In a large open field somewhere in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, a large group of several thousand disciples were gathered. The atmosphere within this group was excited and anxious, as the lessons they were looking forward to receiving were about to begin.
After going about his morning routine, John set off for the training area, and arrived there shortly after. The large crowd gathered in the field entered his view, and John hovered high above the group as they excitedly discussed today's events to come.
He shook his head slightly as he saw how relaxed and unguarded they were currently.
"A shame, this generation, while quite talented, seems to be like the previous one...naive and pampered."
None of the disciples noticed his presence, although he had done nothing to hide it. If any of them were truly on their guard, they might have noticed his arrival. Within the Heavenly Lightning Sect, they felt safe and secure, but John knew this was the type of attitude these disciples would carry regardless of where they were.
While the group of new disciples were most definitely talented, even more so than the group from last year, John could tell that they were just as spoiled. It was something he found out even more clearly in the ancient city, when the Bloodfiend Sect youths rampaged without being questioned or challenged.
The Bloodfiend Sect youths all had a hard and brutal upbringing, which tempered their nerves and hardened their resolve. They were constantly thrown into life and death scenarios, and so were much calmer and more collected when facing such a situation. Not only that, but in the same realm, their combat prowess was usually higher, due to the intense and rigorous upbringing they received.
On the other hand, the youths that joined the Heavenly Lightning Sect and the other Honorable Alliance powers were much softer. They mostly all came from powerful sects and clans, and were raised as their top geniuses. They were spoiled and coddled with attention, cultivation gifts, and more, but rarely ever forced to put their life on the line.
This made their power great, but their resolves and willpowers weak.
'While talent is important, a firm willpower and resolve is even more important for a cultivator to be able to soar through the cultivation world. It seems like I will have to teach these kids that lesson.'
"When do you think he's going to show up?" an excited youth asked his friends nearby.
"I don't know, but I can't wait for this lesson. Maybe we'll be able to see a bit of why he's so strong," another excited youth replied.
Similar discussions were taking place throughout the group, but those discussions quickly stopped as they all noticed something strange happen.
Lightning nodes, over a hundred total, suddenly sprung up in the air around them. The youths all looked at the nodes in confusion, as they were unsure of what was going on. However, even still none of them raised their guards, as they figured their safety within the sect was absolute.
John frowned as he saw this, and shook his head before unleashing a small portion of his power.
Bang!
Lightning instantly exploded out of all the lightning nodes, snaking all throughout the crowd. Lightning inundated each and every youth with shocking pain as they all cried out in pain and confusion. The weaker disciples collapsed to the ground and curled up into a ball, while the stronger ones did their best to resist. However, each and every disciple was feeling absolute pain at the moment, as they were unable to struggle against the lightning.
John let the lightning from his Heavenly Lightning Domain continue for some time while he watched the group of youths below.
'If I end this lesson too soon, none of them will really learn the lesson I'm giving here. Only by etching this pain into their flesh will they never forget it. However, I am also giving them two small gifts with this lightning tempering, so they will thank me.'
John could have instantly killed each and every disciple here without them noticing, but had obviously restricted his power to the Qi Condensation realm for this lesson. Even so, it was more than any of the youths could handle.
Agonized cries continued to ring out for some time, drawing the attention of nearby Elder's, who quickly arrived to figure out what was going on. They frowned in confusion as they saw the scene, but quickly saw John floating above the group, looking down with disappointment.
They quickly understood what was going on, and only shook their heads at the brutalness of the lesson before leaving.
After quite some time, John finally withdrew his power, and the lightning bathing the youths faded away. Many of the youths instantly collapsed to the ground, unable to stand from the pain they had just felt.
"This is my first lesson to all of you," a voice from above boomed out, catching the attention of the youths below. Their pained gazes looked up, and were surprised to see who had just said that.
"What?...This...was done by you?" one of the stronger first year disciples replied through gritted teeth, frustration evident in his voice. "What the hell did you do that for?"
Several other youths also chimed up, as their reverence for John was replaced with anger. John remained calm as he saw their attitudes, and he slowly descended to the ground to stand before the crowd.
"Silence," John's voice boomed out, silencing all the voices of discontent. A frown appeared on his face as he stared at all the youths before him.
"If you're going to ask me why I did what I just did...it's because you're all far too naive and spoiled," John's voice boomed out for all to hear.
"I arrived above this group without restricting my aura at all, but none of you were even slightly on guard to notice my arrival. You think just because you're within the sect, that means you're safe?" John's question echoed out throughout the crowd.
Many were about to reply that it did, but John's next line quickly squashed those voices.
"I'm sure many of the Bloodfiend Sect youths were feeling the same thing. That their sect protected them from any and all dangers. Such thoughts, the exact same as yours, were only one thing....naive."