Li Ban had no idea how long the priests could retain their memories of the secret to Xiao Suo's immortality.
From the looks of it, a Star Glow Priest could only hold onto it for a single day.
A Dark Moon Priest seemed able to remember for a month.
And how long could a Solar Priest remember?
Two months? Three months? A year?
And that was only after explicitly warning them that a fundamental rule was actively wiping away everyone's memories of Xiao Suo's death.
Those kept in the dark forgot the circumstances of his death entirely in an even shorter span of time.
Their brains would even automatically fabricate scenarios to explain Xiao Suo's escape.
In other words, the more a person understood the truth, the harder it was for the rule to alter their memories.
But with Li Ban around, even if they forgot, he could simply remind them again at any time.
Because of this, Priest Qian Que and the others had cast a "Mind Art" suggestion on themselves to ensure they would trust any information Li Ban provided regarding Xiao Suo.
The group analyzed the patterns of Xiao Suo's appearances, then delegated the search to priests in other areas while sharing the information. Priest Qian Que and Priest Li He both agreed that Li Ban should use this window of time to collect wizard embryo fragments and meet the conditions for advancing to the Dark Moon tier as quickly as possible.
Before leaving the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, Li Ban went to check on the fifth floor.
He still held the title of fifth-floor master, even though he had essentially run off without ever truly fulfilling his duties.
Fortunately, most positions held by priests were handled this way. Pagoda Master Qian had anticipated this long ago, so even though Li Ban had not shown his face in over half a year, the work on the fifth floor proceeded in an orderly fashion.
At that moment, Wang Ze, the deputy layer master of the fifth floor, was patrolling the corridors to supervise the work.
With the layer master absent, he was the highest-ranking official present, wielding significantly more authority than the other deputy layer masters.
But his responsibilities were correspondingly heavier.
This was especially true when managing affairs on behalf of a priest—he had to tread with extreme caution. The slightest mistake, and his career as a deputy layer master would be over.
Wang Ze froze for a moment when he looked up and saw Li Ban.
Because Li Ban had changed his appearance, Wang Ze failed to recognize him, but he did recognize the priest's robes the man was wearing.
Silver-trimmed edges—a Star Glow Priest.
Even among the priests stationed at the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, this ranked him among the elite.
"Lord Priest," Wang Ze hurriedly bowed in greeting.
At once, every room on the fifth floor fell silent.
The Spirit Practitioners in the rooms did not dare step outside casually, nor did they dare continue working, afraid the Lord Priest might have other demands for them.
"I am Li Ban. There is no need to be so tense; just go about your work as usual."
Wang Ze bowed once more. "Yes, Lord Ban."
He did not display much surprise or curiosity regarding Li Ban's changed appearance.
In the eyes of Spirit Practitioners, priests were virtually omnipotent. No matter what happened to them, it was nothing to be surprised about.
Li Ban walked over and took a look at the area where elements were being collected.
Not many corpses drifted down the River of Helplessness to the Unreturning Place, so the efficiency of gathering elements here was quite low.
Li Ban then noticed that aside from human and animal corpses, there were also the carcasses of various insects.
The bulk of the work at the Myriad Ancient Pagoda actually came from these insects that had managed to cross the deep pools and enter the Wizard World.
Besides harvesting the valuable parts from these insects, the workers also had to verify whether they were truly dead.
The inspection process was largely the same as the one used for humans.
The thought that these insects might have originally been Spirit Practitioners or even priests back at the Recycling Station struck Li Ban as laughable.
In the eyes of a Great Wizard, insects and humans were probably the exact same thing.
Withdrawing his gaze, Li Ban walked to the room at the end of the hall, where he saw waste elements piled up like a small mountain.
Following close behind, Wang Ze broke into a sweat and quickly explained, "Apologies, my Lord. We have had a lot on our plates lately, so I allowed some waste elements to pile up without processing them yet."
Though Li Ban's expression was aloof, he had no intention of putting on airs.
He simply picked up a bamboo basket filled with waste elements and told Wang Ze, "I will handle this. I have been meaning to go see the old man at the bottom of the pagoda anyway."
Originally, Wang Ze would not have dared let Li Ban deliver the waste elements, but hearing that the priest seemingly had other business to attend to, he hesitated and lowered his raised hands.
Carrying the basket to the door, Li Ban remembered something and turned back to Wang Ze. "By the way, I might start dropping by frequently, or I might be gone for long stretches. Just work as normal. There is no need to disrupt your own rhythm to accommodate me."
Wang Ze hurriedly voiced his compliance.
Basket in hand, Li Ban made his way down to the lowest level of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda. He kept his figure concealed the entire way, not bothering to greet anyone else.
Hu Da, the old man responsible for cleaning and sorting the waste elements, was sitting at the entrance of the corridor, nodding off.
When Li Ban arrived, he intentionally revealed his figure and made sure the sound of his footsteps could be heard.
Hu Da, who had seemed deep in sleep, woke instantly. For a split second, a sharp gleam flashed through his dazed eyes, though it was quickly masked by a hazy, cloudy look.
Looking at the unfamiliar face of Li Ban, he stood up in confusion and cupped his hands in a respectful bow.
"My Lord..."
He then caught sight of the basket in Li Ban's hand.
Normally, the person delivering the waste elements would be a layer master or a deputy layer master.
However, he had seen every layer master and deputy layer master, and none of them looked like the man standing before him.
Suddenly recalling the rumors he had heard over the past two days, he hastily bowed again.
"Might I ask if you are Priest Ban?"
"I am," Li Ban nodded. Carrying the basket, he continued walking inside, with Hu Da closely shadowing his steps.
"Do you still wish to handle this personally, my Lord?"
Though he had not seen Li Ban in half a year, Hu Da still remembered the priest's temperament and preferences.
This priest was different from the others; he did not put on any airs.
He even maintained a novice-like curiosity toward the work at the Myriad Ancient Pagoda.
"Yes, I still remember the process, so I can handle it myself. If I do anything wrong, feel free to correct me."
"Of course, of course," the little old man said, nodding and bowing obsequiously.
Back when Li Ban was just a Spiritual Initiation Priest, Hu Da had not been nearly this deferential.
Mainly, it was because his line of work brought him into regular contact with many priests, so he was not as overly cautious around them as most people were.
But having worked at the Myriad Ancient Pagoda his entire life, he had never seen a priest advance two entire Tiers in the span of half a year.
It was said that even Priest Li He and Priest Qian Que had spent over a decade just to go from the Spiritual Initiation Tier to the Star Glow Tier.
And progressing from Star Glow to Dark Moon had taken them hundreds of years.
All of that had happened long before Hu Da was even born.
Li Ban dumped out the waste elements just like he used to, but this time, he did not secretly stash any away for himself.
Given the massive amount of spiritual rhinoceros he now required, occasionally absorbing one or two waste elements held no value whatsoever.
He needed to find a faster and more stable method of collection.
Raising his hand, he released the Silver Kingfisher, which had not made an appearance in a long time. Using a spell to conceal its figure, he then cast the Spirit Attachment Art to enhance its abilities.
In a place teeming with priests, it was better to be safe than sorry.
After releasing the Silver Kingfisher, Li Ban handed the bamboo basket back to Hu Da.
Hu Da took the basket and respectfully saw Li Ban off.
Once the priest was gone, the old man scratched his chin in confusion.
"Priest Ban seems awfully interested in those waste elements."
He returned to the opening of the pipe and peeked inside, but saw absolutely nothing.