"Save me!"
"Save me!"
"Save me!"
An urgent, agonized cry rang in Li Ban's ears.
The voice was so close it sounded as if someone were leaning right over his shoulder.
The voice was very young, like a three- or four-year-old child's, and the enunciation wasn't quite clear.
Had someone actually managed to emerge from the mist, a place said to be a point of no return?
And based on Li Ban's maneuvering, he could confirm that whoever it was, they were also flying.
Just as the figure was about to break through the mist and reveal itself completely, it suddenly plummeted.
Li Ban didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately activated his guiding art.
However, he didn't target the black shadow; instead, he manipulated the white fuzz directly in front of it.
Unsure of what the shadow was, he preferred to manipulate the white fuzz he had already tested.
Because it was so close to the mist, moving the white fuzz proved incredibly difficult.
Li Ban also tried using his spiritual rhinoceros to probe the mist itself.
However, any trace of spiritual rhinoceros that entered the mist vanished completely. He couldn't retrieve it, couldn't control it, and lost all connection to it.
If the shadow couldn't rely on its own strength to escape the mist, Li Ban wasn't going to go in and help it.
"Gu Sa said that everyone who ventured into the mist disappeared into its depths and never returned. If this thing succeeds, whether it's a monster or a human, it might just be the first to ever come back."
Hovering in the air, Li Ban felt a sense of anticipation, yet he doubted the creature would be able to break out so easily.
Otherwise, why would Gu Sa and the others have completely abandoned their exploration of the boundary mist?
As the shadow drew closer, Li Ban could essentially confirm that it was not humanoid.
It looked a bit like a massive bird.
The closer it got to the edge, the more it struggled to flap its wings.
It was just as difficult as when Li Ban used his spiritual rhinoceros to manipulate the sky full of white fuzz.
Just as it was on the verge of breaking through, its body suddenly plummeted.
Its massive pair of wings could barely move at all.
It stretched its wings to their absolute limit, seemingly trying to rely on a glide to carry it out of the mist.
Finally, half of its body breached the mist, entering the small pocket of fuzz-free sky that Li Ban had cleared for it.
Seeing it open its massive mouth, Li Ban let out an excited gasp of "Ah!"
As he finally got a clear look at its appearance, Li Ban's eyes widened slightly.
He was actually seeing a giant dragon here in the Recycling Station?
Unfortunately, it wasn't an Eastern dragon.
However, Li Ban also realized that in the world of the Great Wizards, the spirit beasts he had encountered were mostly ordinary. He hadn't seen any dragons, phoenixes, qilins, or other mythical creatures that stood at the absolute apex of legends.
The giant dragon before him had pitch-black skin covered in scales that gleamed in the sunlight. Its belly wasn't robust; instead, it looked somewhat shriveled, and the ribs on its sides were starkly visible.
The dragon possessed two pairs of massive, fleshy wings. The front pair clearly provided the power for flight, while the slightly smaller rear pair seemed meant for steering.
A single thought instantly flashed through Li Ban's mind: 'A dragon. It can fly. It's big enough. It's fast—a mount!'
He immediately abandoned his stance as a bystander, determined to pull the creature entirely out of the mist first.
But just as the black dragon was about to clear the Mist Zone entirely, its body jerked to a halt. It was as if an invisible chain had bound it, forcefully dragging its massive frame to a dead stop.
Fortunately, the dragon's wings were already clear of the mist, and Li Ban had expended his spiritual rhinoceros to clear away the white fuzz surrounding it in advance.
This allowed the black dragon to frantically flap its wings, preventing the mysterious force in the mist from immediately dragging it back.
However, relying solely on its own strength wasn't enough. The unseen force was dragging it back, inch by inch.
Had Li Ban not happened to be nearby today, the creature would have never escaped its fate of being pulled back into the depths.
Seeing this, Li Ban immediately cast his guiding art on the black dragon, attempting to pull it over.
But the guiding art was meant to guide rather than pull, leaving it severely lacking in raw power.
Just as Li Ban debated whether he should move closer, Zhu Yao appeared beside him.
"Why did you come over here?"
"I'm billing you for the spiritual rhinoceros I expend," Zhu Yao said without offering an explanation. Hovering right beside him, she cast her own guiding art to assist him.
With two Priests casting simultaneously, combined with Zhu Yao's far greater mastery over the guiding art, they slowly dragged the black dragon out of the mist inch by inch.
The only problem was that the dragon's taut body began to emit the gruesome sound of flesh tearing under the immense strain.
Just as Li Ban raised his right hand, preparing to cast a second spell simultaneously, the black dragon abruptly snapped its head back. It viciously bit into its own flank, tearing open a massive gash.
Scales and skin ripped apart, exposing the pale pink flesh beneath.
Through the dragon's own desperate efforts combined with the pulling force from Li Ban and Zhu Yao, its massive body snapped in two. The rear half was instantly sucked back into the mist by the suddenly surging force.
Freed from the anchor dragging it backward, the front half of the dragon tumbled violently forward through the air.
It hurtled right toward Li Ban and Zhu Yao, only to be buffered by the white fuzz that had gathered in the air before them once again.
The white fuzz couldn't completely arrest its momentum, but it did slow the beast down considerably.
"The white fuzz is spreading. Let's drag it back to safety first," Li Ban said.
He and Zhu Yao flew backward in unison.
The giant black dragon—now reduced to just over half its body—was slowly hauled out from the dense field of white fuzz.
Once they had cleared the fuzz zone entirely, the black dragon suddenly plummeted. However, Li Ban and Zhu Yao were prepared and yanked it back up, finally hauling it all the way to the top of the cliff they had originally been standing on.
Tail and the other two waiting on the cliff stared in absolute shock.
They had seen plenty of monsters in the Recycling Station.
But all those monsters were hideous, twisted, and outright terrifying.
In contrast, this massive black creature wasn't nearly as grotesque. Even after biting off its own lower half to escape, it still retained an undeniable sense of majesty and a sleek, streamlined beauty.
Moreover, Tail couldn't help but feel that the dragon's decision to sever its own lower half was exactly like the time she had hacked off her own tail to escape.
It was a smart choice.
Tail, who was usually incredibly guarded around others, took the initiative to step forward. "What is it? Can I touch it?"
Li Ban landed. "Not right now. It still has a lot of that white fuzz clinging to it."
The black dragon wasn't completely out of danger yet.
In its frantic bid for freedom just moments ago, its body had been coated in a significant amount of the white fuzz.
Now that Li Ban finally had time to inspect the creature carefully, he noticed that the white fuzz had permanently adhered to its scales; it couldn't simply be blown away.
"Wuu, wuu—"
The little boy's voice echoed out once more, laced with intense agony.
It wasn't just the pain of its physical wounds, but the sheer despair born from a mix of utter weakness, helplessness, and blinding terror.
"They're eating me—"
"Don't come any closer," Li Ban immediately ordered, making sure the others stayed back.
He enveloped himself in a protective barrier first. Only then did he draw his dagger and attempt to scrape the white fuzz off the dragon's skin, much like how he had scraped the walls back then.
However, after scraping away the white fuzz on the surface, he was horrified to find that specks of white had already seeped into the scales themselves—scales that even his dagger couldn't scratch.
It looked like the stubble left behind after shaving a beard. This meant that in just that brief window of time, the white fuzz had already taken root in the dragon's flesh.
It was growing wildly beneath the skin where they couldn't see it.
Recalling Gu Sa's warning that the white fuzz was an omen of the continent's decay, Li Ban reasoned that this fuzz was likely some kind of fungus.
"Hiss—" Li Ban gasped, suddenly remembering a very precious yet utterly horrifying medicinal herb from his previous life.
Cordyceps.
But unlike that fungus, this white fuzz didn't need half a year to consume a body—it only needed a few short minutes.
His thoughts drifted to the people of the Blue Sea Camp, who had never shown up to fight the monster nest.
They had probably been delayed in a room by the white fuzz for a mere few minutes, permanently stripping them of any chance to escape.
They must have become one with that cramped room and all the white fuzz inside it.
Li Ban knew they were running out of time.
The black dragon might be massive, but if they delayed for even another minute or two, it would be beyond saving.
His mind raced.
"Do you hate the cold or the heat?"
The black dragon should be able to understand him.
"I can weave through the flames," the little boy's voice answered weakly. It sounded as if it was on the verge of falling asleep.
Li Ban turned his head and said, "Zhu Yao, I recall you know a Temperature Control Spell."
Zhu Yao nodded.
"Cast it, but don't get too close."
Although Zhu Yao had taught Li Ban numerous spells over the past few days, his limited time and energy meant he could only pick a few to practice.
Spells like the Temperature Control Spell had been pushed to the bottom of his priority list, especially since the Recycling Station lacked flames anyway.
"Alright." Zhu Yao guessed that Li Ban wanted to use this flying dragon as a mount. After all, traveling by human-powered Tricycle was just too excruciatingly slow.
She immediately began casting the spell, pulling out a White Seed to replenish her spiritual rhinoceros.
The black dragon's body temperature skyrocketed. Its black scales gleamed fiercely, and wisps of green smoke began to rise from its body, as if it might burst into flames at any moment.
However, no flames appeared. Once its body temperature reached a certain threshold, it stopped rising.
The white fuzz clinging to the dragon withered significantly, but it didn't completely die off.
"It's no use. I can't raise the temperature any higher," Zhu Yao said, shaking her head. Even so, she didn't withdraw her spiritual rhinoceros. She pushed through, forcing the dragon's temperature to stay precisely at that critical threshold.
While she couldn't thoroughly kill the white fuzz, she did manage to halt its growth, extending the dragon's fleeting life.
Even if it was only by a few dozen minutes.
The sheer volume of spiritual rhinoceros Zhu Yao possessed meant she could only maintain the spell at full power for a few dozen minutes.
And there was no way she could waste all her spiritual rhinoceros just to buy a dying dragon a little more time.
"The Temperature Control Spell isn't enough, and the Flash Freeze Technique would probably kill its brain at the same time."
Given that not a single drop of blood had spilled when the black dragon tore off its lower half, it was clear that the creature had entered the same peculiar state as the humans in this place. It wouldn't bleed, and it wouldn't truly die—it would just mutate into a monster.
Ming Kai furrowed his brows. He wanted to help, but he was completely out of his depth.
Tail rested her chin on her hands, feeling disappointed that she probably wouldn't get the chance to ride a dragon through the sky after all.
Ed simply squatted on the ground, locking eyes with the dragon's fist-sized pupils.
"It's gone bad," Ed mumbled, his voice completely devoid of energy.
Hearing that, Li Ban's eyes abruptly lit up as if someone had just handed him the answer. "Gone bad?"
"That's right! Under high temperatures, plants and animals deteriorate and rot much faster. I remember there's a Deterioration Spell that accelerates the rotting process."
Unfortunately, Li Ban only knew the theory behind the Deterioration Spell; he had never actually cast it before.
And with Zhu Yao's remaining spiritual rhinoceros, just maintaining the Temperature Control Spell was taxing enough. She definitely couldn't cast the Deterioration Spell simultaneously.
"I have no choice but to force it. If I can't pull it off, giving this dragon a quick death might be the kinder option anyway."
Slowly feeling your body being hollowed out by a fungal infection... it would be pure agony!
If it were Li Ban himself in that hopeless situation, he would absolutely beg for a swift death.
"Zhu Yao, I need you to hold out for another five minutes," Li Ban ordered. Then he closed his eyes and began reviewing the crucial shifts in willpower required for the Deterioration Spell.
Deterioration... it should act like an accelerated cellular division—
And he needed to guide it with his desires, using sheer willpower and interest to hyper-accelerate his learning efficiency!
Three minutes later, Li Ban's eyes snapped open.
"There's no way I'm spending three years stuck on the road!!!"
Deterioration Spell!
It took effect!
The white fuzz clinging to the dragon's epidermis immediately began blackening at a visible rate.
And in the Recycling Station, black usually meant safety.
"It worked!" Tail cheered softly, immediately snapping her mouth shut out of fear of disturbing Li Ban.
Li Ban didn't even notice Tail. He stared intently at the black dragon, utilizing his clumsy Spirit Eye Spell to observe its internal state.
Through this specialized vision, the white fuzz inside the dragon was somewhat blurry, but he could vaguely tell that the white filaments—which had already burrowed three to four centimeters beneath its skin—had finally stopped spreading.
Li Ban poured even more power into the Deterioration Spell.
'Faster... faster!'
Driven by Li Ban's willpower, the whiteness inside the dragon's body gradually blackened from the surface inward. Eventually, every last white filament had turned pitch-black. Under the blistering heat maintained by Zhu Yao, they curled, carbonized, and crumbled into fine powder.
"Phew!" Li Ban let out a long breath and stopped casting. "That should do it. Zhu Yao, could you take another look?"
Having Zhu Yao double-check with her own Spirit Eye Spell was simply much safer.
He couldn't risk leaving even a speck of the white fuzz inside the dragon.
Zhu Yao had also dropped her Temperature Control Spell. She had long since drained the White Seed in her hand of its spiritual rhinoceros, forcing her to rely on the meager reserves remaining in her body to cast the Spirit Eye Spell once more.
"It's gone. There's absolutely no trace of white left. And now that our spells have ended, no new white fuzz is sprouting," Zhu Yao confirmed.
She let out a long sigh of relief.
It had been a long time since she had constantly channeled spells at such a high intensity. Her brain was even spinning with dizziness from the sheer exertion.
However, when she looked down at the withered White Seed in her palm, her heart truly ached.
Suddenly, a hand reached over and snatched the seed right out of her palm.
It was Li Ban.
Zhu Yao barely had time to look up before Li Ban dropped the seed back into her hand.
The seed had completely plumped back up, and its color had shifted to a deep, absolute black.
This was the unmistakable sign that it was brimming with spiritual rhinoceros once more.
"I told you I'd foot the bill."
In high spirits, Li Ban chuckled.
"I'll fill all the other seeds up too."
"For the foreseeable future, we won't need to worry about our spiritual rhinoceros reserves."
Ming Kai, who had been standing silently in the back this entire time, stared at the spiritual rhinoceros seed in Zhu Yao's palm. A sudden thought struck him: Chu Ke and the others who had backed out of following Li Ban at the last minute... were absolute, unbelievable fools!