After Bao Zhu escorted Chu Haozhou away, only White Horse Lightning and One Hundred and Eight remained. With the two of them by his side, He Yiming felt completely at ease regarding his safety.
After giving them a few instructions, White Horse Lightning raised its head high and let out a long neigh—an action no different from an ordinary person thumping their chest to offer a solemn guarantee. As for One Hundred and Eight, he merely nodded silently. While his demeanor lacked the grand passion of White Horse Lightning, for a man of such golden silence, once he agreed, he would carry out his promise regardless of the cost.
On this point, One Hundred and Eight had an impeccable track record.
He reached out and lightly brushed the air a few times, creating what seemed like a massive palm sweeping across the sandy ground. In just a moment, the enormous sword gash left by Chu Haozhou had completely vanished.
A trace of a smug smile flickered across He Yiming's face. Yet, he acknowledged that this was only possible because they were in a desert. If this had occurred within a city, no matter how great his power, he would be unable to erase the marks or restore the ruined cityscape.
Such was the devastating scale of damage inflicted when a Divine Path expert manipulated the might of Heaven and Earth. The destructive force exerted upon the environment by this power was simply too overwhelming.
Thus, since ancient times, a tacit understanding had existed among those on the Divine Path: when two such masters clashed, they absolutely must never engage in combat over a major city or a plain.
The vast, boundless ocean and these sands shrouded by the desert proved to be excellent battlegrounds for Divine Path powerhouses.
Once the ground was leveled, He Yiming flipped his wrist, and a Divine Path Tome appeared in his hand.
This was the Divine Path Tome for the Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting. Although it was a counterfeit replicated by One Hundred and Eight, it possessed no discernible difference from the original manuscript. In this regard, even a Divine Path expert would have to concede defeat.
Flipping open the pages, He Yiming gently closed his eyes, and his mental consciousness immediately sank into the text.
The Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting was a supreme secret technique within the Metal element blade arts. Before He Yiming condensed the Five Elements, this had always been his ultimate, hidden skill.
However, as his martial skills advanced and he later obtained the Divine Artifact, the Five Elements Ring, his path of development shifted dramatically, moving towards the grand domain of the unity of the Five Elements.
Though powerful, the Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting lacked a divine weapon that could be wielded with perfect mastery. Even if the Great Guan Blade had not been consumed by One Hundred and Eight, He Yiming could no longer use it. Therefore, out of necessity, He Yiming had been forced to abandon this technique and cease delving into it.
Now, with the unexpected acquisition of the Adamant Blade, the ambition burning in his heart was instantly reignited.
The feeling of sheer exhilaration when executing the Metal element techniques, especially that final blow utilizing the Great Guan Blade, was something the Five Elements Ring could never replace.
As a man, to claim he felt no attachment to such a sensation would be self-deception. Therefore, now that he possessed the perfect opportunity to unleash the full potential of this technique, he chose without hesitation to re-cultivate the blade art.
His spiritual consciousness instantly entered the Tome Space. His mental essence now was hundreds of times stronger than before; the blade techniques within seemed to hold no mystery to his senses.
Quickly, starting from the first form up to the thirty-third, he manifested each one within the virtual space of the Divine Path Tome.
Although he hadn't practiced it for many years, his movements remained as smooth and natural as flowing water, imbued with an aura of solemn sharpness—a testament to his deep comprehension of the Metal Path.
If he were wielding an ordinary saber now while executing the first thirty-three forms, he would be unrivaled below the Divine Path.
As for the Divine Path itself...
He Yiming shook his head, focusing his mind on the final three forms.
Among the total of thirty-six forms, only the last three constituted true Divine Path techniques.
Once one advanced to the Divine Path, specific combat techniques became exceedingly rare. Even the Five Elements Secret Manuals from the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands offered only methods for applying the Five Elements Ring; while the derived divine effects and application methods were breathtaking, they lacked concrete forms or specific attack patterns.
These final three forms, however, were the only techniques containing concrete movements and actual combat styles for the Divine Path that He Yiming had encountered thus far.
He immersed his entire being into comprehending these three forms. Faintly, his spiritual consciousness seemed to solidify further. He possessed a strange feeling: if he truly intended to execute these three forms, he would require a physical body of incomparably great strength. The power of the mental projection alone might not be sufficient to endure it.
Countless mystical images surged through He Yiming's mind—these were the internal demonstrations within the Divine Path Tome showcasing the final three forms.
A bead of cold sweat emerged on his forehead. The consumption of mental energy required to learn and comprehend these three forms was impossibly vast.
Slowly, a look of sudden realization dawned on his face; he had found the key and the inspiration within the constantly shifting imagery.
These final three forms were not three separate techniques but a set of three interconnected forms.
Moreover, this was a highly specialized technique, designed specifically for singular, powerful attacks against individuals. If one were caught in a group melee, these three forms would become entirely useless.
The difficulty of this sequential trio far exceeded He Yiming’s imagination. If truly unleashed in a one-on-one confrontation, even a genuine Divine Path opponent would suffer dearly.
He Yiming let out a soft sigh, and his spiritual consciousness slowly withdrew from the Divine Path Tome.
When he opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, he realized that fully half a day had passed; comprehending these last three forms had not been easy.
He exerted slight pressure on his feet and stood up, reaching out his hand. The Adamant Blade was drawn into his grasp.
A surging aura erupted from his body, and the surrounding Heaven and Earth power boiled like molten magma.
If the Heaven and Earth power released by Chu Haozhou was likened to a small stream, the power He Yiming gathered and instigated was the boundless ocean; the two were incomparable.
The massive Heaven and Earth power was instantly drawn into and integrated with the Adamant Blade, yet the great saber retained its dull, sooty color, without the slightest glimmer of light, possessing only the solidity of a mountain along its weighty edge.
"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."
He Yiming swung the great saber, slashing toward the empty space beside him. The inexhaustible Heaven and Earth power surged more frantically. The invisible sharpness of the blade echoed through the void, seeming to weave a vast, formless net that made the air in this area thick and viscous.
This was the true power and purpose of the first two forms within the final sequence of three.
Gathering the immense power of Heaven and Earth to form an all-encompassing net, anyone trapped within it would suffer intense restraint.
This magical technique, which instantly transformed the most solid and supreme force into the softness of a silken thread, was undoubtedly one of the rarest and most bizarre techniques in the world.
If someone were to see the great saber in his hand and sense the condensed might of Heaven and Earth, they would never expect him to follow it with a technique so subtle, like drawing silk from thread.
The Adamant Blade abruptly paused mid-air, then rose high, cleaving downward in one one-hundredth of a second.
This was not the full-force strike of the Five Elements Unity, but the maximal power impact of a pure Metal element technique. All surrounding forces seemed to be drained by the saber at that moment, pouring into this terrifying weapon. Yet, even after condensing such immense power, the great saber remained dark and lusterless, as if unchanged from before.
One strike, from top to bottom, was unleashed...
Time seemed to halt for an instant. Then, beneath the edge of the blade, a commotion of indescribable magnitude erupted from the vast expanse of yellow sand.
From ten miles away in the distance, to ten miles away in the opposite direction, a colossal, perfectly straight fissure appeared—a gap twenty li long. It resembled the earth splitting open after an earthquake, revealing a black chasm of unfathomable depth.
The surrounding sand did not scatter outward but sank directly into it, plunging deep, like the gaping maw of an unparalleled beast, vanishing without a trace.
He Yiming’s expression shifted slightly; this was the ultimate might of the final sequence of three.
In a single blow, all power was gathered to one point; under such massive force, the resulting destruction was absolutely beyond comprehension.
In the distance, White Horse Lightning and One Hundred and Eight seemed to sense an unusual energy and slowly approached.
Upon seeing the deep pit stretching nearly twenty li, even the usually arrogant White Horse Lightning felt immense pressure.
Divine Beasts possessed the strongest bodies in the world; even common divine artifacts might fail to wound the impenetrable flesh of a Divine Beast.
But faced with this single saber strike, even White Horse Lightning felt a pang of dread, as it could not be certain if its physical structure could withstand such tremendous force. If cleaved in two by this strike, no matter how powerful its inherent capabilities, they would be rendered useless.
He Yiming slowly descended, and as he flipped his hand, the Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting appeared. His expression was rather strange, as if he had discovered something peculiar.
"What is wrong?" One Hundred and Eight asked in a deep voice.
Since regaining his original form, One Hundred and Eight had become taciturn once more. His rare utterance at this moment startled He Yiming out of his astonishment.
He gave a wry smile. "Brother Bai, I just realized that the ultimate purpose of these final interconnected forms is not actually aimed at human Divine Path experts, but specifically designed to deal with Divine Beasts."
White Horse Lightning let out a soft neigh, a flicker of alarm passing through its eyes.
He Yiming put the Tome away, gazing toward the east. A thought crossed his mind: he wondered if this one strike could injure that colossal Divine Dragon possessing supreme divine abilities.