A roar ripped from He Yiming’s throat. Brilliance flickered in his eyes, and before him, that colossal spectral axe reformed once more.

But this time, the phantom axe was far grander than any previous iteration, carrying an overwhelming sense of gravity.

Facing the three Venerables simultaneously, He Yiming finally ceased concealing his strength. He pushed his Zhenqi to its absolute zenith. That full ten-tenths of his internal energy instantly instigated a shift within the independent world contained by the Five Elements Ring, and an equally formidable power surged forth from it.

The fusion of these two forces generated an immediate power absolutely comparable to the full-force attack of any two Venerables combined.

Coupled with the immense might of the Thirty-Six Mountain-Splitting Forms, the resulting destructive force was something none of the three Venerables could withstand alone.

Elder Li’s expression changed drastically. He began stepping in a bizarre cadence, his body flickering in and out of sight at that very moment.

This was one of the peculiar abilities a Venerable could manifest by channeling the power of heaven and earth through a Divine Weapon. Just as He Yiming could command the ultimate power of wind and the art of drilling through the earth, this was a mutation of fire-elemental power.

In that instant, Elder Li seemed to transform into scattered sparks of flame, leaping ceaselessly across the entire expanse of ground. Although He Yiming’s massive axe was raised high, he instantly lost Elder Li’s presence, feeling an almost paralyzing inability to strike.

However, He Yiming hesitated for only a fleeting moment. The spectral axe hanging in the air immediately plummeted downward.

The sound of wind accompanying the descent of the giant axe was piercingly sharp, and the immense pressure descended like a mountain weighing down upon everything.

In an instant, the countless tiny sparks of fire were extinguished. Only a slightly larger ember remained, which solidified into Elder Li’s true form. The strange fire technique he had conjured was shattered by the axe’s relentless, almost unreasonable brute force.

He Yiming rejoiced inwardly and unleashed his full power, bringing the massive axe down without mercy.

“Boom…”

A deafening sound erupted, yet He Yiming’s face twisted into an expression of uncertainty. At the very last second, Gabri lunged forward, raising his shield to physically interpose himself behind Elder Li.

Though He Yiming’s strike was overwhelmingly powerful, it had already expended some Zhenqi in crushing the countless flames. Meeting Gabri, who wielded a defensive Divine Weapon, He Yiming could no longer penetrate the shield; instead, the blow was solidly caught.

Immediately following this, a shadow darted toward him silently. As this shadow neared He Yiming, it even conjured a strange sensation akin to being back in the Weeping Ghost Ridge.

The Five Elements Ring subtly knocked backward. The spinning rings brushed against the trident-sword, successfully deflecting the divine weapon that instilled terror in countless people.

But a peculiar energy, accompanying the trident-sword, suddenly surged into He Yiming’s body.

Normally, such minor damage would cause him no effect whatsoever, but having just fully unleashed the Thirty-Six Mountain-Splitting Forms, his internal Zhenqi was depleted, allowing this sudden attack to inflict a small injury.

Although a torrent of Zhenqi poured in through the Baihui acupoint to immediately replenish the deficiency, this served as a stark warning.

The shadow flashed again; Elder Li had burst out from behind Gabri’s shield. His entire form flowed like a clear stream, circling He Yiming. He moved without his feet touching the ground, his long sword dancing, every thrust aimed precisely at He Yiming’s vital points. Meanwhile, Ding Liyin shifted his form, melting once more into the darkness, like a venomous snake lying in wait to strike, his potent killing intent suffusing the area and causing He Yiming internal alarm.

Gabri also moved his feet in tandem, like a mobile fortress, his raised shield intercepting the bulk of He Yiming’s attacks.

The three Venerables spun around He Yiming like figures on a revolving lantern: Gabri primarily defending, Elder Li primarily attacking, and Ding Liyin displaying a sinister, venomous style. Though he attacked less frequently, he was the one causing He Yiming the most trouble.

After another brief skirmish, He Yiming’s brow furrowed deeply. He finally grasped the true formidable power unleashed by the combined force of the three Venerables.

Even though they had never coordinated before, these three ancient powerhouses, all around three hundred years old, possessed combat experience far exceeding He Yiming’s entire lifetime. Thus, once they cast aside their pride and found their respective positions, they instantly formed an offensive and defensive alliance, naturally channeling the full extent of everyone’s capabilities according to their individual strengths.

Relative to these battle-hardened Venerables, the strength of one plus one plus one was unequivocally greater than three.

Moments later, He Yiming felt increasingly constrained. Before their joint effort, He Yiming could freely rampage and strike in all directions, but now that possibility was utterly extinguished.

He sighed inwardly. Although the power of the Five Elements Ring was formidable, at most it could only exert slightly more than double its inherent power. Against three united Venerables, the chance of victory remained slim.

However, in this world, matters warranting the combined efforts of three Venerables were exceedingly rare. He merely contemplated that when venturing into the Deep Mountain Totem in the future, the venerable masters from the Wolf and Serpent clans would likely number more than just three.

His thoughts raced. He had gained practical experience; if he could not win, could he evade the pursuit of the Venerables?

With a flicker of movement, He Yiming sank into the earth, rapidly drilling away into the distance.

In just one breath, he penetrated the cliff face and shot upward into the open air as if leaping to the heavens.

Then, the scene before his eyes shifted miraculously. Those familiar lines reappeared before him.

With a single step, he crossed these countless lines, arriving tens of zhang away.

Elder Li’s trio coordinated with increasing fluency, their manifested power growing stronger. Their confidence slowly returned, their sole focus now being to strike He Yiming down then and there; the secret of his stay in the Weeping Ghost Ridge was now completely secondary.

Yet, at that very moment, He Yiming unexpectedly employed the Earth-Drilling technique.

More crucially, he was not using this skill to seek a counter-attack, but purely to flee afar. After exiting the mountainside, he even utilized the pinnacle power of the Wind element to vanish instantly.

By this point, even an idiot could see that He Yiming had no desire to continue the entanglement and was attempting to escape.

The gazes of the three men met in an instant.

Elder Li suddenly spoke in a deep voice, “This man is young; his future prospects are limitless.”

Gabri’s expression became quite fierce. “If he achieves martial perfection, he will surely not let us off.”

Ding Liyin coldly observed them, uttering only a single word that chilled to the bone: “Kill.”

Almost instantaneously, the three had, through this silent exchange, resolved to hunt him down.

Because they all knew that if they failed to take He Yiming’s life this time, they would never have a second chance.

Given the terrifying speed at which this man refined the imitation Divine Weapon, the Five Elements Ring, one could gauge the heaven-defying degree of his compatibility with it.

If given time, this Divine Weapon would undoubtedly integrate perfectly with him, and at that point, his martial attainments would be far beyond anything they could hope to match.

Therefore, this joint pursuit was the first, but absolutely the last, opportunity for the three of them to unite.

The three of them leaped up simultaneously. Ding Liyin’s body seemed to dissolve into a mass of black mist—a mist distinct from the vapor in the Weeping Ghost Ridge, moving with lightning speed.

Elder Li’s figure shimmered, once again transforming into the scattered, leaping sparks of fire.

These flames moved like a flowing river of molten lava, advancing at a speed in no way inferior to He Yiming’s.

Gabri’s movement was the simplest: he flicked his wrist, and the massive greatsword materialized before him. With a sweep forward, he shot out like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

The speed of the three was at its absolute limit as they pursued He Yiming.

If judged purely on individual combat prowess, He Yiming wielding the Five Elements Ring could defeat any one of them, but in this desperate speed chase, their velocities were almost identical.

While He Yiming could not truly shake off these three Venerables who clung to him like tar, the three also found themselves incapable of overtaking him.

It was only then that He Yiming understood why Gabri had failed to track down Jin Zhanyi in the past.

Once both parties possessed abilities derived from communicating with some form of heaven and earth power, the speed difference between them was indeed negligible. Although the pursued held a slight advantage, completely shaking off the trackers was no easy task.

Moreover, He Yiming had never intended to genuinely shake off their pursuit.

Glancing back, He Yiming watched the three unyielding figures in the distance, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Seeing a mountain range ahead, He Yiming abruptly plunged into the ground.

The three pursuers exchanged glances. Gabri sprang into the air, flashing toward the far side of the mountain like lightning. Ding Liyin stamped his foot and immediately burrowed underground, while Elder Li slowed slightly, beginning to ascend the mountain peak.

Their abilities were extraordinary; they could clearly sense He Yiming’s movements and were waiting for the optimal moment to strike.

Suddenly, they all sensed He Yiming changing direction underground, bypassing Ding Liyin and returning along his original route.

Elder Li’s eyes lit up. His figure swiftly descended again. Landing firmly on both feet, he saw He Yiming burst from the earth.

His long sword spun, already dancing like flowing water toward He Yiming.

He did not intend a direct confrontation with He Yiming; he merely sought to stall him—just a few breaths were needed for the other two to arrive. This time, united again, the three would certainly not allow him another chance to flee.

However, just as he thrust his sword, He Yiming turned.

The Five Elements Ring was nowhere on his body; instead, he was clutching an ancient furnace, and He Yiming’s hand rested right near the furnace’s opening…

Ps: It’s the 3rd. Bai He is still updating fifteen thousand words; tomorrow will be the same. Are there any guaranteed monthly tickets left? I think I’m about two hundred votes behind the Skeleton, sigh…