There were countless uninhabited caves throughout Glazed Island. These caverns, cool in summer and warm in winter, required only minor tidying to become quite suitable solitary dwellings.

When He Yiming announced his intention to enter seclusion, Li Jiangfeng agreed without hesitation.

Though a myriad of suspicions swirled in his mind—He Yiming’s timing for this retreat was incredibly suggestive—no one dared to inquire if he chose not to elaborate.

Hastening to a specific cave, He Yiming sealed the specially crafted stone door.

He unceremoniously dropped the Treasure Pig onto the stone floor within the cavern, settled into a cross-legged posture, and inhaled deeply, his expression shifting through myriad subtle changes. The little Treasure Pig simply stared at him with its small eyes, utterly bewildered by his antics.

With a slight twitch of his ears, He Yiming unleashed his "Wind-Following Ear" technique to its absolute limit. If anyone nearby attempted to eavesdrop or spy, they would certainly fail to escape his detection.

After a moment, He Yiming finally relaxed his mood and murmured softly, "Treasure Pig, the Nine Dragon Furnace just called out to me."

The lazy body of the Treasure Pig abruptly straightened.

The Nine Dragon Furnace—that was an artifact of the current age, and furthermore, the foremost artifact of the Fire element.

This treasure had been utterly silent ever since entering the Five Elements Ring. Yet, this time it had actively made its presence known. Summoning He Yiming through sheer intent naturally surprised him greatly while simultaneously filling his heart with unease.

Stretching out its snout, the Treasure Pig gently nudged He Yiming’s body, emitting soft grunts.

He Yiming gently stroked the little pig’s head. "Don't worry. I brought you in because I intended for us to enter the Nine Dragon Furnace together."

Although the divine artifact Nine Dragon Furnace resided within his Destiny Divine Weapon, He Yiming knew there was a world of difference in how the ancestral fire dragons inside treated him compared to the Treasure Pig.

Therefore, he was certain that as long as the Treasure Pig accompanied him inside, no danger would arise.

With a subtle wave of his wrist, a burst of five-colored light erupted, shimmering with brilliant hues as it slowly formed a radiant curtain enveloping them both.

Once this light screen stabilized and enclosed them securely, He Yiming gently closed his eyes, extending his consciousness into the Five Elements Ring.

However, the Treasure Pig proved worthy of its divine beast lineage, boldly extending its will into the Five Elements Ring even before He Yiming.

The Five Elements World within remained unchanged, just as before. But He Yiming faintly sensed that the colossal Nine Dragon Furnace, so vast it seemed to prop up the heavens and rest its feet upon the earth, was trembling slightly.

Even from the periphery of the Nine Dragon Furnace, an unimaginably immense and majestic aura could be felt, accompanied by an equally profound life force.

He Yiming paused in slight astonishment. He actually sensed a trace of the life force originating from the Divine Tree within it. Yet, in his memory, the life force absorbed from the Divine Tree had been completely integrated into the Five Elements World, with no such pure, powerful life energy remaining on its own.

While He Yiming hesitated, the Treasure Pig could wait no longer. Its consciousness instantly soared to the Nine Dragon Furnace and passed through unimpeded.

He Yiming was deeply startled, momentarily doubting whether bringing the Treasure Pig along had been the right decision.

Nevertheless, he dared not delay and immediately followed it into the Nine Dragon Furnace.

As always, the Nine Dragon Furnace did not reject his mental entry. The moment he was inside, the nine small fire dragons joyfully swarmed around him.

He Yiming playfully interacted with the nine little dragons while simultaneously sensing the changes within the Nine Dragon Furnace. This time, he had not entered of his own volition; he had been summoned by the fire dragons within.

In a short while, He Yiming discerned the difference within the furnace compared to previous visits.

Every time he had entered the Nine Dragon Furnace before, the center of the furnace had been a tempest of raging fire, with the nine vast, boundless fire dragons churning up an endless sea of flames.

But this time, although the sea of fire remained, the temperature was vastly different—it wasn't even on the same level.

He Yiming pondered for a moment, and then his heart gave a sudden, violent lurch.

Because he simultaneously realized that the Black Tortoise Shell, which used to churn in the very center of the sea of fire, was gone!

The Black Tortoise Shell. It was the husk of a divine beast he had acquired in the Land of Reincarnation. When he brought it into the Nine Dragon Furnace, the nine ancestral fire dragons had snatched it away, leaving him a message.

These fire dragons, lonely for untold millennia, actually wanted to actively refine this divine beast shell for him.

Counting back now, it had been about a year—precisely the time agreed upon with these fire dragons.

With this thought, powerful, surging waves crashed through He Yiming’s mind.

A mighty will transmitted from within the Nine Dragon Furnace. Before this intent, He Yiming’s own consciousness felt as weak as an infant’s.

However, upon comprehending the information conveyed by that formidable will, He Yiming was instantly ecstatic.

Just as he had surmised, the nine ancestral fire dragons in the Nine Dragon Furnace had successfully refined the Black Tortoise Shell, which was why they had called him for the first time.

A pinpoint of light flew out from one of the fire dragons lurking in the sea of fire and drifted quietly before He Yiming.

The Treasure Pig’s will immediately approached, seemingly very interested in this light spot.

He Yiming covered the light spot with a wry smile, expressing his profound thanks to that vast will, releasing his gratitude without reservation.

Having witnessed the might of the nine fire dragons, He Yiming understood that without their intervention, it would have been utterly impossible for him to refine the Black Tortoise Shell on his own.

A divine beast husk—only divine-level forging techniques could refine it. To expect the nine little fire dragons to undertake the forging would have been a colossal joke.

What frustrated He Yiming, however, was that his gratitude seemed like a stone dropped into the ocean; not even a ripple was created. The immense will completely ignored him, showing not the slightest fluctuation.

Helpless, He Yiming enveloped the speck of white light and withdrew from the Nine Dragon Furnace and the Five Elements World.

He slowly opened his eyes. Before him lay a tortoise shell the size of a human torso. The mysterious runes on this shell had not vanished; on the contrary, they had become far more distinct.

He Yiming extended his hand and gently stroked the shell. To him, the object felt exceptionally familiar and intimate. Although he hadn't forged it himself, the sensation was no different.

After a moment of contemplation, He Yiming realized this strange feeling stemmed from the Nine Dragon Furnace residing within his Destiny Divine Weapon. If the Nine Dragon Furnace had been taken out for forging, this scenario would certainly not have occurred.

The little Treasure Pig suddenly snapped its eyes open. With a sudden leap, it scrambled onto the tortoise shell, its small eyes sparkling as if it had discovered its most coveted treasure, squealing incessantly.

He Yiming shook his head with amusement. He placed his hand on the markings on the back of the shell, stroking them slowly while comparing them against the Five Elements Secret Manual in his mind. After a long while, he seemed to gain some profound insight.

Yet, the more he understood, the more fond he became of the Black Tortoise Shell. A deep-seated urge to possess it forever surged from the bottom of his heart.

The true energy within his body swelled mightily, threatening to surge out uncontrollably.

He Yiming’s eyes flashed with sharp brilliance, and he finally made up his mind.

The five-colored light around his body suddenly flared violently. This was not the divine light from the Five Elements Ring, but the radiance emanating from his Five Elements Body itself.

The moment this light enveloped the Black Tortoise Shell, the runes on the shell also emitted a soft, gentle luminescence.

As the two intertwined, the Black Tortoise Shell slowly began to dissipate.

Light transformation into a Divine Weapon—this was the process of 'Divine Weapon Light Transformation' achievable only by those at the Great Venerable of Five Energies realm.

For a Great Venerable of Five Energies, successfully transforming a Divine Weapon into light would grant a measure of strength increase. However, successfully performing this transformation was no simple feat.

Before He Yiming had studied the complete Five Elements Reincarnation Secret Manual, his martial cultivation was insufficient to support the light transformation of a second Divine Weapon.

But now, having learned part of the knowledge behind the mysterious runes and grasped some of the power of the Great Reincarnation Flower of Five Elements, his strength had improved significantly, barely reaching the threshold required to light-transform a second Divine Weapon.

The Treasure Pig reluctantly moved away from the Black Tortoise Shell, grunting softly. Although clearly displeased, it understood that it could not act petulantly now, sitting obediently to the side as meekly as a puppy.

Slowly, when the Black Tortoise Shell was only halfway transformed into light, the process abruptly halted.

A sheen of cold sweat broke out on He Yiming’s forehead. The power contained within the tortoise shell was far greater than he had estimated. Even giving it his all, he could not complete the light transformation successfully.

All his true energy surged madly, transforming into beams of light that radiated outward, but the Black Tortoise Shell seemed like an unfathomable bottomless pit; no matter how much energy-light he poured in, he could never fill the void.

Seeing success slip away, He Yiming’s frustration was immense.

He finally grasped the sheer, overwhelming power contained within this Black Tortoise Shell. His idea had been excellent, but his current strength was overreaching.

Something refined by the ancestral fire dragons in the Nine Dragon Furnace, using a divine beast husk as material, was truly beyond his current reach. He suspected that not just himself, but even peak experts of the Human Dao, would find it impossible.

Just as He Yiming was preparing to give up, the five-colored light curtain surrounding him began to circulate automatically.

The light in He Yiming’s eyes brightened. He clearly sensed that within the Five Elements World, the miraculous runes suddenly lit up, emitting faint, mysterious light rays similar to those emanating from the Black Tortoise Shell.

Without needing his conscious control, these rays were released from the Five Elements Ring and began to contact and merge with the light on the Black Tortoise Shell.

The radiance in He Yiming’s eyes grew ever brighter. His own five-element light became increasingly dazzling and radiant...