For nearly a month, Ye Qin stayed in his hometown. Before dawn each day, he would use the Wind Manipulation technique to leave the small village, heading to desolate areas to practice casting spells. In the evenings, he would play with his younger siblings, savoring the brief, warm moments with his family, occasionally meeting up with Da Niu and other village mates, teaching them boxing and leg techniques. At night, he would light a candle, pore over the secret spell manuals, and meditate on the profound mysteries of spellcasting.

With healing elixirs and spiritual pills assisting, Father Ye’s leg injury healed remarkably fast; within just a few days, he could walk again.

Da Niu made a trip to a nearby small town and hired a destitute, down-on-his-luck scholar to teach the village children how to read and write. Once the children were literate, they began learning basic martial arts—stick fighting and cudgel skills—from the foundational martial manuals for self-defense.

A rushed month passed. Ye Qin settled all matters concerning his home and the village, and finally, the time for his departure arrived.

At dawn, Ye Qin respectfully offered incense to the ancestral tablets of the Ye family, bowed farewell to his parents, said goodbye to his siblings, shouldered his pack, and walked alone toward the mouth of the mountain ravine. He glanced back three times with every step, ensuring the images and faces of his departing parents, siblings, Da Niu, and the village mates were indelibly etched in his mind. Da Niu planned to stay in the village for about half a year; only after the county town settled down completely would he return to the Yang Family Iron Shop for work, so he did not leave with Ye Qin.

After passing through the mountain hollow, Ye Qin looked back at them. Finally, his heart settled, and he suddenly turned, striding purposefully toward the distant great mountains. He knew that this departure might mean he would never see them again in this life—a fate sealed the moment he left home at the age of eleven just to fill his stomach.

He had to undertake a dangerous mission now—to execute Nan Tianba, who infested the Purple Mansion. He had waited a long time for this day. After a month of rigorous spell practice, the outcome of this battle—life or death—was unpredictable. Only by killing Nan Tianba and eradicating this hidden menace could he finally set his mind at ease to pursue the faint path of immortal cultivation.

Leaving his hometown, he traveled deep into a massive mountain range a hundred li away, arriving beneath a sheer, precipitous cliff face.

Ye Qin found a cave that would be difficult for outsiders to disturb and settled there temporarily. He reopened the Compendium of Five Elements Basic Spells and meticulously contemplated the six offensive spells. Regarding these six, he had already roughly grasped their potential power, casting preparation time, and attack speed.

“Fireball Technique.” It triggers combustion instantly upon contact, possessing immense power capable of reducing steel blades, iron swords, and weapons to ash.

Ye Qin had seen Nan Tianba and Nan Tianxiong use the Fireball Technique. He envied it. However, when he tried casting it himself, he discovered several distinct weaknesses of the fireball. Firstly, it required a comparatively long casting time. Secondly, once the fireball was launched, its travel speed was somewhat slow, making it impossible to catch a high-speed moving target. Though the fireball's power was great, if it couldn't hit the target, all effort was wasted.

Ye Qin tested this personally. After releasing one fireball, he immediately executed the Wind Manipulation technique, racing the fireball at his maximum speed. The result was that he outran the fireball. If the fireball couldn't even catch him, how could it possibly catch a Primordial Spirit moving at extreme velocity?

“Water Arrow Technique.” It carried a chilling coldness and had the effect of slowing the target. The casting speed, travel speed, and impact power of the Water Arrow were all quite mediocre. It might be adequate for attacking slow targets.

After practicing it a few times, Ye Qin felt the Water Arrow’s effect was not very good and discarded it.

“Earth Spike Technique.” This launches an earth spike to pierce the target. Earth element was Nan Tianba’s trump card, honed over decades of practice. Ye Qin did not intend to use an Earth element spell against him. His only reason for learning Earth Spike was purely to understand the destructive power of Earth element spells, thus preparing a defense should Nan Tianba attack him with Earth magic.

“Wind Blade Technique.” This has a short casting time and launches a high-speed wind blade possessing fiercely sharp cutting ability.

After mastering the Wind Blade Technique, Ye Qin discovered almost nothing it couldn't cut; it could even penetrate hard rock nearly ten feet deep. The Wind Blade’s casting speed was fast, and its launch speed was also extremely quick—at least several times faster than Ye Qin when he used Wind Manipulation. As for whether it could keep pace with the speed of a Primordial Spirit, that remained uncertain.

“Ice Cone Technique.” This launches a sharp ice cone, carrying both piercing and freezing effects; after piercing, it also freezes the target solid.

He tested it on a large wild boar in the forest. He flung out an ice cone, and with a kacha, the boar was frozen into a thick ice sculpture, emanating terrifying cold air. Roasting and eating the ice-sculpted boar afterward, he found the taste quite good.

The Ice Cone’s casting speed was average, and its launch speed was not much faster than the Fireball or Water Ball.

“Lightning Strike Technique,” also known as Palm Thunder, capable of emitting a miniature thunderclap from the palm to attack the target. Its destructive power was somewhat terrifying; it blasted a living wild boar into a scorched, black lump, emitting the fragrant aroma of cooked meat.

However, when Ye Qin performed the Palm Thunder, he found the casting time to be very long—the longest among the six spells—and it consumed a massive amount of spiritual power. But the speed of the launched lightning strike was extraordinarily fast, hitting the target almost instantaneously, and its power was immense.

Comparing the overall effects of the six offensive spells, the most ideal offensive techniques were undoubtedly the Wind Blade Technique and the Palm Thunder.

The Wind Blade Technique cast quickly and launched extremely fast. The only question was whether the Wind Blade’s speed could surpass the escape velocity of a Primordial Spirit—Ye Qin couldn't be certain.

The Lightning Strike Technique cast slowly but launched super-fast. It was certain that once the lightning strike was fired, it would absolutely hit Nan Tianba's Primordial Spirit. The problem lay in the long preparation time before launch, which might alert Nan Tianba and cause it to flee prematurely.

Nan Tianba existed within the Purple Mansion in the form of a Primordial Spirit soul, a ball of light that moved incredibly fast, covering great distances in an instant. If the offensive spell release was too slow, it might not hit its mark.

Ye Qin calculated in his mind that to strike Nan Tianba's Primordial Spirit, he could only rely on these two high-speed offensive spells.

He continued his training in the great mountains, eating wild game when hungry and drinking stream water when thirsty, intensely practicing these two spells.

It took him a full month before he finally mastered the Wind Blade Technique and Palm Thunder. He could now execute them with relatively proficient hand seals, and the time required for casting had shortened slightly.

In the Endless Void, on the floating island.

“Brat, get out here for this old man! Where is the White Radiance you promised me? Hurry up and give it to me! Our agreed exchange isn't over yet—how dare you interrupt it arbitrarily and withhold the White Radiance from me!”

Nan Tianba was seething with rage. It clung to the massive light barrier surrounding the great stone stele like a glowing yellow toad, pounding on the light shield with loud thumps (peng peng peng), viciously trying to wake Ye Qin, who was inside the barrier.

Ye Qin had suddenly cut off the supply of White Radiance during this period, sitting motionless on the great stone stele without offering even a sliver of it, nor providing any explanation to Nan Tianba, which had driven it nearly insane.

Nan Tianba was furious. It had no desire to waste time on this void floating island. The one thing it dreaded most was Ye Qin turning against it and refusing to provide any White Radiance.

“My venerable ancestor, please open your eyes and look upon this old man, have pity on this old man’s advanced age! I’ll teach you a few more spells, defensive ones, how about that?” Seeing that hard tactics didn’t work, Nan Tianba could only switch to soft persuasion, begging miserably.

Ye Qin, silent for a long time, suddenly opened his eyes and spoke flatly, “Old ghost, do you have a brother named Nan Tianxiong, and a son named Nan Zhonghao?”

Nan Tianba was startled when Ye Qin suddenly spoke, and it asked with a hint of suspicion, “I never mentioned my family members to you. You’ve been here the entire time without leaving—how do you know about them?”

“You don't need to know that,” Ye Qin’s tone grew distant. “Old ghost, there’s something I need to tell you: a few months ago, Nan Tianxiong and Nan Zhonghao were still alive.”

“They are still alive?” Nan Tianba’s spirit immediately soared. Its first reaction wasn't joy, but astonishment. “Strange, brat, how do you know they are alive? Can you leave this place?”

“Of course I know. This great stone stele is the only passage out of here; I can enter and exit freely. But don't celebrate too soon; that was two months ago. Just the other day, they died.” Ye Qin said coolly. “Although their deaths were of their own making, they are still somewhat related to me. If I hadn't intervened, they might have survived. Unfortunately, the Nan Clan is likely facing extermination.”

Nan Tianba listened to Ye Qin finish without a word, its expression shifting between pale and dark, incredibly complex. Hearing that its brother and son were alive brought a sudden, unexpected surprise; then hearing they were dead naturally brought grief and indignation, its demeanor turning so cold and gloomy that water looked ready to wring out.

But it was suspicion that dominated. It snorted and boomed, “Hmph, so what?! The Immortal Path is fickle; cultivators’ lives and deaths are subject to their own destiny. In my heart, they died twenty years ago! What difference does it make if they die now versus twenty years ago? Trying to use such a trick to enrage me and make me lose my reason—you underestimate me far too much.”

“I certainly wouldn't use such a petty trick. I merely want to remind you that the Nan Clan spell manual they held is now in my possession. I have no further need to trade White Radiance for spells. The most crucial point is this: if you still can’t break my light barrier now, give me a few months, and I can master the offensive spells in that manual. You must remember, I possess Five-Element Spiritual Roots and can learn most elemental spells. You, however, are merely a single-element Earth Spiritual Root. Killing you is certain.”

Ye Qin suddenly looked up, a cold gleam of intense killing intent flashing in his eyes.

Hearing this, Nan Tianba finally lost its composure.

Ye Qin had never mentioned the names of its brother and son, yet he could state them. This was proof that Ye Qin had a means to contact the outside world, obtain the spell manuals, and use magic to ambush it. It could disregard the lives of its brother and son; it could disregard the survival of its clan. But it could not disregard its own life.

What cultivators seek amounts to nothing more than longer life, higher cultivation, and greater strength. To preserve one's life, or to rapidly advance one's cultivation, any price can be paid.