The young man was handsome, but his handsomeness was different from Lu Xuan's. His handsomeness carried a distinct wildness and evil. Especially his eyes, which faintly revealed a rare ferocity.
The opponent completely concealed their aura, making it impossible to sense their cultivation level. However, this meant nothing to Lu Xuan, as he had taught these techniques himself. Indeed, this was the Black Water Serpent that Lu Xuan had awakened in the Abyss of the Dead. It had learned the cultivation method Lu Xuan had given it and then entered seclusion to cultivate.
For years, the Blackwater Serpent had remained completely silent, having devoted all its time to cultivation. Until recently, it finally transformed completely into human form.
The Blackwater Serpent bowed to Lu Xuan as a disciple. This was because Lu Xuan was one of the very few cultivators who did not show hostility towards it and even imparted cultivation techniques to it. For a demon cultivator, this was arguably the most important step in their life.
At the same time, the Blackwater Serpent also brought Lu Xuan a very important message.
"Demon lightning?"
“That’s right, I’ve found traces of the Kui Niu. It is born to control wind and thunder and is one of the very few ancient ferocious beasts that possesses high-quality demonic thunder.”
Lu Xuan's Ten Directions Thunder Technique was incomplete, with only the final demonic thunder remaining unmastered. This was because, in both the previous and current worlds, a demonic thunder of sufficient power had never been found to be included among the Ten Thunders. Now, the Black Water Serpent had brought him a pleasant surprise.
"Kui Niu..."
In the original story, that guy wasn't very impressive; he was captured by the Ghost King Sect shortly after his appearance. Therefore, Lu Xuan didn't know what his attribute was. He even thought it was water. Now it seems that the Kui Niu is the final piece of the puzzle for his lightning magic.
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Chapter 465 The Final Completion
Cultivation is a never-ending journey. Lu Xuan has been stuck at the Golden Core stage for many years. However, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage is far from simple.
Besides accumulating cultivation experience, forming a Nascent Soul also requires sudden enlightenment and a stroke of luck. In fact, Lu Xuan had long felt that his various accumulations should have been sufficient. However, for some reason, he was always unable to trigger the membrane needed to form a Nascent Soul.
After much thought, it must be that his current state of mind is not perfect. Lu Xuan follows the path of clear and unobstructed thoughts. However, in reality, his thoughts are not very clear. This is because he has not yet completed the cultivation of the final type of demonic thunder in the Ten Directions Thunder Technique. Therefore, there are obvious flaws in his thoughts.
Forming a Nascent Soul requires overcoming inner demons. Such a glaring flaw strongly suggests a deep-seated resistance to Nascent Soul formation. In this case, it's highly likely that one won't be able to overcome those inner demons.
Now, finally, there's a trace of the demonic lightning. Lu Xuan couldn't wait any longer.
On the shore of the East China Sea, Lu Xuan stood with a group of disciples from the Hidden Immortal Sect, gazing into the distance at the deep sea.
At this moment, the sky was as dark as ink. Gusts of wind howled. The space between heaven and earth was as gloomy as an abyss, like a huge, ferocious beast lurking in the shadows.
As if by suddenness, a deluge of rain fell from the dark night sky. And in the depths of the distant sea, fierce gusts of wind, like wild beasts breaking free of their cages, roared and swept towards this secluded island in the boundless ocean.
In the sky, streaks of lightning began to appear. The already oppressive clouds hung even lower, seemingly right above everyone's heads. At the edge of the beach, roaring waves crashed against the shore relentlessly.
"Such extraordinary celestial phenomena must mean that the Kui Niu is about to be born. Everyone, let's prepare."
Lu Xuan didn't intend to kill the Kui Niu, after all, it was a unique divine beast. However, given that it wouldn't be easy for him to extract the demonic lightning from its body, Lu Xuan still needed to make some preparations.
The Hidden Immortal Sect members were already preparing the Four Spirits Demon-Sealing Formation around the area. This formation evolved from the Four Spirits Blood Formation. Its main purpose was to trap the Kui Niu, allowing Lu Xuan to defend himself.
Suddenly, a long, booming roar, like the cry of a dragon, came from the deep sea.
In an instant, the wind, rain, and thunder roared together in the heavens and earth, and a bolt of lightning tore through the sky. It flashed across the horizon, accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder overhead, and the towering waves in the ocean, as high as small mountains, suddenly parted as if torn apart!
Amidst the crashing waves and the fierce wind and torrential rain, a thunderous sound seemed to echo from the deepest darkness. A colossal figure leaped from the sea, almost merging with the night before crashing down.
The entire coastline trembled violently.
In the sky, endless lightning began to flash wildly, seemingly welcoming the colossal creature that emerged from the sea. The Kui Niu didn't appear to possess any direct lightning powers, yet it could summon lightning from the sky. This trait was precisely what Lu Xuan needed.
The Kui Niu is an extremely large mythical beast, much larger than the Spirit Venerable Water Qilin on Tongtian Peak of Qingyun Mountain. Its entire body resembles that of an ox, with a bluish-gray body, but it has no horns on its head.
But what's most incredible is that beneath this beast's enormous body lies only one incredibly thick foot, located right in the center of its belly. Looking at it, it resembles a folk one-legged comedy act; beneath its ferocious exterior, there's a touch of comicality and cuteness.
Lu Xuan knew that the Kui Niu had a major weakness: its eyesight was poor. Having lived for most of its life in the dark depths of the sea, it hardly needed sight. Therefore, he concealed his presence and approached the Kui Niu. Then, he suddenly attacked, startling the Kui Niu.
Its massive body, as large as a small mountain, suddenly leaped towards Lu Xuan's direction. However, it landed right in the trap Lu Xuan had prepared for it.
Red light rose from all four sides, like walls, and the Four Spirits Demon-Sealing Array was activated, trapping the roaring Kui Niu inside.
"Maintain the formation," Lu Xuan said, then entered the formation himself and stood on top of the Kui Niu's head.
In the sky, countless bolts of lightning, guided by some strange force, struck towards Lu Xuan's location. However, for Lu Xuan, the world's number one expert in lightning magic, this level of cloud lightning was completely meaningless.
There was no need to dodge; the lightning techniques he had cultivated for many years directly assimilated and absorbed the lightning. What truly interested Lu Xuan was that, at the moment these clouds and thunderbolts struck, a certain kind of lightning power also appeared within the Kui Niu's body. That was the demonic lightning he desired.
Demonic lightning, as the name suggests, is lightning on a demon. However, that's not entirely accurate. The correct interpretation is lightning that possesses demonic attributes and a sufficiently high rank. Although most demons desire to transform into human form, cleanse themselves of their demonic aura, and achieve a higher level of cultivation.
However, in reality, demons are also recognized by Heaven and Earth. Although various tribulations and difficulties in cultivation indicate that Heaven and Earth do not favor the cultivation of demons, their existence is justified. Therefore, demonic lightning should be lightning with demonic attributes. However, due to the limitations of Heaven and Earth, and the demons' own understanding, demonic lightning is extremely rare.
Only the Kui Niu, an ancient mythical beast, was born with the approval of heaven and earth and had not experienced many calamities. Over countless years, it gradually comprehended a trace of thunder magic, becoming the seed of demonic thunder that Lu Xuan needed.
That's right, the Kui Niu's lightning magic is actually very weak. You can tell just by looking at its reaction. It can't use lightning magic on its own at all. It can only borrow a trace of lightning magic energy to summon the clouds and thunder in the sky to fight its enemies. This shows that its lightning magic is still far from mature.
However, Lu Xuan didn't need it to be fully mature. Just having a seed was enough. The main thing was that the seed's level was high enough. Lu Xuan remembered that he had once captured a fish demon that could generate electricity. It turned out that the creature was an electric eel. Electricity was a biological phenomenon, unrelated to supernatural powers... Although it had acquired some demonic energy after gaining sentience, its level was too low to become a seed for demonic lightning.
The Kui Niu before him was different. An ancient mythical beast, accumulated over countless years, it was top-tier in every aspect. It perfectly satisfied Lu Xuan's requirements for lightning magic.
Lu Xuan didn't completely remove the demonic lightning seed from the beast. That would have been too cruel for this ancient creature. He took a portion and then instilled a simplified version of the Ape Strike Technique into its mind as compensation. Afterward, he released the Kui Niu back into the sea.
Lu Xuan didn't care what level this guy would reach in the future. For him, the most important thing now was to return to the sect to cultivate, fix the last loophole in his lightning techniques, and then prepare to break through to the Nascent Soul realm.
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Chapter 466
The Hidden Immortal Sect had been under absolute martial law for a long time. No one knew what had happened, only that the legendary sect leader was cultivating some kind of extraordinary divine power.
Those cultivators who had experienced the War of the Beast Gods could only feel helpless. They had witnessed Lu Xuan's battle against the Beast Gods firsthand. Whether it was the world-destroying thunderbolts that descended from the heavens, or the later scene of him wielding the Thunder Spear and defeating the Beast Gods, these were nightmares they could not avoid on their path of cultivation.