Cultivation: I have an omnipotent land

Chapter 41 Lightning Summoning Technique

After a satisfying meal, Xiao Ming returned to his room.

This time, he took out a jade slip, which was left behind by Xuan Leizi.

There are still about ten days left, and we must make good use of them. Cultivating a secret technique is the best way to improve our strength.

Xiao Ming placed the jade slip on his forehead, scanned it with his spiritual sense, and immediately a surge of information flooded into his mind.

[Lightning Summoning Technique]

Thunder is the command of Heaven. Those who master my methods can command thunder and lightning, exorcise evil spirits and demons, ward off locust plagues and epidemics, and guide wandering souls...

It took Xiao Ming quite a while to get a general understanding of what the lightning-summoning technique was all about.

The inventor of this thunder technique was truly an extraordinary person. For a normal cultivator to practice thunder techniques, they must have both metal and fire spiritual roots, and they must have reached a certain level of mastery over these two types of spells before they can transform metal and fire into thunder.

This extraordinary person, however, wanted to use his magical power to cause the metal and fire spiritual energies in the outside world to collide, generate thunder energy in the sky, and then bring it down.

Of course, even if one uses magic to activate it, one must have a metal and fire spiritual root; otherwise, it is extremely difficult to sense the metal and fire spiritual energy. What is even more amazing about this extraordinary person is that he thought of using talismans instead.

He invented an extremely simplified version of a special talisman, which, when used during a spellcasting ceremony, could attract the spiritual energy of metal and fire. This is why Xuan Leizi always burned talisman paper when summoning lightning.

Xiao Ming possesses a metal and fire spiritual root, and with the addition of this lightning-summoning talisman, not only will it be easier for him to learn, but its power will also be stronger.

Thunder magic is domineering. The weakest of the spells recorded above is a mid-level spell, which is the lightning-summoning spell used by Xuan Leizi. The stronger palm lightning is a high-level spell. No wonder it destroyed that vicious and strange demonic corpse in one move.

It now seems that Xuan Leizi's cultivation level was somewhat insufficient to unleash this move. He previously said that his eagerness for quick success damaged his foundation, which was most likely caused by forcibly cultivating the Palm Thunder technique.

After reviewing everything he had just learned in his mind, Xiao Ming began to try to cultivate thunder magic.

In the midst of intense training, the time for the sect selection arrived in the blink of an eye.

Following Bai Changnian's earlier directions, Xiao Ming arrived at a huge plaza.

At this moment, a large number of people have gathered in the square, all of whom have come to compete. Naturally, there is no need for everyone to hide their cultivation level. Looking around, you can hardly see anyone who is at the early stage of Qi Refining. There are quite a few cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining, a few at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and even some at the ninth level.

Xiao Ming made a special note of the black-clad man with a knife who was at the ninth level of Qi Refining. According to the information given by Bai Changnian, this man was Shen Tu Ren, the Black Blood Blade.

Rumor has it that he was originally a bandit who accidentally obtained a chance encounter with immortality. After that, his cultivation progressed rapidly. He was extremely bloodthirsty and would kill and rob people at the slightest disagreement, which made him many enemies. However, his cultivation increased rapidly and he was extremely vengeful, so he earned a notorious reputation among rogue cultivators.

After reviewing the man's information in his mind, Xiao Ming looked elsewhere and saw a seven-foot-tall, muscular man carrying a huge iron rod. The man's cultivation level was also at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Xiao Ming remembered that the man's name was Qu Zheng, but he didn't know his personality. He was only told not to provoke him easily.

Xiao Ming's gaze swept over the group of people, comparing them with the important figures he needed to be wary of in the data. Suddenly, he paused and noticed a strange figure in the crowd. This person was wearing a black bamboo hat, and the gauze completely covered his body. He could only vaguely sense a slight fluctuation of spiritual energy.

The selection process for the upper sect was kept so well hidden; Xiao Ming could only sigh that there were quite a few eccentric people here.

Just then, a series of exclamations suddenly came from the crowd. Xiao Ming immediately looked up and saw a large ship breaking through the clouds in the distance, blocking out the light of day and causing everyone to feel awe.

"This is the power of the upper sect!" Xiao Ming exclaimed inwardly.

As the immortal boat slowly descended, several cultivators flew out on their escape artifacts; each of them was a Foundation Establishment expert.

One of them flew out. He was wearing a Taoist robe, with a long beard and eyebrows, and half-white hair, looking just like an immortal in folk mythology.

He patted his storage bag, summoning four white jade cubes. As he chanted an incantation, he tossed them towards the ground. The four white jade cubes immediately and rapidly expanded, becoming four arenas, each ten feet long and wide, and about three feet high.

"I am Zong Zhengguang, the chief examiner for this sect selection. Enough with the small talk, let's get straight to the point: the selection of new disciples for the Gu Ling Sect."

"There are only two rules: first, the participants must hold an ascension token; second, the participants must be no older than thirty and must win three consecutive matches on the stage."

After finishing speaking, Zong Zhengguang glanced at the crowd below and slowly began to speak.

"If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask them here today."

Upon hearing this, the people below immediately began to murmur amongst themselves.

"If I accidentally kill an opponent during a competition, will I be disqualified?" The questioner was Shen Tu Ren. Many people present gritted their teeth upon hearing it was him asking the question. Accidentally killing someone? You probably want to kill all your opponents so no one dares to go on stage.

"Once you step onto the ring, life and death are left to fate." Zongzheng Guang's indifferent reply clearly acquiesced to his actions.

"May I take a short break after a match?" someone in the crowd asked.

"No, we must fight three matches in a row, and win all three."

"So if you lose, can you go back on stage to compete again?"

"Of course not. No matter how amazing or brilliant your previous battles were, a defeat is a defeat. You can only blame yourself for not being strong enough and having no affinity with my Gu Ling Sect. You should wait five years or go elsewhere to seek your immortal destiny."

After hearing the examiner's words, the people below began to whisper among themselves again. Most of them were not confident that they could win three consecutive games. It seemed that they needed to be more strategic.

Soon after, another person spoke up and asked, "Senior, are the opponents designated by you, or are they chosen freely?"

"Whoever goes up on stage first gets to be the one."

These words sparked even louder discussions below.

"Doesn't this mean that you can just find someone to go on stage and then admit defeat?"

"Of course, that's fine, as long as you can find three such people here."

Zong Zhengguang finished speaking with a smile, and everyone present laughed along. Everyone who came here was a person with a firm heart for the Dao, and who would be willing to easily give up their chance at immortality?

Moreover, even if we take a step back and assume that you can get three cultivators to voluntarily give up their chance at immortality and act as shills here with the ascension tokens, and that the people below the stage will give you face by not rushing up first, then it's not unreasonable to turn a blind eye to this kind of background and strength.

Xiao Ming finally understood. Unlike the Spirit Test Selection, which only considers aptitude, this Sect Entrance Trial is like raising poisonous insects. Only those with strong strength, ruthless methods, or powerful backgrounds are qualified to enter the Immortal Sect.

Next, Zongzheng Guang answered a few more trivial questions. Seeing that no one else had any questions, he spoke again.

"Since everyone has no questions, I hereby declare the duel open."