Knowing it was agonizing for Shi Ming to stay in the hall, Li Ban led him away, bringing him near the Unreturning Place.
Shi Ming walked in silence for a while before something came to mind. "How is Deng Jun?"
"His vitality is severely depleted, but he managed to keep his life. After two years of recuperation, he'll be completely back to normal."
Unlike Shi Ming, Deng Jun was just an ordinary spirit practitioner. Being possessed by Xiao Suo naturally came with a heavy price.
Keeping his life at all was no small feat.
Shi Ming, on the other hand, had been possessed by Xiao Suo for much longer yet suffered no harm whatsoever.
"My identity as a mortal corpse does come in handy sometimes," Shi Ming said with a bitter smile.
He fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "Li Ban, tell me... am I being ungrateful? I actually don't want this identity."
"No," Li Ban answered, his tone deeply serious. "Having seen the vast sky, who wouldn't want to spread their wings and soar?"
"Li Ban, tell me, is there really no other way for me to rid myself of this identity? If you become a Great Wizard, could you... could you give me a chance? I'm a mortal corpse, yes, but I'm also Shi Ming!"
Overcome with emotion, he couldn't hold back his tears.
Looking at the man before him, Li Ban thought back to the first time he had seen Shi Ming at Qingshan Academy in Yuzhou.
He had been wild and untamed, utterly carefree, boldly wishing his teacher—a beast in human clothing—a "fitting death" right in the middle of his birthday banquet.
The Shi Ming of that time had lived in a muddle, perhaps, but he had lived so freely.
Truly, those who were wide awake suffered the most.
Li Ban didn't know what Shaman Ming had done to the white-robed priests when he was a Black Robe, but to him, Shaman Ming was Shaman Ming, and Shi Ming was Shi Ming.
His relationship with Shaman Ming was one of mutual exploitation.
But Shi Ming was his friend.
"I'll find a way to help you escape this fate," Li Ban told him solemnly. "It just might take a very long time."
Shi Ming finally smiled. He cupped his hands in thanks. "Li Ban... how about I acknowledge you as my adoptive father?"
Li Ban chuckled softly. "Piss off."
After joking around, both men felt the heavy burdens in their hearts lift somewhat.
They had both been deeply oppressed by their respective circumstances lately. For a fleeting moment, this banter let them recapture a fraction of their old, carefree spirits.
Because of this, Li Ban felt much calmer when he saw Priest Yao descend from the sky. His heart no longer throbbed with that dull, lingering ache.
He would never forget Zhu Yao, but he would no longer search for her shadow in Priest Yao.
"Priest Yao, did you need me for something?"
Touching down, Priest Yao glanced at Shi Ming. "Young Master Shi has worked hard this time. Allow me to have someone escort you back to rest."
Knowing the two had private matters to discuss, Shi Ming nodded. "There's no need. I can head back myself."
With that, he set off toward Deng Jun's estate, clearly intending to check on the man's condition.
Once Shi Ming was gone, Zhu Yao turned to Li Ban. "Was your plan successful?"
"It was."
Dealing with Xiao Suo was a highly classified matter. Even if Priest Yao knew the inner workings, she wouldn't speak of them casually out in the open.
"You had two Solar Priests helping you. My presence here wouldn't have amounted to much."
Everything had happened so suddenly the day before. Priest Yao had been out on patrol, keeping her out of the operation against Xiao Suo.
By the time she returned this morning, the dust had already settled.
"I've thought about it. With you all handling Xiao Suo in the Wizard World, there shouldn't be any problems. I'll head to the Shattered Realm and track down Du An. As it happens, a priest who just returned from there spotted someone resembling him."
Priest Yao knew the information might not be accurate, but Du An had hidden himself far too deeply within the Shattered Realm. Ever since her last failure, she hadn't received a single whisper of his whereabouts.
True or false, she had to go and verify this lead for herself.
"Priest Yao, the Shattered Realm is incredibly vast. Won't constantly chasing after Du An's trail impact your cultivation?"
Zhu Yao shook her head gently, her expression serene. "Self-discipline is cultivation. Following one's nature is cultivation. Hunting down Du An to settle karma—that, too, is cultivation."
She lowered her eyes. "If I can strike him down, it might just break my inner demons. I could advance to Solar Priest twenty years ahead of schedule."
The Du An of the previous timeline had also reached the rank of Black Robe.
But when he became a Black Robe then, he hadn't forced his way into the Unreturning Place, nor had he killed Priest Pei Jun. Therefore, the Zhu Yao of the Recycling Station hadn't hunted him to the ends of the earth.
If the Priest Yao of this timeline really could slay the Du An hiding in the Shattered Realm, she truly had a strong chance of breaking through early. Moreover, it would solve a major headache for Li Ban.
Li Ban cupped his hands. "Then I leave him to you, Priest Yao. I wish you a smooth journey and hope you achieve your desires."
Priest Yao returned the gesture before taking to the skies, departing on a cloud of mist.
Two days later, Li Ban was cultivating in his attic when he suddenly received a signal. He stepped out of his room and stood on the balcony, looking up in wait.
A moment later, a streak of rainbow light flashed past, and Priest Qian Que appeared on the balcony.
The man raised a hand to cast a protective barrier before finally speaking.
"I sent people to covertly investigate the Nihility State. We haven't found any trace of Xiao Suo yet, but something else abnormal has appeared over there."
The Nihility State was a land polluted by improperly altered elements.
It was a chaotic, dangerous place.
Due to its twisted laws, monsters that defied common sense frequently spawned within its borders.
Even low-level Priests were unwilling to venture deep into the Nihility State casually, and high-level Priests would suffer adverse effects if they operated there for too long.
Because of this, the Priests of the Mist Realm Faction primarily focused on patrolling its borders.
Only when they spotted an anomaly would they occasionally venture further in.
But as long as the Nihility State didn't undergo any drastic mutations or show signs of expanding outward, they generally left it alone.
This time, the Myriad Ancient Pagoda had cooperated with the Mist Realm Priests to conduct a thorough search along the State's edges.
They hadn't found Xiao Suo, but they had discovered a stretch of land overrun with vines they had never seen before.
Normally, the emergence of new flora or fauna in the Nihility State wouldn't be worth mentioning. However, upon hearing his subordinates' detailed report, Priest Qian Que had noticed a pattern.
"I recall that the last few times Xiao Suo appeared, he always cultivated some novel vine elements. He seems to have a particular fondness for vines," Priest Qian Que said.
"That's true."
Li Ban thought of the Blood Demon Vines in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, the altered vines in the Imperial Palace, and the Xuanji Vines in the Mist Valley.
It seemed that wherever Xiao Suo set a trap, vines were sure to follow.
And Li Ban had a gut feeling that the sudden appearance of vines in the Nihility State was linked to him as well.
He looked at Priest Qian Que. "Shall we go take a look?"
"We can. However, you've just assimilated one of Xiao Suo's Wizard Embryo Fragments. It's not suitable for you to engage in heavy combat right now."
Li Ban considered it, then replied, "But right now, I'm the only one who can accurately pinpoint Xiao Suo's location. If anyone else goes, they likely won't be able to detect him. Worse, they might tip him off that we're targeting him. It's better if I go."