In this void of the Purple Mansion, where the concept of time dissolved, they couldn't recall how many rounds they had fought; they stopped when exhausted, and resumed when rested. Whenever Nan Tianba could no longer bear the pain, he would conjure a fireball to intimidate Ye Qin. When Ye Qin reached his limit of suffering, he would retreat into his Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet to rest before rejoining the battle.

Ye Qin remained spirited, shouting wildly as he fought, much like a wolf cub.

Nan Tianba shuddered recalling Ye Qin’s ferocity. He himself had only endured hardship during his early cultivation practice; later, as the Patriarch of the Nan Clan, he had grown accustomed to comfort and ease. It had been ages since he’d suffered such torment, his primordial spirit being bitten and torn. Facing someone like Ye Qin, who feared neither death nor pain, immune to both hard and soft tactics, gave him a terrible headache.

Ye Qin gritted his teeth in hatred. Although he could make the old ghost yelp in agony, he couldn't manage to kill him. He possessed no powerful spells, relying solely on instinct to fight the spectral entity.

The old ghost couldn't breach the protective barrier of the Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet, and though he had spells, they were equally useless against it.

Gradually, both realized that this spiteful fighting only brought agonizing pain to themselves with no tangible benefits. They stopped.

Ye Qin ceased consuming the Dew-Lowering Grass to generate White Radiance. He held fast to one stubborn belief: if he couldn't gain anything from the old ghost, the old ghost wouldn't extract a single benefit from him either. He absolutely refused to waste the energy he’d painstakingly cultivated to nourish this specter.

Nan Tianba spent his days muttering, "Want the White Radiance, want the White Radiance," but he could no longer coerce Ye Qin into producing it, leaving him frantic with anxiety. He was now certain Ye Qin controlled that mysterious White Radiance, a discovery that filled him with anger, jealousy, and utter frustration, yet left him completely helpless.

Ye Qin closed his eyes and remained silent, ignoring him completely.

Nan Tianba zipped back and forth in mid-air, growing desperate. He pleaded endlessly, even stooping low to beg and flatter, saying every kind word imaginable.

But nothing worked.

Ye Qin didn't need kind words; he needed concrete benefits. He wanted the Fireball Art taught to him first.

Nan Tianba fell into despair.

He drifted aimlessly on the floating island, bored beyond measure.

The old ghost hadn't spoken to anyone in twenty years. Finally encountering someone he could talk to, his mouth couldn't remain shut. He began rambling about cultivators, his own Nan Clan, the guilds in Pingzhou, and the general state of the Martial Kingdom, simply to pass the lonely hours.

Ye Qin listened silently, offering no reply.

Through the old ghost’s monologue, Ye Qin slowly grasped some basic common knowledge about this world.

For instance, the distinction between Martial Artists and Cultivators.

Martial Artists and Cultivators were entirely different entities. Though they inhabited the same continent, the two groups rarely interacted significantly.

Martial Artists cultivated internal True Qi and roamed the secular martial world—which the old ghost referred to as the mortal realm. They typically formed guilds, amassed followers, banded together, and sought dominance in mortal towns, with the ultimate pursuit being the mastery of peerless martial arts.

Cultivators, however, refined immortal Primordial Qi. Initially, they appeared as rogue cultivators. These rogues married and had offspring, passing cultivation techniques down within the family unit, which over time evolved into established Cultivation Clans.

Because cultivators pursued the path to eternal life—refining essence, gathering Qi, building foundations, forming cores, and achieving ascension—Cultivation Clans usually practiced in seclusion, rarely emerging. They rarely involved themselves in the mundane affairs of the martial world, only making contact with mortals when necessary.

Those who cultivate require innate Five Elements Spiritual Roots. People possessing these roots are often one in ten thousand in this world, and those who manage to embark on the path of cultivation are even rarer still.

The Martial Kingdom was a small nation. The population of Cultivation Clans within its various prefectures was usually minimal—sometimes only one or two individuals, rarely exceeding ten. Yet, their power was extraordinary.

A cultivator in the early Qi Condensation Stage, Levels One through Three, possessing command over low-tier spells, could completely disregard the most formidable masters of the martial world. If one reached the middle stage, Levels Four through Six, they could annihilate every Martial Artist in an entire prefecture. High-stage cultivators, Levels Seven through Nine, would never deign to appear in the mortal realm; it was beneath their dignity.

Nevertheless, cultivators, Cultivation Clans, and Martial Artists/Guilds inevitably maintained myriad intricate connections.

This was because the cultivation process demanded enormous wealth—Spirit Stones, Spirit Grasses, and Spirit Items—to aid their practice. These spiritual resources were scattered sparsely across countless vast mountains and deep forests, making them incredibly difficult to locate.

Cultivators already felt time scarce; where would they find the time to scour harsh wildernesses for spiritual items? They could only control secular guilds from behind the scenes, utilizing the martial arts world and its massive populace of Martial Artists to deploy thousands upon thousands of hands to search for rare spirit grasses and stones hidden in the deep woods.

Thus, despite their secluded cultivation, cultivators maintained ties with secular Martial Artists.

The Nan Clan was precisely such a Cultivation Clan within the Pingzhou region of the Martial Kingdom. The clan boasted four adult cultivators and one minor, making it a flourishing lineage that dominated over ten thousand square miles of Pingzhou territory and secretly controlled the Ten Great Guilds of Pingzhou.

However, the Nan Clan’s influence was strictly limited to Pingzhou; they might not rank as particularly powerful within the entire Martial Kingdom.

As the Nan Clan Patriarch, Nan Tianba possessed rare singular Earth Elemental Spiritual Roots, allowing his cultivation speed to be exceptionally fast. By the age of forty, he had reached the Fifth Level, becoming the most powerful middle-aged Patriarch in the Nan Clan's history.

After achieving the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation, Nan Tianba’s ambition swelled dramatically. He led the three adult cultivators of the Nan Clan to expand into the neighboring Dingzhou, attempting to secure more territory and access to Spirit Stone and Spirit Wood resources.

Dingzhou belonged to the Feng Clan, whose strength over the past century had been roughly equal to the Nan Clan’s. But Nan Tianba never anticipated that the Feng Clan had also produced a rare cultivation prodigy in recent years, who had already reached the Sixth Level of Qi Condensation—making them significantly stronger than the Nan Clan.

The outcome was unsurprising: Nan Tianba was summarily slain by the Feng Clan Patriarch, his physical body destroyed, leaving only his primordial spirit to escape. His cultivation plummeted from the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation back down to the Fourth Level. He narrowly managed to seal himself within a piece of Jade Pendant, preserving his spirit from dissipating and becoming a ghost.

The remaining members of the Nan Clan were either killed or forced to flee.

Nan Tianba remained sealed in the Jade Pendant for twenty years, his spirit’s vital energy constantly draining, causing his cultivation to fall further. If another year or two passed, he would likely drop to the Third Level of Qi Condensation.

After two decades, Nan Tianba no longer knew if the Nan Clan still existed; it was highly likely they had fallen victim to the Feng Clan’s wrath. This was why, when speaking of these past events, he showed little restraint.