The air around them instantly plunged into a biting cold, an aura that seemed to freeze the marrow in one's bones. Along with the purple radiance, a torrent of frigid energy surged forth, almost comparable to that emanating from an Ice-type Divine Artifact.
From afar, Ma Yu’s eyes snapped wide open. His lips trembled slightly before he finally managed to speak, “Yuan Juan, are you absolutely certain that He Yiming is wielding the Nine Dragon Furnace, a Fire-type Divine Artifact, and not an Ice-type one?”
Yuan Juan hesitated for a moment, ultimately unable to offer a reply.
What He Yiming unleashed this time was not ordinary Water-elemental power, but its offshoot, the Ice element, manifested at its absolute pinnacle—the chill nearly matching that released by the Ice-type Divine Artifact, the Ice Ling Mirror.
Though they knew He Yiming possessed the Five Elements cultivated body, to see his Ice power wielded at such a supreme level still stunned them. This was why they suspected he was borrowing immense power from an Ice Divine Artifact rather than utilizing his innate talent.
The purple light rippled outwards like water, and suddenly, a faint layer of ice materialized in mid-air, shimmering with the most exquisite colors the world possessed, casting an almost dreamlike glow that drew the eye.
Ma Yu and Yuan Juan both flinched, feeling that intense Ice energy. Due to their cultivation methods, this sensation was deeply uncomfortable for them.
In unspoken agreement, both men stepped back, retreating several li in mere moments. The Winged White Tiger hesitated, then followed their retreat.
Any sign of fatigue had vanished from their faces. It was clear their earlier actions had been a ploy to force He Yiming into the vanguard to gauge his true strength. Yet, having witnessed it, their astonishment only deepened, causing their estimation of the youth to soar.
Over twenty golden monsters smashed headlong into the purple domain. As they flew, they acted like more than twenty battering rams, slicing the purple ice layers into fragments with ease. Every force obstructing their advance shattered completely before them.
However, the moment they closed within a hundred zhang of He Yiming, their movements suddenly stiffened. Their rapid advance slowed instantly, and their bodies became numb and sluggish.
Ma Yu’s eyelids twitched violently. He gasped, “Domain of the Gods? Impossible…”
Yuan Juan’s complexion changed drastically, a flicker of profound strangeness crossing his eyes.
The Winged White Tiger, however, remained the calmest. It spoke in a deep voice, “This is not his inherent power. It comes from the Five Elements Ring in his hand.”
Ma Yu’s jaw trembled. “Brother Hu, we’ve dealt with Ao Minxing for more than a day or two; he also possesses a Five Elements Ring, yet he has never exhibited Ice power. Furthermore…” His eyes glittered sharply. “I have never heard of any Divine Artifact granting a Void God Realm expert the ability to form a domain.”
The Winged White Tiger paused in silence for a moment. “This artifact was forged with the Dragon God’s assistance; it cannot be judged by conventional standards.”
Ma Yu hesitated, finally ceasing his argument. He knew the Dragon God held a supreme status among the few remaining Divine Beasts, and further questioning would surely anger the White Tiger. Still, doubt gnawed at him: could Divine Beasts truly forge Divine Artifacts?
“It is not his own ability,” Yuan Juan interjected suddenly. “His Ice Domain only spans a hundred zhang, far weaker than that of a Pseudo-God Realm expert.”
Ma Yu nodded slowly, and silence descended upon them once more.
In the distance, the twenty-odd golden monsters let out a unified shriek, a sound as grating as dull metal scraping glass, yet laced with unmistakable terror.
He Yiming raised his hand. In it now rested a small furnace, seemingly no larger than the palm of his hand.
But the moment this tiny furnace appeared, the expressions on the faces of Ma Yu and his wife turned instantly fascinating—a complex blend of horror, avarice, and other intense emotions. Their gazes locked onto the miniature furnace.
Then, a spark of flame spread outward, and a fierce conflagration instantly erupted. Following the outline of the aerial ice layer, it instantly engulfed every single golden monster.
Sharper cries pierced the air. These monsters, possessing intrinsically robust physiques—practically impervious to blades and immune to water or fire—flapped their wings futilely, issuing painful moans. While the flames did not claim their lives, their core bodies were clearly severely wounded.
Given their formidable constitution, neither pure Ice power nor pure Fire power alone could injure them so easily. Yet, the combination of ice and fire inflicted devastating damage in an instant.
He Yiming let out a long breath, inwardly acknowledging the true power of these creatures. They were formidable, but ultimately they were not human, nor were they Divine Beasts possessing high intellect.
They possessed raw power but relied only on mindless, direct charges, employing singular tactics lacking elemental synergy.
Against such enemies, deploying two opposing extreme attributes in tandem could resolve the conflict relatively easily.
In contrast, facing a Divine Path expert, this simple Ice and Fire combination employed by He Yiming would certainly not achieve such miraculous effects.
With a slight flick of his wrist, dense streams of metallic-hued light shot out from the Five Elements Ring like innumerable arrows.
In an instant, these powerful beams reached the golden monsters. Having apparently grasped He Yiming’s strength, the monsters ceased their suicidal charge. Instead, they wheeled about, intent on fleeing.
The twenty-plus golden monsters scrambled backward in a rush, but to their surprise, an even denser army of monsters was arrayed behind them. These creatures were following the golden ones, surging forward relentlessly. The overwhelming numbers seemed to fill every inch of space, blocking their escape route.
The golden monsters let out piercing roars. Lower-ranked monsters tried to clear a path, but in the congested space, they could not.
Yet, in that brief pause of a heartbeat, the thousands of light rays struck the golden monsters.
Agonized and despairing cries erupted from some of the golden creatures. Their hard shells, already weakened by the ice-and-fire impact, could no longer withstand the fivefold increase in Metal elemental power amplified by the Five Elements Ring. The immense force pierced their bodies, drawing in the Heaven and Earth power, inflicting unparalleled, colossal damage upon their forms.
More than half of the golden monsters finally fell powerless, plummeting heavily from the sky to the ground below.
Stripped of the force sustaining life, the golden radiance enveloping them immediately dimmed. They were no longer lofty beings but immediate sustenance for the lower-ranked monsters below.
The low-tier creatures, swarming like ants, descended upon the fallen monsters, devouring them piece by piece. Moments later, the ground was clean, save for the occasional, barely visible golden oral apparatus—the only parts too hard for the other monsters to chew.
Having dispatched over ten golden monsters in mere seconds, He Yiming did not relax, for before him surged an endless horde, filling every inch of visible space, threatening to drown him through sheer numerical superiority.
He Yiming’s face grew grave. He knew the only way to handle this situation was to mimic the tactic used earlier by Ma Yu, his wife, and the White Tiger: employ large-scale destructive tactics to eliminate the medium and low-tier monsters as much as possible.
He raised the Five Elements Ring high, the Five Elements Divine Power surging within it at that moment.
With a swift movement of his wrist, He Yiming let go of the Five Elements Ring, sending it spinning directly into the monster mass ahead.
The destructive power of the Five Elements Ring was truly unbelievable. Like a massive rotating saw blade, it ripped through countless monsters before finally stopping over ten li away. Immediately, hordes of monsters swarmed it, completely submerging the artifact.
Ma Yu and the others stared wide-eyed. Despite countless battles throughout their lives, they had never seen anyone simply throw away an artifact other than a Flying Sword type. At that moment, an almost unbelievable thought surfaced: Did He Yiming no longer want the Five Elements Ring?
Suddenly, a massive roar erupted from the heart of the monster horde, and a burst of multicolored light expanded from that central point.
Everything obstructing this multicolored light instantly dissolved into dust, lacking even the slightest capacity to resist.
The surrounding Heaven and Earth power surged wildly, feeding ravenously into the light, which flared up like a massive bonfire fueled by fresh timber, becoming unstoppable.
In the span of just two blinks, this colorful radiance spread several li, forming a colossal sphere of light that enveloped several li of space in the void.
The monster formation, stretching a full ten li, seemed to pause at this moment. They stopped their headlong rush and became hesitant and disorganized.
The Five Elements Ring had exploded precisely at the center of the horde, targeting nearly half of all the deathly creatures present. Such immense power instilled primal fear even in mindless beings.
A strange cry suddenly swept through the ranks, and all the death creatures seemed granted a reprieve, turning tail and fleeing desperately into the distance.
The massive influx of Heaven and Earth power gradually dissipated, revealing the small Five Elements Ring floating in the center.
He reached out, and the Ring immediately flew back into his hand. Re-grasping it, He Yiming turned and met Ma Yu’s gaze, which held a mixture of wary apprehension and sheer shock.