"Boss, now isn't the time to tell you about this. Let's talk after the full moon appears. This is likely related to the great war of the Ancient Times," the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python said.
Ye Tian wanted to ask more, but seeing that the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python was unwilling to elaborate, he could only hold back his questions. Still, he was extremely curious about the strange phenomenon it had mentioned. 'Perhaps I can discover something on my own.'
"Ye Lin, go stand guard at the entrance. I'm going to do some Cultivation," Ye Tian said.
In a flash, the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python was at the mouth of the cave. Ye Tian could only watch, left in its dust. However, he was confident that once he grew stronger and mastered Dragon Form Hundred Transformations, his speed would definitely surpass the python's.
Ye Tian slowly calmed his mind, and the mnemonic for the First Form of Dragon Form Hundred Transformations surfaced in his thoughts. He had now grasped the fifth transformation, but he wasn't proficient with it yet. He needed to master this form completely in the shortest time possible.
Gradually, Ye Tian entered a state of Meditation. In his mind, he repeatedly practiced the fifth transformation. He knew that only after he became completely proficient with the fifth transformation could he begin to comprehend the sixth. 'The Martial Skill the War Dragon Remnant Soul gave me is no ordinary Martial Skill,' he thought. 'It has to be at least Celestial Tier.'
Time flowed by. Two days later, Ye Tian opened his eyes, a satisfied expression on his face. He then stood up and walked toward the cave entrance.
"Boss, how do you feel? Did you have another breakthrough?" the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python asked.
"Not yet, but I've more or less reached Perfection in the fifth transformation. I'll test it out now!" Ye Tian said.
With a single thought, he executed the move. Like an arrow loosed from its bow, he vanished without a trace. His current speed was worlds faster than before.
Ye Tian dashed for dozens of miles but still felt it wasn't enough, so he returned. He arrived before the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python, not even flushed or out of breath, and said, "Well, Ye Lin? How was that?"
"It was so-so, I guess," the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python said. "You're still a long way from matching me! You need to keep working at it."
Ye Tian's brow twitched. 'This guy doesn't have a humble bone in his body,' he thought. 'But he's not wrong. I really can't compete with his speed, let alone his strength.'
Ye Tian took out some dry rations and began to eat. "Want some, Ye Lin? Or do you not need to eat or drink?" Ye Tian was curious, as he'd never seen the python eat anything since they met.
"I don't like that stuff, and I'm not hungry yet," the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python said. "If I want to eat, I'll just go find a Demon Beast later. You don't need to worry about me."
'Eat a whole Demon Beast? What a massive appetite.' Then again, when he recalled the python's true form, he figured it could probably swallow ten, let alone one.
After a simple meal of dry rations, Ye Tian went back inside the cave. This time, he prepared to begin his Cultivation of the sixth transformation. The nine transformations of the First Form of Dragon Form Hundred Transformations were all subtly interconnected.
Some transformations directly increased speed, some were for evasion, and others were for lightening one's body. It was similar to the Light Body Technique the War Dragon Remnant Soul had taught Ye Tian back in the deep well. Of course, he couldn't achieve the same effect yet; this was, after all, only the First Form. It would naturally be a different story once he learned the subsequent forms.
The short burst of speed just now had consumed a fair amount of his Dragon Spiritual Power, but Ye Tian paid it no mind. The Dragon Pearl in his body would automatically release Energy, and he would recover before long.
He once again sank into Meditation, practicing the sixth transformation in his mind's eye. This mental rehearsal unexpectedly lasted for seven days, by which point he had grasped the majority of it. If not for his stomach growling incessantly, he might not have woken up at all.
"Ye Lin, how many days was I in Meditation this time?" Ye Tian called out to the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python.
The Eight-winged Golden Scale Python flew in from the entrance, glanced at Ye Tian, and said, "Boss, I was just starting to worry about when you'd wake up. You've been in Meditation for seven days. Tomorrow night is the full moon."
"Good, good! This time, I'm going to see for myself what this 'hair-raising' phenomenon you mentioned is all about," Ye Tian said with a laugh.
He then took some dry rations from his Storage Ring and began to wolf them down. The Eight-winged Golden Scale Python watched him eat without a word.
Before long, Ye Tian stopped eating. "Ye Lin, let's have a race!"
"I'm afraid you'll just lose," the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python said irritably.
"You dare look down on me? Let's just see about that!" Ye Tian was fired up. The sixth transformation was specifically for increasing speed. He knew he still couldn't match the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python, but a competition was the best way to unleash his own potential.
With that, Ye Tian stepped out of the cave. He ran through the execution of the sixth transformation in his mind one more time, while the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python watched him, looking as if it was growing impatient.
"How much longer are you going to prepare, Boss? If you're afraid of losing, we can just call it off. I really don't want to crush your confidence," the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python said.
'This guy is sounding more and more human,' Ye Tian thought. "We start now!" The words had barely left his lips when he flickered and unleashed the sixth transformation.
The Eight-winged Golden Scale Python, however, slowly beat its gossamer-thin wings. The movement looked slow, but its speed was indescribable. It only began to move after Ye Tian had already dashed several hundred meters.
A few breaths later, it was right beside Ye Tian. "Boss, are you sure you want to race me at this speed?"
Ye Tian didn't say a word. He hadn't been using his full strength, as it was his first time actually using the Sixth Form. Mental rehearsals, no matter how perfect, were different from the real thing.
But slowly, he started to get the hang of it, and his speed began to pick up. After racing for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, Ye Tian could already unleash eighty percent of the transformation's potential speed. The wind howled in his ears, and it felt as if he were flying.
The Eight-winged Golden Scale Python also sped up, but it maintained a distance of two meters from Ye Tian. It knew that surpassing him instantly would demoralize him. Only by constantly pushing him could he master the technique better and faster.
The race lasted for nearly two hours before they finally stopped. Panting, Ye Tian sat on a large rock. "I still can't compare to you, but I'm pretty satisfied with my speed. I'm at least fifty percent faster than before!"
"Boss, for someone at your current Power Realm, achieving this kind of speed is already Heaven-defying. If I hadn't grown these two wings, I'd be on par with you at best. You really should be happy," the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python said.
"You're not lying to me?" Ye Tian gave the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python a skeptical look.
"Of course not! How could I possibly lie to you, Boss!" the Eight-winged Golden Scale Python said.
Ye Tian was thrilled to hear that. "Alright, let's head back. We'll rest for a day and then wait for this strange phenomenon to appear!"
The two of them then quickly returned to the cave. What kind of phenomenon would appear on the night of the full moon? All would be revealed in the next chapter!