Ye Qin stood concealed behind a massive tree, frowning as he watched a youth in white who had been trailing him ever since he left the inn. The white-robed youth wandered aimlessly through the small woods for a long time, unable to locate him. Finally, in a display of frustration, he struck a nearby tree with his palm and departed, heading back toward the distant county seat.
Only then did Ye Qin slowly emerge from the thicket.
Truthfully, the young man’s Qinggong (Lightness Skill) was quite exceptional.
However, once inside this small stretch of woods, mere graceful footwork was insufficient. Ye Qin’s ears could easily detect the slightest tremor in the dry branches and fallen leaves on the ground within several zhang. Even a mere whisper of wind could not escape his heightened senses, let alone the impact of a person treading.
Every movement the white-robed youth made in the forest had failed to evade him.
Though not expansive, the woods covered several qing, forcing the youth to flail about like a headless fly.
Ye Qin employed no flashy movement techniques; before the youth could spot him, he simply took a few casual steps, gracefully shifting from behind one tree to another, keeping him perpetually out of sight.
After rushing frantically through the trees for quite a while, the white-robed youth felt as if Ye Qin had completely vanished within the forest, leaving not a single trace. Eventually, he could only depart in vexed anger.
Ye Qin approached the tree that the youth had struck.
His brow furrowed deeply.
On the trunk of that tree, there remained a scorched handprint, half an inch deep, emitting the foul scent of burnt bark. The man’s intensely fiery and masculine internal martial arts had clearly reached a profound level.
It seemed that whether in Qinggong or internal mastery, he was far from a match for that youth.
His only reliance lay in his superior speed and acute senses. Before the white-robed youth could commit to his next move, Ye Qin could predict it and preemptively react. In these two aspects, he held all the advantage.
In an actual fight, who would win remained uncertain. Only by clashing would he know.
Ye Qin could not help but ponder internally. He lacked aggressive means of attack, and his cultivation base was still too low. Facing top-tier martial experts, he lacked sufficient power for self-preservation. He absolutely had to advance his cultivation of the Zuowang Jing (Scripture of Sitting in Oblivion) swiftly.
He had completed the first layer of the Zuowang Jing: Zuo Wang Wu Wo (Sitting in Oblivion, Selflessness). Upon entering the second layer, he was already capable of looking down upon those so-called first-rate Jianghu experts. Once the second layer was mastered and he entered the third, he would have sufficient confidence. Even if he encountered the absolute pinnacle of Jianghu masters, he would harbor no fear. If he completed the third layer of the realm, there was no place within the tens of thousands of li of Pingzhou he could not travel!
Recalling how the white-robed youth had wandered around the forest like a blind fly, ultimately leaving in profound frustration, brought a quiet chuckle to Ye Qin, immediately easing his tension. This incident alone proved that the Zuowang Jing was indeed a remarkable cultivation method.
Ye Qin reached into the cloth pouch at his waist and pulled out the Azure Jade Pendant, gazing at it eagerly. Then, he turned and sprinted rapidly toward the desolate ridge to the northwest, deliberately choosing the most difficult, untamed wilderness. He needed to find a secluded, empty place to cultivate quietly and make up for the training he had paused these past few days.
What Ye Qin failed to notice at that moment was a strange anomaly occurring within the Azure Jade Pendant he clutched tightly. A faint wisp of smoky shadow seemed to be incessantly battering the inside, striving to break free from the jade.
Ye Qin soared through the air, arriving at a forest of jagged rocks more than ten li northwest of the county seat. He slipped into the hollow of a massive boulder and sat down cross-legged.
The opening to this boulder was extremely narrow; even if someone passed through the stone forest, they would never detect a person hidden inside. It had taken him the better part of a day, days ago, to meticulously select this spot for secluded practice.
He did not hesitate. He silently circulated his divine consciousness and sent the Azure Jade Pendant in his hand into the Cinnabar Field within his Niwan Acupoint. With a flicker of his spiritual sense, the jade instantly vanished from his grasp.
In the Endless Void, on the Floating Island of the Purple Mansion.
An Azure Jade Pendant materialized in mid-air above the island. The shadowy wisp contained within it was violently impacting the inner walls, attempting desperately to escape.
Moments later, the Azure Jade Pendant exploded with a dull thud, shattering into countless fragments. A thumb-sized sphere of yellow light shot straight up. Accompanying its ascent was an aura of intense hatred and savagery.
“Hahahaha! Old man Nantianba has finally escaped this damnable jade pendant! Twenty years! I have waited a full twenty years, and finally, I have encountered a low-level Qi Refining practitioner who possesses a spiritual root. Heaven has not abandoned me!”
The yellow sphere shouted and roared, rattling off a long string of incantations at an astonishing speed. As it chanted, shimmering yellow mystical symbols manifested around the sphere, seemingly initiating some powerful magic.
Imprisoned in that cursed jade pendant for two full decades, utterly unable to cultivate, its essence energy constantly dissipating, it was already desperate for a physical body. Now that it was free, it impatiently began executing the Soul Seizing Art, preparing to usurp a spirit.
However, upon getting a clear view of its surroundings, it froze in shock.
It was suspended in the void over a barren island of gray rock, spanning several li in circumference. In the distance, an endless expanse of dead, silent gray mist stretched out, with no visible end.
What in the blazes was this place?
Where had that black-clothed boy with the spiritual root gone?
The yellow sphere hovered in the air for a long moment.
The person was gone. Who was it supposed to perform the Soul Seizing Art upon?
It rotated slightly and then noticed a large stone tablet at the center of the floating island. Beside the tablet was a small plot of earth containing several dozen small green grasses. Next to this patch of greenery were a few small pieces of pale blue rock, and one small chunk of deep azure spirit stone.
But its attention was not on the plants or the blue stones; it was fixed entirely upon the massive stone tablet. Because floating directly above that tablet was a weak, white light sphere.
The yellow sphere instantly rejoiced.
Although both were thumb-sized, the white light sphere was clearly several times fainter than its own. It was already a quite brilliant yellow sphere, whereas this white sphere looked newly formed and extremely thin. By all appearances, it was the nascent spirit of someone who had just entered the second layer of Qi Refining—far inferior to its own Earth Element spirit of the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
The yellow sphere immediately shot toward the stone tablet, intending to devour the white sphere. Even though it couldn't locate the black-clothed boy, finding a weak spirit was still acceptable; at the very least, it could absorb a portion of its vital energy to replenish its own weakened form.
On the Natal Spirit Tablet, Ye Qin watched in a daze as the bizarre scene of the Azure Jade Pendant exploding unfolded. Then he saw a thumb-sized, fierce-looking yellow light sphere burst forth from the jade, brandishing its energy in mid-air, shouting madness about the Soul Seizing Art and other nonsense.
A chill ran down Ye Qin’s spine.
He suddenly realized he had committed a grave mistake, a colossal error. Perhaps he should never have brought that Azure Jade Pendant into his Purple Mansion. This jade had hidden a light sphere exactly like his own. It was supposed to be a counterpart, but one that was incredibly ferocious, and visually, several times more powerful than himself. In the presence of this formidable peer, he felt an instinctual dread.
The Azure Jade Pendant had brought him no benefit; instead, it had delivered immense trouble first.
The yellow sphere rushed toward his location.
Ye Qin’s eyes abruptly tightened; he retreated a step in terror, hiding behind the great stone tablet. Yet, he dared not leave the Natal Spirit Tablet. Based on his experience, any other spot on the floating island would be far more dangerous. At least the Purple Thunder Filaments had never managed to penetrate the light shield surrounding the stone tablet.
The yellow sphere failed to notice the existence of the shield and violently charged to within a few zhang of the stone tablet. Just as it was about to reach the tablet and grasp the trembling white sphere, it abruptly slammed into a thin, yielding halo of light, which sent it bouncing back more than a zhang with a soft thump.
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