Nan Tianba felt uneasy, hovering and glaring gloomily at the white orb within the great stone stele. While the Five-Spirit Root was generally inferior to a single-element root, in specific circumstances, its capacity to learn counter-spells could grant it an advantage. Like now; if this brat possessed the proper spell manuals, given enough time, he would eventually master offensive spells to restrain Earth elements. Yet, the enemy only mastered Earth, putting him at a disadvantage.

Nan Tianba grew increasingly agitated, pacing restlessly near the large stele.

With a grim resolve, he decided that since matters had reached this point, he absolutely had to find every possible means to eliminate the brat. With a fierce cry, he shot upwards, soaring hundreds of feet above the floating island. All this time, he had been reluctant to expend too much of his vital energy battering the incredibly resilient light shield of the stone monument. But now, he was compelled to try, to smash through it with a more potent spell.

"Brat, since it is so, then this old man must risk his very essence to break your barrier."

Nan Tianba rapidly chanted a long string of incantations. The yellow light of his primordial spirit rapidly dimmed, replaced by five leaping orbs of fire, a full five of them.

"Go!"

The five fireballs aligned themselves into a sequential barrage, forming a string of cascading fire, slamming furiously into the Natal Primordial Spirit Stele where Ye Qin resided.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The light shield of the Natal Primordial Spirit Stele endured the five consecutive fireballs. It swelled sharply, blocking all the fireballs and the scattered red flames from breaching the outer boundary. There was no effect or harm whatsoever to Ye Qin inside.

However, the power of the fireballs Nan Tianba launched was ultimately limited. Despite unleashing five at once, they caused no damage or scratches to the light shield, merely splashing layers of gorgeous, faint ripples across its surface—quite a spectacle to behold.

Ye Qin inwardly sneered. Provoking Nan Tianba into launching spells was a minor tactic of his, intended only to mask the aura of his own spellcasting, thereby preventing Nan Tianba from being alerted prematurely.

Under the cover of the raging flames outside the light shield, Ye Qin swiftly recited the incantation for the Wind Blade spell.

Soon, the spell was complete.

A slender, pale red wind blade materialized near him. With a flicker of his intent, the pale red wind blade instantly pierced the light shield, rocketing towards the yellow light sphere hovering in the mid-air.

Fire itself was red, imbued with a fierce aura, while the wind blade was pale red, carrying an essence of sharp lethality. Concealed beneath the flames, the wind blade was almost impossible to detect immediately by sight alone.

Nan Tianba’s combat experience was more seasoned than Ye Qin had anticipated. He keenly sensed a wave of extreme danger—a sharp piercing quality—approaching him head-on. His heart tightened, and instinctively, he flashed sideways.

Swoosh!

A pale red wind blade scraped past the side of his thumb-sized light sphere, flashing swiftly past him and vanishing into the vast gray mist of the sky.

"Scree~!"

Nan Tianba sucked in a sharp, painful gasp of air.

He had not entirely evaded the wind blade; the tail end of it had grazed his primordial spirit, eliciting a high-pitched squeak.

"Wind Blade!? This brat has already learned the Wind Blade Art?"

Nan Tianba had no time to dwell on how much vital energy he had lost; he was utterly stunned by the wind blade Ye Qin had cast.

Possessing no physical body, his pure primordial spirit had an extremely weak resistance to spells. Had that wind blade struck him squarely, perhaps half his spirit would have been severed, or worse, he might have been instantly scattered into nothingness.

Furthermore, this brat was hiding within the protective shield of the great stone stele, yet possessed offensive spells capable of attacking him at will, while Nan Tianba himself could not harm the brat—this felt entirely unfair.

Nan Tianba muttered a curse under his breath, immediately turning and flying rapidly to the sky five or six miles away from the floating island, distancing himself far from the stone stele to avoid being sliced by a wind blade. In frustration, he roared, "Get out here, brat! What skill is it hiding in that turtle shell? If you have the guts, come out and fight me openly! See how I peel your skin off!"

After launching the wind blade, Ye Qin anxiously gazed up at the sky above the floating island, hoping to see if it struck Nan Tianba. But the result left him slightly frustrated; the surprise attack wind blade had not been fast enough. Even with the cover of the flames, Nan Tianba’s primordial spirit had managed to evade it.

Nan Tianba was now five or six miles away from the floating island, outside the effective range of his spell.

If a fight was to happen, he would have to leave the shield.

Ye Qin suddenly burst forth from the great stone stele’s light shield, rocketing into the air. He stopped in the mid-air above the floating island, about a mile away from Nan Tianba.

Two small primordial spirits faced off in the void.

Since the ambush had failed, it was time for a direct, head-on clash. Two primordial spirits, both at the third layer of the Qi Condensation stage—one of the Earth element, the other the Five-Spirit Root—would see whose might was greater.

Ye Qin’s thoughts turned, and another pale red wind blade materialized beside his spirit. The Wind Blade Art was the spell he commanded with the most proficiency and flexibility. After releasing the blade, he spoke: "Old ghost, don't think I don't know your foundation. Isn't your specialty Earth? Thick-skinned and slow, with negligible offensive power. If you have courage, don't run! Let’s have a contest right here!"

Nan Tianba let out a harsh, booming laugh. "Brat, you truly have nerve! Learning a Wind-element offensive spell and now you're becoming so arrogant you don't know the immensity of heaven and earth, daring to challenge me. Today, I shall teach you what truly powerful offensive and defensive spells are."

"Behold my 'Earth Shield Art'!"

A miniature earth shield, several inches across, appeared in front of Nan Tianba's primordial spirit. This yellow shield radiated a dazzling light, appearing solid and unyielding, perfectly sized to guard Nan Tianba’s spirit.

Ye Qin moved his intent; the wind blade, already prepared, shot forward immediately, striking the yellow shield. However, the wind blade only caused the shield to vibrate with a clang-clang sound, leaving behind a few faint marks.

Nan Tianba, hiding behind the earth shield, laughed even louder upon seeing this: "Nothing you can do now, right? The Wind Blade is the most ethereal, the fastest, but its killing power is limited. Earth is the heaviest, the slowest, yet it offers the sturdiest defense. How can my Earth Shield be broken by a brat like you! Let’s have a fair exchange: you stand over there and don't move, and I’ll stand here. We face each other and launch spells until one of us falls—no retreat until death, how about it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Nan Tianba immediately pinched the incantation for the 'Earth Spike Art,' condensing point after point of yellow earth spikes, several inches long, using his vital energy. In moments, over fifteen spikes had materialized, which visibly strained him slightly.

Earth Shield combined with Earth Spikes—offense and defense covered.

In order to manifest the shield and the spikes, Nan Tianba’s cultivation, already at the peak of the third layer of Qi Condensation, had visibly dropped a tier, and his yellow light had dimmed considerably. Nan Tianba let out a cackling, sinister laugh, immensely pleased with himself. With flawless control, he manipulated the fifteen earth spikes, forming them into a small earth spike array, which he launched torrentially towards Ye Qin.

Ye Qin knew the speed of these earth spikes well and continually flashed around, dodging them. These spikes flew relatively slowly and couldn't catch him. But Nan Tianba had conjured as many as fifteen at once; they maneuvered and encircled him from all directions, relentlessly attacking back and forth, causing him considerable trouble.

Ye Qin inwardly gasped in shock. Given his current level of mastery over Wind spells, manifesting a single wind blade was his limit, and once released, it was difficult to control, left only to follow its own path. This old ghost could not only launch fifteen earth spikes simultaneously but could also freely maintain continuous control over them. Such mastery over a spell likely required decades of arduous, long-term training to achieve.

He was contemplating this when...

"Bang!"

Two earth spikes met in front of Ye Qin and suddenly collided, violently shattering apart.

Ye Qin had never anticipated that Nan Tianba possessed such a technique for manipulating spells. Caught completely off guard, he was caught in the ripple effect of the exploding spikes. It felt as if he had been struck by a colossal hammer; he let out a terrible scream and was thrown back dozens of yards.

Ye Qin's light rapidly dimmed. Even his spiritual consciousness was violently shaken by the shockwave generated by the explosion, leaving him dizzy and buzzing, unable to clearly discern the surrounding gray mist. He inwardly cried out that this was bad; the old ghost's spell control was too powerful. He needed to retreat to the floating island first, let his consciousness clear, and then devise a counter-strategy. Otherwise, he might not even know how he died. He fixed his gaze on the distant, largest target—the massive floating island—and spun around, flashing towards it at high speed.

"Waa ha ha! Brat, do you realize the might of my spells now? Don't run!" Nan Tianba shouted in delight upon seeing Ye Qin struck. He controlled the remaining thirteen earth spikes and chased madly after Ye Qin.

.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.