Invincible Beyond Heavens: Cultivating With A Broken EXP System

“You are strong, I will admit that,” Xiao Fanyun said, his tone no longer casual but solemn. He had not expected Li Yun to counter his attack so directly. Among the inner sect disciples, very few could withstand a strike infused with the power of his fourth level Qi Sea Realm cultivation, let alone repel it.

He knew clearly that the attack he had just unleashed was strong enough to defeat Mo Chuxue, or at the very least injure her severely and force her to concede. Yet Li Yun, with only the seventh level of the Xiantian Realm, had matched it head-on.

At that moment, Xiao Fanyun finally understood that Li Yun was far from the weak opponent he had assumed him to be. His arrogance remained, but his gaze sharpened as he grew serious. He was not a fool who could not recognize true strength.

“You know nothing.”

Li Yun’s lips curled into a wild smile as streaks of blue lightning erupted around his body, crackling with terrifying intensity. His gaze burned with fierce confidence as he spoke again, his voice low yet filled with overwhelming power.

“Let me show you what true strength looks like.”

The lightning surging around him began to condense and take form. Behind his back, it spread outward and shaped itself into a pair of radiant lightning wings that flickered like living thunder.

His arms were soon covered by crackling gauntlets forged from pure lightning, while his legs were wrapped in blazing lightning boots that pulsed with explosive force. Across his chest, streams of lightning intertwined and solidified into a piece of armor, at the center of which a lotus-shaped emblem glowed with a sharp and ancient brilliance.

At the same time, Li Yun released the full extent of his Lightning Intent. The moment his thirty percent mastery burst forth, the surrounding space trembled violently.

Sparks of lightning shot outward in all directions, burning everything they touched into fragments. The air itself seemed unable to withstand such power, collapsing under the violent pressure.

Some of those lightning fragments shot toward the spectator area, carrying enough destructive force to kill or severely injure anyone they touched. However, the elders reacted instantly, stepping forward to intercept the scattered bolts and neutralize them before they could reach the disciples. Even so, the shock that spread through the crowd could not be suppressed.

“What is this? That lightning is far too powerful. If even a single fragment had struck us, we would have been killed or at least gravely injured!”

“My heavens, that is thirty percent Lightning Intent. How could Li Yun possibly reach such a level? Is he even human?”

“I finally understand now. He has twenty percent Sword Intent, thirty percent Lightning Intent, and even his Wind and Flame Intents have reached ten percent mastery. How can someone like this exist within Heaven Mandate Peak, or even within the entire Martial Ascension Gate?”

“This level of talent has never appeared in the Southern Domain before. Where did this Li Yun come from?”

The disciples watching the battle were stunned to their core. None of them had ever witnessed an inner sect disciple display thirty percent mastery of any intent. In their understanding, such a level was something only core disciples could achieve. Yet now, they were seeing it with their own eyes.

At that moment, they finally understood what a true genius looked like.

However, it was the elders who were the most shaken.

“That is the legendary Heavenly Lightning Battle Armor, a technique that has been lost for ages. How could Li Yun possess it?”

The Earth Pillar Peak Head abruptly rose to his feet, his face filled with disbelief as he looked at the lightning armor on Li Yun. He clearly remembered that this inheritance had been lost during the great war against the demonic martial artists of the Iron Blood Sect. Since that time, no one from Heaven Mandate Peak had ever been able to recover or cultivate it.

That loss had been one of the key reasons behind Heaven Mandate Peak’s gradual decline.

Yet now, Li Yun stood before them, clad in that very armor.

The Earth Pillar Peak Head stared at him, unable to comprehend how such a lost and legendary technique had suddenly reappeared in his hands.

“Hehe, all of you believed that our Heaven Mandate Peak lost the Heavenly Lightning Battle Armor during the war with the Iron Blood Sect, did you not?”

The Heaven Mandate Peak Head let out a cold sneer, his eyes sweeping across the other peak lords.

“You are all mistaken. The Heavenly Lightning Battle Armor was indeed lost but it was never an independent martial art. It is a technique derived from the Heavenly Lightning Codex.”

“What?”

The Earth Pillar Peak Head was instantly stunned, and the other two peak lords showed the same reaction. Shock spread across their faces as they tried to process his words.

There was a reason why Heaven Mandate Peak had once stood at the very top among the Four Peaks and suppressed the other three so completely. That reason was the legendary Heavenly Lightning Battle Armor.

This martial skill was so powerful that only a handful of disciples in Heaven Mandate Peak could cultivate it. Those who succeeded were all extraordinary geniuses who could dominate the Four Peaks Tournament and sweep through the talents of the other peaks with overwhelming force.

For years, it was this very technique that allowed Heaven Mandate Peak to reign supreme. However, after the war with the Iron Blood Sect and the supposed loss of the Heavenly Lightning Battle Armor, their dominance gradually faded, and their decline began.

Now, hearing that this legendary technique had never truly been lost and was a hidden technique within the Heavenly Lightning Codex, the shock in the hearts of the other peak lords only deepened.

Seeing their expressions, the Heaven Mandate Peak Head felt a surge of satisfaction. His voice carried a trace of pride as he continued,

“The Heavenly Lightning Codex is one of the strongest martial arts within the Martial Ascension Gate. Many disciples in my peak have cultivated it, but not a single one possessed the talent to comprehend the hidden essence within it, which is the Heavenly Lightning Battle Armor. That is why this technique has not appeared for so many years.”

He paused briefly before adding with a faint smile,

“Until now.”

His gaze fell upon Li Yun, who stood clad in the radiant armor of lightning. A deep sense of pride rose within him. Even he had never expected that Li Yun would be able to awaken and master such a long-lost technique from the Heavenly Lightning Codex.

In truth, he had long given up hope of ever seeing the Heavenly Lightning Battle Armor reappear.

He still remembered the moment clearly. When he had gone to pass on the sixth-tier secret art, Energy Spirit Swords, he had unexpectedly seen Li Yun cultivating this very technique.

At that time, he had been so stunned that he could barely react. Without saying a word, he had simply left the secret art behind and departed, his mind in complete disarray.

Even after that, he could not fully believe what he had witnessed.

It was only now, as he watched Li Yun standing in the arena, clad in the legendary armor, that he finally accepted the truth.