Li Ban hadn't expected a single training session to lead him to a natural element.
Moreover, the detached part of this Cyan Silk Algae had directly turned into the waste element he wanted most.
"Pfft!"
Li Ban broke the surface of the water, gasping for air.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his collar and hauled him directly onto the bank.
When he looked up, Lu Qinghe had already landed in front of him.
"What did you run into?" Lu Qinghe frowned at Li Ban's wretched state. She added, a little unnaturally, "With your current abilities, the River of Forgetfulness shouldn't be dangerous."
"When I dove underwater, a black algae suddenly wrapped around my ankle."
Li Ban spat out the sand and unknown grit in his mouth, pulling his leg up to show her.
"Cyan Silk Algae?" Seeing the bit of black aquatic plant remaining on Li Ban's ankle, Lu Qinghe's eyes widened. "How could there be Cyan Silk Algae at this time?"
Li Ban untied the Cyan Silk Algae from his foot. The severed strands had lost their previous vitality.
Holding the broken algae in his hand, he asked casually, "What is this? Is it an element too?"
"No. Cyan Silk Algae separated from its main root is useless. You couldn't even chew it if you boiled it. Just throw it away."
Lu Qinghe wasn't looking at Li Ban. She stared at the river, a rare trace of excitement in her cool, distant eyes.
Seeing that Lu Qinghe wasn't paying attention to him, Li Ban said, "I'll throw it away then."
He limped over to the riverbank and submerged his hand, still clutching the waterweed.
But he didn't let go. Instead, he made a choice: 'Absorb the waste element, give it to Silver Kingfisher!'
[Waste element 'Cyan Silk Algae' absorbed.]
Li Ban immediately sensed Silver Kingfisher's spiritual rhinoceros progress.
It instantly increased by... 5%.
It seemed like much less than other waste elements.
However, the Cyan Silk Algae in his hand was just the tip of the iceberg compared to the dense black mass underwater.
It made sense that it provided less experience.
But what if he could get more Cyan Silk Algae?
With the Silver Kingfisher element on him, the Cyan Silk Algae from just now didn't seem so dangerous anymore, did it?
Of course, he still had to be cautious. Otherwise, one misstep, and he really might not come back up.
The corpses in the River of Forgetfulness didn't seem to rot. If he died in the river, aside from being forcibly retrieved by the Laboratory, Li Ban would be trapped inside a corpse until his consciousness was destroyed.
At that moment, he sensed Lu Qinghe approaching his side and hurriedly withdrew his empty hand.
"Wait here." Lu Qinghe looked around. No one had noticed them yet. She started taking off her coat and shoes. "I'll go take a look and be right back."
With that, Lu Qinghe dove into the river, disappearing into a cluster of corpses.
Li Ban took off his outer robe and shoes, sitting on the bank to wring out his soaking clothes.
While he waited, a corpse was inexplicably squeezed ashore, staring at Li Ban with empty eye sockets.
Li Ban stepped forward, intending to shove it back.
He raised his leg halfway, then put it back down.
Are there any Spirit Practitioners among these corpses? If there are, could I find elements on them too?
Li Ban dragged the corpse another half-meter onto the bank, then leaned over to inspect its condition.
After he rolled it around, the system gave no prompt whatsoever.
So he shoved the corpse back in.
Then, another head squeezed its way toward the shore from amidst the corpses.
Li Ban was just about to grab the corpse's hair when the figure suddenly shot out a hand, grabbed him, and used the leverage to haul herself up.
Seeing the person's clothes, Li Ban finally recognized her. "Lu Qinghe?"
Lu Qinghe swept the long hair covering her face behind her head, revealing her cold, beautiful face.
She raised her eyes to glance at Li Ban but didn't speak. She wrung the water from her clothes and immediately put back on the outer garments she had taken off before jumping into the river.
"Don't tell anyone about this. We were underprepared this time; we'll come back and try again later. If I can get the Cyan Silk Algae, I'll give you a ten percent cut of the sale. But if you tell anyone else, believe me, you won't get a single copper."
Li Ban immediately said, "Of course. It's just an element, not anything important. There's no need to go around blabbing to everyone."
When Li Ban said "not important," Lu Qinghe's hands paused for a split second as she tied her sash.
She recovered quickly, though. If Li Ban hadn't been keeping a close eye on her reactions, he probably would have missed it. From her response, Li Ban confirmed that the Cyan Silk Algae element was highly valuable.
His expression remained completely normal.
For one, he had already anticipated this. For another, this composure was the result of Lu Qinghe's mental training over the past month. Suddenly, Li Ban crouched down and grabbed Lu Qinghe's ankle.
Lu Qinghe immediately pulled her leg back. "What are you doing?"
"You still have Cyan Silk Algae on you. I'll help you get it off. Otherwise, if people see it when we get back, everyone will know."
Only then did Lu Qinghe stop dodging, even letting Li Ban inspect her thoroughly.
She, in turn, helped Li Ban check to see if any Cyan Silk Algae was left on him.
Li Ban retrieved a few more broken strands of Cyan Silk Algae from Lu Qinghe, though his own body was long since clear of any remnants.
Afterward, he walked to the riverbank, pushed away a corpse drifting too close, and reached his hand into the water. He pretended to wash the strands away in the current, but in reality, he let the system absorb them all.
Silver Kingfisher Experience +3%!
This alone was equal to more than half a month of his cultivation.
If he could get the main Cyan Silk Algae, he definitely wouldn't fuse with it. He would just find a pond, let it grow, and farm the experience himself.
Unfortunately, things definitely wouldn't be as simple as he imagined.
A Cyan Silk Algae that Lu Qinghe wanted to secure—even while keeping it a secret from others—was definitely no ordinary element.
By the time the two dripping figures returned to the Death Prison, the sky had already grown dark.
Fortunately, neither of them lived in the underground Death Prison, so no one noticed their unusual state.
Upon returning to his room, Li Ban immediately activated the ability of the Silver Kingfisher element.
It was entirely different from the other abilities he had used before.
After Silver Kingfisher appeared, it wasn't completely under his control.
Silver Kingfisher was a silver bird the size of a thumb. It looked identical to how it had before Li Ban fused with it, only much smaller.
Moreover, Silver Kingfisher seemed to possess a certain degree of self-awareness.
Once it came out, it flew in circles around Li Ban's head.
It was rather like keeping a pet bird.
When it flew at a leisurely pace, its belly bulged roundly, making it look incredibly endearing and cute.
But when it accelerated, it turned into a streak of silver light, like a shooting star in the night sky.
A bit conspicuous, Li Ban thought. It would be better if I could coat it in a layer of dark dye.
?
After playing with it for a while, Li Ban raised his right hand, letting it land on his palm.
But Silver Kingfisher didn't land right away. Instead, it hovered above his palm and, with a "pfft," spat something out.
It looked a bit like a black watermelon seed.
After spitting it out, its round, bulging belly visibly shrank.
Li Ban couldn't be bothered to check on Silver Kingfisher's changes; he immediately lowered his head to carefully inspect the item in his hand.
When he looked at it with his right eye, he realized that the surface of the "watermelon seed" wasn't smooth, but covered in fine, short fuzz.
"What is this?" Li Ban tried asking Silver Kingfisher.
However, Silver Kingfisher had no ability to communicate and could only continue flying in circles around Li Ban's head.
Looking at the fuzzy "watermelon seed" resting motionless in his palm, a sudden guess formed in Li Ban's mind.
Could this be the Cyan Silk Algae's baby?
Could it be that to save him, Silver Kingfisher had gone into some small hole and snatched the Cyan Silk Algae's baby?
Gradually, Li Ban's eyes lit up.
Then doesn't that mean I can raise it... and harvest it for experience?