Ye Qin confronted Nan Tianba across the thin membrane of light emanating from the great stone stele on the floating island. "You white-haired brat, don't let me find an opening, or I swear I'll grind your bones to dust, scatter your spirit until it vanishes forever. Do you believe me?" Nan Tianba glared, pressing against the light barrier, pointing at Ye Qin inside, unleashing a torrent of curses. "Wait until you have the ability to break this barrier before you boast. If you can't, don't talk such nonsense. Yellow Ball, I don't think much of your strength either. What was that fireball you just used?" "White-haired brat, you tell me who you are first, and why you ended up in this damned place?" "No, you first." "Fine. What I used was the immortal art, Fireball Technique. Now it's your turn. What is this cursed place?" ...... The two sparred with words.

Yet, Ye Qin concealed his true thoughts. This yellow light sphere was the first true peer he had encountered. The casual words spat out by the yellow light sphere—things like "Body Seizure," "Qi Refining Stage," and "Fireball Technique"—astonished and shook him to the core. Simultaneously, he felt immensely energized, as if a corner of his future path had just been unveiled. He intended to wheedle information out of the yellow light sphere about things he had never heard of before.

It was important to remember that Ye Qin had only cultivated the Sitting in Oblivion Sutra in solitude. He vaguely knew he seemed to have stepped into some mysterious, unknown realm, but he was utterly blind to this new world, knowing nothing. Now, encountering an elder expert vastly superior to himself, everything felt incredibly novel. Naturally, he wanted to seize the opportunity to learn more about this world from the sphere's mouth, to know where his future path ultimately led.

Nan Tianba's eyes flickered with cunning as he thought to himself: This kid doesn't even know what the Fireball Technique is. He must be some low-level rogue cultivator who stumbled into the immortal path by accident. I should trick him and squeeze some information out of him.

After all, it also desperately wanted to ascertain from Ye Qin's words exactly what this floating island was, why Ye Qin was here, why it had come here, and where those white glows originated from. A belly full of such questions was causing it great distress.

If Nan Tianba was an insidious, cunning, and experienced old fox, then Ye Qin was certainly a little fox with his own crafty little schemes brewing.

Ye Qin played the fool, steadfastly refusing to reveal the location of the floating island. He merely claimed that he had arrived here accidentally half a year ago, discovered this island, and blundered into the light barrier. The great stone stele recognized him as its master, and thus he became the lord of this floating estate, knowing everything about the place. As for the white glows, they acted under his command; he could summon them or dismiss them at will.

Through coaxing and deception, Ye Qin made an outrageous demand: Nan Tianba must submit to his arrangements, or not a single white glow would ever appear on this island again.

Nan Tianba, old and utterly wily, possessed vastly more experience than Ye Qin. How could he possibly believe the boy's words? For a great master at the fourth layer of Qi Refining to submit to the arrangements of a mere speck at the second layer of Qi Refining—that was a cosmic joke.

However, the allure of the white glows exerted too powerful a temptation on Nan Tianba. Though harboring suspicions about Ye Qin’s claims, he preferred to believe them true rather than false.

"Brat, if you can make those white glows appear again, I'll believe everything you've said. If you can't, hmph, don't expect me to trust you again." "I can make them reappear, but you cannot touch them. Those white glows are mine; you are forbidden to touch them!" "Fine, I won't touch them." "Swear an oath first." "Hmph, you truly don't trust me. Fine. If I touch them, may I be cursed to have no descendants! Is that oath severe enough?" Nan Tianba savored the memory of the white glows' essence, licking his lips, and casually invoked a devastating, poisonous oath.

Hearing the dire oath sworn, Ye Qin finally felt a measure of relief. He shifted his spiritual sense back to the external world. After consuming a Dew Herb, he began to meditate and cultivate. Regardless, although a threat now resided within his Purple Mansion, his cultivation practice could not be halted.

Soon, wisps of white glow began to manifest once more within the floating island.

Nan Tianba gasped in astonishment, overjoyed, and immediately lunged toward the white glows, casting the poisonous oath to the winds.

Ye Qin’s spiritual sense had barely returned to the floating island when he witnessed Nan Tianba breaking his solemn vow, chasing and devouring the white glows all over the island.

So this is how the elders of this world behave. So-called poison oaths count for less than nothing; they do whatever they please. Even those in the Jianghu understand the sanctity of a binding oath, but to this creature, it amounts to nothing. It seems I was far too naive to trust the old rogue's empty words. I thought I could restrain him with minor tricks and a deadly oath, but to this old villain, such ploys are probably beneath notice. It's only infuriating that I possess no means or power to deal with this shameless oath-breaker. Ultimately, it all comes down to strength. If I had sufficient strength, would I fear this old rogue brazenly stealing my vital energy?!

Ye Qin's face was ashen, etched with extreme displeasure. He stopped cultivating his vital energy, remaining utterly silent. He had no way to counter the old villain; his only recourse was to cease cultivation, thereby denying the villain any further advantage.

Nan Tianba devoured every last white glow on the island, then shouted in surprise, "Hey, why are there no more white glows? Give me some more, just a little more! Quickly, quickly!"

Ye Qin glared at him fiercely, his voice icy cold: "Old rogue, I curse you to die a horrible death and have no descendants. You still think you can trick me out of my white glows? Do you think I'm that easy to fool? Try again in your next life."

Nan Tianba, hearing Ye Qin's vicious curses, was momentarily stunned, nearly bursting into laughter: "Brat, don't you realize I already transformed into a ghost long ago? I died a miserable death twenty years ago. My physical body was destroyed, leaving only a solitary wandering soul in the world. If my spirit hadn't fortunately lodged itself within a piece of jade pendant, hiding from the mortal world’s Yang malevolence, I would have been scattered into nothingness by now. And you curse me to die a horrible death? Hah! You kill me, old man! Do you think I was expecting a good death anyway?"