Lying still, he relinquished control over his body, allowing his thoughts to drift across this placid wilderness, one strangely tainted by the scent of stale blood.

In his memory, it felt like ages since he had known such a moment of ease.

That last strike he had unleashed was the ultimate effort of his Five Elements Integration, a technique he hadn't needed to employ in a long time.

And that speed, far exceeding Gabri's limit, was actually a trick he had learned from this very Western powerhouse.

When Gabri moved, he used his divine weapon as a conduit, maximizing the sharp edge of the Metal element; a single sweep of his sword propelled him dozens of zhang forward.

While the movement lacked grace, its velocity was undeniable.

So, a spark ignited in He Yiming's mind; he unleashed his entire Metal force, coupling it with his own Five Elements Integration ultimate strike, further augmented by an equivalent power drawn from the Five Elements Ring.

The sheer magnitude of combined Metal power generated by the two sources was a height even He Yiming himself couldn't precisely gauge.

All he knew was that the effect was overwhelmingly good, and undeniably potent.

In an instant, he had caught up to the fleeing Gabri, who was running for his life, and with the axe conjured by the Five Elements Ring, he cleaved the man in two.

This might far surpassed any previous ultimate strike.

However, one aspect remained unchanged: once this final move was expended, the Zhenqi within his body vanished without a trace.

Even with He Yiming’s constitution, there was nothing to do but surrender control and allow the ambient energy of Heaven and Earth to surge into his body from all points, especially pouring in through the Baihui acupoint.

Of course, since ascending to the Venerable realm, his rate of absorbing external world energy had also increased dramatically.

After merely resting on the ground for a short while, He Yiming was already back on his feet.

The intake of Heaven and Earth energy through the Baihui point atop his head seemed marginally faster. Though this small improvement was barely worth mentioning, He Yiming felt considerable satisfaction.

Advancement in the martial path is a slow and arduous process. A feat like refining a divine weapon in ten days was something even He Yiming could only manage occasionally. The incremental progress made day by day—that accumulation—was what truly mattered to all martial practitioners.

Building a pagoda grain by grain; without these small steps, how could the ultimate breakthrough ever be achieved?

After meditating for a moment, He Yiming's Zhenqi reserves had already recovered about fifty to sixty percent. At this point, he feared nothing further.

Even if another Venerable appeared now, armed with the Five Elements Ring, he was confident he could hold his own.

Approaching Gabri, the Western Venerable’s bisected body was largely stained crimson. He Yiming hesitated briefly before finally reaching out to search him.

He recalled Jin Zhanyi mentioning that upon the death of a Venerable, their divine weapons would automatically appear nearby. Since these three were all Venerable-level experts, any divine weapons on their persons must not be wasted.

Moments later, He Yiming had not only found Gabri’s heavy sword but also a small vial and a book wrapped in some peculiar beast hide.

The only regret was that the great shield, which He Yiming valued most, had been completely shattered by the giant axe at the critical moment.

And with Gabri’s demise, that divine weapon was beyond any hope of repair, forever split into two halves.

Among the divine weapons used by the three Venerables, the great shield was what He Yiming prized the most, as it was the only defensive divine weapon he had ever encountered.

He tapped the ground lightly with his hand, creating a small crater. He swept the corpse into the pit and buried it.

Looking at the two pieces of the great shield on the ground, He Yiming’s heart stirred, and with a beckoning gesture, he drew them toward himself.

Then, he sped off toward the other side of the mountain range.

When he returned to the original site, the scorched earth remained, and the air still carried a scent of intense heat and charring. Ding Liyin’s corpse lay nearby, brutally separated at the neck.

He Yiming naturally showed no courtesy. He searched the body, but to his disappointment, found only a fork-sword on Ding Liyin and nothing else he deemed worthwhile.

He dug another pit and buried that body as well.

As for Elder Li Yuan’s remains, they had been completely vaporized the moment the flames erupted. Nothing remained of him, not even the divine weapon that was his twin swords could escape atomization.

This, indeed, showed the unimaginable might of a divine artifact.

Having completed these rites, He Yiming settled his mind and reviewed the events of the day.

After a long pause, a satisfied smile finally touched his lips.

His initial decision to challenge the three Venerables at once was not a sudden bout of madness, but a calculated move for the sake of the twenty-year pact.

Although Venerable Xu of Tianchi Mountain had agreed to accompany him into the deep mountains, He Yiming did not believe the Snake and Wolf clans had only two Venerables between them.

The possibility of being besieged by multiple Venerables was not absent; it was highly probable.

But with this experience, He Yiming had formed preliminary insights and plans regarding his own strength and combat strategies.

Furthermore, he had gained a fresh understanding of the ultimate power of the artifact he possessed.

Once the divine artifact was deployed, even Venerable-level experts would meet their demise.

Of course, the greatest gain from this battle was gaining a clear grasp of his own capabilities: in a confrontation with average Venerables, his maximum output could withstand the attacks of three—and this was the bedrock of his profound confidence.

After tidying up, He Yiming cast one last look over the desolate area.

No one would ever imagine that three Venerables had met their end here, in this desolate mountain range, all within the span of a single day, and that the cause was merely a young powerhouse who had just ascended to the Venerable realm.

※※※※

“Brother Bai, try to see if you can integrate this object.”

He Yiming placed the two halves of the great shield on the ground, his eyes filled with hope as he looked at Bai Lingba.

Since this elder brother had successfully 'consumed' the great broadsword, perhaps he could consume the great shield too.

Bao Zhu trotted over, circled the two fractured halves of the shield once, then turned away with a look of disdain. The little creature’s standards were rising daily; it barely noticed such an ordinary divine weapon anymore.

Bai Lingba lowered his head, examining the shield before him closely. After a long moment, he finally said, “I can try.”

He stepped forward, placing one foot on each piece of the shattered shield.

The next moment, his feet began to melt away.

A faint stream of liquid, shimmering with silver light, flowed downward, enveloping the two shield pieces separately. A moment later, an extremely bizarre scene unfolded before He Yiming.

Bai Lingba’s lower body had completely dissolved into a mass of flowing flesh, while his upper half remained utterly unchanged. It looked like a being half-man, half-demon, chillingly unnerving.

However, He Yiming was long past being shocked by this. After witnessing the fire dragon in the Nine Dragons Furnace and the giant python in Ghost Cry Ridge, nothing Bai Lingba morphed into could induce much surprise in him anymore.

As for Bao Zhu, after spending so much time with Bai Lingba, its immunity seemed to have increased infinitely. Though it saw Bai Lingba’s current uncanny form, it merely opened its mouth wide, let out a huge yawn, and promptly curled up on the ground to sleep soundly.

He Yiming shook his head, sat down, closed his eyes, and slowly began absorbing the ambient Heaven and Earth energy.

Since achieving the Venerable rank, his perception of the outside world had opened up to new understandings—a feeling akin to the excitement and novelty he felt when first breaking through to the Innate realm.

Only at moments like this did He Yiming realize that, after all, he was still a young man.

He couldn't tell how long passed before He Yiming cleared his mind and awoke from that state of near-meditation.

He opened his eyes. Bai Lingba was still standing calmly before him, his lower body returned to normal, showing no sign of abnormality.

He Yiming stared for a long moment, then asked hesitantly, “Brother Bai, did you succeed?”

“I succeeded,” Bai Lingba replied calmly.

He Yiming was overjoyed. He had only presented the two shield halves to Bai Lingba on a whim, hoping for a miracle, but the fact that it had actually worked was an indescribable pleasure.

“Brother Bai, let me see it,” He Yiming said excitedly.

Without another word, Bai Lingba suddenly leaped toward He Yiming.

Mid-air, his body erupted with flashing streams of light. When the spectacle settled, he had transformed into a colossal shield.

He Yiming reached out, and the shield settled steadily into his grasp.

The moment the shield landed in his hand, the sensation of a shared life force—a connection between heart and blood—coursed through He Yiming once more. But he knew this was because Bai Lingba had absorbed the shield.

If this shield had truly been Gabri’s, it would never have produced such a magical sensation.

After swinging it a few times, He Yiming nodded in satisfaction. From now on, when fighting, he would wield this shield in his left hand and the Five Elements Ring in his right. With the aid of Bai Lingba and the Five Elements Ring, let alone three Venerables, even four might not guarantee his defeat.

He gazed into the distance, seeming to peer through endless space to the Totem Clan hidden deep within the mountains.

He placed the shield flat on the ground. As the streams of light flickered again, it transformed back into the shape of Bai Lingba.

He Yiming threw his head back and let out a long, resonant cry, soaring toward the direction of the Lingxiao Palace.

Bao Zhu lifted its head, blinking its confused eyes vaguely, unaware of what had just transpired.

Bai Lingba suddenly scooped it up and followed, moving like a phantom.

However, the departing He Yiming failed to notice that as Bai Lingba moved, his feet were no longer touching the ground; he was truly flying, and his speed was no less than He Yiming’s own.

Bai Lingba, supplied with ample energy stones, was also progressing at lightning speed...

Ps: This is the second update for today; there are three more chapters coming tonight. The competition for monthly votes is fierce; White Crane continues to ask for baseline support. Thank you...