successfully, but the white fuzz—which had seemed as weightless as dandelion seeds—instantly felt like setting concrete.
Moving one or two strands was easy enough, but when the number increased to hundreds or thousands, it became immensely difficult, and... extremely taxing on his spiritual rhinoceros.
Furthermore, the closer one got to the fog, the denser and more numerous the white fuzz in the air became. Within a single cubic meter, there were well over ten thousand strands.
Aside from this, Li Ban made no other discoveries for the time being.
Even a simple investigation devoured a tremendous amount of spiritual rhinoceros.
No life could be seen in the areas covered by the white fuzz.
There were no monsters, no living creatures, nor were there any elements or waste elements.
There was only an absolute, all-consuming white.
'Even though I didn't gain much, I definitely wouldn't have felt at ease if I hadn't made the trip,' Li Ban consoled himself. He was just about to turn back when he suddenly saw the distant fog seemingly shift.
He immediately blinked backward nearly a hundred meters before pausing to observe again.
Suddenly, he spotted a pitch-black figure attempting to break through the fog, closing in on his position.
"Save me!"
Li Ban heard a little boy's voice.