He Yi Ming’s body gave a slight tremor as he extracted himself from the husk of the dead creature. Since he had already decided to fight bare-knuckled and set the place alight, there was no need for this outer skin as a disguise.

With a flick of his wrist, the Five Elements Ring and the Nine Dragon Furnace appeared almost simultaneously in his hands. Although the Nine Dragon Furnace remained nestled within the confines of the Five Elements Ring at that moment, the two divine artifacts showed no sign of mutual repulsion.

When He Yi Ming wished to summon and use them, he could bring them forth as readily as moving his own limbs. The body of the Divine Dragon also began to stir, surprising He Yi Ming with how long its writhing took.

Moreover, a faint ripple of power occasionally burst forth. Even though these undulations seemed negligible, dissipating entirely within a few dozen feet and thus failing to alert the creatures of undeath above, they still left He Yi Ming in a state of disbelief.

Blinking twice, watching the Divine Dragon emerge from the monster’s shell, He Yi Ming couldn’t shake the feeling that something was profoundly wrong, yet search as he might, he couldn't pinpoint the source of his unease. The Divine Dragon turned its massive head—its eyes a full circumference larger than a human’s—and glared fiercely.

“What are you dawdling for? Can’t you even space out at a time like this?” He Yi Ming’s face flushed slightly, his mind churning with silent frustration.

He truly couldn't fathom what kind of mischief this Divine Dragon was up to, taking such an effort just to drag itself free of a creature’s shell, and causing such fluctuations in the world’s primal energies. Clearing his throat lightly, He Yi Ming waved his wrist, retracting the Five Elements Ring.

He cradled the Nine Dragon Furnace, now only a few inches in size, against his chest, allowing his divine power to slowly begin churning. “Wait a moment.” The Divine Dragon extended a claw, halting directly before He Yi Ming’s eyes.

Gazing at the razor-sharp talon, honed to an edge like a blade, He Yi Ming instinctively recoiled. While this implement seemed less terrifying than the mandibles of the golden monster, He Yi Ming would rather have his body pierced by those mouthparts than be bothered by this single claw.

“Lord Divine Dragon, what are your orders?” “I did not forge the Five Elements Ring for you to simply put it away.” The Divine Dragon’s voice carried a subtle hint of annoyance. He Yi Ming paused, immediately grasping the implication, but precisely because he understood, his expression shifted in an instant to one of utter strangeness.

“Lord Divine Dragon, you wish for me to use the Five Elements Ring and the Nine Dragon Furnace simultaneously?” He Yi Ming asked, barely concealing his astonishment. “Indeed.

If that were not the case, why would I have gone through the arduous labor of forging the Five Elements Ring for you?” the Dragon stated as a matter of course. “But…” He Yi Ming questioned with suspicion, “how can these two divine artifacts be wielded at the same time?” Divine artifacts were not mere Divine Weapons; each was a supreme-tier armament possessing its own core spirit, comparable, in a sense, even to a Divine Beast.

Every artifact was unique, every one proud. Ancient lore dictated that wielding a single artifact allowed one to unleash its utmost might.

However, if two artifacts were used in tandem, unless their elemental attributes were mutually enhancing, not only would the artifacts fail to reach their peak potential, but their overall power would often be drastically diminished. Just as He Yi Ming had learned the Water-attributed cultivation method of the Seven-Colored Palace from the Rune Core Spirit of the Profound Turtle, the moment he activated the power of the Five Elements Ring, the resulting effect was a decrease in power rather than an increase.

If even runic cultivation methods suffered such severe restrictions, the resulting power when these two artifacts unleashed their full force simultaneously became a deeply questionable prospect. The Divine Dragon snorted coldly.

“Have you looked through the Book of Insights I gave you?” He Yi Ming touched the side of his nose, his face reddening slightly. “I studied it all night, but I’ve been quite busy lately, so I haven’t fully grasped everything.” The Divine Dragon shook its head, a hint of resignation in its voice.

“In the final section of the Book of Insights, there is a description of a method for Five Elements utilization. If this technique is employed, it allows the Five Elements Ring to harmonize with any other Five Elements artifact, amplifying that artifact’s power fivefold.” He Yi Ming gasped softly.

He understood perfectly the destructive capabilities of a divine artifact. Take the nine fire dragons within the Nine Dragon Furnace, for example; if their full might were unleashed, even a Pseudo-Divine Realm expert would likely retreat three steps.

To amplify that power five times over… He shook his head, unable to fully visualize the potential scale of such a catastrophe. Yet, a dawning realization settled within him: perhaps only such a cataclysmic torrent of fire energy could truly purify the ancient stronghold above them.

With a turn of his wrist, he retrieved the Book of Insights from his Five Elements World. Then, He Yi Ming sank his consciousness into it, quietly beginning his deep contemplation.

The Divine Dragon’s tail swayed gently. Though tinged with grievance, it acknowledged that He Yi Ming had not been idle since obtaining the Book of Insights.

He had been preoccupied with forging artifacts and catching up on foundational knowledge—matters of paramount importance—so it was natural he hadn't had time to study the book sooner. Especially the fundamental knowledge underpinning the Martial Path; He Yi Ming had re-studied and reorganized everything he thought he knew, knowledge that would prove immeasurably beneficial for his future growth.

If the roles were reversed, the Divine Dragon admitted it would have made the exact same choice. Thus, despite its slight displeasure, it straightened its massive form, standing guard over He Yi Ming.

After a considerable time, He Yi Ming finally opened his eyes. In that instant, a complex sheen of surprise and elation flashed within his pupils.

As the Divine Dragon had promised, he had indeed found a description of a cultivation method in the latter part of the Book of Insights. It was a secret technique for manipulating the Five Elements Ring.

Once enacted, the artifact would autonomously initiate the cycle of the Five Elements Reincarnation. However, this cycle differed significantly from the standard Great Five Elements Reincarnation Bloom.

It began by focusing on one specific elemental force, cycling through the remaining four elements sequentially, constantly multiplying the power before releasing the originating force once more. While the resulting power was immense, the prerequisite was that the starting elemental force must possess a magnitude far exceeding that of the other four combined.

The Five Elements Ring functioned as a holistic unit, capable of distributing all energy evenly across the five aspects. Only by using another divine artifact as a foundation could one generate a single elemental power so vastly superior to the others.

It could be said that this cultivation method was specifically designed for the Five Elements Ring to cooperate with other Five Elements artifacts. Having fully understood the capabilities and function of this technique, He Yi Ming felt a profound, almost overwhelming admiration for the ancient Divine Dao predecessor.

Perhaps only a transcendent powerhouse at the True God Realm could have possibly devised such an astonishing method. Lifting his head, He Yi Ming gave the Divine Dragon a firm nod.

However, at that moment, a chill subtly crept into his heart. This Divine Dragon, when proposing its suggestion, had clearly foreseen this very scenario; its planning had been a sequence of tightly linked steps.

Both the Book of Insights and the forging of the Five Elements Ring were mere groundwork for this moment. Its depth of cunning, he suspected, was in no way inferior to that of humanity.

The Divine Dragon whipped its tail. “Begin, then.

It’s better to burn this place down sooner rather than later.” He Yi Ming returned the Book of Insights to the Five Elements World, then gently placed the Nine Dragon Furnace within as well. If it were any other elemental artifact, even one drawing from the Five Elements, it would be impossible for it to enter the Five Elements Ring, itself a divine artifact.

But the Nine Dragon Furnace was demonstrably different; it had established its residence within the Ring when it was merely a rough precursor, so its entry now met no resistance whatsoever. Faint streams of power began to ripple around He Yi Ming.

The amount of world energy required to mobilize the might of both the Nine Dragon Furnace and the Five Elements Ring was astronomical, far exceeding what He Yi Ming could possibly supply alone. Even activating the Nine Dragon Furnace alone demanded a colossal reservoir of world energy.

The Divine Dragon’s eyes glowed faintly, and it raised its head, its aura gradually growing solemn. If the two of them remained hidden beneath the sands, they wouldn't alarm the death creatures above.

But to fully absorb world energy and attempt to ignite the power of these two artifacts would generate a disturbance too vast to conceal. If the death creatures failed to notice that, then the Divine Dragon and other Divine Dao experts could have exterminated them hundreds of times over.

In mere moments, the sand and soil around He Yi Ming began to swirl and scatter outward. Massive surges of divine power erupted from him, generating a localized, specialized dimension that repelled even the surrounding sand.

Torrential world energy surged into this pocket dimension, pouring unreservedly into the Five Elements Ring, which shone with its myriad colors. He Yi Ming’s mind achieved absolute stillness.

He silently perceived everything—the external world energy, and everything within his Five Elements World—each sensation reflecting clearly within his consciousness. It was an intensely sharp and novel perception.

Although he had experienced similar sensations before, none had ever been this lucid. Faintly, He Yi Ming felt as if he had grasped some crucial nexus point.

This was a level of power accessible and manifest only at higher echelons, yet now, aided by the two great artifacts, he was tracing one of its fundamental pathways. This feeling bore a resemblance to the moment he had utilized the Nine Dragon Furnace to maximize his Ice-attributed power, inadvertently stumbling upon the realm of the Ice Domain.

Of course, with He Yi Ming’s current cultivation, he could not truly comprehend or master this realm yet. But having touched upon it was like finding the right direction in pitch darkness—following this path would lead to the ultimate goal, saving him the time he would otherwise spend blindly searching for the correct bearing in the night.

If Liu Mu and the others knew that He Yi Ming could sense this domain-like power through the use of divine artifacts while still in the Void God Realm, they would surely be driven mad with envy. Within the Five Elements World, that area where Fire elemental power was concentrated began to simmer with countless flames.

Under He Yi Ming’s deliberate control, the Nine Dragon Furnace could no longer remain placid. The nine great fire dragons within, having slumbered for countless years, were finally restless once more, preparing to unleash their might in this new reality…