The horned lightning snake brought Xiang Shaoyun back to the silver lightning stone where they had been absorbing lightning energy earlier. When the silver-winged lightning wolves in the vicinity saw them returning, they quickly scattered again, including the Kings.
Before an Emperor, all Kings were worthless.
The horned lightning snake used its Camouflage Invisibility ability to directly enter the silver lightning stone. Xiang Shaoyun assumed that it had returned to pack up its belongings, so he waited patiently.
"There is something weird about this little fellow. It is already capable of flight and has a speed faster than a King's, but its cultivation realm does not seem too high. Gold serpentine crocodile, can you tell us its actual realm?" asked Devouring Ghost.
Jin Wo was a Demon Emperor, but Devouring Ghost was even stronger than him, so he could not ignore the question. He answered, "Peak of Great Demon, ready to enter the Demon King at any moment. Perhaps it is waiting for something before breaking through."
"I thought all demons directly entered the next realm as soon as they had enough accumulation to do so? This little fellow actually knows to suppress its strength and not break through?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"Of course us demons are capable of suppressing our strength before breaking through at the most suitable timing. But the way we go about it is different from humans. For us, we will temper the physical body until it reaches the perfect level before forming a demonic core. That is why it looks like our breakthroughs have always occurred immediately after we have accumulated enough strength," said Jin Wo.
"I see. Looks like I have been too ignorant," said Xiang Shaoyun in realization.
Pa!
Suddenly, a crack appeared on the surface of the silver lightning stone. Next, strands of silver lightning energy no weaker than natural lightning bolts started leaking from it. If Xiang Shaoyun was not already a King, he would have a hard time standing amid this energy.
But since he was already a King and had also reforged his lightning bone by devouring the silver lightning energy, he now had a natural intimacy with its energy. Thus, he was no longer easily harmed by it.
As for Devouring Ghost and Jin Wo, both of them were strong enough to not fear the energy. The lightning bone activated and quickly absorbed all the energy leaking out of the stone. Xiang Shaoyun could sense that after the refinement, his lightning bone now possessed an even scarier devouring force.
The horned lightning snake came out of the stone. This time, there was a clump of silvery energy floating beside it. Anyone could see with a single glance that it was no normal clump of energy.
"What is that?" Xiang Shaoyun asked in astonishment.
The lightning bone within him was releasing a great sense of hunger again, as if it longed greatly to completely devour the clump of energy.
"This is a silver lightning core!" Devouring Ghost cried out in alarm.
Devouring Ghost was one who once stood at the peak of the Nine Gods Dominion. Very few things could alarm him this much. Just from his reaction alone, it was clear how extraordinary the clump of energy was.
"Silver lightning core? A pure energy core formed by natural lightning energy?" Du Xuanhao asked.
"Exactly. I had not expected that there would actually be such a clump of energy in this silver lightning stone. No wonder it was able to attract so many silver lightning bolts from the sky," said Devouring Ghost affirmatively.
"A so-called lightning core is in a sense a seed of natural lightning energy, and this silver lightning core is a mutated version of it and is extremely beneficial for any cultivator," Xiang Shaoyun said as he immediately recalled what he had once read about this lightning core.
All lightning cores formed only after a long period of time. The time required would take hundreds, or even thousands, of years. Any King would go mad for one, and even Emperors would want one as well.
It was no wonder that this horned lightning snake was able to mutate. It must have benefited from the silver lightning core. Even the silver-winged lightning wolves had benefited from it. Unfortunately for the wolves, the horned lightning snake had excavated the core from the stone. Once exposed, the core could no longer be allowed to stay, or it would slowly disperse before ceasing to exist.
"Help me bring it away," said the horned lightning snake, suddenly speaking human tongue.
Demons with powerful bloodlines could usually start speaking human language the moment they reach the late-stage Great Demon realm. This horned lightning snake had never come in contact with humans before, which was why it had remained silent until now. After staying with Xiang Shaoyun's group for a bit and listening to them, its unique talent of speech started working, granting it the ability of speech.
"Haha, that is not a problem. But I might need to keep it somewhere that will make it hard for you to have constant access to it," said Xiang Shaoyun with a smile.
This was akin to a big gift. Even if he did not absorb the silver lightning core for himself, just having it on him was enough to benefit him greatly.
The horned lightning snake gave it a thought before replying, "I’ll just go inside it. You can just take both of us in together."
Then, it directly went inside the silver lightning core, showing no fear whatsoever to the destructive property of the silver lightning energy.
"Not bad. Its entire body is now compatible with silver lightning energy. The moment it becomes a Demon King, it will be capable of battling those beyond its realm," Jin Wo praised.
"Looks like this little fellow is making one final accumulation before breaking through. I believe it won't be long before it becomes a Demon King," Devouring Ghost agreed.
Xiang Shaoyun did not hesitate and directly drew the silver lightning core into his astral cosmos sea. The astral cosmos sea was now much larger than in the past, and after the odd change that had occurred within it, he was able to easily absorb the silver lightning core into it.
Immediately after the silver lightning core entered the astral cosmos sea, the lightning bone started absorbing a part of its energy, further increasing the might of the innate purple lightning.
The silver lightning core was stored at a certain corner of the astral cosmos sea. The four different elements—that of the silver lightning core, the gold lunar liquid, the lava, and the soul spring—coexisted together in the astral cosmos sea and presented a rather wondrous sight. Anyone would be completely stunned.
After all, regular astral cosmos seas could only be used to store comparatively common objects, yet Xiang Shaoyun was storing all these destructive energies in his astral cosmos sea, which was something rarely seen.
Even Devouring Ghost was greatly surprised. "Young master, your astral cosmos sea has accepted the silver lightning core just like that?"
"Yeah. Why not?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"But the silver lightning core is extremely destructive. Are you not worried that it would destroy your astral cosmos sea?" Devouring Ghost asked.
"Ahh, don't worry. I have already tempered the astral cosmos sea with silver lightning energy. Why would my astral cosmos sea fear an object of the same element?" Xiang Shaoyun explained.
"That works?" Both Du Xuanhao and Devouring Ghost were dumbstruck.
Devouring Ghost was very clear on how astral cosmos seas worked. Only someone with an extremely high cultivation level could casually store something so destructive in one's astral cosmos sea like Xiang Shaoyun had just done. At the very least, one's strength must be far beyond the destructiveness of the energy one was taking in before doing something like that.
Xiang Shaoyun was able to accomplish that with a cultivation level as low as the Skysoar Realm, and he had pulled it off so easily. It was understandable that Devouring Ghost was so shocked. This firmed his belief that Xiang Shaoyun possessed an extraordinary physique no ordinary person could compare with.
"This silver lightning stone is not bad either. I can use it in the future to forge a weapon for the horned lightning snake, and I can also use it to further repair my Overlord Skyslaying Saber," muttered Xiang Shaoyun as he stowed away the broken pieces of the silver lightning stone. He then said, "Alright, time for us to leave."