Entering the room in which the Good Fortune Divine Furnace had been placed, There were a couple of others there, both seemingly quite upset. However, unlike the individuals outside, these two knew exactly who I was. As a result, their moods quickly improved, at least the outwardly appearance of their moods. Consider it a sign of respect or something, whatever it was though, it definitely proved to be helpful. Everything is so much easier when all is calm.
"Greetings Young Master Yang, Grandmaster Ma." The two men saluted us.
"Hmm, greetings indeed. Young Master Yang is here in place of his father. The aim is to solve the issue we have run into recently." Ma Fan nodded, stroking his beard.
I continued walking forward, Bing Xue stayed with me. She was acting like white on rice at this point. I reached the furnace… It was like it was calling out to me. Speaking a language only I could understand. A few pieces of it were foggy and incoherent but that was to be expected.
"Elder Ma, you won't mind if I go ahead and inspect this artifact fully, would you?" I asked, just before my palm touched the furnace, stopping in mid air.
"Ahahaha! As long as it doesn't break I'm sure there won't be any issues. Did you also want to inspect it while in use?" Ma Fan asked, with a clear laugh.
"Oh, you're right, resources will be needed. Hmm, what are the restrictions on it?" I asked, placing my palm on the furnace, and a sudden burst of vitality filled the room.
"Husband, this… This is an odd feeling. It's like you but different in some way." Bing Xue mentioned, placing her hand on it as well. "It's like a heartbeat. So warm and inviting." She added.
"From now, until the moment I have completed my investigation of this matter. Formalities may be dropped. You will obey any order I give without question. If the cost of the order results in something out of your pocket, log it and my High Heaven Cave Heaven will reimburse it." I said in an authoritarian tone. "If you don't like that, or have any issues with it, voice them now or leave." I added, looking behind me, my eyes serious and narrow.
"I am from Yin-Yang Paradise, I have no objections to this." One said.
"And I'm from Gold Antelope Paradise, I wouldn't dare object, not when my senior sister finally got the thing she needed to realize her long held desire, a thing granted by you, Young Master Yang." The other said.
"Hmm, good. Then let's begin. Ma Fan, this ring contains nothing but rank 1 resources, of a single element. Here are 7 rings. We're going to begin tests with these first." I said, tossing over 7 rings. "Bing Xue, love, hold onto these space rings for me. Once the first rank resources are expended, continue with the next rank." I turned, asking my wife.
"Husband, you'll be alright, right?" Bing Xue asked, staring at the furnace.
I gently held her, gave her a kiss and smiled. "This is something I have to do. Once I gain enough understanding of this thing, I should be able to do something about the limits we currently face. And who knows, this might well improve my own abilities." I answered. "Something that… I can't get enough of it, not when I have a battle not seen since the creation of the 3000 Worlds, ahead of me." I added in a soft and low voice so only Bing Xue could hear it.
"Then I'll trust you. Don't get overrun by this. If you struggle even once, I'll demand you give me a child immediately after this is over." Bing Xue said, accepting the rings with a devious smirk.
"You and the others already do that daily." I chuckled, with a small smirk. "But, fine. I won't lose to this. It feels similar enough to the chaotic nature of Sun and Moon. They just needed some guidance. Perhaps this needs it as well." I said. Bing Xue stepped back towards Ma Fan. Once she was in position, I nodded to Ma Fan.
"Alright, then I guess I should start with the full set of rank 1. When should I stop that?" Ma Fan asked.
"Stop when I tell you to stop. Even if a 9th rank were to refine those resources it would take them a few years to completely drain the reserves of rank 1 resources. I doubt we will go through them, like ever. I can produce rank 1's effortlessly on my own, as you clearly just witnessed early, they can even be stronger than that." I explained, chuckling as I explained.
"Alright, here goes the first set…" Ma Fan chuckled nervously, opening the ring making an audible gulp. "This really is a lot, it might even be enough to gain a few 8th rank resources. How did you gain so much… Nevermind. That was a stupid question…" He stammered.
Eventually Ma Fan finally pulled out 1 of each resource element of the first rank. The resources went into the furnace. And a 2nd rank material came out of the fire element… 7 more cycles later, all of the elements that had been generated were fire elements. And on the 9th and 10th times, nothing came out.
While Ma Fan had been putting the elements in, he didn't for a single moment change the order of the elements of which he dropped inside. It was something I noticed while I was inspecting the process. I raised my hand, indicating for the trial to stop for a moment.
"I believe that we have discovered a bit more about this artifact. It's actually far more predictable than one originally would think when hearing its limitations." I said with a smirk.
"Wait, did Young Master Yang truly figure something out already? Such…" The Elder from Yin-Yang Paradise said, as their eyes bulged and widened.
"Well, it's only a theory at the moment. It's why I had Ma Fan stop. Allow me to show you something…" I said, snapping my fingers.
In the air above and behind me appeared a multi embedded circle. Each ring had a symbol representing each element. However, as one went outward, the number of symbols increased by 1 for each ring.