One of the youngest disciples possessed over twenty magical treasures. How many treasures could one obtain if they could seize control of the Hidden Immortal Sect? This was an unspoken desire stirring within everyone present. Now, in this atmosphere, this desire, like wildfire, began to grow unchecked.
"Kill..." someone shouted. Fifty or sixty magical treasures were unleashed simultaneously. Countless multicolored lights streaked across the sky.
A cold smile appeared on Lu Xuan's lips. The lightning around him suddenly contracted. Then, nine lightning orbs, each emitting different spiritual energy fluctuations, appeared around him.
For over two hundred years, Lu Xuan had been trying to integrate all the lightning techniques within his body. However, for a long time, he had not found a suitable demonic lightning to complete the final replenishment.
Therefore, Lu Xuan had no choice but to settle for second best and try to fuse the existing nine types of lightning. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, heaven, earth, wind, and clouds—nine types of lightning appeared simultaneously.
Nine bolts of lightning formed an ancient yet mysterious array around him. The besieging group felt the surrounding spiritual energy suddenly become viscous. Whether they were using magical artifacts to manipulate the energy or directly controlling it to unleash spells and supernatural powers, everything became extremely difficult.
The closer the magical artifacts in the sky got to Lu Xuan's body, the slower they became. It was as if an invisible force field had appeared around Lu Xuan, hindering the operation of all the magical artifacts.
At this moment, the single-minded cultivators were still manipulating their magical artifacts, desperately trying to attack Lu Xuan. The smarter ones had already tried to retrieve their artifacts and escape. The most decisive ones simply severed their connection with their artifacts and rushed out without looking back.
But then they discovered that the viscous sensation around them had materialized. Their entire bodies began to slow down drastically.
It sounds complicated, but all of these responses actually happened in the blink of an eye. A flash of lightning suddenly appeared in the air around Lu Xuan, very faint, like a candle flame.
But the next second, a brilliant light erupted. The viscous air around them, upon encountering this lightning bolt, was like a candle flame falling into a lake composed of kerosene. In an instant, the entire lake exploded. In reality, this meant that the area within several miles of Lu Xuan was ignited by the lightning.
A magnificent yet violent scene unfolded. If viewed from a hundred miles away, it would be apparent that this entire mass transformed into a gigantic ball of lightning in an instant, a dazzling display of vibrant colors.
However, if you zoom in, you'll discover that this vibrant, colorful spectacle is the result of countless acts of destruction and slaughter.
The lightning ball was composed of countless extremely fine lightning bolts, like countless tiny copper wires filling the air. Once the current was applied, they all instantly activated and flickered. The magical artifacts suspended in mid-air were like resistors burned out by the powerful voltage. As they shattered, they burst forth with multicolored light, only to be instantly engulfed by the lightning.
At the same time, the cultivators caught in the turmoil also contributed their light. Their spiritual energy was ignited, instantly transforming into small, incredibly bright balls of lightning.
With so many conditions intertwined, the magnificent three breaths were finally achieved.
The people from Qingyun Sect's Burning Incense Valley and Tianyin Temple were also severely injured. However, they were relatively far away to begin with. Mainly because after Lu Xuan instantly killed Cang Song, they sensed something was wrong and quietly retreated quite a bit, letting those rogue cultivators and cultivators from small sects who were blinded by greed step forward to test the waters.
It was this caution that allowed them to preserve their strength and avoid being instantly killed by Lu Xuan's attack. However, after that, they turned and ran without looking back.
Lu Xuan glanced at the three families, too lazy to chase after them. He was still savoring his move from earlier. To be honest, that move wasn't perfect. It was also the first time Lu Xuan had actually used it. There were still various shortcomings.
Firstly, he lacks proficiency, and his initial movements are too long. Although in previous exchanges, Lu Xuan could prepare in the time it takes to breathe, this is still too slow for him. His requirement for his spells has always been that they must be at the level of being able to control the spell with his will.
Secondly, his control was far from sufficient. During the execution, Lu Xuan clearly felt that this move was incomplete, as if something was missing. This led to a constant feeling of collapse after each strike. He had to exert all his mental energy to barely maintain control.
However, the final result was still somewhat satisfactory to him; at least the effect met his expectations.
Simply put, this move is actually a technique similar to a domain. Lu Xuan combined the Nine Thunders into one, and the lightning laws within instantly covered and spread to the surrounding area. In a short period of time, it changed the nature of the surrounding spiritual energy, transforming it into a kind of lightning spiritual energy connected to Lu Xuan's aura.
In this environment, even a sliver of lightning is enough to ignite all the lightning within that area, including any cultivator within it. They will explode instantly, like solidified gasoline encountering flames.
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Chapter 432 Hidden Immortal Sect 2.0
This move is close to the level of a law, but it's an extremely crude application of that law, and it's not comprehensive either.
In Lu Xuan's plan, this so-called lightning law domain would only be initially perfected when he gathered all the ultimate lightning techniques and formed the Ten Directions Annihilation Lightning Array.
After that, he needs to cultivate to the point where he can manipulate this domain at will. For example, in the blink of an eye, the domain can cover a person, directly igniting the spiritual power within their body and turning them into a ball of lightning.
It's important to understand the spread of this law's power. Once touched, the spiritual energy within the body will be instantly assimilated. Further on, even a mere flash of lightning—enough to kill even a mortal—can detonate the spiritual energy within. Without sufficiently advanced lightning magic cultivation or special protective artifacts, the outcome is almost certainly fatal.
This initial trial run was largely successful. The remaining task is to find a way to complete the final piece of the demonic lightning technique, then perfect one's lightning magic domain. Finally, through continuous refinement, one can eventually achieve a state where magic follows one's will.
Seeing that everyone had left, Lu Xuan temporarily put aside his reflections and went back to officiate Zhang Xiaofan and Biyao's wedding.
.............
The Hidden Immortal Sect became famous. Originally, it was just a small, inconspicuous sect compared to the Qingyun Sect. But after that battle, all the cultivation sects in the world knew about this powerful, domineering, and arrogant sect.
Although the cultivation world lacks the complex and ever-changing rules of the mortal world and the martial arts world, it is, in reality, simply an upgraded version of an infinite world.
Some of the messy rules of the martial arts world are still present here. For example, in the martial arts world, if a sect harms you, and you don't have a corresponding sect backing you, then you can't take revenge. No sect would harm its own members for an outsider.
It's like some frustrating plots in martial arts novels. You've been wronged and want to exact a satisfying revenge. But your enemy brings out a whole bunch of martial arts masters to plead for you.
One side says, "An eye for an eye only leads to another," the other, "One should be forgiving when possible." With everyone talking at once, you feel like you'd be inhuman if you continued seeking revenge.
Of course, there are also hotheads who will recklessly continue their attacks. At this point, two outcomes are possible. One is that everyone around will only talk the talk. If you actually take action, they'll just stand by and watch. Then you succeed in your revenge, but the entire martial arts world will begin to ostracize you.
Those with strong mental fortitude will live in seclusion, detached from worldly affairs. Those with weaker mental fortitude may become cynical and fall into demonic ways.
The second outcome is that once you make a move, those old fogies will follow suit. If you stop, that's fine, but if you don't, and you end up fighting with the 'seniors,' then the problem becomes much bigger. It's no longer just about isolating yourself. You'll directly become the target of the entire martial arts world, a demon hated by everyone.
This is the essence of the martial arts and fantasy worlds. Martial arts skills are never the most important thing. Power, reputation, and influence—these combined are the true measure of success.
Now, Lu Xuan has created a third outcome: he wiped out the entire group of idiots who were meddling in the situation. As a result, the entire world of *Zhu Xian* fell silent. It seemed they didn't understand how to handle this situation.
Lu Xuan offended almost the entire cultivation world. He even directly slaughtered a large number of elite disciples and elders from various sects.
This amplified the hatred to an immeasurable degree. But embarrassingly, no one dared to seek revenge. Even the Qingyun Sect remained completely silent throughout.
In truth, if Qingyun Sect had been humiliated on its own, Lu Xuan would probably have come to their doorstep to save face. But now, everyone's in the same boat. As for revenge, even setting aside the question of whether they could win, agreeing to it might result in even more devastating casualties. Considering the bigger picture, Dao Xuan decisively chose to remain silent and endure. After all, everyone's in the same boat, so no one should criticize anyone else.
After that massacre, the Hidden Immortal Sect entered a brief period of peace. However, this also led to a somewhat comical outcome: countless ordinary disciples, independent cultivators, and admirers flocked to join the sect. This left the cultivation world speechless. But there was nothing they could do; it was simply reality. What cultivator wouldn't want to join a powerful sect?
Previously, the three major sects were the strongest, but they were selective and wouldn't accept anyone. Now, the Hidden Immortal Sect is the strongest. Crucially, they are short-handed; if not now, when?
After a wave of enthusiastic defections, the Hidden Immortal Sect, through a selection process, chose twenty entry-level disciples. Then, there were over a hundred outer disciples. The sect's size thus became that of a medium-sized sect.
The twenty inner disciples were personally led by a group of girls who were originally from the Hidden Immortal Sect. The outer disciples were led by Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu. Apart from occasionally disciplining Zhang Xiaofan, Lu Xuan was basically a hands-off manager.