A massive surge of true essence erupted like a tide, seemingly intent on obliterating everything in its path. Seizing the absolute upper hand from the very first move, the relentless assault pressed forward, connecting with the opponent's body within mere breaths.

He Yiming possessed profound confidence in the sheer power of his true essence; he assumed this bout must be over after taking that palm strike. However, the instant this thought crossed his mind, he felt a strange sensation in his hand.

His palm had clearly struck the opponent's shoulder and back; the immense flow of true essence had poured out without hesitation, yet the feeling transmitted through his palm was one of peculiar emptiness, as if the Hao Xue he had focused upon wasn't a person at all, but merely air. In that moment, an alarm blared in He Yiming's heart, sending a chill down his spine.

An absurd notion surfaced: Could this person be an entity like Bai Lingba... The space before his eyes seemed to subtly shift, a flash of radiant light crossing his vision, and subsequently, Hao Xue was standing steadily several zhang away.

He Yiming was filled with surprise and unease. He abruptly recalled the warning from Jin Zhanyi.

Distortion Technique... Yet, he remained unable to ascertain precisely what this Distortion Technique entailed.

After steadying himself, a shadow of gloom crossed Hao Xue's eyes. Then, he violently stamped the ground with both feet, raised a hand, and a powerful force gathered from all directions, immediately locking down the space around He Yiming.

Had he not yet located the Three Points, He Yiming's only recourse against such an oppressive sealing force would have been to unleash the thirty-six styles of Mountain Splitting, employing absolutely decisive, sharp, and fierce methods to shatter the opponent's confinement technique. The Mountain Splitting Thirty-Six Styles, being a primordial cultivation method, paired with his formidable strength, often yielded marvelous results.

But things were different now. His gaze shifted, and he instantly sensed countless Three Points surrounding him—it was the mutual connection between these very points that enabled the creation of the constraining force against others.

Moreover, the opponent's three points turned out to be Wood, Water, and Mist. The Water element formed the core, while the Wood and Mist elements circled the Water Point, creating an absolute equilateral triangle.

With a cold smile, He Yiming deliberately shifted his left foot forward by the tiniest fraction. Then, he extended both hands, forming an abstruse and mysterious hand seal before him.

It was as if a grand mountain was rising out of thin air, imparting a profound sense of inescapable gravity. Jin Zhanyi's expression changed drastically.

He was intimately familiar with this hand seal, having secretly studied it over a hundred times. Though he had achieved nothing from those studies, he could never forget this seal and the monumental power that would inevitably follow.

A bead of cold sweat traced a path down his forehead. He knew that if He Yiming truly launched his Heaven-Overturning Seal, then even if Hao Xue's Distortion Technique were ten times more potent, it would be utterly useless.

But what would be the outcome of the Heaven-Overturning Seal? Didn't He Yiming know that?

Before engaging, he had repeatedly cautioned against using that technique, so why was He Yiming ignoring him? A strange resonance echoed through the space.

He Yiming slowly raised his hands, seemingly breaking through countless barriers, shattering and blasting away every triangle before him. The Earth element hand seal, the Heaven-Supporting Seal, instantly and completely shattered the opponent's tripod stance, which was primarily based on Water energy, rendering it unsustainable.

When a master makes a move, the novice knows their inferiority. Hao Xue and the others immediately realized that even if He Yiming hadn't fully formed his own tripod stance, he was certainly very familiar with the power of the Three Points.

Under these circumstances, mere confinement was ineffective against him. Uh...

He Yiming's hand seal instantly ascended to its zenith, and then, with a casual turn of the wrist... Jin Zhanyi felt a chill, but was immediately dumbfounded.

Although He Yiming's wrist rotation unleashed immense power, covering an area of about three zhang, its momentum and destructive force were worlds apart from the Heaven-Overturning Seal he had previously displayed. One was heaven; the other was man.

They simply couldn't be compared. Only then did Jin Zhanyi finally relax.

He had feared He Yiming was intentionally holding back, but in truth, He Yiming was simply unable to mobilize the power of the pagoda within him, which had temporarily subsided. Hao Xue’s body trembled.

His hands weaved into a myriad of afterimages, like the countless offshoots of a century-old tree, churning wildly against He Yiming's descending strike. Hao Xue pushed his Wood element technique to its absolute limit at this moment.

Even He Yiming's Heaven-Overturning Seal could not crash down completely; it was riddled with countless holes in mid-air, its full power less than one-tenth unleashed. Hao Xue roared, stepping forward aggressively.

Having neutralized He Yiming's Heaven-Overturning Seal with his Wood energy, his aura surged tremendously, giving the impression he was about to overwhelm and capture He Yiming in one go. However, just as he gathered boundless Wood power, intending to press the attack forcefully, he abruptly noticed the faint, cold smile playing on He Yiming's lips.

Instantly, Hao Xue’s heart leaped into his throat. Two centuries of countless battles had granted him an insightfulness unimaginable to ordinary men.

Seeing that smile on He Yiming's face, a chilling premonition struck him. This was not the expression of someone whose ultimate move had just been broken.

It seemed like the sinister smile of someone who had meticulously set a trap, waiting for prey to enter. Instantly, the powerful Wood energy Hao Xue launched weakened slightly.

The moment he saw the smile, he resolved to proceed cautiously and steadily. As expected, when a large volume of Wood true essence pierced through He Yiming’s Heaven-Overturning Seal and reached him, Hao Xue suddenly opened his mouth.

A red dragon erupted from his throat. It was a dragon, a fire dragon, completely engulfed in flames of unimaginable magnitude.

The moment it shot from He Yiming's mouth, the fire dragon was only the size of a single finger, but it grew rapidly with the wind—Wind fueled fire's might—and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a monstrous creature several zhang long. Once Hao Xue’s Wood true essence contacted this terrifying fire dragon, it was like a moth flying into a flame: not only was the Wood energy utterly annihilated, but it became fuel, making the fire dragon even more ferocious.

In the next moment, this fire dragon charged violently toward Hao Xue. Everyone's expression shifted.

Fang Sheng and Zhu Guanhua were immensely impressed by He Yiming's seamless and rapid transition between Earth and Fire element powers. In their estimation, He Yiming must have mastered some special technique to transition between these two power systems almost instantaneously at will.

Based on this alone, He Yiming possessed the strength to challenge any expert below the level of a Venerable. Jin Zhanyi’s eyes shone brightly.

Being with He Yiming, he knew the immense power possessed by He Yiming's Wind and Fire Flowers. When the Wind and Fire Twin Flowers merged into one, even old veterans like the Qilian Twin Devils would retreat respectfully.

But this time, the Fire Dragon unleashed by He Yiming was overwhelmingly powerful, crushing Hao Xue utterly with devastating speed, without even the slightest pause in between. He muttered inwardly, How did He Yiming cultivate to make the Fire Flower’s might so vastly increased?

Is this guy even human? This fire dragon contained no power from the Nine Dragons Furnace; it was entirely He Yiming’s inherent strength.

After learning the potent Fire Control secret technique from Venerable Hao Dong, He Yiming had studied and integrated it into his own abilities multiple times. Aided by this primordial Fire element innate cultivation method, the might of the Fire Flower he commanded had undoubtedly reached a new pinnacle.

Hao Xue was greatly alarmed and instantly entertained a sliver of hope. This fellow had indeed set a trap; if he had been foolish enough to push his luck with that initial move, defeat would have been inevitable now.

But by holding back, he had preserved a contingency. Hao Xue’s body twitched slightly.

A layer of flowing light seemed to cloak him once more, and his physical presence and aura became extremely unstable. Of course, this instability lasted only for a fleeting moment before normalizing.

Though He Yiming sensed this change, he paid it no mind. He guided the fire dragon upward, following the trace of the Wood true essence, arriving swiftly at the location where Hao Xue had been standing.

The fire dragon’s volume suddenly expanded, pausing momentarily in mid-air before completely engulfing Hao Xue. He Yiming had intended to detonate the fire dragon near Hao Xue—which might not have injured him severely, but would have certainly humiliated him.

To his surprise, the man seemed paralyzed by the sudden turn of events. Since that was the case, He Yiming naturally showed no mercy, and the tangible fire dragon swallowed the succulent meal whole.

However, the smile on He Yiming's face froze abruptly. He felt it—that same bizarre sensation.

It was the same feeling he had when he first struck Hao Xue’s shoulder and back. His eyes snapped wide open; he understood one thing immediately: the figure swallowed by the fire dragon could absolutely not be Hao Xue himself.

He had once again employed that inscrutable method, evading his sight and vanishing without a trace. As his brow furrowed, He Yiming suddenly sensed an immense danger approaching from his flank.

He didn't even have time to identify the nature of the threat, but his instinct screamed that this danger could cost him his life. Almost without conscious thought, He Yiming’s legs shifted slightly, and his body plummeted downward like lightning, treating the ground like a swimming pool into which he plunged headfirst.

A red streak flashed. Hao Xue abruptly materialized in the spot where He Yiming had just stood, staring down at the ground, looking utterly stunned as if he could hardly believe his own eyes.

Then, two extremely dry words emerged from his mouth: "Venerable..."