He casually offered an excuse to leave the main hall, successfully evading the insistent questioning from his father, third uncle, and several older brothers. Though he knew they wouldn't easily concede, He Yiming was certain that as long as he cited his commitment to martial arts cultivation as the reason, no one in the He Family Village would dare to detain him.

Such was reality; as his strength grew, this phenomenon became increasingly pronounced.

Gazing at the simple wooden bolt on the door, he harbored a distinct premonition. If he did not open it by dawn, absolutely no one would come to urge him out. His elder brother and sister-in-law, too, would quietly depart, only commencing the celebratory drumming and fanfare once they were far in the distance.

Furthermore, his father or third uncle would certainly remain behind to look after him, staying until he emerged.

This was the direct result of his performance on the arena stage today, which had elevated his standing within the family to yet another peak.

Shaking his head slightly, he realized that the distance between himself and his family seemed to be growing wider. This intense, ever-strengthening feeling wasn't just emerging between him and his siblings; he felt it even in his relationship with his elders.

This transformation hadn't occurred overnight; it had been a subtle, gradual shift over the past two years, and by the time everyone noticed, it felt like something irreversible.

With a sigh, He Yiming had long known that obtaining that profound fortune beneath the lake would inevitably bring changes. What he hadn't anticipated was that these changes were gradually slipping beyond his control.

After indulging in his contemplations for a long while, He Yiming calmed his mind and focused his thoughts on the two miraculous hand seals he had observed during his sparring that day.

Fudi Yin (Submerging Earth Seal), Yunyu Yin (Cloud Rain Seal).

After attempting the power of these two seals, He Yiming understood that both techniques belonged to the category of Innate Cultivation Methods.

However, these Innate Methods appeared somewhat different from ordinary Innate Combat Skills, as using these two did not impose strict elemental requirements. In other words, regardless of the main cultivation art practiced, one could unleash the power of these two Innate Combat Skills.

Of course, the final percentage of power unleashed, and the difference in manifestation based on the elemental attributes of the primary art, would certainly vary.

All of this became the future direction He Yiming needed to explore and research.

His eyes closed slightly, and everything from the day's events on the stage slowly replayed.

From the moment Lin Tao-li executed the Fudi Yin against Xu Xiang-qian, every detail surfaced in He Yiming's mind. Although minor omissions were inevitable, the general sequence of events, especially the finer points of the Fudi Yin, remained vividly impressed upon him.

Since entering that mysterious, strange state on a previous occasion, he found his memory had improved significantly. While he couldn't claim eidetic recall, it was an undeniable fact that it had improved several times over his initial capacity.

It was precisely this superior memory that gave him the confidence to "steal" these two seals from Lin Tao-li.

Scenes flashed through his mind. Xu Xiang-qian’s Liehuo Gong (Fierce Fire Art) was also extraordinary, offering He Yiming much to learn from. But compared to the Fudi Yin, his interest in the latter was far greater.

Subsequently, the process of He Yiming taking the stage and sparring with Lin Tao-li played out sequentially.

In the room, he unconsciously rose to his feet, his hands gradually forming strange contortions. These intricate signs were not fixed but followed a pattern of magical, twisting motion. They also required coordination with a specific internal energy technique; one could not function without the other.

For anyone else, recording these variations would have been impossible. But He Yiming was different. Not only did he engrave every movement variation of the Fudi Yin into his memory, but through repeated clashes of palm strikes and seals, he had deciphered over seventy percent of the internal energy manipulation involved.

Although it wasn't perfected, and there were gaps where the flow failed to connect smoothly, He Yiming began tentatively testing the energy pathways corresponding to four different cultivation arts. If even a segment managed to align partially, he would boldly fill in the missing internal energy routes himself.

Through this process of meticulous refinement and experimentation, he didn't know how long passed before a new version of the Fudi Yin was modified and created by him.

Perhaps this Fudi Yin was imperfect and differed from the authentic version, and its true power remained unknown, but He Yiming was nonetheless filled with joy and intense pride.

Even though the foundation of this technique was a mere framework and approximation he had pilfered from Lin Tao-li, subsequently reworked, patched, and cobbled together by himself—a kind of magpie's nest—it was, after all, a technique of his own creation.

The He Family Village possessed a considerable number of cultivation arts, each with varying levels of power. But their singular commonality was that the originator had poured a lifetime of effort and dedication into ensuring the manual could be passed down.

The vast majority of cultivators spend their entire lives merely practicing the secret manuals left by their predecessors.

Only a tiny fraction of geniuses could absorb the strengths of a hundred schools of thought to innovate and create new internal energy methods or combat techniques.

Moreover, not every created technique survives through the ages; only those truly practical methods withstand the test of time, gradually being inherited. Those with irreparable flaws, or those utterly impractical, were long ago eliminated by the currents of history.

In summary, those capable of creating new, useful cultivation methods are the genuine geniuses among practitioners.

He Yiming had no idea whether this revised Fudi Yin, born from a sudden surge of inspiration, would endure through the generations. But to create a new technique at his age was likely unprecedented in history.

If his father and grandfather were to know...

They probably wouldn't believe him; instead, they would assume he had suffered qi deviation.

The thought alone brought a sensation close to tears to his eyes.

With a deep sigh, He Yiming calmly extended both hands and slowly began forming the seals. Finally, a complex knot of signs materialized, though this configuration possessed subtle differences from the orthodox Fudi Yin.

This was because, as He Yiming executed the technique, he felt this specific formation allowed the internal energy within his body to circulate more smoothly. Having never acquired the original mental method for circulating the internal energy, He Yiming boldly implemented modifications tailored to his own nature. This resulted in the overall appearance of the seal knot being distinct from what it was before.

If Lin Tao-li saw his hand seal now, at most he would feel a sense of familiarity, but he would never connect it to his own family's Fudi Yin.

Furthermore, if Lin Tao-li knew that He Yiming had dared to alter his sacred technique so arbitrarily, he would likely be so terrified he would turn tail and flee, never daring to speak to him again, let alone entertain thoughts of recruitment.

Indeed, if a practitioner with only a tenth-level internal energy cultivation dared to attempt modifying an Innate Method, they would have long suffered fatal qi deviation, rather than being here, energetically testing a new technique.

However, what one does not know cannot harm them. Because of his naive ignorance regarding the immense risk inherent in altering cultivation methods, He Yiming was able to approach the modification with such fearless spirit. If he had known the consequences beforehand, even three times his current courage would not have allowed such reckless abandon.

His hands formed consecutive seals, rotating continuously like flowing water.

Moments later, a strange, undulating power began to radiate around him. However, this power was vastly different from the crushing heaviness associated with the Fudi Yin, which felt like towering mountains.

Although it could still be categorized among defensive hand seals, this one contained powerful retaliatory force while defending.

It was like a needle hidden within cotton—a most perilous crisis concealed beneath a thick, earthy exterior.

As he continued executing the seals, this sensation intensified. Moreover, the hidden needle seemed to carry a wisp of burning fire element—this absolutely novel Fudi Yin was something the Lin family itself had likely never witnessed.

Slowly, he relaxed his hands, recalling the awkward hybrid of the seal. After a moment of hesitation, he finally bestowed a new name upon this self-created hand seal technique.

Cangzhen Yin (Hidden Needle Seal).

Needle in Cotton.

While he was certain this seal's defensive capability would be inferior to the genuine Fudi Yin, this technique operated as if wrapping a cotton disguise around a cluster of fiery needles.

If someone encountered this method unexpectedly, they would undoubtedly suffer greatly from the surprise. In this aspect, it surpassed the Fudi Yin.

However, this technique also possessed a significant weakness: if the attacker's force vastly exceeded the limit of the Cangzhen Yin, the seal would not only fail to defend but would also lose its counter-attacking ability, resulting in compounded injury.

This was an extreme hand seal technique; it was hard to definitively label it as good or bad.

Of course, all of this was merely He Yiming's conjecture, untested in actual combat. Whether it would unfold as he hoped required the validation of time.

Setting this technique aside, he looked up to see the sky already faintly lightening.

Yet, the courtyard that had been bustling with activity yesterday was now utterly silent. Although he could hear many voices, the movements of those people were uniformly cautious and gentle, as if afraid of disturbing something.

He Yiming sighed again. His prediction had come true. It seemed, in the hearts of his elders, his private cultivation mattered even more than his elder brother's wedding.

Shaking his head slightly, He Yiming composed himself and stepped out of the door.

Moments later, the entire courtyard was filled with the clamor of drums and gongs. A large procession moved out of the city gates, heading toward the distant He Family main estate.

Ps: It's Friday, any votes left? ^_^ [bookid=1429437,bookname=《The Warring States Generalist, Lü Buwei》]