The evening banquet at the Imperial Palace concluded smoothly, perhaps due to the presence of the Cairo Sovereign, or perhaps because of He Yiming’s sudden appearance, which kept Cheng Fu wary. Although Cheng Fu glanced over several times during the dinner, he refrained from any further provocation from start to finish.

After enduring the rather meaningless feast, He Yiming naturally departed with Shui Xuanjin.

Before leaving, he had intended to bid farewell to his uncle and elder brother, only to discover with dismay that the two had already been swallowed up by the surging crowd.

He listened intently for a moment, then turned away with a wry, helpless smile.

These people were all vying to establish connections, their mouths overflowing with incessant flattery. He understood clearly that they were intimidated by his status as a Innate expert and his seating next to Shui Xuanjin, which prevented them from approaching him directly. But if he were to actively seek them out, he was certain his peace would be shattered forever afterward.

With this thought, He Yiming left unceremoniously with Shui Xuanjin. As for He Quanxin and the other, let them deal with the endless socializing. After all, if the He Family Estate was to prosper under their guidance in the future, such occasions would be unavoidable.

As for himself, diligent cultivation was enough; serving as the strong backbone for the He Family Estate was all he needed.

The axles of the carriage turned softly, drifting gently along the main road like a melody unchanged for millennia.

Although seated inside the carriage and unable to witness it directly, He Yiming sensed that wherever the grand carriage passed, people would bow in deference, some even kneeling and kowtowing.

These were the most ordinary citizens of Tianluo Capital. No one had forced them; they paid respects to the carriage purely because within it sat an elder who had safeguarded the Tianluo Kingdom for over a hundred years.

He Yiming could feel the sincerity in their devout gestures. He sighed inwardly, realizing how heartbroken these people would be if they knew this revered elder could no longer protect them for much longer.

Finally, the carriage stopped before Shaoming Residence. Shui Xuanjin stretched widely and yawned, "Brother He, I’m retiring for the night. You should rest as well."

He Yiming expressed surprise, "Rest?"

"Indeed," Shui Xuanjin’s ears twitched suddenly like fans twice. "I guarantee I won't listen for any activity coming from your direction anymore. Do whatever you wish; don't worry about this old man."

A flash of annoyance crossed He Yiming’s face, but Shui Xuanjin immediately strode away briskly, leaving only his hearty laughter echoing around them.

The attendants near the carriage looked over in astonishment. They couldn't possibly know why Master Shui suddenly seemed so cheerful, but they assumed it must be related to Master He. The thoughts of Innate experts were truly inscrutable.

He Yiming shook his head and returned alone to his courtyard.

No sooner had he entered the courtyard than Yuan Lixun emerged from the room, presenting him with a hot towel she had prepared.

He Yiming took it casually and began wiping his face, just as Yuan Lixun’s soft voice said, "Young Master, I have finished copying your secret manual."

He Yiming’s eyes brightened instantly. He immediately recalled Shui Xuanjin’s large ears and his terrifyingly acute hearing.

To use the 'Wind-Following Ear' technique to eavesdrop and not even leave a trace that he noticed—this skill was truly divine.

"Excellent. Give me the copy; I need to begin cultivating."

"Yes."

Yuan Lixun turned and left, returning moments later with both the handwritten copy and the original manual.

He Yiming flipped through the copy, scanned a few lines, and nodded in satisfaction. "You copied it very well." After a brief pause, he added, "Much better than I could have."

Yuan Lixun’s heart finally settled, and a hint of relieved, captivating smile graced her face.

He Yiming paused slightly. He realized that although Yuan Lixun was not the most beautiful woman he had ever met, at this moment, she was undoubtedly the one who touched him the most deeply.

He coughed lightly, stood up, and said, "I’ll go examine the manual now. You should rest." Upon uttering the word 'rest,' he suddenly recalled the old man Shui Xuanjin’s teasing, and his face flushed slightly as he turned and departed with lightning speed.

Yuan Lixun stood stunned for a long time. Recalling the tone of He Yiming’s voice just now, it held a hint of a husband instructing his wife, and a strange sweetness blossomed in her heart, causing her own cheeks to redden slightly.

※※※※

With a few swift movements, He Yiming arrived before the small stream within the courtyard.

This stream was a feature of the courtyard’s living water—half natural, half man-made—but during its excavation, efforts were made to preserve the original landscape, leaving almost no visible trace of alteration.

Sitting on a stone stool beside the stream, He Yiming calmed his mind and opened the copied secret manual in his hands.

He had already read the contents once, but reading them and truly cultivating them were entirely different matters. Mastering the techniques described in the manual was far from easy.

He sat quietly, reciting and memorizing the text in the manual bit by bit.

A full hour passed before he closed the manual, eyes half-lidded, concentrating deeply on its principles.

Slowly, his ears began to stretch, lengthen, and unfold.

With the strength of an Innate expert, altering minor physical characteristics while practicing a cultivation manual was not excessively difficult.

However, to modify external features while simultaneously manifesting the profound effects of the technique was by no means simple.

The Wind-Following Ear—this was indeed a miraculous and esoteric art.

This technique centered entirely on the concept of 'hearing.' But this hearing was not ordinary; it was a divine method that developed the body's auditory sense to its absolute extreme.

Before He Yiming ascended to the Innate realm, he had attempted at the Xu Family Fortress to channel internal energy into his ears, greatly enhancing his hearing to the point where he could perceive scenes in his mind that his eyes had not witnessed.

The Wind-Following Ear technique operated on the same principle, only it was far more refined and systematic than the experience He Yiming had developed on his own.

Naturally, in terms of sheer effect, the two methods were worlds apart.

True Qi circulated bit by bit, and He Yiming’s ears finally reached an almost exaggerated state.

Though not as massive as Shui Xuanjin’s, they had grown by nearly half their original size.

A slight breeze blew past the stream, causing He Yiming’s ears to gently sway. A faint smile touched his lips because he could already hear the sound of the wind.

The wind relayed distant events to him through this wondrous sound.

A marvelous pattern instantly formed in He Yiming’s mind: the vibrant, colorful blossoms in the garden, the fragmented light dancing on the wind, the stream water absorbing the fragrance of the earth. They bathed in this atmosphere, drawing nourishment from nature, growing strong.

Among the flora, countless insects emitted sounds so minute that ordinary people could never hear them. These sounds wove together into a strange symphony, merging with the sounds of nature.

This was a new world, granting He Yiming an entirely different sensation.

He finally understood that his formerly prized hearing was utter trash compared to this esoteric art.

It was like someone who had seen a 21st-century widescreen digital television, then being forced to watch a 1950s twelve-inch black-and-white set; the reaction would inevitably be one of disdain.

The pattern in his mind gradually expanded, becoming increasingly refined and realistic.

He experienced a strange feeling: he no longer needed his eyes, because his ears had completely replaced their function.

Color...

When the first trace of color entered this world, the dry, dull black-and-white picture was instantly replaced by dazzling hues of all shades.

In the wind, he seemed to faintly perceive the illusion that everything in the world possessed a sound.

Whether animal, plant, or even the towering, immovable ancient mountains, the vast, endless earth, or the ceaseless, slender stream—all had their own distinct sounds.

In this world, everything was alive.

But not everyone could hear such marvelous sounds, as the vast majority of these sounds were imperceptible to human ears.

When the Wind-Following Ear technique reached its zenith, one could hear these mysterious sounds and receive feedback that formed a true world from them.

He Yiming’s heart pounded powerfully; his entire spirit focused on this technique. He strained his ears to listen to every sound around him.

His ears, without him realizing it, stretched even longer and grew larger.

Suddenly, his half-closed eyes flickered, and an expression of extreme joy spread across his face. His elongated, enlarged ears instantly snapped back to their original shape, showing no trace of abnormality. The previous transformation seemed like a bizarre dream that had never materialized.

Yuan Lixun finally emerged from her room. She watched He Yiming from a distance and did not approach to disturb him, knowing he was cultivating the miraculous technique she had just copied. Although she couldn't understand or decipher the method, it was clear that He Yiming was deeply engrossed.

Yet, Yuan Lixun suddenly felt that the He Yiming before her, along with the flowers, the grass, the water, and everything present, seemed to have frozen; time appeared to have stopped at that moment, turning into a single, unchanging picture before her eyes.

In an elegant room at Shaoming Residence, Shui Xuanjin, who had been meditating with closed eyes, suddenly opened them. He hesitated, his ears vibrating for a long time before seemingly making a decision; they enlarged once more.

He listened intently for a sound coming from a certain location and was suddenly struck with horror, for he could not hear the sound he sought.

His Wind-Following Ear seemed to have lost its former power at this moment—this was the first time such a thing had happened.

But he understood clearly: it wasn't because the person had left Shaoming Residence, but because he had entered a rare, almost unimaginable state.

He was filled with envy. For an Innate expert, entering such a realm each time brought unexpected, immense benefits. In his two centuries of life, he had never experienced a single moment of sudden enlightenment. Yet, He Yiming was only sixteen! Had he, at this age, already grasped the realities of the world and comprehended the ebb and flow of human existence?

He sighed deeply. Such a genius truly could not be judged by ordinary standards.

However, he did not know that this was not the first time He Yiming had entered such a state of realization.

※※※※

The Wind—the breath of heaven and earth, vast and reaching everywhere, bestowing itself without regard for nobility or lowliness.

As the wondrous sound of the wind carried ever more sounds into He Yiming’s ears, and the picture in his mind suddenly "came alive"...

He Yiming felt the wind...

It was the power of the wind, and the power of the air.

In this world, anything that exists possesses its own sound. Regardless of whether it speaks or moves, as long as it exists, it affects the air and can be captured by the power of the wind.

When the Wind-Following Ear technique reached its utmost degree, what was heard was the power of the wind, the power of the air.

Everything in the entire courtyard fell under his control, and he himself had completely merged with this environment.

Suddenly, his tightly closed eyes seemed to pierce through countless spans of time and space, and he once again witnessed the scene he had long yearned for.

He stood atop a high mountain peak, watching the fine, continuous mountain rain falling from the sky, watching the endless mist swirling around the peaks, changing shape constantly.

At that moment, the wind blew over, sweeping past the mountains, across the clouds, and through the fog.

He Yiming’s vision cleared abruptly; in his trance, he understood something profound.

He stood up, forming hand seals with both hands. These seals were the Cloud-Rain Seal, the Earth-Subduing Seal, and the Hidden Needle Seal.

He stepped out, his figure moving as swiftly as flying, walking within the courtyard.

In a daze, the scene of the Vast Cloud Sea he had unleashed while wielding the Great Guan Blade before the Xu Family Fortress reappeared. This time, however, he did not use the Great Guan Blade; he was barehanded.

His form was like the wind, like the rain, and like the clouds—a vague mist enveloping the entire world.

Within this mist, a torrential downpour crashed down, almost forming a Cloud-Rain space entirely his own.

Guided by the power of the wind, he felt this crucial moment and plunged once more into the enlightenment of cloud and rain, successfully merging the three seals with his Cloud-Rain Soaring Art.

From then on, they were inseparable, without separation...

He felt the immense and mysterious power flowing between heaven and earth: wind, rain, clouds, mist—these powers were linked together by the wind, becoming an inherent force completely his own.

Vast quantities of Heaven and Earth Qi surged wildly around him. His body acted like a bottomless pit, absorbing all this Innate True Qi into himself.

His body began to glow, the white light becoming increasingly dazzling in the twilight.

Fortunately, this area had already been designated a forbidden zone by Shui Xuanjin; no one other than Yuan Lixun witnessed this magnificent spectacle.

Massive amounts of Innate True Qi poured in, the four distinct yet equally sourced powers washing over and fortifying He Yiming's body, making it increasingly resilient and powerful.

Over three hundred acupoints on his body lit up one by one. They resembled tiny whirlpools, greedily sucking in the seemingly inexhaustible Heaven and Earth Qi, just like his body.

He Yiming vaguely sensed that when all the acupoints on his body were saturated with the power of heaven and earth, a new change might occur. At that point, perhaps he could achieve another breakthrough, entering a new realm in the martial path.

However, making them all absorb the Innate True Qi was another matter entirely. Even in this state of enlightenment, He Yiming was uncertain if he could achieve it.

As the Heaven and Earth Qi fluctuated wildly, Shui Xuanjin inside Shaoming Residence could only smile bitterly.

In his long life, he had traveled the world, even visiting the extremely powerful nations far in the East where he had witnessed truly divinely gifted geniuses.

But even those geniuses seemed dimmed in comparison at this moment.

Although he did not know precisely what was happening to He Yiming, or the extent of this enlightenment, the fact that he could stir the very power of heaven and earth to this degree meant the effect of this realization must be extraordinary. He was almost certain that once He Yiming emerged from this enlightenment, he would undergo a transformation as if his very bones had been reshaped.

When he first met He Yiming, he had sensed his unusual nature, but he still felt confident of victory.

Two centuries of cultivation, while not allowing him to advance further on the Innate path, had brought him to the peak of this stage; his Innate True Qi was far more abundant than He Yiming’s.

But now, feeling the powerful fluctuations of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi in the space, the old man's confidence wavered.

Perhaps, the next time they met, he would no longer be able to suppress the young man based solely on the total volume of True Qi.

※※※※

He Yiming’s body finally vanished, simply disappearing before Yuan Lixun’s eyes.

In her view, even the entire courtyard disappeared; the only thing visible was a cloud of mist enveloping the whole compound—clouds and fog.

Yet, for some reason, she felt no panic or alarm. This was likely because she trusted that He Yiming would never harm her.

Suddenly, her vision blurred, and all the mist vanished instantly, as if the clouds had scattered and the sky had cleared. The house, the garden, and the murmuring stream reappeared before her.

And He Yiming stood by the stream, the strange secret manual resting on the stone table beside him.

It felt like a dream, a beautiful dream one never wished to wake from.

He Yiming turned and smiled faintly toward her. She could clearly sense the joy in his heart. For some reason, her own heart was filled with delight as well. At this moment, their hearts seemed faintly connected, sharing this wonderful feeling.

Finally, the sky darkened, and the last sliver of light vanished from the world.

Yuan Lixun seemed to sense it; He Yiming gave her a slight nod, and then his figure dissolved into the deepening night...