Lin Chen hurried to the bathroom to extinguish the fire on his body and suddenly remembered the smile on Bing Ling's face when she left.

She must have known that controlling the fire spirit would lead to this situation.

"Hmph, once I've mastered the fire spells, I'll settle the score with you!" Lin Chen gritted his teeth.

With a mere thought, a wisp of flame appeared in the palm of his hand, but to his great frustration, the flame flickered and vanished almost immediately.

It seemed that gathering fire elements was not as easy as he had imagined.

Just then, his phone rang. Lin Chen looked at the caller ID; it was Hao Lin calling.

"Lin Chen, long time no see. I have good news for you, I can now enter the center of Qi Sea." Hao Lin's proud voice came through the phone.

"Hao Lin, I told you not to be upset, I can already control the fire spirit," said Lin Chen with a smile.

"What? How is that possible? How could you control the fire spirit in such a short time!" Hao Lin's hysterical howl came through the phone.

Lin Chen knew that his ease with controlling the fire spirit was not only due to Bing Ling's fire spirit essence but also the enhancements from the Tower of Time. Although his training time was comparable to Hao Lin's, his one hour equated to several hours for Hao Lin, so his faster progress was not surprising.

"Forget it, you're just monstrous. I'm really looking forward to your showdown with Zhou Ming. By the way, I heard he can control the ice spirit too," Hao Lin said, chatting briefly before dejectedly hanging up.

Zhou Ming, it seems he must also possess something similar to the fire spirit essence.

Lin Chen spent the entire day training in the Tower of Time, only leaving its space when his spiritual power was exhausted.

Now, he could conjure a flickering flame in his hand, but it was very unstable.

The next day, as agreed, Lin Chen arrived in the forest.

Bing Ling glanced at Lin Chen, her mouth curving slightly, "Not bad, to be able to control the fire spirit overnight."

Lin Chen smiled, "Thank you for your fire spirit essence."

"Tch, if you really want to thank me, just beat that jerk Bai Ling. I can't stand him," Bing Ling said, somewhat annoyed.

"Don't worry, one day I'll beat him so bad he won't be able to take care of himself," Lin Chen replied with a smile.

"With your current skills, just make sure you don't get beaten up too bad," Bing Ling shot back, giving Lin Chen a look.

"Alright, now that you've controlled the fire spirit, it's time to practice gathering fire. You should be able to conjure a flickering flame in about a week," Bing Ling instructed.

"You mean like this?"

As he spoke, Lin Chen thought, and a flickering flame appeared in his hand.

"How is that possible!" Bing Ling was momentarily stunned.

When she had controlled the ice spirit, it had taken her a week just to gather ice elements, but Lin Chen had managed it in just one night. His talent was truly terrifying.

"Is something wrong?" Lin Chen asked, seeing Bing Ling's strange look.

Bing Ling composed herself and steadied her spirits, "Hmm, you did well, but there are some issues with your control over the elements."

With that, Bing Ling opened her palm and demonstrated for Lin Chen.

Bing Ling watched Lin Chen, who was diligently practicing by her side, her shock reaching its peak. These were supposed to be lessons spread over half a month, but Lin Chen had completed them in less than a day.

No wonder Xiao Wen couldn't stop thinking about this guy; he truly was a prodigy. It was the first time Bing Ling looked at Lin Chen with new eyes.

Mentally focusing, a ball of fire appeared in his palm, blazing intensely.

"That's enough for today's practice. Go back and train hard, and hopefully, you'll surprise me tomorrow," Bing Ling said solemnly.

As Bing Ling was about to leave, Lin Chen suddenly remembered something and asked, "Sister Ling'er, if I want to control the metal spirit, do I need the metal spirit essence too?"

Bing Ling halted her steps, looking at Lin Chen with confusion, "The metallic attribute, that's the sovereign attribute that can control the power of thunder and lightning, rare to appear once in a hundred years. I heard that the best way to control a metallic sprite is to get struck by lightning."

"What, get struck by lightning!" Lin Chen trembled upon hearing this.

"What are you excited about, you're not even of the lightning attribute," Bing Ling gave Lin Chen a glance.

Bing Ling left, and Lin Chen's heart still twitched; get struck by lightning, this girl couldn't possibly be tricking me, could she?

"System, is what that girl said reliable?" Lin Chen felt the system's words were more dependable.

He certainly did not want his metal attribute sprite to remain inactive, only to be struck dead by lightning in the end—that would be tragic.

"Indeed, activating a metallic sprite does require the help of lightning strikes, there are precedents for this," the system replied.

"Isn't there another way, like something similar to a fire spirit essence?" Lin Chen asked.

"The metallic attribute is known as the king of attributes because of its dominant nature; naturally, lightning strikes are the best method," the system answered.

With the system's response, Lin Chen finally had some confidence. At that moment, a gust of wind blew suddenly, and thick clouds gathered nearby.

"It seems this is fate, let's get struck by lightning then!" Lin Chen gritted his teeth and drove straight to Tanxiang Mountain.

By that time, the sky was ominously dark, and the foot of Tanxiang Mountain was desolate. Lin Chen got out of the car and walked up the dim path towards the pitch-black mountain peak.

For some reason, being here always made Lin Chen feel a sense of loss.

Returning to the old place without a companion by his side and about to get struck by lightning, Lin Chen suddenly felt a chilling desolation.

Upon reaching the summit of Tanxiang Mountain again, the surroundings were silent, and lights twinkled from the mountain foot.

Hang in there, Qin Lan; you wait for me. I will become stronger, and no one will be able to take you away from me.

Saying this, Lin Chen sat down cross-legged under a tree, his mind diving into the Qi Sea of his metallic attribute.

In the sky, thunder roared incessantly, and bolts of lightning, like dancing silver snakes, continuously tore through the heavens. Lin Chen sat still on a rock like a boulder.

Inside his sea of consciousness, the metallic element sprite seemed attracted by the external lightning, showing unusual excitement.

Crack!

Accompanied by a loud noise, all the lightning in the sky suddenly converged into a huge thunder pillar as thick as a water bucket, slamming down fiercely onto the small figure below Tanxiang Mountain.

Boom!

Accompanied by a loud noise, the massive bolt of lightning finally tore through all obstacles and collided solidly with Lin Chen's body.

Within his sea of consciousness, Lin Chen's face twisted, his gaze locked tightly on the metallic sprite.

At that moment, under the power of thunder and lightning, the metallic sprite actually transformed into a small golden dragon.

Now! Lin Chen endured the excruciating pain, leaping up.

No sooner had his body grasped the small golden dragon than tendrils of thunder power traveled up his palms, spreading throughout his body. Under the invasion of the Thunder Power, Lin Chen's entire body began to tremble with pain.

At this moment, bursts of thunderlight erupted from Lin Chen's body, and his body hair stood on end.

"Ah!"

Accompanied by a sky-shattering roar, thunderlight flashed around Lin Chen, and the small golden dragon no longer struggled, obediently lying in front of Lin Chen.

He had succeeded. Lin Chen awakened from his realization, his heart bursting with joy.

But then he became a bit dismayed; at this moment, his clothes were reduced to mere fragments.

Well, it looks like I'll have to run naked, Lin Chen thought, as he ran down the mountain amid the continued sound of rain under the cover of night.