"Young Master, you're awake? I saw you were still in your cultivation and didn't want to disturb you. Here are the Gold Element Magic Crystals you need!" the Snake King said to Ye Tian.
The Snake King then produced dozens of golden Magic Crystals for Ye Tian. The largest was the size of a pigeon's egg, while the smallest was no bigger than a fava bean.
Seeing these Gold Element Magic Crystals, Ye Tian immediately smiled. "Thank you for your hard work, Snake King. I'll follow your method and absorb these low-grade Gold Element Magic Crystals first. Please continue to stand guard at the cave entrance for me."
The Snake King nodded and left the cave. Ye Tian then picked up a Gold Element Magic Crystal and began to absorb it. For now, he didn't dare divide his attention by absorbing two Magic Crystals at once.
The indomitable power of the Gold Element was extremely destructive to the body. Absorbing it rashly would cause great harm. He had to first master the Power of the Golden Element before he could absorb it with abandon.
Ye Tian slowly absorbed the energy from the Gold Element Magic Crystal. As the Gold Element entered his body, it felt as if millions of ants were gnawing at his meridians. The pain was nearly unbearable.
The Gold Element was even more destructive to the body than the Thunder Element. While the Thunder Element was also very painful, it came with a certain degree of numbness. The Gold Element, however, was like a sharp blade, tearing his meridians apart.
Ye Tian's absorption speed was very slow. He was shocked when he looked inward and inspected the state of his body. His meridians were covered in countless tiny cuts, looking as if they were about to snap.
This sight thoroughly frightened him. If he continued to absorb the energy, his meridians might actually rupture. That would be a disaster.
He hesitated for a moment, but he didn't stop. Despite the pain, he continued to slowly absorb the energy.
Soon, he discovered something strange. His Dragon Spiritual Power was actually slowly repairing his injured meridians. The process was just a bit slow—much less effective than when it healed external wounds.
This discovery filled Ye Tian with joy. 'As long as I absorb it slowly, my Dragon Spiritual Power can gradually integrate the Gold Element. Once my body adapts to it, I won't have to worry about any lingering consequences!'
The initial process was long and painful, but once he passed this trial, it would be smooth sailing.
As time passed, the Gold Elemental Energy entered his body bit by bit and was slowly integrated by his Dragon Spiritual Power. The pain in his body gradually subsided.
Ye Tian checked his meridians again and found that the tiny, hairline cracks had vanished. In their place, his meridians had become even tougher and more resilient. It felt as if they were undergoing a powerful tempering process.
It took a very long time to absorb a single Gold Element Magic Crystal. The energy within it was limited and didn't provide a huge boost, but it did allow Ye Tian's body to slowly acclimate to the indomitable attribute.
On his second try, Ye Tian still didn't attempt to absorb two Magic Crystals. He needed to be able to fully handle the Gold Element before he could speed up the process.
It took him half a day just to absorb two Gold Element Magic Crystals—and they were the two smallest ones. The pace was unbelievably slow. However, the pain he felt while absorbing the second crystal was already very faint.
So, Ye Tian began to divide his attention and absorb two at once. As soon as he did, he could clearly feel the Gold Elemental Energy in his meridians increasing rapidly.
Moreover, the speed at which his Dragon Spiritual Power integrated the new energy also increased significantly. To Ye Tian's greatest surprise, his body's Thunder Power didn't react negatively to the Gold Element at all. The two different Elemental Powers coexisted harmoniously, as if they were old friends.
Before he knew it, Ye Tian had absorbed all the Gold Element Magic Crystals the Snake King had given him. However, the amount of Gold Elemental Energy in his body still hadn't reached the level required to practice the first form of the Chaos Thunder Strike: Gold Slash.
"Snake King, go get me some more Gold Element Magic Crystals! I still need quite a few. I can just barely manage to absorb the Gold Elemental Energy now," Ye Tian called out to the Snake King at the mouth of the cave.
"Give me two days, Young Master. I'll get you a much larger haul this time. But while I'm gone, you must protect yourself. Don't leave this cave unless you absolutely have to," the Snake King said.
He then transformed into his true form. A colossal python appeared before Ye Tian, its body even larger and longer than that of an Eight-winged Golden Scale Python.
The Snake King's actions puzzled Ye Tian. He didn't understand why the beast had transformed into its true form, but he resisted the urge to ask.
The Snake King suddenly spewed a large amount of green liquid from its mouth. It was, without a doubt, highly venomous. 'He must be planning to guard the cave entrance with this venom,' Ye Tian realized.
'Or perhaps he's leaving his scent to warn other Demon Beasts that this is the Snake King's territory, so they won't dare to enter.' This small detail showed Ye Tian how thoughtful the Snake King was. Though a Demon Beast, his intelligence was no less than a human's.
After spitting the venom, the Snake King's massive body shot out of the cave and vanished in the blink of an eye, startling Ye Tian. 'He's incredibly fast!'
Ye Tian sat back down on the ground, and the cultivation method for the Chaos Thunder Strike's Gold Slash began to surface in his mind. Now that he had some Gold Elemental Energy in his body, he hoped to be able to practice it mentally.
This time, a series of blurry figures appeared in his mind's eye. It looked like a person holding a giant golden sword, swinging it rapidly. Each swing created powerful waves of energy.
The most terrifying part was that these waves were followed by a sky full of golden light, which was laced with horrifying Sword Qi. 'This must be the terrifying Attack Power unleashed by Gold Slash,' he thought.
However, he still couldn't practice it because the move was executed too quickly for him to see clearly. To see the technique of Gold Slash clearly, he would need to possess a sufficient amount of Gold Elemental Energy.
Right now, what Ye Tian lacked most was Gold Elemental Energy. Perhaps only after absorbing the Golden Bull Demon's Gold Element Magic Crystal would he be able to cultivate the overwhelmingly powerful Gold Slash.
The blurry images continued to flash through his mind, but Ye Tian discovered that as he watched them, the Gold Elemental Energy in his body was gradually depleting. This left him quite frustrated.
It meant that the Gold Elemental Energy was sustaining these images, which was very disadvantageous for him. 'I have so little Gold Elemental Energy to begin with,' he thought, frustrated. 'If it keeps getting consumed like this, things will only get more difficult.'
Once he figured this out, Ye Tian immediately stopped trying to practice Gold Slash in his mind. He would have to wait until he had a sufficient amount of the Gold Element in his body before he could truly begin his cultivation.
Ye Tian stood up and began to carefully examine the Golden Bull Demon's cave. He hadn't really had a chance to look around properly since arriving.
At first, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. But then, by chance, he spotted something strange in a corner of the cave—something that left him utterly speechless…