On the third day after the new prisoners arrived, Zhou Gu finally found time to request leave. He took Li Ban and the cultivated tongue "Misleader" they had grown to the Eternal Tower.
Li Ban finally saw what a successful tongue looked like.
But when he asked the mission assistance system what element this was, the system ignored him.
Li Ban realized that unless it was certain to be his own element, the system wouldn't scan or confirm it at all.
It was as if it feared unnecessary actions would consume energy.
This time on the way to the Eternal Tower, they traveled along the River of Forgetfulness again.
Unlike last time's shock, Li Ban now felt more curiosity.
Gazing upstream, he wondered deeply about the origins of the River of Forgetfulness and its corpses—things neither Zhou Gu nor Liu Mu knew.
Then, relying on his exceptional eyesight, Li Ban suddenly noticed a hand in the river pressing a nearby face underwater.
It was a middle-aged man with somewhat dark skin that had turned pale from soaking.
After Li Ban noticed him, a corpse fisherman on the river quickly spotted the man too.
The corpse fisherman gripped his long pole with both hands, effortlessly parting the floating corpses to extend the pole toward the struggling man.
Yet unexpectedly, the man refused to grab it.
After seeing his surroundings clearly, the drowning man plunged back into the river instead.
Now it was the corpse fisherman's turn to panic.
He quickly called to distant colleagues, then set down his pole and dove headfirst into the river.
Zhou Gu, who had been immersed in joy, finally noticed Li Ban staring intently outside.
"What's wrong?" He looked out too.
But his vision couldn't match Li Ban's, and the heavy river mist obscured most details.
"There's a living person in the river. When the corpse fishermen tried to pull him out, he escaped."
Hearing this, Zhou Gu immediately lost interest.
"Anyone who regains consciousness in that river must have decent talent."
But Zhou Gu held no fondness for talented individuals.
The carriage continued, soon leaving the river's chaos behind.
After another half-hour, the Eternal Tower appeared before Li Ban.
The carriage stopped on the road's right side, dozens of meters from a side entrance.
Zhou Gu told Li Ban to wait inside while he entered alone through the side door.
Bored, Li Ban considered meditating briefly, but thinking of his slow cultivation progress, he instead went to chat with Old Qin on the driver's seat.
"Old Qin, could I learn to drive the carriage from you?"
Old Qin chuckled. "Young man, you needn't learn. When your strength grows and presence intensifies, horses will obey naturally. As the saying goes, absolute strength overrides all skills."
"Old Qin, I heard you were once a jailer."
"Yes. But my talent was mediocre, my fused element ordinary. When I couldn't advance further, I stepped down rather than block others' promotions."
"So now... you have no Identity?"
Old Qin didn't avoid the topic.
He admitted readily, "Indeed. Fortunately, Officer Du showed mercy. Knowing I had no home or family, he let me stay in the front courtyard doing odd jobs, still paying me a jailer's wage."
That terrifying Officer Du was actually so kind?
This surprised Li Ban.
"Old Qin, when I gained my Identity, I received a token. If it's lost or damaged, would I lose my Identity?"
"It's not so simple. Identity is... a rule set by Heaven, followed even by the Emperor. How could it be constrained by a mere token? If lost, you'd just pay for a replacement."
Old Qin knew Li Ban's real question and answered directly:
"Actually, for low-tier Identities like ours, gaining or losing them depends entirely on the highest authority—Officer Du. Though he delegates appointment powers to jailers."
"Does Heaven recognize delegated authority?" Li Ban still didn't understand this "Heaven."
"I don't know specifics, but with official decrees and documents, of course Heaven recognizes it. So we gain Identity instantly, and lose it just as quickly at Officer Du's whim."
"But besides the granter, there's another way to forcibly strip Identity."
Li Ban perked up—this was crucial information. "What way?"
"Ministry of Justice orders. Yu Province Death Prison answers to the Six Ministries, including Justice. Officer Du reports there every spring—should be soon this year."
Li Ban grew thoughtful.
This ancient world had an imperial court and ministries, but with the Identity system overriding even the Emperor, it clearly differed from normal ancient regimes.
The Emperor might just be a puppet ruler.
But even as a puppet, an extremely high-status one.
"Is the Emperor a tenth-tier Identity?"
"I don't know the Emperor's tier, only that it's not tenth."
"There are Identities above the Emperor?"
An Emperor Emeritus perhaps?
Old Qin stroked his chin's lone beard, whispering: "This isn't our concern. I only know one tenth-tier Identity exists—the Witch."
The Witch?
Witch World?
Finally Li Ban understood why this virtual world was called Witch World.
The highest Identity holder was the Witch!
The Identity system was an almost tyrannical method of controlling individual power.
And as the world's highest Identity, the Witch would be its true master.
Suddenly, commotion interrupted their conversation.
The noise came from behind. Turning, Li Ban saw the living man from the river being escorted by two people toward the tower's side entrance.
The man was bound with soaked hemp ropes, head forced down in a stooped walk.
Yet his two corpse fisherman escorts looked equally disheveled—covered in ash with burnt clothing, as if just escaped a fire.
As they neared the carriage, the escorts eyed Li Ban warily, as if expecting an attack.
An attack did come—but not from Li Ban.
The bound man suddenly erupted in intense blue flames, instantly igniting both escorts.
They released him, rolling on the ground screaming.
The wet ropes, subjected to extreme heat, became brittle and snapped.
Breaking free, the man sprinted toward Li Ban and Old Qin.
"He wants the horse!"
Though sudden, Li Ban's right eye caught the man's focus on the prison horse.
Old Qin acted first—not attacking, but cutting the horse's reins with his belt knife.
The man hesitated, then grabbed the loose horse anyway.
But before fleeing, he shot Li Ban and Old Qin a murderous glare.
"Dodge!" Old Qin hissed, throwing himself under the carriage.
Li Ban reacted equally fast, rolling backward into the carriage while hurling his iron hook.
Sure enough, twin fire jets blasted where they'd stood—now normal red instead of blue.
The flames instantly ignited parts of the wooden carriage frame and paper door curtains.
The attacker's eyes flashed regret, but he prepared to ride off.
As he passed a window, something dark smashed through it toward him.
Instinctively, he fired flames to intercept—only to pale when smelling strong alcohol.
But the unleashed flames... couldn't be recalled!