Li Ban quickly closed the lid. Looking up, he could practically see the envy, jealousy, and resentment burning in Huo Jiang's eyes.
In this Death Prison, Li Ban was probably the only person to see two Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruits in such a short time.
Everyone else had to build their cultivation base bit by bit through painstaking absorption.
However, while Huo Jiang envied how easily Li Ban could increase his spiritual rhinoceros capacity, he had no idea that Li Ban actually needed enough spiritual rhinoceros for five separate elements—not just two like a normal 2nd Tier cultivator.
Because he had advanced to Tier 2 Status, the capacity limits for his three previously maxed-out elements had expanded once again. On top of that, he had to build up the Flute Sound and Silver Kingfisher elements completely from scratch.
Just thinking about that astronomical spiritual rhinoceros requirement made Li Ban want to collapse.
Currently, he also had something that seemed to be a Cyan Silk Algae seedling.
But the system didn't recognize it as an element. It likely needed to mature before it could be fused.
Besides, Li Ban had no desire to fuse any more elements right now.
If he kept fusing new ones in secret, he had no idea how many lifetimes it would take to max out his spiritual rhinoceros.
Watching Li Ban stow the Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruit away, Huo Jiang reminded him again to regularly check the Yongan Pawnshop for tasks. He needed to accept as many as possible to quickly promote his assassin identity.
After absorbing the Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruit and spending two days adapting to his new strength, Li Ban met up with Lu Qinghe. Under the guise of heading out for training, the two secretly made their way to the River of Forgetfulness.
Their target, naturally, was the Cyan Silk Algae that had caught Lu Qinghe's eye.
The two stood by the banks of the River of Forgetfulness once again.
This time, looking at the river choked with floating corpses, Li Ban didn't feel the slightest ripple of emotion.
He was gradually adapting to everything in the Wizard World. Although he still remembered the critical mission assigned by the Laboratory, he occasionally forgot that he was a transmigrator.
Whether it was the Laboratory or the Wizard World itself, both were steadily eroding the peaceful mindset of his past life.
The world changed too fast; no one was going to give him the time to adapt slowly.
If he couldn't adapt, he would be eliminated.
Inside the carriage, they took off their outer coats and shoes, revealing the skintight suits Lu Qinghe had specially provided.
The sleeves and pant legs could be tied tightly against their bodies with cords, preventing loose fabric from hindering their movements underwater.
As she adjusted her suit, Lu Qinghe went over the day's plan with Li Ban.
"Once we're in the water, don't approach the Cyan Silk Algae on your own. Wait in a safe area and use your right eye to monitor the algae's movements for me."
"Pay special attention to which parts move first and which parts follow. I need to figure out where its core root system is."
Li Ban nodded repeatedly. After agreeing on a set of underwater hand signals, they took advantage of the absence of corpse-fishing boats nearby and dove straight into the River of Forgetfulness.
Shielded by the layer of corpses on the surface, anyone in the distance would be hard-pressed to spot living people moving underwater.
Plunging into the River of Forgetfulness again brought back Li Ban's suffocating memory of almost drowning here before.
Now, however, a few terrifying memories weren't enough to shake him.
His thoughts were quickly consumed by the Cyan Silk Algae on the riverbed.
Lu Qinghe dove much faster than he did. She had already reached the depths where the Cyan Silk Algae lurked.
As if sensing the approach of a living person, the black Cyan Silk Algae instantly whipped several strands out from the shadows to probe the waters.
Lu Qinghe's graceful figure was as agile as a fish underwater.
With a simple stroke of her arms and a twist of her waist, she easily dodged the Cyan Silk Algae.
But as she continued to close the distance, she inevitably drew near a massive cluster of Cyan Silk Algae.
Just then, Li Ban watched Lu Qinghe suddenly pluck a strand of her own hair. Pinching her middle finger against her thumb, she gave it a sharp flick, and the hair vanished from her hand.
In his right eye's vision, Li Ban could only see something shoot out from her hand before he entirely lost track of the strand.
The underwater visibility was too poor, and the hair was too fine; he simply couldn't track its trajectory after it was flicked.
Fortunately, Li Ban didn't actually need to track the hair.
He just needed to watch how the entire patch of Cyan Silk Algae reacted after it was launched.
Lu Qinghe's hair must have landed on the Cyan Silk Algae. The shadows at the bottom of the river began to churn and undulate along the rough path where the hair had flown.
Because the algae shifted in response to the moving hair, and the distant strands naturally lagged behind, Li Ban couldn't pinpoint the center of the Cyan Silk Algae on the first try.
While dodging the flailing algae, Lu Qinghe glanced back at Li Ban.
Li Ban crossed his arms, flashing her an "X" sign.
Lu Qinghe spun around, evading another strike from the Cyan Silk Algae, and yanked at the ends of her hair, instantly plucking seven or eight long strands.
This ability was seriously harsh on her hair. If she kept using it, Li Ban wondered if she would eventually go bald.
The fine hairs danced through the water. There were fewer corpses near the riverbed, so they didn't block Li Ban's view.
He strained his eyes, staring hard at the shifting Cyan Silk Algae, and finally noticed a specific cluster reacting slightly faster than the rest.
Li Ban pointed out the location. Lu Qinghe immediately swam toward it.
As she approached, some of the algae tangled around her, but through the parted gaps, a porous rock filled with tiny holes could be seen beneath.
Lu Qinghe swam closer, tearing free from the entangling strands in a few quick motions. The moment she neared the rock below, she formed her hand into a blade and slashed down ruthlessly.
Li Ban watched as a fissure cracked open across the struck rock, followed by a crisp crack that carried through the water.
A massive volume of black algae suddenly erupted. Surging from all directions like a tsunami, it raised a towering underwater wave that buried Lu Qinghe just as she tried to squeeze into the rock.
Ignoring the wave of algae crashing down behind her, Lu Qinghe pounded forcefully against the porous rock. Right before the Cyan Silk Algae swallowed her completely, she smashed the rock wide open and dove inside.
Li Ban swam a little closer and raised his hand, releasing the Silver Kingfisher.
To keep Lu Qinghe from discovering its existence, he deliberately sent the Silver Kingfisher further away to burrow under the rocks.
Then, Li Ban set to work scooping up the strands of Cyan Silk Algae that Lu Qinghe had torn off.
As soon as he grabbed a handful, he absorbed it directly.
Watching the spiritual rhinoceros in his body climb higher and higher, Li Ban felt the thrilling satisfaction of reaping an easy harvest.
Just then, the Cyan Silk Algae abruptly erupted once more.
A streak of silver light shot out and instantly darted into Li Ban's embrace.
A split second later, Lu Qinghe burst out from the dense swarm of black algae, clenching something in her teeth.
She threw a hand signal at Li Ban, telling him to leave immediately.
Li Ban didn't hesitate for a second. He whipped around and swam straight for the surface.
Fortunately, he was relatively close to the top and quickly broke the surface.
Without pausing for a breath, he kept swimming toward the bank. Only after scrambling ashore and sprinting another seven or eight meters did he finally stop and look back.
At that moment, Lu Qinghe's upper body was just breaking the water's surface.
She struggled to pull one leg out of the water, but her other leg was caught in the vice-like grip of the black algae.
Lu Qinghe didn't call out for help, so Li Ban didn't recklessly rush back in.
If he failed to save her and ended up tangled in it himself, they would both be in huge trouble.
This batch of Cyan Silk Algae was visibly far more formidable than the strands they had encountered deeper underwater.
Li Ban could see that the algae wrapping around Lu Qinghe were no longer hair-thin threads, but thick vines the size of a pinky finger.
Acting almost as if they possessed a mind of their own, they dragged at Lu Qinghe's leg, coiling around it layer by layer to increase friction, trapping even the unfathomably strong Lu Qinghe in place.
"What are you two doing?!"
A loud shout made Li Ban jerk his head up.
Only then did he realize that a corpse fisher, rowing a small boat, had already drawn close to the shore.
Earlier, their attention had been entirely locked onto the Cyan Silk Algae.
They had come up in such a rush that they never expected a corpse fisher to appear nearby.
Zhou Gu had explicitly warned them that all the corpses in the River of Forgetfulness belonged to the Myriad Ancient Pagoda. If anyone was caught stealing bodies, the thieves themselves could be handed over to the Fanggu Pagoda to be processed as corpses.
Granted, Li Ban and Lu Qinghe weren't stealing corpses.
But they were stealing a powerful element. Who knew if the Myriad Ancient Pagoda intended to monopolize that as well?