The moment the fragment detached from the tiger's skull, the beast's massive body began to shrink, shriveling until it was nothing more than a cub less than half a meter long.
Li Ban pinched the Wizard Embryo Fragment between his fingers, closing his eyes to sense the power within.
A moment later, he slowly opened them.
"It's a Wizard Embryo Fragment from this minor world. It seems this world is beginning to collapse.
"When extreme, transcendent power suddenly appears in a low-martial world, it bodes ill for both its native creatures and the world itself.
"It usually heralds massive upheaval—or even the apocalypse.
"For this minor world, whose foundations were already unstable, this is the first snowflake before the avalanche."
"The destruction of minor worlds is indeed a stable channel for collecting Wizard Embryo Fragments. Isn't this exactly what the Great Wizards and priests strive for in maintaining the Wizard World and the Shattered Realm?"
However, this minor world was still centuries away from total collapse.
The pine-needle-shaped fragment spun between Li Ban's fingertips.
Li Ban shook his head. "The cost outweighs the gain."
The energy required to accelerate a world's destruction was absolutely immense.
It was far better to target a minor world with only a few years, or even months, left to live.
As for saving this minor world?
Even more impossible.
He wasn't even sure if he could save himself and the people around him right now.
Off to the side, Goatee had stopped crying, staring blankly at Li Ban, who had subdued the massive tiger with effortless ease.
Suddenly, as if snapping awake, Goatee scrambled over to Li Ban on his hands and knees.
This time, he didn't dare reach for the hem of Li Ban's robes.
"Immortal Master, Immortal Master, can you save me and my two brothers?"
Li Ban finally looked down at Goatee's ghost. He shook his head mercilessly and said, "The dead cannot be brought back to life."
Resurrecting the dead was a power that belonged to the realm of a Great Wizard.
And even among the people they could resurrect, anyone who had been thoroughly annihilated was beyond hope—not even a Great Wizard could restore them.
Goatee's shoulders slumped. He knew that, even though an Immortal Master stood before him, resurrection was nothing short of a fantasy.
Disappointed but not surprised, Goatee kowtowed to Li Ban three more times.
"Then... could I ask the Immortal Master to return our three corpses to the village, so we don't have to wander the wilds as lonely ghosts?"
With that, he kowtowed six more times, as if bowing in supplication on behalf of his two brothers.
Li Ban glanced at the three severed heads on the ground and refused once more.
"Your bodies have already been eaten by this tiger. Only your heads remain. If I sent three heads back, wouldn't it terrify your families? Besides, it might not even be a good thing for them."
Goatee lowered his head and began to weep aloud.
Strands of black aura unexpectedly surfaced on his pale face.
Li Ban watched him with a furrowed brow.
Just moments ago, Goatee had seemed reasonable and understanding. Now, driven to resentment because his corpse couldn't be returned to his village, he was actually showing signs of transforming into a malevolent spirit.
The stark contrast between his previous and current behavior was simply too jarring.
Li Ban looked down at the Wizard Embryo Fragment in his hand.
"He was influenced by you, wasn't he?"
With a wave of his hand, the three heads sank into the earth, burying themselves.
Then, Li Ban's figure vanished.
Left behind, Goatee's ghost stared blankly for a moment, the light in his eyes gradually dimming.
His figure didn't dissipate, however. Instead, he looked sluggish and vacant, having lost his sentience.
A short while later, two more illusory figures swayed out of the cave.
They could barely be recognized as the ghosts of Heavybeard and Black Dog.
Compared to Goatee, their ghosts were engulfed in gloomy, dark energy, the black aura on their faces far heavier.
The tiger cub on the ground groaned, seemingly on the verge of waking up.
That groan roused the three vacant ghosts.
They suddenly turned their heads in unison, staring at the tiger with looks of ravenous hunger.
Following the beast's second groan, the three malevolent spirits—faces deathly pale and eyes rimmed with black—pounced.
The young tiger struggled frantically, but having lost its power, it was completely unable to resist the corruption of the three evil spirits.
Its fur lost its luster, and its body slowly shriveled until it was nothing more than a charred, withered husk.
The three spirits grew noticeably uglier. Their faces turned increasingly livid until they no longer resembled living humans.
Having devoured the tiger's life force, the three evil spirits wandered aimlessly for a while before gradually splitting up and drifting in different directions.
Goatee just so happened to shamble in the direction of his own mountain village.
His mind was clouded, so he walked very slowly.
It took him three days to stumble out of the mountains and onto the dirt path leading to the village.
The villagers had long been frantic with worry. Some were even discussing venturing into the mountains to search for the trio.
But two of those three were seasoned hunters, and no one knew why they hadn't returned.
Wouldn't it be even more dangerous for the others to go?
The fog enveloping the mountains grew thicker by the day, striking fear into the hearts of anyone who looked at it.
Heavybeard's wife waited anxiously at the village entrance every day, gazing toward the mountains.
Days of worry had left her with painful blisters around her mouth and swollen, red eyes, yet she still had to hold back her children to keep them from rashly running into the wilderness.
Right then, she suddenly spotted a figure walking down the mountain path.
Squinting her swollen eyes, she finally managed to make out the person's appearance.
"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!"
She hastily rushed forward. Even though it wasn't her own husband returning, her brother-in-law's arrival meant there would at least be news.
But just as she closed to within a zhang of him, she suddenly realized that while the man wore her brother-in-law's face, his expression was terrifying.
His face was a ghastly blue-white, his eyes were blood-red, and long, slender fangs poked through his lips.
He didn't look human at all. He looked like an evil spirit straight out of folklore.
She let out a cry of alarm and stopped in her tracks, too terrified to take another step.
But seeing her stop, the man suddenly lunged.
He opened his bloody maw and aimed straight for her head, looking as if he meant to swallow it whole.
Right then, a figure clad in black abruptly materialized between the evil spirit and the woman.
With a casual wave of his hand, he knocked the woman unconscious. Then, he grabbed the evil spirit by the neck with one hand, lifting him into the air like a feral cat.
"How did he get out?"
Another black-clad figure appeared beside the man.
This time, it was a woman in black robes.
Surprisingly, both were black-robed priests. Who knew when they had hidden themselves within this minor world.
The woman narrowed her eyes, inspecting the spirit for a moment before speaking in disgust. "Tan Mu, this isn't a tiger thrall at all. It's plainly an evil spirit. Did something go wrong with that tiger demon you're raising?"
"Nonsense. My tiger demon had already taken shape. Didn't you see it yourself before we set it loose?"
The black-robed woman rolled her eyes impatiently. "Heh, it's not like I understand those things. If you hadn't claimed this minor world was about to collapse, I never would've followed you this close to the Shattered Eye. Who knew we'd get here only to find out this world has at least a hundred years left? If the White Robes spot us while we're stuck waiting, don't blame me for running away without you."