After the meal in the main hall, He Wude revealed He Yiming’s promotion to the Seventh Layer of Inner Strength to a few core disciples, strictly forbidding any leakage of the news.

Only then did everyone realize why the Old Master held He Yiming in such high regard and bypassed his two elder brothers to place him directly in the First Seat, upon learning that He Yiming had silently broken through the bottleneck of the Sixth Layer.

The news that a practitioner of the Seventh Layer of Inner Strength was merely a fourteen-year-old boy would surely sweep through the county town like the wind, causing an immense shock to all.

Three months prior, the Xu family’s second generation had gained a master of the Ninth Layer, but by comparison, He Yiming’s advancement promised to be far more sensational.

After all, Xu Xiangqian was already over forty; even with his promotion to the Ninth Layer, his path was likely at its end. He Yiming, however, was different. A Seventh Layer cultivator at fourteen—his potential was simply unimaginable. No one could definitively say how far he might ultimately advance, but decades hence, reaching the Tenth Layer of Inner Strength seemed almost a certainty.

Indeed, this young man was already a future Tenth Layer Inner Strength practitioner, a foregone conclusion.

After dropping this bombshell in the hall, He Wude led the few disciples back to his own courtyard residence.

Back in the courtyard, He Wude asked with a pleasant expression, “Yiming, how have you fared practicing those thirty-six forms of Kaishan (Mountain Splitting)?”

“Grandson has learned six of the forms. I dare not say I’ve mastered them, but I can use them passably well,” He Yiming replied with utmost respect.

He Wude nodded in satisfaction. “That is a Innate Combat Skill. To be able to use it passably well in just over half a year is already remarkable. Quanyi, step forward and spar with Yiming. Let’s see the actual power of this Innate Combat Skill.”

“Yes,” He Quanyi said, stepping forward with a smile. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, an aura naturally welling up around him, akin to the rising sun.

Like He Yihai, He Quanyi specialized in Fire-element cultivation. But compared to He Yihai, He Quanyi was far more seasoned, and even his Inner Strength cultivation was much more profound. While he lacked the overwhelming presence of surging fire seas, his calm, almost omnipresent sense of being was something He Yihai could never hope to match.

As soon as He Yiming struck a posture for the Rolling Stone Fist, He Wude’s brow furrowed. “Yiming, use the Kaishan Thirty-Six Forms.”

He Quanyi also raised his eyebrows, his voice full of bold confidence. “That’s right, Yiming. Just exert yourself fully; there’s no need to hold back.”

He Yiming managed a wry smile. The Old Master was unaware, but he understood the terrifying nature of that skill. In his estimation, with this technique alone, overcoming opponents of a higher realm and emerging victorious was no difficult feat.

If he truly unleashed its full potential, his Third Uncle might not be able to withstand it.

He took a deep breath, circulating his Inner Strength until it instantly peaked at the level of the Seventh Layer of Metal element. Feeling the powerful flow within him, He Yiming raised both hands high, and a fierce, almost tangible imposing aura suddenly erupted from him.

“Third Uncle, please be careful.”

The expressions of He Wude and the others shifted slightly. Even Old Master He had not anticipated that combining Seventh Layer Inner Strength with an Innate Combat Skill of the corresponding level could generate such a potent aura.

The smile had long vanished from He Quanyi’s face; it was now etched with solemnity, a stark contrast to his initial relaxed composure.

Before He Yiming had even launched the combat move, he had already caused everyone’s hearts to hang suspended in uncertainty.

Standing with his feet set wide apart, He Quanyi slowly moved his hands in front of him. His stance clearly indicated a profound and enigmatic combat technique, though one that seemed primarily defensive in nature. Tendrils of Inner Strength undulated around his body, on the verge of radiating beyond his skin, as if clothing him in a thick, hard shell.

He made no aggressive move. Firstly, the techniques he practiced were largely defensive. Secondly, the Old Master had specified the goal was to gauge the might of that Metal elemental secret manual, compelling him to adopt a purely defensive posture.

However, the stance He Yiming took elicited vastly different reactions from the onlookers.

Each of them imagined themselves in He Quanyi’s position, only to abruptly realize that while He Yiming’s posture seemed riddled with openings, combined with his aura, it possessed an unstoppable, surging momentum—a spirit of preferring glorious destruction over shameful compromise. Anyone standing before He Yiming at that moment would find the thought of attacking utterly extinguished.

This sensation was so intense that even He Wude felt a faint chill run down his spine.

He instantly understood: his grandson had not merely copied the movements of the combat skill; he had grasped its essence—the absolute, world-dominating, invincible spirit inherent in an Innate Combat Skill, executing it to perfection.

Even if one’s strength fell short, the spirit of an Innate Combat Skill refused to concede defeat.

What utterly baffled them was how He Yiming managed to learn the very marrow of this Innate Combat Skill? Could it be…

Almost simultaneously, a single thought surfaced in everyone’s mind.

Could Yiming truly be a genuine, supreme genius of the Metal element? And a genius whose degree far exceeded all their previous expectations?

He Wude and his descendants exchanged instinctive glances, reading the same realization in each other’s eyes. Old Master He’s eyes grew brighter still. A notion buried deep within his heart, one he had thought impossible to witness in his lifetime, began to rise, unrestrained.

He Yiming lifted his foot. His right supporting leg was as steady as Mount Tai, but the muscles in his calf and thigh began to tremble violently, like shaking cotton batting.

After just a few tremors, that formidable Inner Strength began to spread upward from the ground. Ordinary observers might not perceive it, but everyone present was a cultivator of the Seventh Layer or higher, and they felt the almost unparalleled, massive power emanating from the sheer frequency of the vibrations.

He Quanyi’s expression grew heavier. He had absolutely no prior preparation for such a miraculous technique.

He Yiming suddenly stomped his right foot with force. With that single action, his left foot stepped out, crossing several meters with the swiftness of a meteor chasing the moon, rapidly advancing…

One step. Merely one step, and he was before his Third Uncle, He Quanyi, like a diving bird.

Raising both hands high above his head, they sliced downward towards He Quanyi’s head, dragging a sharp sound of cutting wind in their wake.

This attack was lightning-fast. With him and He Quanyi as the two points, this stride followed the shortest straight line possible, without the slightest deviation. This move concentrated all his spirit, energy, and will into a single focus; his two palms were like twin mountain-splitting axes, smashing down fiercely.

He Quanyi’s face finally changed, his eyes showing an expression of absolute horror.

Such might—how could it possess such might? Was this the result generated by only Seventh Layer Inner Strength?

Though he had experienced life-and-death combat in this lifetime and witnessed the terrifying power of his father’s Tenth Layer Inner Strength, he had to admit that before this moment, he had never seen a combat technique wielded with such destructive force. Furthermore, this skill contained a feeling of all-or-nothing commitment. His arms, which seemed transformed into genuinely indestructible steel blades, now brought him the pressure and sensation of imminent death.

He crossed his fists over his chest and began to rotate them rapidly. At this critical juncture, He Quanyi cast aside his fear, and his aura instantly became fiercely hot. He pushed the Fire-element techniques he had practiced for decades to their absolute limit, giving the impression that he himself had turned into a mass of burning flame.

However, He Yiming’s palms cleaved down in succession, much like a great blade hacking into a pile of firewood—it sliced straight through the woodpile.

With a deafening boom, He Quanyi’s body shot backward like a broken kite.

In a flash, another figure appeared beside He Quanyi—it was the Old Master, He Wude. With a pull and a guide, he neutralized the Inner Strength flowing through He Quanyi. However, the sheer magnitude of the residual force was far beyond his expectation; even as he landed with the Third Elder, he was subtly pulled forward a step.

He Yiming retracted his hands and stood still, his eyes filled with profound surprise.

What he had just executed was the Sixth Form of the Kaishan Thirty-Six Forms combined with Seventh Layer cultivation—a move that represented the maximum output of his current level.

He had initially assumed that this single strike, even against his Eighth Layer Third Uncle, should have allowed him to gain a clear advantage. Yet, no one expected the might of this move to be so overwhelming. Under the pressure of this single attack, He Quanyi was unable to evade and was forced into a head-on clash, the result of which was being sent flying instantly, completely stripped of resistance.

Seventh Layer Inner Strength and combat skill had managed to send an Eighth Layer Inner Strength practitioner flying. Looking at He Quanyi’s pale face now, it was evident he had sustained internal injuries. Such an outcome was truly earth-shattering.

All eyes turned once more to He Yiming, even his own father, He Quanming, displaying a mixture of shock and joy.

The might of that single palm strike, though perhaps not world-breaking, was certainly capable of turning the tide, propelling the collective evaluation of his abilities to yet another new zenith.

P.S.: Second update! Please vote! Thank you…