He Yiming’s expression shifted slightly. This particular kind of power was intensely familiar to him.

This was a wisp of the mysterious power from the Tongtian Pagoda, absorbed during his decisive battle against the Twin Demons of Qilian, drawn from the pagoda’s seventh floor.

Heaven knew how that single strand had managed to embed itself within him, but it had settled in his Dantian as if it inherently belonged there.

He Yiming had experimented with this energy countless times. He finally discovered the sole method to utilize it: first executing the Qingtian Seal, and immediately following it with the Fantian Seal once the former reached its zenith.

Only through this precise sequence could that miraculous and colossal force be unleashed.

No other technique could mobilize it; even the Fudi Seal, a method dedicated purely to defense, proved utterly impotent against it.

And yet, at this very moment…

When He Yiming lifted the furnace high above his head, inadvertently adopting the stance for the Qingtian Seal, that mysterious power surged like a tiger escaping its cage, coursing through his meridians and up his arm.

In a mere instant, the energy was already nearing the furnace.

He Yiming’s heart seized with alarm. Without hesitation, his hands began to move. Though the furnace was held aloft, his ten fingers blurred into motion, deftly leaving afterimages in the air.

Fire energy instantly coalesced in his palms, deploying the gesture for manipulating flame energy in the shortest possible time.

The center of his palm began to glow warmly. Countless threads of power lashed out like spider silk, catching the miraculous energy that was on the verge of escaping his grasp at the critical juncture.

Perhaps this power was overwhelmingly mighty, perhaps its origins were earth-shattering, perhaps it was far beyond what his current cultivation level could command. But in that moment, He Yiming forcefully arrested its flow.

After all, this power originated from within his Dantian, and after unleashing the Fantian Seal previously, it had fused intrinsically with him.

Of course, He Yiming was acutely aware that if not for his unique physique—a Dantian akin to Chaos itself, capable of accepting everything—this power could never have been his.

For any ordinary person attempting to forcefully absorb such energy, the only outcome would be body explosion and certain death.

However, possessing a special constitution meant possessing infinite potential, just as He Yiming now demonstrated, carefully binding the energy within his cupped palms.

A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes, but it vanished instantly, replaced by firm resolution.

Martial Dao cultivation was like treading upon thorns with every step; how could one advance without daring to embrace risk?

The power in his hands finally shot forth like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, plunging without reservation into the furnace humming with infinite, wondrous energy.

Naturally, drawing on past experience, He Yiming employed a guiding force, but this guidance included not only his own energy but also the wisp of mysterious power drawn from the Tongtian Pagoda within him.

A speck of Nether Fire, cloaked in a strand of the miraculous power, rejoined the immense energy within the furnace.

This was the absolute limit of what He Yiming could manage. He could not possibly imagine the result if these two forces collided without restraint, so in that blinding flash, he made the wisest choice.

Using the mysterious power from his body as the conduit to guide the vast energy within the furnace.

Instantly, two forces, originating from different systems yet equally powerful, connected.

The violent explosion He Yiming feared did not materialize. The moment the two forces truly met, his spirit was immediately invigorated.

As if passing through some spiritual link, he perceived a magnificent, surging vision.

Within the furnace bloomed an endless, savage sea of fire, powerful enough to shake the heavens and earth.

It was a world of flame, where nothing else could exist save for the boundless inferno.

Within the endless blaze, several incomprehensibly massive beasts writhed and tumbled. They seemed to be composed entirely of concentrated flame, frolicking freely in this fiery ocean.

In a daze, He Yiming sensed that the closest beast turned its head.

It was a Fire Dragon, impossibly long; even looking as far as the eye could see, he could only glimpse its colossal head, the end of its body lost to sight.

A pair of eyes, vast as mountain peaks, turned to regard him.

With that single glance, He Yiming felt utterly seen through, completely exposed.

Streams of cold sweat poured off him, instantly drenching his clothes.

Yet, He Yiming remained oblivious, his entire focus captivated by the Dragon’s gaze. That look possessed an indescribable force, compelling him to throw himself headlong into it.

Though his reason screamed at him never to fully commit, his will was steadily eroding.

The Dragon’s eyes held no discernible emotion, yet from that impassive gaze, He Yiming deciphered a single meaning.

The Dragon was not truly observing him; before it, he was less than an ant.

To the Dragon, seeing him was no different than a human noticing a crawling insect on the ground—nothing more than that…

Suddenly, a furious rage erupted uncontrollably from He Yiming’s core.

His eyes snapped wide open, every muscle and drop of blood within him seemed to boil at that moment.

If there was anything more painful in this world than being slighted, it was surely being ignored.

To be slighted meant the observer at least acknowledged your presence. But this blatant, naked sense of being disregarded was what truly carved itself into memory.

Even knowing the impossible gulf in power separating them, He Yiming, like a madman stripped of reason, opened his mouth and let loose a roar that could have terrified even himself.

Then, he reached high above his head, the Five Elements power spinning wildly within him: from Water to Wood, Wood to Fire, Fire to Earth, Earth to Metal.

The twenty-fourth stance of the fiercely executed Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting was unleashed with his full might.

The massive Metal energy cleaved through the sea of fire before him, charging toward the distant Dragon. This life-risking, utmost strike finally carved through the space before him and impacted the Dragon.

But a flash of light flared, and everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

He Yiming’s ultimate strike managed only to cut through the sea of fire before reaching the Dragon’s body, where its force instantly dissipated.

All his strength, before the Dragon, proved utterly negligible.

A soft humming sound arose nearby. He Yiming looked over in surprise. The Bao Zhu (Treasure Pig) had somehow entered this space as well, looking around with intense curiosity.

The Fire Dragon finally turned its head, but it was not drawn by He Yiming; it was attracted by the Bao Zhu cradled in He Yiming’s hands.

For some inexplicable reason, He Yiming felt as if he had gone insane.

In the Dragon’s calm eyes, he seemed to detect a trace of tenderness. Of course, this affection was not directed at him, but at the Bao Zhu he held.

The little creature, nestled against him, showed no fear whatsoever in confronting the enormous, disproportionate Dragon in the distance.

A strange power surged forth from He Yiming’s body.

His heart tightened; he recognized it—it was the power of his Dantian, that chaotic, all-absorbing Dantian energy capable of taking in any elemental force.

In the next instant, his body seemed to transform into a boundless black hole, drawing everything around him inward.

The weakness he felt after unleashing his ultimate attack vanished entirely. Limitless fire energy filled his Dantian, giving He Yiming a sensation of blissful, overflowing fullness.

The Dragon’s gaze finally wavered. The way it looked at He Yiming was no longer dismissive, but filled with astonishment, as if it had discovered something utterly unexpected.

Everything before him began to collapse. Inexplicably, He Yiming knew that the mysterious power from the Pagoda had been entirely consumed, and the channel connecting him to this mystical space was about to vanish.

However, just then, the Dragon opened its massive maw—large enough to swallow the sun in the sky—and a surging, turbulent torrent of fire instantly rushed into the crumbling space, completely engulfing He Yiming and the Bao Zhu.

He Yiming closed his eyes. He knew better than to attempt resistance against such overwhelming fire power. At that moment, a faint thread of regret surfaced: why had he so recklessly provoked the immensely powerful energy within the furnace?

Yet, his body only trembled slightly before he was instantly returned to his true form.

He Yiming felt a surge of pleasant shock; he was safely back in the desolate mountain region.

His eyes filled with delight; even the barren landscape seemed beautiful to him now.

But the next moment, his face changed drastically. He clearly sensed a colossal, unimaginable power trapped within the furnace.

Although this energy was violent and fierce, it was like a monstrous beast confined to a cage, utterly unable to break free.

The final actions of the Fire Dragon flashed through He Yiming’s mind, and as if struck by divine inspiration, he understood countless things in an instant.

Without hesitation, he repositioned the furnace, aiming its mouth toward the desolate mountains ahead.

Then, he gave the lid a forceful twist.

The not-so-large lid instantly spun open.

A tremendous, inhuman, overwhelming aura—an immense, vivid pillar of crimson fire—erupted almost the moment the furnace mouth opened. This vast mass of fire power surged out so fast that even He Yiming, who held the furnace, had no time to react.

In that instant, it seemed the entire world was engulfed in a great conflagration.