In a matter of moments, the white orb and the yellow orb landed one after the other upon the floating island. Ye Qin’s divine sense was jolted into a dizzying fog, and in his haste, he failed to slip inside the protective barrier, instead tumbling into a crevice among the gray rocks.

It must be noted that while the center of this floating island was a vast, flat expanse, the periphery was a rugged landscape of uneven gray rock, riddled with narrow fissures between the stones—they were practically everywhere. A thumb-sized orb, diving into one of these gaps, vanished without a trace.

“Boy, where have you fled? Get out here for this old man right now!”

Nan Tianba zipped wildly above the gray rocks of the island, searching for Ye Qin, but finding no sign, he shrieked in annoyance and flung an Earth Thorn down into the rocky fissures. The thorn slammed against the incredibly hard gray stone and exploded outward. Whatever this rock material was, the Earth Thorn left not even a scratch upon it.

Nan Tianba, exasperated, considered diving into the fissures to search but hesitated. There were far too many cracks, and they were exceedingly narrow; if two Nascent Souls met head-on in such a confined space, he wasn't certain he could gain the upper hand over Ye Qin.

Ye Qin burrowed deep within the gray rock, tunneling a hundred zhang away, tucking himself into the deepest part of a fissure to prevent any light from leaking out. He listened to Nan Tianba’s distant roaring and shouting above him, refusing to emerge.

After resting for half a day, his divine sense finally stabilized, and he became fully lucid, breathing a silent sigh of relief. Had the shockwave from the collision of the old ghost’s Earth Thorn not been sufficiently dispersed, he might have been knocked unconscious right then and there. If the two fireballs had collided and exploded, he would surely have been reduced to ash.

One careless move could lose the whole game. It seemed that to deal with the old ghost, he could only rely on the most potent and fastest-casting spell: the Lightning Strike Art. However, the preparation time for the Lightning Strike Art was rather long, making it easy to alert the old ghost.

Ye Qin waited silently. Only after the old ghost had flown far away did he begin to accumulate vital energy, preparing to unleash the Lightning Strike Art.

It took a full several dozen breaths before the Lightning Strike Art finally finished charging. A palm-sized sphere of dark lightning, emitting a faint, crackling sound of wind and thunder, materialized near Ye Qin.

This thing was aggressively potent, and Ye Qin dared not stay too close. To condense this dark lightning, the brilliance of his Nascent Soul dimmed once more, sinking back to the midpoint of the third layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

“Old ghost. I’m here!”

Ye Qin shouted out a challenge.

Nan Tianba, who had been scurrying across the island, heard the voice and rejoiced. He flew to a spot about a li high above the gray rock where Ye Qin had called out. Experienced as he was, he knew Ye Qin was deliberately luring him. Thus, he maintained extreme caution, keeping his distance, and positioned his sturdy Earth Shield completely in front of his Nascent Soul to guarantee defense against any spell attack. Twelve Earth Thorns floated around him, ready to strike at any moment.

Nan Tianba shouted excitedly, “Boy, stop hiding! Hiding is useless. Roll out here and accept your death! Sooner or later, this old man will drag you out and tear you limb from limb. Daring to compete in magic with me? When you reincarnate in your next life, remember not to be so foolish.”

“Fine, I’m coming out. But don't you run.”

Ye Qin poked his head out from the gray rock fissure with a slight, sinister chuckle. A sphere of crackling dark lightning instantly appeared alongside him.

Hearing the strange noise, Nan Tianba peered cautiously from behind his Earth Shield, his eyes widening as he tried to discern what spell Ye Qin was casting. When he finally saw the small mass of dark lightning, he gasped, crying out in shock, “Lightning Strike Art!”

His expression twisted into one of horror, and his Nascent Soul shuddered.

In terms of sheer power, the Lightning Strike Art was roughly comparable to, or perhaps slightly superior to, the Fireball Art. However, lightning possessed a natural, inherent restraint against demons and malevolent spirits—it was the type of magic that this solitary, wild ghost’s incorporeal Nascent Soul most dreaded. If he were grazed by that thing, he would surely lose half his life, if he didn't die outright. He would rather take a Wind Blade than touch that terrifying substance. Yet, lightning spells were also the most difficult of all magics to master, usually requiring one to possess both Water and Fire spiritual roots, or a mutated Lightning Root, to even attempt learning them.

Nan Tianba no longer dared to boast about the might of his Earth Shield, nor was he willing to stand there and take the hit. More than ten Earth Thorns shot violently toward Ye Qin, and without hesitation, he placed the Earth Shield behind him, turning to flee. His Nascent Soul sped through the air, diving toward the gray mist above, desperate to escape.

Ye Qin sidestepped the incoming Earth Thorns and pursued Nan Tianba. The prepared Lightning Strike Art simultaneously launched toward the frantically escaping Nan Tianba, accompanied by a roaring shout: “Lightning Strike!”

A bolt of dark lightning shot out toward Nan Tianba like a flash of lightning and flint. The speed of the blast upon launch was staggering, and its power was equally immense. Crack—! It pierced the Earth Shield instantly and continued its trajectory toward Nan Tianba.

Nan Tianba felt a torrent of thunderous, destructive power rushing toward him from behind, barely a few zhang away. Panic seized him; he couldn't spare any vital energy. He frantically channeled his essence, unleashing another primary defensive spell even stronger than the Earth Shield Art, bellowing:

“Earth Armor Art!”

A brilliant yellow light enveloped his entire form. A thick defensive earth armor, condensed entirely from vital energy, instantaneously encased his whole body, resembling a solid, round shell of earth armor wrapped around the small sphere, sealing him completely.

He had expended an entire level’s worth of vital energy from the third layer of the Qi Refining Stage to cast this Earth Armor Art, causing his essence level to abruptly plummet from the third layer straight down to the second. While the Nascent Soul, now encased in the thick earth armor, saw its defense massively enhanced, its speed simultaneously dropped drastically.

“Boom!”

The Palm Thunder caught up to Nan Tianba and exploded behind him.

Struck by the dark lightning, the thick layer of earth armor cracked as if hit by a colossal, crushing force, spider-webbing with fissures. The Earth Armor successfully nullified the vast majority of the lightning damage, but the Nascent Soul within was still violently jolted by the thunderous impact.

Nan Tianba tumbled hundreds of zhang through the void, reeling and disoriented from the concussive force of the blast. In his muddled state, his subconscious desperately tried to flee toward the boundless void, but the heavy earth armor severely hampered his speed.

Ye Qin was overjoyed. He had not anticipated the striking effectiveness of the lightning attack against the Nascent Soul—it had actually forced Nan Tianba's essence level down from the third layer to the second, leaving Nan Tianba completely stunned. He rapidly condensed fireballs and began pelting the now-barely-moving sphere of cracked earth armor. Bang, bang! The earth armor, already fractured, disintegrated completely, exposing Nan Tianba’s Nascent Soul within.

Ye Qin immediately conjured three pale-red Wind Blades in quick succession and shot them toward the yellow orb blindly fleeing toward the gray mist.

The three Wind Blades whistled past.

The Nascent Soul of Nan Tianba, the formidable figure of the Nan Clan of Pingzhou, was instantly sliced into eight pieces.

A cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage possessed only one Nascent Soul. If the Nascent Soul was forcibly split into two or more pieces, only one fragment could retain conscious awareness; the others would become purely unconscious masses of elemental energy, which would slowly dissipate over time.

Nan Tianba’s Nascent Soul was cut into eight fragments. His primary consciousness could only reside in one tiny piece; though he thrashed in agonizing pain, the acute assault had already fractured his mind, rendering him incapable of any intentional action. The remaining seven fragments devolved into senseless, pure energy.

Ye Qin conjured a small fireball and flicked it toward the fragment that was still writhing in agony. The scorching flame enveloped that small piece of Nascent Soul and began to burn. Amidst the fierce fire, the soul let out a final, desperate shriek, followed by a wisp of green smoke drifting away.

Ye Qin floated in mid-air, watching the few wisps of soul-smoke burn away, letting out a long, deep breath of relief. He had expended an inordinate amount of effort and vital energy to eliminate Nan Tianba.

With Nan Tianba finally destroyed, the heavy weight lifted from his shoulders.

The eight fragments of Nan Tianba’s Nascent Soul drifted aimlessly in the air after one was burned. These fragments began to slowly disintegrate, transforming into specks of pure yellow light, drifting back toward the distant floating island.

The Zifu Floating Island, set against the gray mist of the endless void, appeared enormous, like a shining beacon. It possessed a mysterious attractive force, drawing these specks of yellow light toward it. The entire island was illuminated in a brilliant yellow glow by the collected radiance.

Intrigued, Ye Qin pursued these fragments of vital energy and specks of light, returning to the island. After observing for a while, he concluded that although the lights drifting in the sky were beautiful, they offered little practical use; it would be better to just consume them all.

He traversed the space above the island, absorbing every piece of the now unconscious energy fragment and light that hung in the air. Not only did this replenish the vital energy consumed by casting spells, but it also propelled him in one surge from the middle phase of the third layer of the Qi Refining Stage straight to the initial phase of the fourth layer.

=========================== Nan Tianba’s resentful Nascent Soul drifted past, thinking: “Finally got my discharge and freedom from Little Ye Zi’s torment~. Here’s a tiny secret: I always wanted to beat up Little Ye Zi something fierce and step on him a few times, but he has the big boss looking out for him, sigh. Such is the plight of us supporting characters. Summoning for tickets~~~~ Smash all your tickets for my final performance. I have a good appetite; I don’t mind receiving too many!” .