The Last Witch Lord

On the third day after the new prisoners arrived, Zhou Gu finally found time to request a leave of absence, taking Li Ban and the tongue he had cultivated, "Delusion," toward the Myriad Ancient Pagoda.

Li Ban finally saw what a successfully cultivated tongue looked like.

However, when he asked the Mission Assistance System what element it was, the system ignored him.

Li Ban realized that unless an element was confirmed to be his own, the system simply would not scan or identify it.

It was as if it feared that any extra action would consume energy.

On the way to the Myriad Ancient Pagoda this time, they traveled along the River of Forgetfulness for a stretch of the journey.

Unlike his shock the previous time, Li Ban felt much more curious now.

He gazed upriver, intensely curious about where the River of Forgetfulness and its corpses—something neither Zhou Gu nor Liu Mu understood—actually came from.

Just then, relying on his exceptional eyesight, Li Ban suddenly noticed a hand out on the river shoving a face down into the water.

It was a middle-aged man. His slightly dark skin had been soaked a sickly white.

Right after Li Ban noticed him, a body-salvager on the river also spotted the man.

Grasping his long pole firmly with both hands, the body-salvager effortlessly pushed aside the drifting bodies and extended the pole toward the struggling man.

Surprisingly, the man refused to grab the pole.

Upon getting a clear look at the scene before him, the man in the water actually dove headfirst back into the river.

Now it was the body-salvager's turn to panic.

He hurriedly shouted to another body-salvager in the distance, then dropped his pole and dove headfirst into the water.

Immersed in his own joy until now, Zhou Gu finally noticed that Li Ban was staring intently outside without blinking.

"What is it?" he asked, looking out as well.

However, his eyesight could not compare to Li Ban's, and the heavy fog over the river obscured most of the view.

"A living person appeared in the river," Li Ban said. "When the body-salvager tried to pull him up, he bolted."

Hearing this, Zhou Gu immediately lost interest.

"To wake up in the river, his talent is probably quite good."

But Zhou Gu had no fondness for people with good talent.

The carriage continued forward, quickly leaving the chaos on the river behind.

About half an hour later, the Myriad Ancient Pagoda appeared before Li Ban.

Dozens of meters away from the side entrance, the carriage pulled over to the right side of the road.

Zhou Gu told Li Ban to wait in the carriage while he entered through the side door alone.

Bored from waiting, Li Ban initially wanted to close his eyes and cultivate for a moment. But thinking about his current cultivation progress, he ultimately pushed the door open to chat with Uncle Qin, who was sitting on the driver's seat.

"Uncle Qin, can I learn how to drive a carriage from you?"

Uncle Qin chuckled. "Little brother, you don't need to learn. Once your strength is high and your imposing aura is sufficient, the horses will obediently listen to you. There's a saying: 'sheer strength overcomes all martial skills.'"

"Uncle Qin, I heard you used to be a prison guard."

"That's right. But my talent was only average, and the element I fused with was average too. When I couldn't advance any further, I naturally stepped down so I wouldn't hold up the promotions of the people below me."

"Then right now... do you not have an identity?"

Uncle Qin showed no intention of dodging the topic.

He admitted it readily, "Mhm. Fortunately, Lord Du is merciful. Knowing I had no home to return to and no family to rely on, he let me live in the front courtyard and do some odd jobs, and he even lets me collect a prison guard's salary."

Was the Lord Du that everyone feared actually such a kind person?

Li Ban had not expected this.

"Uncle Qin, when I acquired my identity, I received an identity token. If my identity token is lost or damaged, will I lose my identity too?"

"How could it be that simple? Identity is... a rule set by Heaven. Even the Emperor in the imperial court has to abide by it. How could it be shackled by a mere token? If your token is lost, you just spend some money to get a replacement."

Knowing that Li Ban wanted to ask how one could lose their identity, Uncle Qin answered directly without waiting for the question.

"Actually, for low-level identities like ours, gaining or losing them is managed by the highest commanding officer. That would be Lord Du. But Lord Du is a busy man, so he hands over the personnel appointment quotas to the prison officials."

"Does Heaven recognize delegated authority?" Li Ban still could not understand what this 'Heaven' truly was.

"I am not too clear on the specific details, but with official edicts and written orders, Heaven naturally recognizes it. Therefore, gaining our identity happens in an instant, and losing it is nothing more than a single thought from Lord Du."

"However, besides the person who granted your identity stripping it away, there is another way your identity can be forcibly revoked."

Li Ban pricked up his ears. This was crucial information. "What method?"

"An order from the Ministry of Justice. Haha, the Yu Province Death Prison is subordinate to the Six Ministries, so naturally, it has to obey the Ministry of Justice's commands. Every spring, Lord Du has to go to the Ministry of Justice to report on his duties. Hmm, it should be soon this year."

Li Ban fell silent.

This ancient world also featured an Imperial Dynasty and the Six Ministries. But with the identity system in place—something even the Emperor had to abide by—it was definitely different from a normal ancient dynasty.

Perhaps he was just a puppet administrator.

But even as a puppet, he would be a puppet with incredibly high standing.

"Is the Emperor a 10th Tier identity?"

"I don't know what Tier the Emperor's identity is, but I do know it isn't 10th Tier."

"There's an identity higher than the Emperor?"

'An Emperor Emeritus?'

Uncle Qin stroked a strand of beard on his chin and said softly, "This actually isn't something we should concern ourselves with. I only know that one of the 10th Tier identities is... Wizard."

'Wizard?'

'The Wizard World?'

Li Ban finally understood why this virtual world was called the Wizard World.

The ones with the highest identity were Wizards!

The identity system was an almost tyrannical method of controlling personal strength.

And Wizards, possessing the highest identity in the world, would be the true masters of this world.

A sudden commotion interrupted Li Ban and Uncle Qin's conversation.

The noise came from behind. Li Ban turned to look, only to see the living person he had just spotted in the River of Forgetfulness being escorted by two people toward the side door of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda.

The living man was bound head to toe in wet hemp rope. His head was forced down, leaving him no choice but to walk hunched over.

However, the two body-salvagers also looked extremely battered.

They were covered in ash, and their clothes bore many scorch marks.

It looked like they had just escaped from a fire.

As they gradually approached Li Ban's carriage, the two escorting body-salvagers shot a vigilant look in their direction.

It was as if they feared Li Ban and his companion might suddenly attack.

Someone certainly attacked out of nowhere, but it was not Li Ban. It was the man bound in wet hemp ropes.

Seizing the moment the body-salvagers' attention was drawn to Li Ban's side, a massive burst of flame suddenly erupted from the man's body.

The flames were blue, obviously indicating an extremely high temperature.

The two body-salvagers instantly screamed as they were set ablaze.

No longer caring about holding their captive, they immediately dropped to the ground and began rolling around.

As for the middle-aged man, although the hemp ropes binding him were wet, the sudden, intense heat rapidly scorched them brittle and snapped them.

While struggling free from his bonds, the man actually sprinted straight toward Li Ban and Uncle Qin.

"He wants to steal the horse!"

Despite the suddenness of the event, Li Ban's right eye still clearly tracked the man's gaze, which was fixed intently on the Death Prison's horse.

Uncle Qin moved first, but he did not attack the man. Instead, he drew a small knife from his waist and slashed the reins tying the horse.

The middle-aged man was briefly stunned, but he quickly reacted, grabbing the horse to flee.

Before running, however, he shot a look filled with killing intent at Li Ban and Uncle Qin.

"Dodge!" Uncle Qin barked, instantly diving off the carriage.

Li Ban reacted quickly as well. Almost the exact moment Uncle Qin dove down, Li Ban rolled backward, retreating into the carriage cabin.

At the same time, he raised his hand and hurled the iron hook he always kept at his waist.

Sure enough, in the next second, two streams of fire shot toward the exact spots where the two had just been.

Only this time, the flames were a normal red instead of blue.

The fire instantly ignited parts of the carriage's wooden frame, the paper-paneled door, and the fabric curtains.

A flash of regret crossed the eyes of the middle-aged man who had attacked so suddenly. Not daring to delay, he prepared to urge the horse away.

But just as he passed by the carriage window, something pitch-black suddenly smashed through the window and lunged at him.

The man's first instinct was to unleash fire from his hand to block it.

However, when he caught the rich aroma of strong liquor, his expression drastically changed.

But the fire he had unleashed... could no longer be taken back!

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