"Because it can conceal presence, I named it the Dark Spirit Bead String," Han Baiyu said.
"In which minor world did you find the Dark Spirit Bead String?" Li Ban asked.
Han Baiyu shook her head in regret. "That minor world completely collapsed shortly after I obtained the string."
Li Ban stared at her coldly, saying nothing.
Sweat beaded on Han Baiyu's forehead in her anxiety. "I'm really not lying to you. If you don't believe me, I can tell you the location. If you go there now, you can still see the remains of the world."
"There's no need." Li Ban lowered his gaze.
Though he felt a twinge of regret, he knew Han Baiyu had no reason to lie to him.
Otherwise, this bracelet wouldn't only have twelve beads.
Han Baiyu finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Talk about what? Oh, right. My teleportation ability comes from this bracelet. Because life-saving abilities are crucial, I recorded it four times. There are still two uses left. The ability is called 'close yet worlds apart', which allows us to instantly teleport to a very distant location. It covers a far greater distance than 'Shrinking Ground to an Inch.' It can even move us from one minor world to another."
Such a long-distance teleportation ability was indeed rare, and being able to trigger it instantaneously truly made it the ultimate life-saving tool.
Now, it belonged to Li Ban.
Li Ban slipped the bracelet directly onto his wrist.
Perhaps because the two of them had hidden in this minor world for a long time and hadn't fought anyone recently, nine of the twelve beads held elemental abilities. Only three looked slightly dim.
Li Ban probed them and discovered that among the remaining nine beads, aside from the two charges of 'close yet worlds apart', the rest were all attack or control abilities.
But in terms of control, they couldn't possibly match Li Ban's Starlight Domain.
As for the attack abilities, they were somewhat lackluster.
Even if Li Ban wanted to swap a bead's ability, he would first have to use up the original one stored inside, then wait a few months for the string to recover before recording an ability of his own.
To Li Ban, that was far too inefficient.
'How can I accelerate the beads' recovery speed? Would nourishing them with starlight work?'
Li Ban fell into deep thought, remaining silent for a long while.
Seeing this, Han Baiyu assumed she was in the clear and began planning to head to the border of the Shattered Realm as soon as she left.
Previously, she and Tan Mu had relied on the Dark Spirit Bead String's power to roam near the center of the Shattered Realm.
From now on, she could only scurry to the borders and scrape by.
Yet just as Han Baiyu relaxed slightly, a beam of starlight fell upon her once again.
She immediately lost the ability to move or speak.
She could only stare at Li Ban in disbelief, her eyes accusing him of breaking his promise.
Li Ban didn't meet her gaze. He simply reached out and calmly extracted the Wizard Embryo Fragment from between her brows.
In an instant, only despair and resentment remained in Han Baiyu's eyes.
Then, Li Ban flicked a finger, and the starlight enveloping her suddenly sank into her body.
Han Baiyu quickly realized she could move again.
But she had already given up on fleeing. She just stood before Li Ban, waiting to be reduced to ashes.
However, after waiting for a good while, she found that she was still alive.
Only then did she lower her head to inspect her own condition.
"You didn't kill me?"
Li Ban had learned long ago from a certain black-robed priest that removing a Priest's Wizard Embryo Fragment didn't necessarily result in death.
As long as one was careful during the extraction and promptly used spells or abilities to mend the Priest's body, they could still live on as an ordinary mortal.
"I told you I wouldn't kill you," Li Ban said, the corner of his lips curling into a smirk before he vanished from her sight.
Han Baiyu stared at the empty wilderness and thought, 'Damn it! You didn't kill me, but you stole my Wizard Embryo Fragment and turned me into an ordinary mortal. How is this any different from killing me?'
In the end, she only dared to think these things. She didn't dare complain aloud, terrified that Li Ban might return and actually finish the job.
Just as she pondered her next move, she suddenly noticed a thin layer of mist rising around her.
An inexplicable panic gripped her heart. 'It's high noon in this minor world. Why would there be fog?'
Her instincts screamed that something was wrong, and she decided to retreat to the village first.
But just as she took a single step, a hand grabbed her ankle.
She looked down and was shocked to see the bearded hunter's wife.
The woman's face was a deathly gray, devoid of any vitality. Her eyes were cloudy and her expression wooden, her lips parting slightly as if whispering something.
Earlier, they had allowed this woman to be killed by the goateed man who had become a minion ghost. Now, she too had transformed into a minion ghost, clutching Han Baiyu's leg.
Only then did Han Baiyu remember her predicament.
She was no longer a Priest, yet Li Ban had left her behind in this minor world where they had just released a Contamination Source.
"Ah!"
She let out a shriek, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, the bearded hunter's wife seemed completely weightless. She crawled up Han Baiyu's calf, scaling her body until she rested her head on Han Baiyu's shoulder. Turning her head, she whispered softly into Han Baiyu's ear.
"Miss—have you seen my husband?"
High in the sky, Li Ban looked down, watching Han Baiyu become entangled with the dead woman.
After all, Han Baiyu was once a Star Glow Priest. By employing a few tricks, she finally managed to shake off the ghost.
But Li Ban knew this was only the beginning.
To accelerate the destruction of this world, the two black-robed priests had wreaked havoc across numerous locations.
If they had committed fewer evil deeds, this world might have been able to linger on its last breath for another few centuries.
But now, it likely wouldn't even last a hundred years.
"Live in the nightmare you created for yourselves."
Li Ban turned and left the minor world.
After departing, he found a random cluster of meteorites and sat on a fragment of rock.
Putting Han Baiyu out of his mind, he closely examined the Dark Spirit Bead String, pondering how to accelerate the beads' recovery.
He plucked off a bead that contained an attack ability and casually released it into the void, feeling the shift in the bead's internal energy throughout the process.
'Once the ability inside the bead is released, the energy within falls into a disordered state. Meanwhile, the disordered state of the other beads that have been idle for a while is noticeably better.'
'Therefore, the key to recovering a bead's recording ability is to restore this disordered state as quickly as possible.'
Li Ban attempted to soothe the bead with starlight, injecting energy into its core.
The energy within stabilized slightly, but the power of the Star River was clearly unsuited for fully restoring it.
'Transforming disorder directly into order involves the power of laws. Although I possess the Star River, I cannot yet mobilize its power of laws. For now, I can only rely on the sheer might of the Star River to overpower others.'
Li Ban scrutinized his own Cubic Space, recalling the various elements and abilities he possessed.
Suddenly, he remembered an item.
Something he hadn't used since leaving the Recycling Station.
The red fruit.