The yellow sphere came at him with claws bared. "Aiya!" It was flung away by the barrier around the great stele, tumbling through the air several times before crashing down in a daze. Only then did it wobble back to a steady hover.
It looked closely and finally realized that the great stele and the weak white sphere were both tightly enclosed within a pale gray barrier several zhang wide. Unless you paid attention, you might not even notice it was there.
The yellow sphere flew into a rage and charged again. But every time it crashed into the barrier, it was violently bounced away. The harder it charged, the more forcefully it was flung back. Its attacks had no effect on the barrier whatsoever.
Inside the barrier, Ye Qin saw that the ferocious yellow sphere couldn't get in, and finally let out a huge sigh of relief. Lucky break, he thought. The barrier around the Life Primordial Spirit Stele could keep not only the Purple Lightning out, but other beings like him as well. Otherwise, he truly wouldn't have known where to flee.
"What the hell is this thing? Kid hiding in there, get your ass out here! Don't think this thing can save your life. Come out on your own, and I'll give you a quick death."
The yellow sphere roared furiously. It had watched the Primordial Spirit right at its fingertips get blocked by a soft, flimsy barrier. How could it not be enraged? If it could devour the energy of that weak white sphere, it would regain at least some of its strength from the fourth level of the Qi Refining Stage.
Ye Qin wasn't about to listen. He had already made up his mind: even if he died, he wouldn't take a single step outside the barrier, lest the vicious yellow sphere get its claws on him. Facing an opponent several times brighter than himself, Ye Qin had not the slightest hope of winning.
Ye Qin knew exactly what that brightness meant. Every time a sphere grew twice as bright, its strength rose by a whole level.
The gap between levels was like heaven and earth. Ye Qin knew that all too well.
When he had first begun cultivating the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Gathering Qi and Focusing Spirit, he still couldn't beat the likes of Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao. But after he had perfected the first level of the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness, his senses and spiritual perception had improved dramatically. Yang and Feng were no longer even worth a glance.
Judging by its brightness, the yellow sphere's cultivation was nearly equivalent to the fourth level of Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness. It was far beyond anything he could fight at his current strength. Fortunately, the barrier looked formidable and kept the yellow sphere completely outside.
Ye Qin watched the yellow sphere stubbornly ram the barrier, still trying to get in and cause trouble. He couldn't help mocking it. "Hey, Yellow Sphere, aren't you tired? Stop ramming it. You could bash your head against it for ten years and still wouldn't break through. One more question: why are you yellow while I'm white?"
The yellow sphere hovered outside the barrier, fidgeting as it tried to force its way in. At his words, it immediately flew into a rage.
"Bah! Yellow Sphere? I am Nan Tianba, head of the Nan Clan of Ping Province, a pure earth-element Primordial Spirit! Of course I'm yellow. Unlike your spiritual roots, which are so muddled you've got all five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth!
"You're just a tiny cultivator who's only reached the second level of the Qi Refining Stage, and you dare mock me and stand against me? You're asking for death! You think that broken stele can protect you and leave me helpless? Gah! You underestimate me! I, Nan Tianba, dominated Ping Province for decades without a single rival. Today, I'll teach you, little brat, what a master at the fourth level of Qi Refining can do!"
The yellow sphere gave a sinister laugh and drifted several zhang back. Then it began chanting a new incantation, this time at astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, a small fireball appeared out of nowhere several zhang away from it. Flames flickered incessantly, their heat terrifying.
Condensing this fireball had clearly cost the yellow orb a good deal of its vital energy. It had dimmed slightly and grown weaker. But when the fireball finally took shape, the yellow orb grew excited and burst into laughter.
"Kid, do you know what this is? You probably don't. It's the Fireball Technique, a force that can pierce anything. No matter what treasure you have, even a touch will burn it to ashes. Come out on your own, and I'll give you a quick death!"
Ye Qin gaped at the miraculous spell cast by the yellow sphere. A powerful sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
He didn't know how the fireball had been created, but he could clearly feel the scorching heat pouring from it, and the terrifying power it contained. If that little fireball touched him even slightly, he feared his soul would be blown away on the spot.
He had no idea whether this thin barrier could withstand the fireball.
A trace of fear and despair welled up inside Ye Qin.
He had thought he was at least a first-rate expert. Even if he couldn't beat a top martial-world master, he could at least save his own life. Yet before the formidable enemy in front of him, he had no way to protect himself at all. All he could do was sit and wait for fate to decide whether he lived or died.
Seeing that Ye Qin remained unmoved inside the barrier, the yellow sphere gave a cold snort and stopped wasting words. It immediately directed the fireball toward the barrier around the great stele, intent on blasting through the thin shield.
The scorching fireball hurtled toward the barrier.
The instant the fireball touched the barrier, it burst apart with a deafening BOOM!
A sudden change took place.
After the barrier was struck, it erupted in a dazzling, searing light. The barrier, originally only several zhang wide, rapidly expanded to hundreds of zhang, forcing all the exploding flames far away.
"Ahhh!"
The yellow sphere was hovering close to the barrier and had no time to react. The rapidly swelling shield struck it, and with a cry, it was sent flying off the Floating Island, hurled into the endless void. It dwindled to a tiny speck of yellow light and vanished. A distant, domineering voice rang out through the void: "Kid, just you wait! I, Nan Tianba, will be back~~~~~!"
Ye Qin stared blankly at the sudden turn of events. The yellow sphere had been knocked flying by the barrier? Uh, it looked like it had been sent into the endless void. Who knew how far it would end up?
The yellow sphere's attack had triggered the barrier's automatic counterattack. He hadn't seen that coming.
The protective power of the Life Primordial Spirit Stele's barrier had far exceeded his expectations.
Ye Qin's fear and unease toward the yellow sphere gradually turned to sympathy and pity as it was hurled into the endless void. "Yellow Sphere, you may be a master at the fourth level, much stronger than me, but you'd better not run into the Purple Lightning out there. Otherwise, heh, that's no joke. The Purple Lightning here is far more powerful than your fireball. If you die, don't blame me."
With the yellow sphere no longer a threat, Ye Qin finally relaxed and began cultivating Dew Grass and practicing his cultivation. The Cyan Jade Pendant had shattered into pieces when the yellow sphere appeared, and the fragments were scattered across the ground. Fortunately, the spiritual energy inside them hadn't diminished at all, so they could still be used to cultivate Dew Grass.
Before you continue