With a long, drawn-out breath, He Yiming’s consciousness returned from that ethereal, elusive state.

The method of cultivation He Yiming now employed was utterly unique. Should figures like Di Shitian and the other experts at the peak of the Dao have witnessed his current practice, they would undoubtedly be profoundly shocked and forced to completely re-evaluate He Yiming’s strength.

The reason was simple: what He Yiming was cultivating now was no longer Zhenqi (True Energy), but the power of Intent—a mental force latent within his body.

He Yiming had once perused several volumes on the Divine Dao, yet up until this point, not a single one had detailed the cultivation techniques specific to the Divine Path.

Previously, He Yiming hadn't understood why, but after experiencing the soul leaving his body and the process of Divine Power Forging the Body on the main peak of the Celestial Pool, his comprehension of the Divine Dao underwent a massive shift.

If one considered that below the level of the Five Qi Great Venerable, cultivators focused primarily on the human physique and Zhenqi, then upon advancing to the Five Qi Great Venerable stage, they began to make contact with humanity’s most mysterious and potent force—Intent.

It was precisely due to this marvelous power that humanity could achieve the transmutation of divine weapons into light, and even below the Divine Dao realm, utilize the light of these divine weapons for flight and execute super-long-range attacks.

These supernatural abilities were unattainable through mere Zhenqi; they mandated the use of Intent.

After reaching the Five Qi Great Venerable stage, cultivators placed ever-increasing importance on cultivating Intent. At the Ninth Heaven of the Human Dao Peak, practitioners were even required to fuse all the divine weapon lights together.

This feat was becoming increasingly impossible relying solely on Zhenqi. Without sufficiently powerful Intent to assist, no one could accomplish this step.

Of course, after human figures disappeared from the Divine Dao, a certain Human Dao genius invented a method to advance to the Ninth Heaven by using the power of the Gods to bind all the divine weapon lights, a method that fused the individual’s Intent power even more tightly. This was because, without immense Intent strength, attempting to bind and merge divine weapon lights of differing attributes and characteristics would likely result in the individual being blown apart by the sheer power of the Gods alone—if they weren't already a Divine Dao inheritor.

After all, not everyone possessed He Yiming’s singular advantage; that Chaos Dantian was utterly unique under heaven.

Once one reached the peak of the Human Dao, merely training the physique and Zhenqi was no longer sufficient for further advancement.

No one had explicitly told him this; he had deduced it entirely through his own insights.

Whether it was the gradually mastered Might of Heaven and Earth, or that single venture into Divine Power Forging the Body, both made it abundantly clear to him that what Divine Dao practitioners cultivated, besides their own physical form, was the formidable power of Intent.

However, compared to the Intent cultivated below the Divine Dao, the Intent mastered by true experts of the Divine Realm was incomparably stronger. What could manipulate the Might of Heaven and Earth was definitively not the finite Zhenqi within the human body, but that unseen, intangible force of Intent.

With these repeated experiences and this newfound realization, He Yiming began slowly attempting to actively train his own Intent.

Yet, after several attempts, He Yiming discovered that this practice was extremely arduous and fraught with unpredictable, erratic variables.

The reason was that he simply did not know how to temper his own Intent to make it even stronger.

Although once a human cultivated Intent, it would naturally accumulate and improve over time, this process occurred spontaneously and generally could not be stopped, barring the severe event of Zou Huo Ru Mo (going berserk/deviating from the Dao). However, the efficiency gained by relying on this method to enhance Intent strength was appallingly slow.

It was precisely because He Yiming could not tolerate such sluggish power growth that he sought out ways to accelerate this pace.

But after numerous failed attempts, he regretted realizing he hadn't genuinely managed to grasp anything concrete.

His ears twitched slightly, and He Yiming ceased his practice.

After two hours of probing, his Intent seemed to have improved slightly, but this progress could only be described as negligible. Continuing at this rate, even by the time he reached several hundred years old, his Intent might still be insufficient for his needs.

Though he sighed under his breath, he remained undiscouraged in his heart, firmly believing that as long as he possessed the Chaos Dantian, he would eventually solve this problem.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the door to his room automatically swung open.

Yi Zhongtian and the others waiting just outside the threshold started in alarm before immediately relaxing.

Given Mr. He’s martial prowess, it was natural he would detect the presence of the few of them. Even though they were all Xiantian (Innate) experts who moved silently, deceiving him would have been absolutely impossible.

Since Mr. He had opened the door, it naturally meant they were permitted entry. Yi Zhongtian raised his head, gravely adjusting his robes, and stepped into the room first.

The others exchanged glances and nodded to one another, though Zhang Bailin and his wife, Chen Linxi, felt their hearts pounding furiously; they were quite exhilarated.

Unlike Yi Zhongtian and Xu Jun, the three of them did not originate from the major contemporary sects. While their attainment of the Xiantian realm was due to their own talent and effort, luck had played a part. The strongest person they had ever encountered in their lives was merely a Venerable from the Great Shen Dynasty.

But the person they were about to pay respects to now was a transcendent expert capable of slaughtering a Sacred Beast as if it were a common chicken—at least at the level of a Five Qi Great Venerable. Thus, maintaining complete composure was a significant challenge for them.

The group filed in quietly and immediately spotted He Yiming seated in a chair.

At this moment, there was no residual aura emanating from He Yiming, yet for some inexplicable reason, they all felt an immense sense of oppression within the room.

Observing the subdued group, He Yiming suddenly understood. He had just been attempting to temper his Intent power, a force that was even more potent and elusive than Zhenqi. Furthermore, this type of power was almost imperceptible to those below the Five Qi Great Venerable level. Consequently, the residual Intent energy lingering in the air was suppressing these few mere Xiantian cultivators to an unbearable degree.

Smiling faintly, He Yiming waved his hand, and the residual Intent energy lingering in the air instantly vanished.

"Please, everyone, be seated."

Yi Zhongtian and the others secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The moment He Yiming spoke, they noticed the powerful feeling of constraint around them dissipate. The He Yiming before them now seemed like an ordinary person, devoid of any pressure whatsoever.

They inwardly congratulated themselves, believing this had been a test from Mr. He, which they had successfully endured without disgracing themselves on the spot. Yet, they remained unaware that if He Yiming had truly intended to release his formidable Intent, not only these few Xiantian practitioners but even a genuine Five Qi Unifying Great Venerable would have struggled to bear it.

Bowing deeply to He Yiming, the group sat down within the room. They understood that such transcendent figures were often prone to peculiar temperaments; since the other party had given an instruction, they should not hesitate or refuse, lest they incur his anger.

The room Yi Zhongtian had arranged for He Yiming was undoubtedly the finest in the city. In this spacious drawing-room, there were eight chairs made of sandalwood; the presence of the entire group did not make the space feel crowded.

After settling onto the edge of his seat, Yi Zhongtian spoke with slight excitement, "Senior, it was entirely thanks to your intervention in slaying the Xiantian Spirit Beasts and the Sacred Beast within the horde; otherwise, with the strength of that beast wave, Peng City would have surely fallen." He took a deep breath, his expression extremely serious, and respectfully stated, "On behalf of everyone in this city, I offer you our deepest gratitude."

A detached smile graced He Yiming’s face as he lightly waved his hand. "A mere trifle, hardly worth mentioning."

The group, including Yi Zhongtian, simultaneously felt a strange sensation. An event that was monumentally significant to them—one that risked their very lives—was casually dismissed by this Mr. He as something "hardly worth mentioning." The vast gulf between their perspectives left them deeply shaken and unable to collect themselves immediately.

However, as seasoned veterans of the martial world, they quickly recovered their composure after a moment of stunned silence.

Yi Zhongtian rose and placed a satchel onto the table, spreading its contents flat.

Inside this package was not only the inner core of the Sacred Beast but also a sheet of bear hide, bear gall, bear eyes, and four bear paws, among other items. Yi Zhongtian had meticulously collected everything of value from the Great Bear Sacred Beast.

He Yiming nodded with satisfaction. He knew that gathering these items must have posed considerable difficulty for Yi Zhongtian. That Yi Zhongtian managed to complete the task within two hours was already quite swift—at least an hour faster than He Yiming had anticipated.

This demonstrated that he had prioritized He Yiming's request above all else; otherwise, two hours would certainly not have sufficed.

Zhang Bailin also stood up, retrieving the satchel from behind him, and, mimicking Yi Zhongtian’s actions, spread its contents on the tabletop.

This package contained a full six Xiantian inner cores, one of which was particularly lustrous and larger than the others.

Anyone looking at it could instantly tell that this particular inner core must have belonged to the Thousand-Year Spirit Beast.

Besides the cores, there was also a set of bear hide and other useful materials from the giant bear. However, these items were somewhat overshadowed compared to those taken from the Sacred Beast.

He Yiming’s gaze swept over them briefly, and he immediately understood that the hide and other materials were likely stripped from the Thousand-Year Spirit Beast. While these things were not as valuable as the materials derived from the Sacred Beast, their worth still far surpassed the components acquired from ordinary Spirit Beasts.

Lifting his eyes, He Yiming looked toward the couple, Zhang Bailin and Chen Linxi.

The three of them kept their gazes lowered, not daring to meet He Yiming’s eyes directly. Moreover, He Yiming could clearly sense a strong undercurrent of anxiety and apprehension emanating from them.