Sima Yin fled desperately, his sword sheathed. He had pushed his mystical art of illusion to its absolute limit.

Though his illusory prowess was significantly diminished with one arm gone, the technique proved its worth as a supreme life-saving measure; even He Yiming could not instantly pinpoint his true location.

In the chase, they covered several li in mere moments. Within that short distance, He Yiming had nearly lost his target three times already.

What horrified He Yiming even more was that Sima Yin, even in his current state, wasn't solely focused on escape; he was constantly seeking opportunities to double back along their original path.

As for the objective of his return, both men understood it perfectly.

The only person who could keep He Yiming worried, and perhaps turn the tide, was Yuan Lixun.

If Sima Yin had been uninjured, he might well have succeeded; letting him take revenge by killing Yuan Lixun would leave He Yiming with endless regret.

But at this moment, trying to truly deceive He Yiming's Wind Ear was proving too much of a strain.

Following that miraculous, unbelievably swift movement utilizing the Wind Element, while He Yiming hadn't fully mastered the technique, his understanding of Wind power deepened by another layer. This manifested in a further increase in the efficacy of his Wind Ear ability.

Under his surveillance, even when Sima Yin occasionally managed a deception, he could be located again in the shortest possible time. No matter how Sima Yin shifted, it was difficult for him to truly evade the sounds He Yiming gleaned from the wind itself.

The longer the pursuit lasted, the deeper He Yiming's comprehension of Wind power became; his speed increased, breaking past the previous limits of his Cloud-Rain Soaring Art and reaching an entirely new pinnacle.

If the uninjured Sima Yin initially held a slight edge in speed over He Yiming, now, in a fair contest, they would be too closely matched to determine a winner.

However, Sima Yin, missing an arm, was extremely uncomfortable with his martial arts and movement techniques; his efficiency was drastically reduced. Had his mastery of illusion not been so exquisite, He Yiming would have caught him long ago.

Yet, both men knew Sima Yin was at his limit; unless a miracle occurred, escape was impossible.

Sima Yin’s face was grim. The sharp pain in his severed arm was nothing compared to the agony in his heart.

He knew this failure stemmed entirely from greed. Had he not coveted that unbelievable movement technique of his opponent, he would not have met this fate.

His mind drifted back to the incident from decades ago.

Back then, it was also because of greed that he had abandoned his home in the distant Great Shen and traveled to these desolate Northwestern Principalities, incurring a debt of favor to Zhan Tianfeng.

Now, decades later, just as he thought he had contained his desires and curbed his arrogance and avarice, he was once again ruined by that very same greed.

This realization pained him even more deeply than the loss of his arm.

Gazing ahead, sensing He Yiming drawing nearer, a flicker of true despair finally surfaced in Sima Yin’s eyes. He gritted his teeth, a look of fierce resolution settling on his face.

Once his decision was made, he held nothing back. Pushing his speed past the limit, he seemed to gain an edge, actually matching He Yiming's current pace. He ceased using any illusions, instead rushing along a straight path toward the highest nearby peak.

This unnamed mountain was indeed the tallest in the surrounding range. From the halfway mark upwards, it was shrouded in thick clouds and mist.

Traveling here felt like the constant risk of stepping into empty space and plunging off a precipice. Yet, both He Yiming and Sima Yin moved as if on flat ground; their speed did not lessen in the slightest.

Finally, Sima Yin reached the summit. At that instant, like an arrow loosed from a bow, he violently shot out from the cliff edge. Into the swirling clouds, he turned back, a savage glint flashing in his eyes.

The environment here was treacherous. To leap from such a towering cliff offered even him no absolute guarantee of survival.

For a Zenith expert, this jump was not quite certain death, but certainly a fifty-fifty proposition.

He had calculated that, given He Yiming’s character, he would absolutely not risk half his survival chances just to pursue a cripple like him.

As for himself, cornered, he had no other choice.

But if he managed to escape this time, he swore he would employ every means, sparing no atrocity, for revenge. He would make the name Sima Yin bring absolute terror to the entire Northwest.

However, at that very moment, mid-air, his eyes snapped wide open.

Though he didn't see it directly, he sensed it: when He Yiming reached the cliff edge, he too showed no sign of slowing down. Instead, mimicking him, he lunged forward from the spot, continuing the pursuit through the sky toward his direction.

In that moment, Sima Yin felt a genuine tremor of panic—a violent sense of loss of control that was utterly beyond his command.

※※※※

The fierce rush of wind howled past his ears. The instant He Yiming actually leaped from the cliff, a faint echo of fear stirred within his heart.

He was human, after all. Though his martial cultivation had reached the Zenith level, and all three hundred and sixty vital acupoints were seamlessly integrated, reaching a height countless others could only dream of, his inner self could not suppress a profound sense of dread.

Yet, he felt no regret for jumping down to pursue Sima Yin.

Sima Yin was not an honorable Zenith expert; he was not like Zhan Tianfeng, nor Zhuo Wanlian, nor even Mu Jintian.

Those men would never use Yuan Lixun’s safety or the security of the He Family Estate as leverage against him.

This man was different. He Yiming had a strong premonition: if this man were allowed to escape, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

For the He Family Estate, for Hengshan, for the woman he loved, his heart was unyieldingly resolute. Today, they would pursue to the ends of the earth; only one of them would live.

This was a conviction, a stark, life-or-death belief—a ferocious will to survive or perish.

That was why he had jumped without hesitation in that situation to chase and kill. At this moment, his killing intent was palpable, even stronger than Sima Yin’s.

Winds raged around him. To catch up, He Yiming did not use his Innate True Qi to slow his descent; instead, he channeled his Qi to fall, like a thousand-pound boulder, accelerating his downward speed.

He even had a strange feeling: if he were allowed to just plummet like this, he feared he might not withstand the impact of such immense force and would be shattered to pieces.

His heart soared high in fear, his whole body trembling. A voice in his mind screamed insistently: "Slow down. Wind Power! Slow down…"

The Dantian in his body spun rapidly, the overflowing True Qi seeming ready to change its nature at any moment.

But simultaneously, countless familiar faces flashed through his mind.

Grandfather He Wude, Father He Quanming, Mother Lin Wenyu, Elder Uncle, Third Uncle, Bao Ye, the third-generation siblings, and all the old acquaintances from the Hengshan lineage, everyone he knew…

Finally, the figures in his mind wavered and coalesced into Yuan Lixun’s smiling face, the faint crimson mark on it striking him with terrifying clarity.

He remembered the heartache he felt upon first seeing that scar!

To prevent that heartache from ever reappearing, he was willing to pay any price, even his own life, without hesitation…

His gaze suddenly focused, and all distracting thoughts were utterly cast aside.

Lixun, and all my kin, I will absolutely not allow anyone to harm you again. Never!

His aura erupted suddenly in mid-air, spreading outward with lightning speed like a towering hundred-meter wave in the vast ocean.

His spirit transcended the limit once more, seeming to detach from his body and soar into the endless void.

A trace of vacancy appeared in He Yiming’s eyes; he seemed to see things he should not have seen.

Everything before him transformed. The mountains were no longer mountains, the water no longer water, and the mist was not the vapor filling space.

He faintly grasped the crucial point, his heart swelling with the joy of seeing through the secrets of nature.

They were lines—the lines of the wind, present in the mist, in the air, in every corner of this world: the power of the wind.

His body vanished abruptly from the rapidly descending air…

As if suddenly traversing infinite space, in the next moment, he followed the wind lines, moving from one corner to another with the same unbelievable speed.

His body was the wind, unbound by weight, unaffected by volume—it was the omnipresent wind itself.

In that moment, he had finally mastered the true essence of the Wind Element.

Compared to this, the Wind Ear was merely a trivial trick, utterly unable to express the boundless might of the Wind power.

His feet landed steadily on the ground. He looked up, his gaze cold and brimming with confidence, toward Sima Yin, who was still falling from the sky.

His heart was filled with confidence greater than ever before.

At this moment…

Even if Zhuo Wanlian, Zhan Tianfeng, and Sima Yin—the three Zenith experts—were united, he felt he could defeat them, and then kill them.

Even if they tried to flee, escape would be utterly impossible.

Of course, this was merely the result of his self-confidence swelling excessively at this peak moment; unless he became an absolute fool due to reckless arrogance, he would never do anything so preposterous.

※※※※

Sima Yin, falling through the air, felt a surge of indignation mingled with his shock. This was the first time he had encountered an opponent so relentless, one who seemed determined to pursue him to the ends of the earth, never to relent.

He felt a vague twinge of regret. He had initially assumed He Yiming was merely a newly ascended Zenith expert gifted in wood manipulation. Yet, after engaging him, he hadn't even touched that ultimate technique of forging wood into blades. Even so, he had been reduced to this wretched state.

If he had known this would happen, he never would have repaid Zhan Tianfeng’s favor.

A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but the regret passed quickly. His entire focus then shifted to how he could possibly shake off this clinging piece of sticky toffee behind him.

However, at that very moment, he sensed an overwhelming pressure, a powerful aura that nearly suffocated him, pressing down from above.

When he felt this presence, his heart plunged as if into an ice cellar; all hope vanished.

He knew He Yiming was determined to see him dead, resolved with an unyielding, no-retreat determination.

He could not comprehend why He Yiming harbored such intense hatred toward him, a feeling seemingly etched into his very marrow.

At this point, a look of sheer terror finally crossed Sima Yin's face. From confidence, to losing an arm in flight, to being forced to jump off the cliff, and now to panic, and finally to sheer terror.

This succession of events had utterly shattered his confidence.

He thought, filled with resentment and fear, just what kind of formidable and terrifying enemy had he provoked in this newly ascended Zenith expert?

He had already gathered his True Qi, attempting to slow his descent as much as possible. But upon sensing He Yiming's immense killing intent, he gritted his teeth and suddenly accelerated his downward plunge.

He would rather smash to death on the ground than face this terrifying enemy head-on.

But just as he was about to hit the bottom, he suddenly sensed something amiss below.

An equally powerful, incredible killing intent surged up from beneath the cliff. This intent was in no way inferior to He Yiming’s above him. Moreover, accompanying this killing intent was a raw power equally matchless.

It was the Ice Element power—the force from unfamiliar to familiar, the force that had cost him an arm.

In terror, he looked down and saw a familiar face.

When he recognized the face, even he could only stare with a trace of bewildered disbelief.

Hadn't this fellow jumped down from above? How was he on the ground even earlier than Sima Yin?

Though he had witnessed He Yiming’s unbelievable speed before, that situation could hardly compare to falling from a towering cliff.

No matter how ten times richer his imagination, he could never have conceived that He Yiming had achieved a sudden enlightenment, mastering the true meaning of Wind power, allowing him to silently slip beneath him.

At this moment, Sima Yin instinctively raised his hand. The sword light in his grasp flashed like distant stars, instantly transforming into a vast sea of glittering specks.

Yet, a question flickered vaguely in his mind: Was he mistaken, or was Heaven itself mocking him?

※※※※

He Yiming held both hands high, his palms as white as snow. Within the range covered by his hands, an Ice power far stronger than anything Mu Jintian had ever displayed surged skyward.

The myriad sword blossoms, initially scattered like pinpricks, soon became a solid white expanse. Then, they slowed further and further, as if weighted down by endless frost, unable to move freely anymore.

Not only that, but Sima Yin’s own movements became sluggish, laborious as an old ox pulling a cart.

He Yiming’s palm passed through the razor-sharp long sword and pressed flatly against Sima Yin’s chest.

Silently, Sima Yin’s body was thrown violently backward until it rebounded off a large boulder.

However, even having fallen from such a height and striking the stone, his body did not shatter.

That was because, upon impact with the boulder, his body had already been frozen into an ice sculpture, harder than the stone itself.

He Yiming’s chilling energy was drawn from the Ten Thousand Year Ice Marrow in the dark green jade bottle. The cold inherent in this marrow had existed for far longer than ten millennia.

If it hadn't been so potent, even Innate experts would not have been corroded by this cold to the point of being unable to escape.

Even for a Zenith expert like Sima Yin, the only escape from this terrifying cold was self-amputation.

But when this supremely intense cold energy was unleashed to its fullest by He Yiming, the resulting consequence was far beyond what the spent Sima Yin could resist.

This once brilliant, peerless super-assassin from the Great Shen Empire was about to meet his end in the Northwest.

This was surely something no one could have imagined; even Zhan Tianfeng, who had sent Sima Yin, could never have foreseen this outcome.

He Yiming let out a long breath, feeling a near sense of exhaustion.

Although he too could release potent Ice True Qi, the rate of consumption far exceeded his expectations.

Among all the techniques he commanded, second only to the Five Elements Unification—a final blow that discharged all potential and True Qi in one go—this consumption of Ice Cold True Qi was the most demanding.

But immense consumption represented immense power; to directly freeze and kill such a tenacious and dreadful opponent as Sima Yin exceeded He Yiming’s own projections for its terrifying effectiveness.

Looking at Sima Yin lying motionless on the ground, He Yiming finally let the great stone in his heart drop.

This pursuit had been fraught with danger, nearly costing him his own life, but the harvest was unimaginable.

He had not only grasped the true meaning of Wind power, gaining an incredible super-speed capable of instant traversal over distances, but more importantly, a profound shift had occurred in his mentality.

After this battle, he was confident that no matter what formidable enemy he faced, he would feel no fear.

Because behind him stood not just himself, but Yuan Lixun, the He Family Estate, and countless people he cared for deeply.

As long as they remained behind him, he possessed infinite courage to fight.

Fighting for them was a responsibility he could not and would not evade.

He looked up at the sky…

The day was late. Stars dotted the heavens, and the full moon hung high, round as a platter, like a mirror!

Ps: Ahem, writing went smoothly today, and I’ve finished editing to release it all at once. There are only thirty hours left before the end of the month. Don't save those monthly tickets or recommendation tickets, please! I’ve worked hard this week; if I don't get monthly tickets, surely I can have some recommendation tickets! This week I’ve consistently updated over 15,000 characters. Oh, I seem to have one monthly ticket left, I’m off to cast it ^_^.