Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Li Ban was overjoyed.
But he still kept a careful eye on it.
He knew the Ghost-Head Saber was a mortal-grade creation-type element that almost every prison guard and prison official could absorb.
But he had no idea what Rainstorm was.
Looking at his two elements now, Li Ban decided to use his second element, Iron Fish Scale, to absorb the Ghost-Head Saber waste element first.
[Waste element "Ghost-Head Saber" absorbed.]
He quickly checked the spiritual rhinoceros progress of his second element.
It was still under 80%.
Calculating it briefly, the spiritual rhinoceros content of the Ghost-Head Saber waste element seemed a bit lower than that of Delusion.
No one could guide Li Ban in this regard; he had to figure it out himself.
After absorbing one waste element, Li Ban turned his attention to Rainstorm.
The physical form of this element was different from the saber. It looked like a lump of soft white mud.
It even felt springy and squishy in his hand.
It didn't seem like a living-type element. It was likely a creation-type, or perhaps an energy-type.
He glanced at his two elements.
Second element: 77%.
Third element: 0%.
If he gave it to the second element, it would most likely overflow.
"Let the third element absorb the Rainstorm waste element."
[Waste element "Rainstorm" absorbed.]
Li Ban went on to check his third element.
Then, he froze in place.
92%!!!!!
"My god! What Tier was this Rainstorm element?"
[Waste element.]
"No, I mean, what Tier was this Rainstorm before it became a waste element?"
The system did not answer.
It seemed the mission assistance system could only detect an element's current state.
Li Ban paced back and forth, his heart pounding.
"It had to be a fine-grade element."
To think Zhou Gu had actually ruined a fine-grade element during fusion!
Li Ban didn't know whether to call the man pitiful or wasteful.
But since Zhou Gu had handed this "garbage" over to him to dispose of, he would just take pity on the guy.
Suppressing his excitement, Li Ban ran the numbers.
At his current pace, even without any other waste elements, it would only take him four months to reach full spiritual rhinoceros!
That was about the same amount of time it would normally take him to cultivate a single element to full spiritual rhinoceros.
All of this was truly... practically falling right into his lap!
Li Ban threw his head back and laughed silently.
He pumped his fist hard.
"Hiss—"
His shoulder stung.
He hadn't treated his wound yet.
Cat Girl seemed to have struck a specific acupoint, though, so he hadn't bled much.
Clutching his shoulder, Li Ban sat back down on the bed and spaced out.
Now that Cat Girl had escaped the Death Prison, she would most likely be hunted across the entire province.
She would probably flee to another province.
Meanwhile, Li Ban definitely had to stay here in the Yu Province Death Prison to complete his missions.
The two of them would likely never cross paths again in this lifetime.
Although their identities placed them on opposing sides, Cat Girl was practically his mentor in this world.
Her help to him had been far greater than anything from the Laboratory, or from Ze and the others.
He didn't know what crime had landed her in the Death Prison, but speaking from his heart...
"Escaping... is for the best."
...
In the days that followed, the Death Prison completely quieted down.
The slaves were all dead, but the first floor of the Death Prison no longer had any inmates either.
The work on the Second Level was handed directly to the condemned Tree-Person B.
Liu Mu still needed to recover from his injuries.
Wang Hua remained on the third floor and now had to handle the meals for everyone as well.
As for Li Ban...
Li Ban was assigned to the fourth floor.
The fourth floor was a truly leisurely post.
Li Ban only had to sweep up every morning and evening and greet the prison official on duty. The rest of his time was entirely free.
Especially now that the Sealing Stone Gate had been lowered, he had even less to do.
It felt as though he had returned to his days as a meal-delivering slave.
Whenever he was free, he simply returned to his room to cultivate.
The only minor nuisance in his life was the inmate locked up on the fourth floor, Zhai Liu.
The man always tried to pull Li Ban aside to ask what had happened in the Death Prison.
Li Ban never answered, always giving vague responses.
Later, Zhang Baishan overheard them once and straight up told Li Ban to treat Zhai Liu as if he didn't exist.
After that, Li Ban stopped talking to him altogether.
He felt that Zhai Liu was a very special existence in the Death Prison.
He had seen prison officials in bad moods torment the other prisoner, Lin Han, with iron chains, but he never saw them touch Zhai Liu.
Zhang Baishan's attitude toward Zhai Liu could be considered cold, but the others were even somewhat respectful toward him.
And so, Li Ban found an opportunity to secretly ask Zhou Gu, "Who exactly is Zhai Liu on the fourth floor? I see that Your Excellency starves him, but you never short him on any other living supplies."
This wasn't really a secret, so Zhou Gu told him directly, "That Zhai Liu was transferred here from a Death Prison in another province. The orders are to restrict his freedom and absolutely never let him eat meat. As long as he doesn't starve to death, keep him starving. But we absolutely cannot let him die."
Zhou Gu gave a bitter smile. "Hearing those conditions, you can tell he's not a simple man. He's been locked up here for three or four years now, and nobody knows how much longer he'll be held. Normally, you don't need to entertain his unreasonable demands, but don't offend him too much either."
"Another expert."
Li Ban suddenly remembered that he had tried to ask about Cat Girl's true identity several times, but had missed out due to one thing or another.
"Lord Zhou, what was Cat Girl's actual identity? Why would someone help her break out of prison?"
Zhou Gu looked at Li Ban with a very strange expression.
He knew that Li Ban had been on relatively good terms with Cat Girl recently, and seemed to have received some help from her as well.
But he never expected that Li Ban still didn't know her identity.
"You don't know her? Then what were you two even talking about normally?"
"I gave her meat and other food, and she taught me some fist techniques and basic knowledge about elements."
Such foundational knowledge was something only a clueless little slave would need.
Zhou Gu and the others knew Cat Girl's identity.
It was just that they didn't need to ask her about basic knowledge, and they didn't dare ask her about the important things.
A prison official and an inmate were mortal enemies—who would dare trust the other?
Zhou Gu shook his head helplessly. "She possessed a 5th Tier identity. She was a Gold Badge assassin from the Assassin Hall. She was caught after a botched job and thrown into the Death Prison."
Little Cat was actually an assassin?
No wonder...
He suddenly understood Cat Girl's personality a lot better.
But why wasn't an assassin killed after a failed attempt?
Why let her stay on the first floor of the Death Prison, occasionally going out for a fight?
Furthermore, why would someone specifically break her out of prison?
Li Ban faintly sensed that there was a secret in all this that he was not privy to.
...
Over ten days later, Lord Du finally returned.
Li Ban's third element, Blazing Flame Art, was also steadily approaching full spiritual rhinoceros.
His second element remained at its original progress.
He planned to focus entirely on one first, ensuring he maximized that element's abilities.
After Lord Du's return, the Sealing Stone Gate was finally opened.
Even though they had access to groundwater and air vents while the gate was closed, spending half a month sealed in the dark Death Prison was incredibly grating on the nerves.
Li Ban even started feeling like he was a prisoner himself.
Everyone gathered in Jingyan Hall once again.
And this time, Li Ban was arranged to stand behind Zhang Baishan.
Li Ban hadn't expected to suddenly become the second most prominent person in the entire Death Prison.
He felt a little uneasy.
Everyone was present.
Including Tree-man Bing and Ding, who almost never made an appearance.
Du An sat at the head seat, sipping the tea Uncle Qin had brewed, slowly and leisurely blowing away the foam on the surface.
The main hall was so quiet that only the light clinking of the teacup could be heard.
After listening to Zhang Baishan's report, Du An finally lowered his cup.
"Cat Girl got away, and the other fugitives are dead. We lost a servant on our side, and it was Tree-Person B who did the deed."
Du An summarized the information from Zhang Baishan's report, his expression as calm as if he were discussing whether it was going to rain today.
Li Ban actually admired the man. For something as massive as a prison break to happen, and for him to remain this composed.
If this were the modern era, it would have been considered a major dereliction of duty.
Thud!
Li Ban looked back toward the sound and saw Tree-Person B kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to Du An.
He was a tree-man, so his spine was stiff.
When he bowed his head, his entire body was almost parallel to the floor.
"Lord Du, I saw that Gu Yueqi was acting strangely and behaving abnormally. I suspected he was the inside man for the fugitives, which was why I tried to subdue him. Who knew he would fight back? I only killed him by accident."