"Husband, what do you think of this matter?"

Huangfu Bing'er inquired using her divine sense. She certainly didn't believe that the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, Qingqiu Li, could be dismissed so easily. Her suggestion for Qingqiu Li to find another physical body on the Southern Demon Continent was merely a way to ease the tension and offer a graceful exit for everyone.

"I don't know what her next move will be. Perhaps she simply doesn't want to attract the attention of other Demon Saints, so she's temporarily conceded and holding back," Ye Qin shook his head, communicating via divine sense. "This current safety is only temporary; it will take four or five years to reach the Southern Demon Continent. Who knows if she'll change her mind or if something unexpected will arise along the way."

"Husband, what do we do now?"

"For this period, stay close to me to prevent her from finding an opportunity... If, by some misfortune, she manages to invade your physical body, your current Nascent Soul cultivation level won't allow you to contend with her Saint-level demonic spirit. You must abandon the body and retreat your primordial spirit into my Sea of Consciousness to hide. In any case, you must preserve your primordial spirit; only then will you have a chance to reverse the situation and reclaim your body." Ye Qin stated.

"En!"

Huangfu Bing'er nodded.

Ordinary cultivators rely on their physical bodies to absorb Yuan Qi. If they lose their bodies, they can no longer receive Yuan Qi replenishment and cannot continue their cultivation. They would either have to become Ghost Cultivators and switch to the Ghost Path, or their Yuan Qi would deplete, leading to the dissipation of their primordial spirit.

However, the Purple Mansion space within Ye Qin's Sea of Consciousness was unique. All the Yuan Qi cultivated by Ye Qin's physical body first entered the Purple Mansion space, transforming into wisps of radiant Yuan Qi light, which Ye Qin's own primordial spirit then absorbed for cultivation.

If Huangfu Bing'er were to encounter misfortune, her primordial spirit could only enter Ye Qin's Purple Mansion space. Within this space, she could absorb Ye Qin's Yuan Qi and continue her cultivation. Therefore, even without a physical body, Huangfu Bing'er's primordial spirit would still receive Yuan Qi and rapidly enhance her cultivation.

Of course, this required Ye Qin to cultivate enough Yuan Qi to sustain the cultivation of two Nascent Soul cultivators.

...

Half a year flew by in a flash.

The Great Wing Warship sailed through the vast expanse of the sea and sky, day after day, a journey simple and monotonous. Ye Qin possessed a sea route map to the Southern Demon Continent acquired from the Heavenly Dao Alliance, so there was no worry about getting lost at sea.

Qingqiu Li had been remarkably quiet, remaining in her private room studying her sacred artifact, showing no abnormal behavior.

This puzzled Ye Qin as well. Had she truly given up on seizing Bing'er's body and planned to consider finding a suitable host only upon reaching the Southern Demon Continent?

Since she showed no anomaly, Ye Qin preferred not to stir up trouble. He himself had many things to attend to, such as continuing his cultivation and developing the Nascent Soul stage of his self-created Zuowang Sutra technique. Creating a cultivation method from scratch was an extremely difficult task; he could only grope and experiment based on his prior cultivation experience. He wondered if he could devise a complete set of techniques during this four-to-five-year journey to the Southern Demon Continent.

"Brother Ye! Sister Bing'er, hurry out! The Ghost Lord is chasing us again!"

Bai Xiuer, sitting boredly on the warship's railing, suddenly spotted several streaks of swift black light rapidly approaching from the horizon. Her eyes lit up with excitement, and she shouted. After days of dullness, she had finally found something entertaining.

Swish! Swish!

Two figures, one pale and one green, flashed out of the cabin and appeared on the deck—it was Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er.

"They really are relentless! This is the third time this month. The Ghost Lord is leading those remaining Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivators from the remnants of the (Huang Ling) battle ships, relentlessly pursuing us. We only just drove them off a few days ago, and here they are again!" Huangfu Bing'er frowned as she watched the rapidly approaching black streaks surging with deathly aura.

"I will engage the Ghost Lord. Bing'er, you take Xiuer and guard the warship!" Ye Qin stated calmly.

Saying this, he summoned his eight minor divine ability-level flying swords. They shot out from the warship, transforming into a fierce azure beam of light that hurtled toward the fastest-approaching Ghost Lord. In almost an instant, the azure light and the black light violently collided, initiating a fierce battle.

Whoosh!

"Spatial Rend!"

Ye Qin channeled magic power into his Fire Sword. The Fire Sword shot out three azure, colorful wings. The Three Azure Colorful Wing Sword swiftly slashed out, tearing open a faint, ethereal spatial rift hundreds of feet ahead. Though this spatial crack was extremely subtle, appearing and vanishing in the blink of an eye, seeming insignificant, it possessed the power to devour anything it encountered.

"Hmph!"

The Ghost Lord's momentum was checked, and it let out a cold snort, swaying sideways to evade that terrifyingly powerful spatial rift. Having fought Ye Qin for a long time, it already knew the trajectory of Ye Qin's cleaved blades, allowing it to evade the spatial fissures completely.

Just then, Ye Qin consecutively cast spells, striking with the second sword, then the third, unleashing minor divine ability-level spells almost without any gap between them toward the Ghost Lord. Releasing minor divine ability-level spells so frantically would exhaust the magic power of even a Nascent Soul cultivator in no time.

Ye Qin had spirit wine to replenish his supply, so he didn't care about the consumption of his magic power.

"This brat's control over wind-element spells is getting more proficient!" The Ghost Lord's expression shifted slightly as it cursed inwardly while dodging with all its might. Fighting Ye Qin now felt somewhat strenuous. What frustrated and enraged it the most was that Ye Qin usually only deployed one minor divine ability flying sword against it—the Thunder Sword, Wind Sword, or Ice Sword—rarely utilizing the other seven.

A siege tactic was useless against Ye Qin; his eight minor divine ability flying swords were sufficient to handle a group of seven or eight ghost cultivators attacking together. In the previous months, the Ghost Lord had disregarded its dignity and ordered the other ghost cultivators to join the siege. The result was the immediate demise of two early-stage Nascent Soul ghost cultivators, struck down by the Thunder Sword. Since then, the Ghost Lord had abandoned any thought of a combined assault.

Ye Qin's engagement with the Ghost Lord meant the other ghost cultivators couldn't interfere; they could only focus their attacks on the Great Wing Warship.

"You two, attack from the bow!"

"Skeleton General, join me. Kill!"

The Corpse King roared, advancing with the Skeleton General toward Huangfu Bing'er.

On the Great Wing Warship, the ice-faced Huangfu Bing'er, the eager Bai Xiuer, and the clumsy Corrosive Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon remained to defend. Huangfu Bing'er controlled the warship's spiritual energy cannons, standing ready against the pursuing ghost cultivators. After an intense barrage from the ten spiritual energy cannons, they engaged the ghost cultivators in close combat.

Over the past half year, Huangfu Bing'er's cultivation had advanced rapidly after consuming the Vermilion Fruit, reaching the peak of the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul stage. She could not advance further until she broke through the Deity Transformation stage bottleneck.

Huangfu Bing'er controlled the Ice and Fire dual-element flying swords, and she also mastered the wind-element spell "Void Break Flash," allowing her unpredictable movement in confined spaces—sufficient to handle the combined attack of two mid-stage Nascent Soul ghost cultivators.

Bai Xiuer was slightly weaker, but her strength was enough to tie down one early-stage Nascent Soul ghost cultivator.

The Corrosive Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon was locked in a furious, ground-shaking brawl with the Ghost Lord's mount, the Two-Headed Ghost Vulture.

This battle raged for several hours.

The ghost cultivators’ Corpse Qi was nearly depleted, yet they could not overcome Ye Qin, Huangfu Bing'er, and the others, forcing them to retreat grudgingly. The Ghost Lord led them to hunt for corpses of high-level sea beasts on the ocean, venting their rage while simultaneously replenishing their Corpse Qi from the remains, before seeking another opportunity to strike the Great Wing Warship.

The Great Wing Warship continued its unhurried journey south across the ocean, peace restored.

In the following years, the Great Wing Warship flew steadily toward the Southern Demon Continent. Its speed was not fast, and it rarely altered its course. It would be easy for the Ghost Lord to track the vessel.

Ye Qin often sat cross-legged on the deck, lost in thought, meditating on the Zuowang Sutra. Although he wished to create his own Nascent Soul stage cultivation technique, the lack of reference materials meant constant failure.

The only solace was that he was gradually gaining control over his state. He could enter that empty, transcendent state of Zuowang—seemingly selfless and void—and actively withdraw from it, restoring his clear consciousness.

The Ghost Lord continued its pursuit of the Great Wing Warship. For ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, a few short years passed like a single closed-door meditation, hardly worth noting. But for the Ghost Lord, every day dragged like a year.

It had little lifespan left to consume; every day gone was a day lost. If it weren't for reclaiming the North Profound Ice Lotus seed held by Ye Qin, it wouldn't waste time floundering on this vast ocean.

However, what devastated it was that Ye Qin, at the peak of the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul stage, was now seemingly equal to him. Furthermore, Ye Qin’s sword control grew increasingly masterful; he became stronger with every fight, and his Eight Formations Sword Array was fully integrated, possessing inexhaustible power. In reality, Ye Qin had firmly gained the upper hand. No matter what desperate measures the Ghost Lord employed, it could not gain any advantage over him.

"Daoist Friend Ye, you either defeat me or return my Ice Lotus Seed! You neither return the seed nor defeat me decisively so I can give up—why?!" The Ghost Lord stood atop the Two-Headed Ghost Vulture, trailing the Great Wing Warship from a distance, demanding gloomily.

Beside the Ghost Lord, the Corpse King and the Skeleton General glared at Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er on the warship with deep enmity.

Ye Qin remained silent for a long time. "Ghost Lord, you also know that the Southern Demon Continent is a cruel place, teeming with high-level cultivators. I need sufficient strength to survive there. I am already at the peak of the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul stage and cannot break through the Deity Transformation bottleneck for the time being, so I must focus on improving my sword array. You are undoubtedly a formidable opponent; one would be hard-pressed to find many like you in the entire Eastern Sea Cultivation World. Since you’ve followed me all this way, if I don't use you for sword practice, who should I use?! As for the Ice Lotus Seed, don't even think about it. I need it to forge a great divine ability ice-lotus artifact. Without a great divine ability artifact, how can I establish a foothold in the Southern Demon Continent in the future?"

Ye Qin paused for a moment, then added.

"The power of my Eight Formations Sword Array improves slowly and has reached its limit. There is little point in continuing to duel you. It wasn't easy for you, a ghost cultivator, to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. I don't wish to kill you. You possess the Purple Spirit Yang-Restoring Grass; go to the Western Abyss for reincarnation and repair your cultivation. Your lifespan should still be enough for you to rush to the Western Abyss Continent. Reincarnation and starting anew might not be a bad thing."

Ye Qin said no more.

The Great Wing Warship gradually sailed away.

The Ghost Lord stood frozen, unable to utter a word.

The reason Ye Qin hadn't killed it was simply that he wanted to use it for sword practice.

In its eyes, only despair remained. After hundreds of years of arduous cultivation on the Ghost Path, reaching the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage, and even possessing the terrifying 13th-grade Nether Flame, it could command respect and dominate one side in the Eastern Sea Cultivation World. But it was useless. It couldn't kill Ye Qin, nor could it reclaim the Ice Lotus Seed. Ye Qin was now truly unrivaled among peers; he had no match within the Nascent Soul stage. Even the Saint Emperor, were he present, could at best fight Ye Qin to a draw.

Lacking a great divine ability artifact, the Ghost Lord dared not attempt the Deity Transformation Tribulation, halting its progress here, resulting in utter failure and no hope of reaching the Deity Transformation stage.

"My Lord, shall we continue the pursuit?" the Skeleton General asked in a rough voice.

"To the Western Abyss," the Ghost Lord finally murmured after a long silence.