Crack—
Whoosh—
The scorching flames continued to scorch the earth, only gradually extinguishing a minute later.
As everyone focused their gaze on the center of the charred pit, they discovered that the two individuals had not changed their stances.
Lie Qing, who had descended from the sky, was still headfirst, his fist aimed directly at Qin Xuan.
Qin Xuan, on the other hand, had merely extended his hands to grasp the incoming fist.
"This Qin Xuan, he wasn't burned to a crisp by Lie Qing's Exploding Flame Fist?!"
Witnessing the scene before him, Jin She Laoguai, who was very familiar with the Lie family's techniques, couldn't help but exclaim.
He had experienced this move by Lie Qing a hundred years ago.
Back then, he was an unknown rogue cultivator. While searching for herbs in the mountains, he had a conflict with a Foundation Establishment stage expert from the Lie family.
The opponent had used this incredibly explosive Exploding Flame Fist.
It generated extremely potent flames through fire-attribute elemental energy, igniting instantly and leading to an inescapable fate.
Fortunately, that Lie family expert harbored no killing intent and eventually withdrew his attack, sparing his life.
However, the shadow of the Exploding Flame Fist had always lingered in his heart.
Now, Qin Xuan had endured an attack from Lie Qing, who was at the peak of the Core Formation stage, without any signs of burning.
Regardless of the reason, this alone was enough to shock the cultivators present.
"Perhaps, he might already be dead?"
Upon hearing Jin She Laoguai's exclamation, everyone's hearts trembled. Yet, after another half a minute, the two figures in the charred pit remained motionless.
This led everyone to speculate that Qin Xuan was actually dead, and the Exploding Flame Fist's power was so immense that his clothes and flesh had yet to react.
At this moment, any external force, even a gust of wind, could instantly determine the outcome of the battle.
Whoosh—!
As the saying goes, coincidences make for good stories.
As the crowd spoke, a gentle breeze suddenly appeared out of nowhere, slowly blowing past the motionless Qin Xuan and Lie Qing.
Thump!
Just as most people had imagined, as the breeze passed, the figures landed.
However, contrary to what most had expected, the one who landed was not Qin Xuan, who was below and being attacked.
It was Lie Qing, who had remained airborne and launched the Exploding Flame Fist!
He was now completely charred black, as if roasted by flames.
His clothes and hair had all vanished.
The only thing that still resembled a human was perhaps his size 43 feet, which had not been affected by the flames.
Hiss—!
Isn't this what someone looks like after being hit by the Exploding Flame Fist?!
Seeing Lie Qing's tragic state, a familiar feeling resurfaced in their hearts.
Jin She Laoguai's eyes, filled with disbelief, darted frantically between Qin Xuan and Lie Qing, finally concluding.
This Qin Xuan must have used some method to instantly reflect Lie Qing's Exploding Flame Fist back.
Otherwise, given Lie Qing's control over his own elemental energy, if he had had even a sliver of reaction time, he would have definitely reacted and withdrawn his attack.
It seemed this young man from the official side was not as frail as he appeared.
His previous feat of creating an elemental energy vortex single-handedly was definitely not a coincidence!
"Father!"
Seeing Lie Qing lying motionless on the ground, Lie Quan's previously stopped bleeding erupted once more.
His esteemed father was the strongest in their Lie family.
The reason the Lie family could now command respect in the southwest of the Dragon Country, with no one daring to provoke them, was not only due to the foundation left by their ancestors but also the fame he and his father commanded.
Yet, after just one exchange, he was severely injured, and his father's fate was uncertain.
If this news were to spread, how could his Lie family maintain its standing in the southwestern region?
Scanning the crowd, Lie Quan's heart hardened, and he directly took out a bronze circular disk from his storage bracelet.
On the disk was carved a complex formation diagram, within which were twelve small circular balls that could move along special trajectories.
This was the ancestral protective formation of their Lie family, its power growing with the absorption of more heaven and earth elemental energy.
At its peak, it could even rival a full-power strike from a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator!
Although the world had undergone great changes and heaven and earth elemental energy had become scarce, the elemental energy within the small dimensional realm could still support it to unleash a Nascent Soul-level attack.
However, after the attack, there would likely be no more heaven and earth elemental energy left in the small dimensional realm, and the entire small dimensional realm would become a mere decoration.
"Is this the formation disk? It looks quite interesting."
Gritting his teeth, just as Lie Quan was about to activate the formation disk, a curious voice echoed softly in his ear.
Lie Quan looked up and saw a chiseled jawline and perfectly exquisite features, appearing before him like a ghost.
And just as Lie Quan was startled and his body involuntarily froze, the seemingly complex formation disk had changed hands, now resting in Qin Xuan's grasp.
"You, you..."
After stammering for a while, Lie Quan ultimately said nothing.
This was because he noticed that many of the rogue cultivators present were looking at him with intense anger.
Qin Xuan might not know about the formation disk, but those rogue cultivators did.
Lie Quan, with Lie Qing's fate still unknown, had brought out such a powerful artifact, clearly intending to wipe out everyone present.
"A misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding!"
"Fellow Daoists, please let me explain."
Sensing the increasing number of gazes upon him, Lie Quan could no longer afford to worry about the formation disk being snatched by Qin Xuan.
If he couldn't even defeat the person who defeated his father, how could he possibly retrieve anything from that person?
It would be better to explain more and rally the people present to resist that guy together.
Hurriedly organizing his thoughts, Lie Quan began to stammer out an explanation to the crowd about why he had brought out the formation disk.
But before he could even utter a few sentences, he noticed that Qin Xuan had returned to the already charred Lie Qing.
Lie Quan was startled and immediately shouted for Qin Xuan to leave Lie Qing alone.
However, Qin Xuan completely ignored him and instead channeled his spiritual energy, casting a healing spell.
In fact, like everyone else, Qin Xuan had initially assumed Lie Qing was dead.
But he hadn't expected this fellow's will to survive to be so strong.
Since that was the case, Qin Xuan didn't mind saving him.
It wasn't that he was overflowing with saintly compassion, but because the Dragon Country currently needed peak Core Formation cultivators.
With aliens present, no one knew the true extent of their strength.
The more powerful individuals they had on their side, the fewer people might die on the battlefield in the future.
Therefore, for the sake of the nation, if he could save someone, he would.
Moreover, not only would he save him, but he would also ensure Lie Qing fully recovered in a short period.
Of course, to ensure the other party's complete cooperation with the Dragon Country's subsequent actions, techniques like soul planting and mental control were indispensable.
With Qin Xuan's current mental strength, let alone a peak Core Formation cultivator, he could control even a peak Golden Core cultivator.
"Ugh... uh..."
As the healing spell took effect, Lie Qing, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly stirred.
He not only began to breathe laboriously through his nose but also slowly regained consciousness, managing to move his stiff fingers.
"Qin, Qin Xuan..."
Two blurry words slowly emerged from Lie Qing's mouth, filled with resentment.
Qin Xuan smiled slightly, unconcerned.
If he hadn't made the first move to kill, his counter-effect wouldn't have been so pronounced.
Ultimately, he was merely acting in self-defense.
The reason Lie Qing ended up like this was entirely his own doing.
Ignoring Lie Qing, Qin Xuan continued to treat him.
Although he could speak, Lie Qing was currently only barely clinging to life.
To survive, let alone fully recover,
it was necessary to repair his scorched internal organs and meridians.
However, what surprised everyone present was that as Lie Qing's meridians gradually recovered, allowing him to utilize elemental energy and heal himself,
Lie Qing's charred lips and fingers suddenly began to move.
A hoarse voice reached everyone's ears, causing them to stir.
"Qin Xuan, you shouldn't have saved me. If you hadn't saved me, you wouldn't be dying today because of me."
"Unfortunately, it's too late. Now, prepare to face the wrath of my Lie family ancestors!"