During Ao Minxing’s detailed narration, He Yiming nodded from time to time, committing everything to memory and interjecting with some of the doubts that arose in his own mind.

Ao Minxing had initially paid them little mind, or perhaps, he hadn't intended to explain everything thoroughly. After all, these secrets were the unshared lore of the Five Elements Sect. Having already told He Yiming everything about cultivating the Divine Artifact Domain of the Five Elements Ring without holding back due to their agreement was, in his view, quite generous enough.

However, Ao Minxing soon realized that the questions He Yiming posed were exceedingly peculiar, containing subtleties that even he found difficult to fully grasp.

This realization struck him with profound astonishment. He had spent a thousand years cultivating the Five Elements Arts. While he knew that the sea of knowledge was boundless and learning was endless—that no matter how high one’s cultivation reached, one could never claim to have fully comprehended everything—now, facing He Yiming’s inquiries, Ao Minxing had to admit that many issues raised were things that often puzzled him, or were concepts he had never even considered or encountered before.

How old was this He Yiming? Even if he had been cultivating martial arts since emerging from the womb, it was impossible for him to have reached this height.

Yet, because He Yiming’s questions were so profound and strange, Ao Minxing’s attitude shifted almost imperceptibly. Gradually, he ceased acting purely as an instructor imparting techniques; instead, he began treating He Yiming as a fellow martial cultivator of equal standing and stature, engaged in exploring shared profound challenges.

The two of them sat outside the room for three full days and nights, and in that time, both gained a great deal. However, they also accumulated even more questions regarding numerous matters. Yet, sorting out these issues clearly was certainly not a task achievable in a single day.

Three days later, Ao Minxing sighed deeply. He looked at He Yiming with a complex expression and said, “Brother He, you are a man born to cultivate the Five Elements Arts. If you had been born into our Five Elements Sect, the next Sect Master would undoubtedly have been yours for the taking.”

He Yiming managed a wry smile. “Brother Ao flatters me. I hail from the Northwest Heavenly Pool, and there is absolutely no reason for me to switch allegiances.”

Ao Minxing expressed his regret with a sigh. “I understand, and I deeply regret it.” He paused in thought for a moment, then said seriously, “Brother He, your Five Elements Ring achieved its status as a Divine Artifact while residing upon your hand, meaning its recognition of you is absolute. As long as you follow this cultivation method, you are guaranteed to condense the Divine Artifact Domain within six months at the very latest.”

He Yiming raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Thank you for your auspicious words, Elder.”

Ao Minxing chuckled wryly. “I shall wait to see you crush Edwin in the Southern Border, securing the next millennium of fortune for the East.”

He stood up and entered the stone chamber without hesitation, locking the door firmly behind him.

He Yiming pondered for a moment before quietly returning to his own room. He felt no regret; instead, he was entirely immersed in the discussions of the past three days.

While his martial cultivation was powerful, claiming he could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ao Minxing on Five Elements knowledge would be an overstatement. However, the questions he posed were fundamentally extrapolated from the contents of the Divine Path Scripture gifted to him by the Divine Dragon.

He Yiming had broken down the contents of that scripture and categorized the questions based on the difficulties he encountered during his own cultivation.

The Divine Dragon had once said that this Divine Path Scripture was the cultivation insights recorded by the founder of the Five Elements Sect in his later years. With that elder’s cultivation level at the True God Realm, his perspective and depth of understanding far surpassed anything Ao Minxing could match. Even the partially revealed questions He Yiming presented were enough to prompt deep contemplation from Ao Minxing.

Ao Minxing was, naturally, unaware that the Divine Dragon had given this book to He Yiming. He assumed all these insights were self-realized by He Yiming during his practice.

This misconception arose because the questions He Yiming brought forth were varied and strange, lacking any apparent systematic structure. It was akin to a reckless youth charging blindly through an enemy formation, yet miraculously emerging unscathed. It was precisely because these scattered, seemingly unrelated questions existed that Ao Minxing mistakenly believed He Yiming had discovered everything through independent exploration. This misunderstanding, however, fueled Ao Minxing’s envy of He Yiming’s talent and luck, making him wish he could trade places.

Upon returning to his room, He Yiming cast aside everything else and immediately began focusing on the cultivation method he had just learned.

He felt an inexplicable sense of crisis, driving him to desperately enhance his strength as quickly as possible. Although he did not know the source of this feeling, as a Divine Path expert, he trusted his intuition implicitly.

Every Divine Artifact possessed its own unique inherent power, thus requiring different cultivation methods to unleash the might of their respective domains.

What He Yiming learned from Ao Minxing was the method for cultivating the Divine Artifact Domain of the Five Elements Ring.

But He Yiming knew that while the power of the Five Elements Merged was immensely strong, precisely because it was too powerful, it could not unleash its true potential unless the user’s cultivation was sufficient.

Moreover, the Five Elements Ring he held was an artifact that had only recently advanced; even its Divine Artifact Core seemed incredibly frail. Even if He Yiming successfully activated the Divine Artifact Domain, it might not necessarily surpass the golden Divine Artifact Greatsword.

He Yiming had fought the Divine Artifact Greatsword and truly felt the immense power contained within its Divine Artifact Core. In his estimation, only the Nine Fire Dragons within the Nine Dragon Furnace could exert a superior pressure in terms of the core’s might.

Therefore, after careful consideration, He Yiming decided to cultivate the Divine Artifact Domains of both artifacts simultaneously.

Of course, this method of cultivation was utterly unprecedented. Had it not been for the three days and nights of discussion with Ao Minxing, he would not have been able to formulate a concrete cultivation plan in his mind.

With a subtle movement of his wrists, the Nine Dragon Furnace and the Five Elements Ring—the two divine weapons—appeared in his hands.

A surge of divine power flowed out slowly, weaving within the Nine Dragon Furnace and the Five Elements Ring. Currently, there were eighteen fire dragons within the Nine Dragon Furnace. However, the nine smaller fire dragons were vastly inferior in power; for the now Divine Path He Yiming, they were merely tokens of a past existence. But the nine great fire dragons were vigorous and energetic; upon contact with He Yiming’s divine power, they immediately became restless.

As for the Five Elements Ring, the Divine Artifact Core, which had taken only a few years to form, remained highly dependent on He Yiming, proving far easier to control than the nine massive fire dragons inside the Nine Dragon Furnace.

He Yiming transmitted his intentions and thoughts without reservation.

To cultivate a Divine Artifact Domain, one absolutely required the acknowledgment and cooperation of the Divine Artifact Core. This process engaged the inherent powers of both the user and the artifact; if either party hesitated even slightly, the end result would inevitably be complete failure.

Communication with the Divine Artifact Core of the Five Elements Ring proceeded smoothly. Before its core formed, this divine weapon had already been tempered by He Yiming into his natal divine weapon. Although it later developed its own soul, its connection to him did not distance; rather, it grew even more intimate.

Before He Yiming’s demise, this artifact belonged solely to him. Even with the Divine Dragon’s power, it could destroy the artifact, but it could never persuade the Divine Artifact Core to recognize another master.

This was the distinction between the Divine Path and the Human Path; Divine Artifacts, too, possessed their own dignity and soul.

The nine great fire dragons in the Nine Dragon Furnace clearly showed hesitation. They could allow the now-ascended Divine Path He Yiming to utilize their power, and they could assist him in alchemy and forging. But to fully unlock their inherent power and merge it with the Five Elements Ring’s Core to condense a Divine Artifact Domain—that was no simple matter.

This illustrated the greatest difference between forging an artifact yourself and inheriting one; when faced with crucial junctures, the attitude towards the user became starkly apparent.

At this point, He Yiming understood why Ao Minxing was so certain he would succeed easily. That was because Ao Minxing assumed He Yiming was only cultivating the Divine Artifact Domain of the Five Elements Ring. But he could never have imagined He Yiming’s greed. In the pursuit of even greater power, he intended to cultivate two Divine Artifact Domains simultaneously.

He Yiming was not rash now. He slowly transmitted his benevolent intent bit by bit, following the methods Ao Minxing had described. The Five Elements Ring in his hand had also been inherited from the previous Sect Master, so he possessed a deep understanding of it.

Three more days passed, and finally, the nine great fire dragons within the Nine Dragon Furnace assented. As for the nine smaller fire dragons He Yiming had forged himself, though they were completely willing, unfortunately, they were not the ones holding sway within the Nine Dragon Furnace.

Having gained the approval of the Divine Artifact Cores within both the Nine Dragon Furnace and the Five Elements Ring, He Yiming was overjoyed.

He muttered to himself, recalling that Ao Minxing had explicitly stated it required an extremely long period for the Divine Artifact Core to perceive the user’s goodwill and capability. During this time, one absolutely could not become impatient. When Ao Minxing achieved this step—gaining the artifact’s acceptance—it had taken him a full six months.

Yet, He Yiming had completed this stage in a mere three days.

Compared to Ao Minxing’s six months, three days was so short it was practically negligible.

He looked at the Nine Dragon Furnace with satisfaction, filled with elation. He knew this must be because he had already possessed the Nine Dragon Furnace for a long time and had established a positive relationship with the nine fire dragons before advancing to the Divine Path. Otherwise, those nine fire dragons would never have yielded so easily.

Sending both streams of intent into the artifacts simultaneously, He Yiming was essentially communicating with and attempting to cultivate the Divine Artifact Domains of two artifacts at once—an idea so fantastic that if Ao Minxing knew, one could only wonder how he would react to He Yiming.

However, in this world, the line between genius and madman is razor-thin. Without boundless, unrestrained imagination, how could world-altering figures of unsurpassed genius ever emerge?

In the eyes of others, He Yiming already existed as a figure existing somewhere between genius and madness.

Under his control, divine power surged ceaselessly through both artifacts, faintly manifesting distinct and peculiar phenomena from each.