When Ye Qin returned from the Linglong Jade Pill Pavilion to the small loft where Huangfu Bing'er resided, while he was away seeking spiritual herbs for Jian Bao, a young woman from the Shuiyun Palace was visiting and deep in conversation with Huangfu Bing'er.

"Junior Sister Bing'er. Senior Sister must congratulate you on achieving Core Formation successfully. You are now the youngest Golden Core cultivator in all of Shuiyun Palace. Such a young age for Core Formation is rare, even within the entire Heavenly Dao Alliance. Do you know how much Master and all the Senior Sisters rejoiced when you sent that message back to the sect?"

The young woman, clad in the robes of Shuiyun Palace, smiled charmingly.

"Senior Sister Ruoying speaks highly of me. In the more than ten years since I joined Shuiyun Palace, I haven't accomplished anything significant; instead, I've only caused the sect a fair amount of trouble. Regarding that incident over a year ago involving Xingzhu Palace and Jinjia Palace, did they cause any further trouble for our Shuiyun Palace afterward?"

Huangfu Bing'er managed a strained smile, her expression betraying more worry than pleasure.

"Junior Sister Bing'er. How could our Shuiyun Palace be easily bullied? Li Shuwen and Wu Yuyue leading a group to destroy your island manor was already a major transgression against the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Since our Shuiyun Palace has yet to demand accountability for their abandonment of duty, how dare they cause us trouble? Besides, Xingzhu Palace and Jinjia Palace are currently tearing each other apart; their two Nascent Soul Ancestors are locked in a fierce, open struggle. They have so many unresolved issues; they certainly wouldn't dare provoke Shuiyun Palace further at this time. If this matter escalated, the one suffering the loss might not necessarily be Shuiyun Palace."

The woman comforted her. "Master sent me here primarily to ask if you plan to return to Xianque City."

Huangfu Bing'er paused in thought, then shook her head with a look of indecision. "I plan to settle among the Northern Islands for now and don't intend to return to Shuiyun Palace in Xianque City temporarily. If I have time in the future, I will return to visit the sect."

"Very well. Given the intense conflict between Jinjia Palace and Xingzhu Palace, that area is quite chaotic right now. It's better for you not to return yet; you can have more peace on the Northern Islands. Let's revisit this in ten years or so, once things have settled down. I will explain the situation clearly to Master."

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

"Oh, right. Since Junior Sister Bing'er has already established a dual cultivation partnership, Master specially asked me to bring this manual for you. This is an ancient Immortal Scripture used by every Senior Sister in Shuiyun Palace—you will find it useful! Also, this small box contains tokens of goodwill from the sisters; please accept them. Senior Sister must return now to report back to Master."

The woman retrieved a small, golden box and a thin cultivation manual from her storage bag, pressing them all into Huangfu Bing'er's hands. She winked with a strange smile. "You must read this Immortal Manual very carefully, okay?"

"Senior Sister Ruoying, please convey my thanks to Master and all the sisters!"

Huangfu Bing'er smiled faintly as she accepted the items and personally escorted the young woman out.

After Senior Sister Ruoying departed,

She returned to the loft and opened the small box.

The box was filled with an array of precious spiritual jade items—jade slips, bracelets, ornaments, and jade hairpins—along with fragrant spiritual incense. These weren't comparable to worldly cosmetics; they emitted a fresh, subtle spiritual fragrance that aided cultivation and had excellent skin-beautifying effects.

Finally, Huangfu Bing'er curiously opened the pink Immortal Manual.

It was strange; this manual was recorded on paper.

As she flipped it open, the cultivation techniques and the accompanying illustrations instantly caused her cheeks to flush hotly and her heart to pound rapidly. She quickly snapped the manual shut. Yet, once closed, the manual seemed to possess some bizarre, mystical power that compelled her to sneak another glance. This bold thought only bred deeper shame within her.

Ye Qin returned to the small loft from the Linglong Jade Pill Pavilion just as Huangfu Bing'er was looking at the manual.

He noticed that beneath her thin veil, glimpses toward him from her pristine face were frequently accompanied by subtle wisps of blush, spreading deep into her jade neck, leaving her visibly flustered and uneasy.

He was utterly perplexed, unable to understand why.

A month passed by, seemingly in the blink of an eye.

The Island Seizing Assembly of White Floating City was held as scheduled.

The Island Seizing Assembly occurred once every Ox Year.

Each assembly attracted an enormous number of spectators. White Floating City had become bustling and lively over the past month. Countless Foundation Establishment cultivators from across the Northern Islands had set off early, flocking to White Floating City from every island in the region to watch the fights.

Only a very small fraction of these Foundation Establishment cultivators stood a chance of acquiring their own island.

The rest knew it was impossible for them to claim an island. However, even knowing they couldn't win one, they still wished to join the excitement, observe the strength of other cultivators, and conduct trade in White Floating City during the assembly, hoping to make a small fortune.

The number of Golden Core cultivators participating in the assembly wasn't excessively large, numbering around two to three hundred.

Almost all of them were in the early stage of the first layer of the Golden Core realm. These cultivators had recently broken through the Golden Core bottleneck within the last decade and sought to claim a spiritual island. Those with higher Golden Core cultivation had long since secured their own island manors and naturally could not participate in this sort of assembly. Any cultivator who obtained an island during the assembly was forbidden from participating again; they could only acquire more through purchase or other means.

In this short span of ten years, it was difficult for cultivators who had just reached the Golden Core realm to break through to the second layer or higher. Therefore, the Golden Core participants were almost uniform in their cultivation level, with minimal variance.

Only a very small number of Golden Core cultivators, due to various reasons, missed the opportunity in the previous decade and failed to secure a satisfactory spiritual island, thus delaying their participation until this assembly, which released five hundred suitable islands for cultivation by the Heavenly Dao Alliance in White Floating City. The largest islands spanned several hundred li, while the smallest were only a few li across; all possessed spiritual veins.

The islands were numbered according to the size of their spiritual veins, suitability for habitation, and overall comprehensive value.

Island Number One: Spanning one hundred and seventy li, possessing one medium Gold Spiritual Vein and three small Spiritual Veins. Location: Prime.

Island Number Two: Spanning one hundred and thirty li, possessing one medium Fire Spiritual Vein and three small Spiritual Veins. Location: Superior.

Island Number Three: Spanning...

Island Number Five Hundred: Spanning thirteen li, possessing one micro Spiritual Vein. Location: Remote.

The value of the islands could generally be discerned from this numerical sequence.

The rules for seizing islands at the assembly were similarly straightforward.

The two to three hundred Golden Core cultivators were free to choose from the five hundred available islands.

If ten Golden Core cultivators desired Island Number One, these ten would engage in a contest of magical combat, and the ultimate victor would claim the island. Of course, if these Golden Core cultivators preferred not to fight, they could opt for negotiation and concession to determine ownership. If two cultivators of comparable strength wished to avoid injuring their camaraderie, one might offer the other certain benefits as compensation to voluntarily withdraw; such methods were also permitted.

If a Golden Core cultivator fancied an island and no one else contested it, that cultivator automatically secured the island.

Since the number of islands was double the number of Golden Core cultivators, theoretically, every Golden Core cultivator could acquire an island, unless they voluntarily gave up midway.

As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators participating in the assembly, they naturally had to scramble for the less valuable islands left over after the Golden Core cultivators made their selections. Because high-level Foundation Establishment cultivators were far more numerous, often dozens would desperately fight over a single spiritual island. Thus, the contests among Foundation Establishment cultivators were frequently far more brutal than those among Golden Core cultivators.

In addition to these simple rules,

The Island Seizing Assembly of White Floating City under the Heavenly Dao Alliance had a few special regulations.

One notable special rule concerned dual cultivation partners: If two male and female cultivators were dual cultivation partners and neither had yet seized an island in the assembly, they were permitted to enter the fray together to claim a single spiritual island. However, the couple would then only possess this single island, forfeiting the opportunity to seize a second one.

When Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er arrived in White Floating City for the wildly popular assembly, upon seeing this special rule, Ye Qin’s expression became indescribably strange; he almost couldn't stop himself from bursting into laughter.

He and Bing'er certainly could not afford to be separated onto two different spiritual islands.

If the couple entered the contest together, their combined strength would be more than double, naturally allowing them to seize a superior island.

Because the couple was limited to only one island, this rule served, to some extent, as compensation for dual cultivation partnerships.

Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er underwent a special magical appraisal at the White Floating Palace of the Heavenly Dao Alliance to prove their status as dual cultivation partners. They then registered together for the Island Seizing Assembly. The Nascent Soul cultivator responsible for this appraisal ensured that no fraudulent claims of partnership had ever occurred.

When Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er appeared simultaneously on the registration list as Golden Core first-layer cultivators and dual cultivation partners,

The faces of all the Golden Core cultivators participating in the assembly turned ashen.

It was exceptionally rare among cultivators of the Northern Islands for a dual cultivation pair to become Golden Core cultivators in the same decade and participate in the same assembly.

In the last ten years, the Northern Islands had only produced two to three hundred new Golden Core cultivators in total, and these individuals were scattered across the vast Northern Islands, unacquainted with one another. It was far from easy for such a coincidence of achieving Core Formation within ten years to align.

Although the assembly had the special rule allowing couples to enter together, such an occurrence only happened coincidentally perhaps once every ten assemblies.

Those confident Golden Core cultivators who had their sights set on Islands Number One through Ten suddenly looked grim, glaring at Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er with gazes bordering on teeth-grinding fury.

Whether they relied on their superior magical skill or believed their Nascent Soul magic artifacts were unmatched, at this moment, they were overcome by a strong sense of dread. Had they truly been unlucky enough to run into this pair?

Even the strongest single early-stage first-layer Golden Core cultivator could not match the combined assault of this couple, both at the early stage of the first layer of Golden Core.

The top ten numbered spiritual islands were inevitably going to be aggressively claimed by this couple.

If they happened to select an island one of the others had coveted, the misery would be profound.