Having absorbed the inscription on the stone stele, He Yiming was filled with an overwhelming sense of melancholy.

In truth, ever since he had failed to shatter the bone embedded in the corpse's brow, he had already harbored this suspicion. What other being, short of a legendary Divine Path figure, could possess such unyielding bone structure, yet still exude such profound majesty millennia after death?

The only puzzle for He Yiming was the complete absence of any mention regarding the sixteen Venerable corpses outside the chamber on the stele.

Perhaps the Divine Path master regarded those Venerables as beneath notice, or perhaps for some other reason, but not a single word was inscribed about them. Yet, He Yiming knew that the one capable of slaying sixteen Venerables in a single stroke could only be this individual.

Shaking his head, when He Yiming’s gaze returned to the large pond, his eyes could no longer conceal an undisguised surge of ecstasy and avarice.

The Heaven and Earth Sacred Fruit. The predecessor from the Five Elements Sect had built the labyrinth but never enjoyed its bounty. Now, after thousands of years of growth, this fruit had ripened. The fruit hanging on that massive, withered plant was the fabled Heaven and Earth Sacred Fruit.

The stele had detailed the fruit’s effects thoroughly, even outlining the method of consumption. Although the description seemed almost unbelievable, He Yiming generally placed his faith in it.

With a slight movement, he appeared over the pond and gently reached out, plucking the uppermost Heaven and Earth Sacred Fruit.

The moment the sacred fruit left the plant, he suddenly felt something shift beneath his feet. His expression flickered, and his body instantly leaped upward, reappearing before the stele in a flash.

Turning back, his eyes snapped wide open.

The plant, which had clearly withered, was beginning to radiate a strange, vital life force once more. The desiccated areas swelled at a visible rate, and countless tender new branches sprouted from the plant’s body. In mere breaths, the entire plant was renewed, brimming with vibrant energy.

He Yiming licked his lips. He looked at the Heaven and Earth Sacred Fruit, now only the size of an egg in his hand, and then at the plant that was utterly transformed from its former state, his heart filled with immeasurable awe.

The world was vast indeed; wonders never ceased.

This dramatic reversal only strengthened He Yiming’s belief in the fruit’s efficacy.

The Heaven and Earth Sacred Fruit, born from the convergence of Heaven and Earth’s power, brought immense benefits to all living things, humans included.

According to Zhou Minghua’s records, consuming the Sacred Fruit simultaneously with a Divine Beast’s inner core granted the ability to transform into that Divine Beast.

A human transforming into a Divine Beast…

Of course, the prerequisite was that the human must already be a cultivator of the Divine Path. Otherwise, swallowing both the Sacred Fruit and the Divine Beast core would result only in immediate self-destruction.

However, if one successfully weathered that trial, they would thereafter possess the capacity to shift freely between human and Divine Beast forms and abilities. Moreover, for a human expert on the Divine Path, the greatest boon would be acquiring the Divine Beast’s unimaginably long lifespan.

This was the most coveted property of the Heaven and Earth Sacred Fruit.

Yet, holding this fruit—a treasure that had been the object of desire for all Divine Path experts millennia ago—and then rereading the inscription on the stele, an indescribable bitterness crossed He Yiming’s face.

Cultivators of the Divine Path had vanished for thousands of years. Despite his confidence, He Yiming dared not claim he could certainly ascend to that stage. Countless heroes and talents had pushed the boundaries of martial arts over the centuries, yet none could break the final barrier to reach the Divine Path; something fundamental must be amiss. He Yiming could hardly believe that he, alone, could overcome the accumulated failures of so many predecessors.

What further depressed He Yiming was the stipulation that the Divine Beast core must also be consumed with the Sacred Fruit.

A Divine Beast—a creature comparable to a Divine Path cultivator. Never mind that no Divine Beasts had appeared in the current era; even if one did, He Yiming would flee as far as possible. To approach a Divine Beast with a cultivation level below the Divine Path was tantamount to suicide.

With a long sigh, his previously surging excitement slowly cooled. In the age of the Divine Path, this item would indeed be the world’s foremost treasure. But now that the Divine Path was merely a legend, this fruit was undeniably the world’s foremost ‘chicken rib’—useless yet regrettable to discard.

He opened his ring space and retrieved an empty wooden box, placing the Heaven and Earth Sacred Fruit inside before firmly closing it and tucking it away.

The ring space was undeniably convenient, but it caused him immense headache because it was already packed full. Though small gaps remained, they could only accommodate small bottles and jars; storing any significant quantity of items further was utterly impossible.

Clink…

A crisp, loud sound echoed from another corner of the cave dwelling.

He Yiming turned in surprise. A small, white figure appeared in his line of sight.

“Bao Zhu…”

He Yiming slapped his forehead. The shock from discovering the sixteen Venerable corpses outside had been so immense that he had completely forgotten Bao Zhu’s existence. The little creature, for reasons unknown, had vanished from his sight, only reappearing now, rummaging near a corner of the dwelling and clutching a small iron box.

Walking over, He Yiming examined the small box. Stroking its surface, he felt a secret wonder. This object must be thousands of years old, yet it bore no sign of rust, looking as new as the day it was forged. What material could it be made from?

He had a vague sense that many things from the Divine Path era had been lost to time. However, these items were incredibly precious, incredibly difficult to acquire. With humanity’s current martial cultivation levels, even knowing of them might not guarantee obtaining them—a fact made clear by the colossal monster residing in the outer sea.

After wrestling with Bao Zhu for a while, he finally managed to secure the small box. The angered Bao Zhu immediately hopped onto He Yiming’s back, clinging tight and protesting with soft grunts.

He Yiming ignored the little creature’s complaints, fiddled with the box for a moment until he found its mechanism, and then gently held Bao Zhu close to his chest. The little fellow immediately understood his intent, settled down, and stopped moving.

He Yiming carefully opened the small box. Upon unveiling it, he found a black necklace inside.

He paused briefly. The necklace appeared utterly ordinary at first glance, as if crudely forged from some random metal. But He Yiming knew it could not be ordinary; otherwise, Bao Zhu would not have taken an interest in it.

Picking up the necklace, He Yiming attempted to channel a trickle of true qi into it.

The next moment, his face lit up with sheer delight. Glancing at Bao Zhu, He Yiming gave the creature a fierce hug and declared, “Little fellow, you are truly remarkable.”

Bao Zhu immediately grinned, its long nose held high in a smug, triumphant posture.

This necklace was indeed extraordinary—it was a spatial necklace. This was the second spatial item He Yiming had encountered, a marvel legendary only for being craftable by Divine Path masters.

Taking a deep breath, He Yiming slowly fed his internal qi into the artifact. Moments later, he realized something was amiss. While it was a spatial necklace, the qi required to activate it far exceeded that needed for the silver ring. He Yiming even suspected that unless he had already ascended to the Venerable realm, he might not have been able to supply such a massive surge of energy.

After several breaths, the space before him shimmered, and finally, a peculiar realm, intensely familiar, materialized. He Yiming extended his hand into the space, his eyes once again flashing with wild joy.

Now, he understood why opening the necklace required so much qi: this space was over a hundred times larger than the ring space.

Feeling the immensity of the internal space, He Yiming let out a long breath. He realized this necklace must have been the treasured possession of the deceased Divine Path master during their life. However, the sheer scale of the space a Divine Path master could create still struck He Yiming as almost unbelievable. He was now certain: Divine Path masters were not merely humans; they were infinitely close to gods.

He Yiming moved his hands rapidly within the space, and after a moment, a peculiar expression crossed his face. He then began retrieving the items one by one.

There was a thin book, three black spheres, a weapon resembling both a blade and a sword, and a jade box.

First, he picked up the three black spheres. He fumbled on his person and retrieved the Thunder Condensing Bead, which had already been depleted of its lightning energy. He placed the Thunder Condensing Bead among the three spheres. Instantly, they mixed together, making it impossible to distinguish which was the original. He Yiming channeled his qi into each one separately but still could not tell them apart. He finally concluded that these three were also legendary Thunder Condensing Beads, now rendered black because their stored lightning power had been completely exhausted.

After storing the four Thunder Condensing Beads, he picked up the strange weapon and studied it for a long time. He determined it was likely the armament used by the Divine Path master in life. Strangely, this weapon did not seem to be a legendary divine artifact; it appeared inferior not only to the Thunder Condensing Beads and the Nine Dragon Furnace but even to the imitation artifact, the Five Elements Ring.

He casually tossed the weapon into the necklace space and opened the exquisitely decorated jade box.

Five beams of light, each a different color, immediately erupted from the box. He Yiming paused, then his eyes widened, revealing a look of absolute disbelief.