The orb of yellow light, teeth bared, let out a startled cry as it was violently repelled by the protective barrier of the great stone stele. It tumbled several times in mid-air, completely disoriented, before finally stabilizing with a wobble, hovering uncertainly.

Upon regaining its focus, the yellow orb realized that both the grand stele and the seemingly feeble white light orb were encased within a discreet, dull gray shield several zhang in size. If one weren't paying close attention, the existence of this luminous ring would be easily missed.

The yellow orb erupted in fury and charged again. Yet, each collision served only to hurl it back harder. The more fiercely it attacked, the more powerfully it was thrown away. Its onslaught made absolutely no impact on the barrier.

Huddled safely inside the luminous enclosure, Ye Qin let out a massive sigh of relief as he watched the ferocious yellow orb fail to breach the protective shell. He inwardly cursed his luck—this light shield, emanating from his Natal Primordial Spirit Stele, not only blocked the entry of the Purple Lightning but also kept out any of its own kind. Otherwise, he truly would have had nowhere left to run for his life.

"What in the blazes is this thing? You hidden brat inside, crawl out here! Don't think that contraption will save your hide; come out yourself, and I’ll give you a quick end."

The yellow orb roared in incandescent rage. To have the Primordial Spirit—which was virtually within its grasp—blocked by some flimsy, yielding shell infuriated it beyond measure. Just by devouring the vital energy of that weak white orb, it could have restored at least a fraction of its strength from the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

Ye Qin had no intention of heeding such demands. He had made up his mind: he would not step half a pace outside this shield, even if it meant death, lest he fall victim to the malice of that savage yellow orb. Facing an opponent several times brighter than himself, Ye Qin harbored not a shred of hope that he could win.

Ye Qin knew precisely what that intensity of light signified. Every doubling of the orb’s brightness equated to ascending an entire tier of strength.

The difference of a single tier represented an earth-shattering disparity, a lesson Ye Qin understood deeply.

When he first began cultivating the Sitting into Emptiness Scripture: Gathering Qi and Condensing Spirit, he hadn't even been a match for Yang Yicheng or Feng Xiao. But once he perfected the first layer of the Sitting into Emptiness Scripture: Sitting in Emptiness and Forgetting Self, his physical senses and spiritual perception sharpened so drastically that Yang and Feng weren't even worth a second glance from him.

Judging by the brilliance of the yellow orb, its cultivation was nearly equivalent to the fourth layer of Sitting in Emptiness and Forgetting Self—utterly beyond his current capacity to challenge. Fortunately, the shield appeared formidable enough to completely bar the yellow orb’s entry.

Ye Qin watched the yellow orb stubbornly continue to slam against the barrier, intent on troubling him. He couldn't help but mock, "Sigh, hey, Yellow Sphere. Aren't you tired yet? Stop crashing into it. Even if you kept at it for ten years, you wouldn't breach it. And another thing: why are you yellow and I’m white?"

The yellow orb floated outside the barrier, frantic with the desire to penetrate it. Hearing this, it instantly flew into a rage.

"Hmph, what Yellow Sphere! I am Nan Tianba, head of the Nan family in Pingzhou. I am a pure Earth-elemental Primordial Spirit, naturally pure yellow. Not like your lineage, so mixed that you lack none of the five spiritual roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth!

You, a mere Qi Refiner who has just reached the second layer of the Qi Refining stage, dare to ridicule me and challenge me? That is courting death—! Do you think having some broken stone tablet to protect you means I can do nothing? Hahaha. You underestimate me too much! I, Nan Tianba, have dominated Pingzhou for decades without a single equal. Today, I shall teach this little brat what a master of the fourth layer of Qi Refining truly is."

The yellow orb sneered, drifting back several zhang. It then began chanting a new incantation. This time, the recitation was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, a small fireball materialized out of thin air several zhang away from the yellow orb. Flames flickered wildly, radiating terrifying heat.

In condensing this fireball, the yellow orb had clearly expended a considerable amount of native energy; the orb itself dimmed slightly, looking noticeably weaker. But upon seeing the fireball successfully formed, the yellow orb was elated and burst into laughter.

"Brat, do you know what this is? I doubt you do. This is the Fireball Art—nothing can withstand it. Whatever treasure or artifact you possess, touch even a speck of this, and it will burn to ash. Come out yourself and let me grant you a swift end!"

Ye Qin gaped at the arcane spell unleashed by the yellow orb, a strong sense of impending doom tightening in his chest.

He didn't know how this fireball was created, but he sensed with stark clarity the searing thermal aura emanating from the tiny ball of flame, and the terrible power it contained. If even a sliver of it managed to touch him, he suspected his soul would be scattered on the spot.

As for whether this thin sheath of light could stop the fireball, he had absolutely no confidence.

A wave of terror and despair washed over Ye Qin.

Previously, he considered himself a top-tier expert; facing even the most formidable martial arts masters, if he couldn't win, he was certain he could at least escape with his life. But before this formidable enemy, he possessed no means of self-preservation, forced instead to resign himself to fate. Life or death rested outside his control.

Seeing Ye Qin remain motionless within the shield, the yellow orb let out a cold snort and stopped wasting words. It immediately commanded the fireball to strike the stele's light shield, intending to blast apart the delicate barrier.

The intensely hot fireball shot toward the barrier.

The instant the fireball made contact, it detonated with a resounding "BOOM—!"

A sudden, unexpected transformation occurred.

Upon being struck, the light shield erupted in a blinding, scorching radiance. The shield, originally only a few zhang wide, swelled rapidly to several hundred zhang in size, forcefully repelling all the scattered remnants of the explosion far into the distance.

"Aaaargh—!"

The yellow orb, being so close to the shield, was caught completely off guard. It was slammed by the rapidly expanding barrier, let out a cry of pain, and was violently flung clear off the floating island and hurled into the boundless void, shrinking into a distant yellow speck as it vanished. A commanding voice echoed faintly from the void: "Brat~, you wait for me! I, Nan Tianba, will return~~~~~!"

Ye Qin stared blankly at the dramatic shift before his eyes. The yellow orb had been blasted away by the shield? Wait—it seemed to have been flung into the endless void. He had no idea how far it might have been thrown.

The yellow orb's attack had triggered an automatic countermeasure from the shield—a result he had never anticipated.

The defensive power of his Natal Primordial Spirit Stele’s shield far surpassed his wildest imagination.

The apprehension and fear Ye Qin had felt toward the yellow orb gradually morphed into pity and sympathy as it disappeared into the void. "Yellow Sphere, though you are a master of the fourth layer, far stronger than me, you’d better hope you don't run into the Purple Lightning out in the void. Otherwise, hehe~, that’s no joking matter. The Purple Lightning here is far more terrifying than your fireball. Don't blame me if you die."

With the threat of the yellow orb gone, Ye Qin finally settled down to nurture the Dew Grass and resume his cultivation. The piece of Cyan Jade Pendant had shattered into fragments when the yellow orb first appeared, scattering across the ground. However, thankfully, the spiritual energy within the jade shards had not diminished in the slightest; they could still be used to nourish the Dew Grass.