The colossal surge of true energy began to boil within his body like a tide. That immense fury, serving as fuel to the fire, propelled He Yiming's aura to an unprecedented peak.

Soguo and the Red Wolf King, a combined force equivalent to two experts of the Yixiantian realm, and they still hadn't unleashed their ultimate secret technique, the Unity of Man and Wolf. Yet, under these very circumstances, they chose to flee without a fight—a turn of events that He Yiming himself had never anticipated.

When scheming against Snake Ru, He Yiming had utilized Bai Lingba's transformation ability to mask the overwhelming presence accompanying his execution of the twenty-second style of Mountain Cleaving. However, facing Soguo and the Red Wolf King, he never expected them to bolt away with such reckless disregard for everything else.

What was even more infuriating was that ever since they plunged underground, they had vanished as if erased from existence, leaving behind no trace that could be found.

In that instant, an irrepressible rage surged upward. This wasn't just contempt for the Totem Emissary; it was also fury over his miscalculation.

Under the impact of this anger, the great broadsword began to blaze with a radiance so dazzling it nearly rivaled the sun-like gem eyes of Bai Lingba.

Then, He Yiming swung his blade, bringing it down in a crushing overhead strike.

An unbelievable, intense power poured down from the edge of the blade, slicing directly downward.

The ground could not withstand such immense pressure. It abruptly split down the middle; this single strike had cleaved a massive fissure right through the entire earth.

He Yiming, retaining some semblance of reason, managed to stop short of unleashing the full might of the Five Elements United power at the final moment. But even with only peak Metal-elemental strength, it reached an unparalleled magnitude.

Beneath the surface, a mournful cry suddenly echoed, followed by a crimson shadow shooting out and fleeing into the distance.

In mid-air, a scarlet rain of blood sprayed forth...

He Yiming paused for a fraction of a second, then erupted in overwhelming joy. Without a second thought, he thrust out a hand. With a concave and convex shape forming in his palm, needle-like true energy shot out like an arrow, piercing the space between them and fiercely aiming for the Red Wolf King's patchy hindquarters.

When He Yiming unleashed that furious strike, he absolutely never considered that Soguo and the Red Wolf King hadn't fled but had instead lurked in place, patiently awaiting a chance to counterattack.

Precisely because of this, when He Yiming's strike descended, the impossibly unlucky man and wolf had no time to evade and consequently took the full impact of the blow.

Fortunately, what He Yiming unleashed at that moment was not the power of the Five Elements United, but merely the Mountain Cleaving power of the Metal element. Otherwise, even if the Red Wolf King possessed true adamantine bones, it would have been cleaved in two by that strike.

Even so, Soguo was gravely wounded; without any chance to block, one arm and his shoulder/back area were instantly slashed by the blade's aura. Blood poured down his body, making him look like a terrifying and fearsome demon. The Red Wolf King, however, had thick hide and hard bones; despite the pain searing to the marrow, it suffered no external injury.

He Yiming’s peripheral vision instantly registered their injuries. He immediately understood that Soguo was no longer a threat; if he could just keep the Red Wolf King contained, their escape would be impossible.

As he moved to pursue, He Yiming’s paralyzing true energy erupted from his left hand. The Red Wolf King, focused only on escape, seemed utterly unable to avoid it while suspended in the air.

A satisfied smile touched the corner of He Yiming's mouth. This pursuit was finally about to end...

However, the next instant, his eyes snapped shut with shock. Just as the needle-like true energy was about to pierce the Red Wolf King’s bare rear, a hand shot out. This hand extended flatly, formed into a fist, and collided violently with the incoming needle-energy.

Even under such duress, Soguo hadn't relaxed in the slightest. Seeing the needle-energy about to strike the Red Wolf King, that intense premonition of disaster once again washed over him.

Although he personally doubted that a small burst of true energy could inflict any substantial damage on the Red Wolf King, he still acted swiftly to intercept this wave of attack.

The true energy clinging to Soguo's fist was overwhelmingly powerful, immediately crashing against the needle-energy. However, just as he assumed he could easily disperse this energy, he abruptly felt a familiar power surging back up from within that true energy.

This power was not mighty, but it was utterly bizarre.

Instantly, Soguo, who was draped over the Red Wolf King, stiffened entirely, falling into a state of complete paralysis.

At that moment, he couldn't even move his eyes.

Only then did he finally realize the source of his apprehension. He Yiming had somehow mastered the unique skill of his old friend, Snake Ru.

As this realization flashed through his mind, the Red Wolf King successfully leaped to the ground and dove into the earth as if swimming.

He Yiming let out a long cry. His true energy poured into the great broadsword maniacally; golden light shimmered on the blade, and he unhesitatingly cleaved downward toward the ground.

A massive crack reappeared in the surface, but this time it failed to strike the Red Wolf King. This millennium-mutated spirit beast, possessing high intelligence, twisted its rump and evaded the blade’s aura like a swimming fish, managing to avoid harming even the now-rigid Soguo clinging to its back.

Not only that, but its speed increased, and it desperately burrowed even deeper.

He Yiming’s focus was absolute; his ears twitched violently as he strained to monitor the activity beneath the ground.

The reason he had lost track of the man and wolf so quickly earlier was that they had immediately gone dormant upon entering the earth. When He Yiming hadn't guessed their intentions, he naturally assumed they were using some concealment method. But now, as the Red Wolf King fled rapidly, He Yiming could vaguely sense their precise direction.

In his perception, the man and wolf were moving south at incredible speed.

He Yiming frowned slightly. Although he didn't know the exact location of the Deep Mountain Totem, he knew the general direction. From their current position, returning to the deep mountains should require heading west or slightly north.

But the sensation from the Red Wolf King underground suggested a direct path south...

A strange thought crossed his mind: perhaps they weren't intending to return to the Totem tribe at all.

In the distance, a figure approached, moving with powerful strides despite running across the snow. Seeing that simple, vigorous motion, He Yiming instantly knew who it was.

Bai Lingba still carried the corpses of Snake Ru and the strange serpent in his hands, a particularly gruesome sight. However, He Yiming seriously doubted whether Bai Lingba truly understood the meaning of "gruesome," as he had never encountered a being more terrifying than Bai Lingba.

"They went that way," Bai Lingba stated coldly.

"How did you know..." He Yiming was surprised. Bai Lingba had just arrived; how could he know? Then, a thought struck him, and he immediately understood: the pair were still carrying parts from Bai Lingba.

Glancing at Snake Ru, a cold glint flashed in He Yiming's eyes. This man had been responsible for the death of Old Brother Shui Xuanjin. But since he was already dead, He Yiming wouldn't resort to desecrating the corpse for satisfaction.

After a brief hesitation, He Yiming reached out and felt over the bisected corpse. Sure enough, he found a skin-tight suit on Snake Ru’s body, though it had been sliced in two by He Yiming's great broadsword.

He tugged lightly, pulling off the two halves of the suit. Touching the patterns on it, he noted a faint similarity to the strange snake, but the area was vastly larger.

Soguo had once mentioned that his Red Wolf vest armor was shed skin from the Red Wolf King's mutation. Therefore, Snake Ru's armor should be no different.

He couldn't help but wonder if the strange snake had been much larger before its mutation, shrinking instead of growing.

While contemplating, He Yiming's hands moved swiftly. He opened the spatial world within his silver necklace and tossed in the leather armor and the strange snake's corpse, along with Snake Ru's poisonous dagger, which he also pocketed.

Then, He Yiming said in a deep voice, "Bai Lingba, let's pursue..."

He stomped his feet on the snow, instantly gliding forward as if on a snowboard, moving rapidly ahead.

Bai Lingba started walking with his unique, utterly ungraceful gait. Yet, no matter how fast He Yiming moved, he could never truly shake him off.

The summer sun beat down vertically, but the sand on the road seemed to glitter, radiating light as if made of gold. Intense heat saturated the air, everywhere announcing the imminent arrival of summer.

The figures of He Yiming and Bai Lingba appeared on a mountainside almost simultaneously.

Gazing out at the endless mountain range in the distance, He Yiming sighed deeply.

When he began pursuing Soguo and the Red Wolf King, He Yiming had never imagined it would drag on for so long.

From the depths of winter until the cusp of summer, a full three months had passed. They had traversed one mountain range after another, crossing untold distances back and forth.

He Yiming and Bai Lingba kept pushing forward; they had exerted their utmost effort, but when they would finally achieve their goal seemed as distant as ever.

Only now did He Yiming truly grasp the most formidable ability of a millennium-mutated spirit beast.

Both the Red Wolf King and the strange snake ridden by Snake Ru possessed the power to burrow underground. Not only did they have this capability themselves, but the people riding them and protected by them also gained this incredible skill.

After the Red Wolf King fled, dragging the stiff and injured Soguo, He Yiming and the other followed close behind on the surface.

Half a day later, Soguo and the Red Wolf King finally surfaced from underground, but by then, they had completely evaded the tracking efforts of He Yiming and his companion.

Although burrowing underground was far slower than traveling on the surface, the key difference was that the subterranean path was completely unobstructed, whereas the surface was fraught with obstacles, especially when moving through mountain ranges.

After the Red Wolf King burrowed under a mountain range, it rested leisurely on the surface for half a day, allowing He Yiming and the other to arrive only after struggling over peaks and through valleys. When they finally reached the location, the Red Wolf King and Soguo, who had finished healing and recovered from his rigidity, did not engage them in battle. Instead, upon spotting them from afar, they immediately dove back underground.

During the chase, Soguo had once tried to ambush He Yiming and his companion, but upon seeing Bai Lingba, the Red Wolf King absolutely refused to take any risks.

Soguo only managed to escape He Yiming because he relied entirely on the Red Wolf King's burrowing ability; without the aid of that millennium-mutated spirit beast, he was forced to abandon any thought of counterattack.

Even so, as soon as the Red Wolf King dove underground and crossed a few ridges, no matter how hard He Yiming chased, it was impossible to catch Soguo quickly.

From that day forward, the two parties engaged in a cycle of fleeing and pursuit, moving steadily south from the northwestern mountain ranges. As the weather gradually warmed, several months elapsed.

Now, standing on a peak, He Yiming looked into the distance and asked, "Bai Lingba, do you sense where he is?"

"Ahead," Bai Lingba replied tersely.

He Yiming took a deep breath. "You've said that sentence at least a thousand times."

"That's because you've asked a thousand times," Bai Lingba retorted sharply.

He Yiming rolled his eyes several times, yet a sliver of relief warmed him. Fortunately, when he first encountered Bai Lingba, he had affixed some kind of marker to the Totem tribe members' soles that allowed for remote identification. Otherwise, during this period, the Red Wolf King and the others might have slipped their track entirely.

"There is danger ahead. Are you still certain you want to continue tracking?" Bai Lingba suddenly stated.

He Yiming paused, asking, "What danger?"

"I don't know."

"Then what nonsense are you talking about..." He Yiming was about to object when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and his expression immediately grew heavy. "Are you referring to Soguo?"

"Correct. Throughout this journey, he actually had many chances to lose you, but he deliberately slowed his pace, keeping you constantly on his tail. Furthermore, although he constantly shifted his southern trajectory, trying to confuse your sight, his true direction is undeniably south, a place that absolutely cannot be the dwelling of the Deep Mountain Totem," Bai Lingba said seriously. "Given Soguo's status and intelligence, he wouldn't lead you here without absolute certainty. Therefore, there must be danger ahead."

He Yiming gave a wry smile. "Brother Bai, are you afraid of danger?"

Bai Lingba considered this and replied very earnestly, "Yes."

He Yiming looked at him helplessly, finally turning his gaze away. His eyes shone with resolute light as he said softly, "What is your suggestion?"

Bai Lingba calmly replied, "Based on probability, you should let go now."

A look of 'I knew it' crossed He Yiming's face. He shook his head slightly. "If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the cub? Some dangers are worth taking the risk for."

Bai Lingba remained silent, seemingly having anticipated this outcome long ago.

He Yiming gently stamped his foot, and his true energy surged forth once more, boiling violently inside him.

After nearly half a year of pursuit and evasion, his true energy had become incredibly refined, even stronger than when he had first condensed the Flower of Wind.

Long travel, meager rations, and constantly sensing and tracking the Red Wolf King’s location—any other person would surely be utterly exhausted. Even an Yixiantian realm expert would find it immensely difficult to cling so closely behind the Red Wolf King.

But through all this tempering, He Yiming's martial arts cultivation had advanced further, like a newly unearthed jade that, after being polished and carved, gradually began to emit its own brilliance.

The impatience had lessened in him, replaced by a steady composure. Once he decided on a course of action, he would never abandon it.

Perhaps this was his greatest gain.

"Brother Bai, let's continue," He Yiming said.

He lifted his foot and was the first to sprint toward the foot of the mountain. In an instant, he transformed into a gust of wind, floating swiftly far ahead, with Bai Lingba following closely behind him as always.

Although they both knew unknown dangers awaited them ahead, they didn't truly take it to heart.

No matter what lay waiting—a mountain of blades or a sea of fire—He Yiming possessed the absolute confidence to flatten the mountain of blades, cleave the sea of fire, and bring Soguo and the Red Wolf King down under his sword.

In the distance, Soguo opened his eyes. He gazed toward the distant high mountains, seemingly sensing the powerful aura emanating from He Yiming.

After half a year of entanglement, a strange form of connection had developed between the two strong individuals.

Even if they didn't see each other, the moment one began to pursue or flee, the other would sense it.

This mental connection was mysterious and profound, something nobody could truly explain. Yet, it undeniably existed.

He gently stroked the Red Wolf King beside him. The massive wolf head lifted high. Although Bai Lingba had left an indelible impression on the Red Wolf King's mind, after half a year of evasion, its spirit seemed to have recovered. Even seeing Bai Lingba from afar no longer caused it to flee in utter panic as it had initially.

People change, and this millennium-mutated spirit beast was slowly changing too.

They were vastly different now than they were half a year ago. Especially Soguo, whose cultivation, stagnant for many years, had shown signs of breakthrough after healing from his last injury.

Not only He Yiming benefited from the battle of life and death.

"Red King, we must move again," Soguo said, turning his head to look into the distance.

Within his line of sight lay a stretch of crimson glow—this was not the evening sunset, but a huge red expanse in the sky, beneath which rested a continuous range of red volcanoes spanning hundreds of miles.

"Red King, we're back. Do you miss this place..."

"Awoooo..."

The Red Wolf King's long howl tore across the sky, carrying far away. Within that wolf howl was a pride that belonged uniquely to him.

P.S.: Bai He has fulfilled the five-chapter promise.

Heh heh. Starting last night, Bai He has been sitting at the computer until just now. Apart from eating, sleeping, and chatting briefly with friends online, I haven't moved.

Now, I've reached 25,000 characters, which breaks Bai He’s personal record for this lifetime.

Simultaneously, Bai He is utterly exhausted, almost drained to death!

Hey there, Aunties, Uncles, and Elders in the group—Bai He has completed the mission! Please take care of me in the group going forward; don't let this happen a second time...

I swear I'll never do this again!

Furthermore, it's the same appeal: mid-month, Bai He urgently needs monthly tickets. For the sake of 25,000 (not 250), please offer your support. Thank you...