Staring at the devastation spread across the ground before him, He Yiming’s brow furrowed slightly. For an elder of that man’s caliber to have misjudged the situation was truly baffling.

In truth, he didn't know that if He Yiming hadn't appeared, He Min might have stubbornly searched the area again, but with He Yiming present, He Min naturally lost all face to linger. A moment later, He Yiming’s eyes suddenly gleamed.

Although he found no specific traces here either, a strange sensation rooted in his core told him this place felt profoundly familiar. It even stirred a peculiar, visceral connection within him.

He inhaled deeply, sensing the atmosphere with quiet focus. After an immeasurable span of time, he finally opened his eyes.

An unusual light flickered within them, and his face broke into a smile so strange it bordered on the unsettling. He parted his lips and murmured, “Brother Bai, is that you?

Come out.” As soon as the words left him, the ground beneath him rippled with sudden change. Layers of earth rose upward, slowly elevating until they formed something like a pool of flowing, liquid silver, finally coalescing into the figure of Bai Lingba.

He Yiming rubbed his nose, a silent surge of satisfaction running through him. Though He Min had caught a faint scent of Bai Lingba’s trail, he could never have fathomed the existence of such a miraculous entity, leading him to depart empty-handed.

The fact that he managed to evade his senses indicated that as He Yiming’s strength grew, Bai Lingba had not stood still. The energy stones given to him had certainly proven a worthy investment.

“Brother Bai, why have you come here?” “I sensed you were in danger,” Bai Lingba replied gravely. “Have you been following us all along?” He Yiming asked, intrigued.

Even when they were in pursuit or being chased, the few of them maintained a high level of vigilance. If they could still be tracked without their knowledge, it would be utterly unbelievable.

Bai Lingba shook his head slightly. “I tracked you here last.

I was discovered by that man just as I arrived.” He Yiming’s mind raced, surprise coloring his tone. “You placed a… tracker on me?” Bai Lingba showed no embarrassment, answering frankly, “Of course.

To ensure your safety, I must always know your whereabouts.” He Yiming shot him a sharp glare. To place such a device on someone and then state it so righteously—only Bai Lingba could manage such a feat.

However, He Yiming merely glared before letting the matter drop. He harbored no intense hostility toward the action in his heart.

He took out the book gifted by He Min once more. Since they were now undisturbed and with Bai Lingba at his side, He Yiming felt completely at ease.

He opened his mind completely, sinking entirely into the world contained within the pages. The insights left behind by Venerable-level experts were essentially their comprehension of the various elemental forces in the world.

If the power gap was too vast, reading such texts was akin to listening to fairy tales—it evoked no sensation whatsoever. But He Yiming’s current cultivation had reached the stage of the Three Flowers condensed, two of which were Flowers of the Five Elements.

Reading the reflections on Gold Element cultivation at this juncture was perfectly timed. ※※※※ The moonlight had grown dim, yet this seemed to have no effect on He Yiming.

As darkness deepened and the last vestiges of light vanished, He Yiming extended a single finger. An inexhaustible current of Fire Power gathered upon it, and slowly, a faint wisp of flame ignited at the fingertip.

Though this flame was barely more than a spark, its meager light was enough for He Yiming to clearly make out the script before him. Slowly, the first ray of dawn finally broke over the horizon… When that first beam touched He Yiming’s eyelids, it felt as if a sudden enlightenment flooded his mind.

Looking up, facing the rising sun, a boundless sense of heroic spirit swelled within He Yiming. He reached out and gently placed his hand upon Bai Lingba, who stood beside him.

At that very instant, Bai Lingba’s form began to shift rapidly. By the time both of He Yiming’s hands made contact, Bai Lingba had transformed into a massive, terrifying broadsword—a Guandao.

Limitless True Qi surged from He Yiming’s body into the great blade. This was not Wind-Fire Power, nor Earth Power, but undeniably the Gold Element.

Since obtaining the Five Elements Ring, He Yiming had been diligently balancing the Five Elements within him, dividing the power surging from his Dantian into five equal portions. This balance had remained consistent, even when he attempted to cultivate the Earth Flower.

Earth Power, the central Earth of thick soil, shared the characteristic of encompassing all things, much like Water Power. But Gold Power was different; its greatest attribute was its incomparable sharpness—anything that stood in its path would be cleaved into dust.

Among the Five Elements, Gold reigned supreme, symbolizing slaughter and keen edge. Its unstoppable momentum, capable of conquering all offense, was a force greater than any army.

This was the insight He Yiming had just gleaned from the book. Once absorbed and internalized, this understanding manifested in a supreme burst of power.

His heart surged with emotion, scarcely containable. As if sensing his inner transformation, Bai Lingba instantly became the great Guandao, allowing He Yiming to fully unleash every facet of his newfound comprehension.

One strike, swung out levelly. This was the first stance of the Thirty-Six Slashes of Mountain Splitting… With this seemingly casual, straightforward cleave, the air itself erupted in sharp sonic booms.

What this blow seemed to carve was not the empty air, but some mystical barrier, causing a faint, rumbling resonance. He Yiming’s face remained impassive.

Although he was no longer seated motionless reading the secret manual, his current expression suggested he hadn't truly emerged from that transcendent state. After the first slash, he reversed his grip and swept diagonally.

The second stance of the Thirty-Six Slashes of Mountain Splitting… This strike appeared slow, but halfway through its arc, the momentum suddenly decelerated. The tip of the blade seemed to concentrate the force of ten thousand jin, while the seemingly empty space ahead presented an immense resistance, so great that even this full-power thrust from He Yiming could not immediately break through.

Strange sounds continued to echo as He Yiming’s blade finally reached its limit. Threads of hot sweat beaded on his face and trickled down his back.

For someone of his current strength to become fatigued and sweat while executing a Post-Heaven Combat Technique—if this tale spread, it would surely invite universal scorn. Yet, sweat was already coating He Yiming, and it only increased.

The third stance, the fourth… up to the twentieth. When He Yiming executed the twentieth stance of the Thirty-Six Slashes of Mountain Splitting, his body was already drenched, completely soaked in perspiration.

The twenty-first stance… Circles of inexplicable, strange energy seemed to ripple through the space. As these waves expanded, the might of He Yiming’s blade attack simultaneously peaked.

The slash erupted, the blade light flashing—sharp beyond compare. The twenty-second stance… As this stance manifested, the entire space was suddenly permeated by an inexplicable, strange energy fluctuation.

Then, the whole area seemed to freeze, as if imprisoned by some force. Even the breeze was abruptly halted.

Were Yang Hao and Zhou Datian present, they would surely recognize that the spatial confinement induced by this single slash from He Yiming was in no way inferior to the confinement Zhou Datian created when he self-detonated his Three Flowers. The formidable blade momentum swept forward.

The flickering, consuming blade light seemed to solidify in that moment. Before the nearly four-meter-long great Guandao, a colossal blade projection nearly double its length suddenly appeared.

He Yiming’s eyes burned with fierce focus; his spirit was intensely exhilarated. His overall aura was in no way inferior to the day he unleashed the Heaven-Overturning Seal, driving Xiong Wuji and the Fox-Bear Spirit Beast deep into the earth.

Suddenly, a figure flashed among the trees. Someone had silently entered the woods, watching the solitary, dancing He Yiming with an expression of disbelief.

As if completely unaware of this observer, He Yiming rotated and flicked the Guandao. The twenty-third stance of the Thirty-Six Slashes of Mountain Splitting… This was a new form, a technique He Yiming had just mastered after reading the notes.

When this stance was deployed, the power to bind space seemed to instantly double in intensity. If Xiong Wuji and the Fox-Bear Spirit Beast were present, they would surely realize that even using their earth-drilling skill would become utterly impossible.

As He Yiming unleashed this blow, the confining force no longer converged from a single direction, but from all directions simultaneously. This was true confinement power, a supremely potent force attainable only by Venerables.

Yet, He Yiming had successfully released it in the twenty-third stance. A faint, involuntary sigh—so soft that He Yiming himself could not hear it—escaped the lips of the figure in the woods.

Upon witnessing this particular slash, even he felt a surge of impulse to challenge the fighter. But just then, He Yiming seemed to sense something.

His movements smoothly transitioned, and the blade light atop the Guandao seemed to come alive, suddenly erupting with a speed far exceeding human comprehension. Almost the instant it was unleashed, this terrifying, nearly four-meter blade projection shot toward the observer like an arrow.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, but the sheer brilliance radiating from this blade attack caused the nascent daylight to pale in comparison. Accompanied by a piercing momentum, the whoosh of displaced air, and the unique sharpness of the Gold Element, the blade light instantly sliced through everything before it, finally arriving before the figure.