For now, all Lu Xiaotian could do was wait and see how things unfolded. The flames were growing larger by the moment, and the cultivators nearby were bound to come investigate. He'd best think about how to handle what came next. Lu Xiaotian hovered in the air, watching as the fire spread across the ground. As far as the eye could see, it had already grown to cover a hundred-mile radius. Little Fire Crow was wrapped in a crimson light barrier formed by the fire-element spirit crystal, and amid this sea of flames, it wasn't especially conspicuous.
Lu Xiaotian watched Little Fire Crow's condition closely.
"Hmm?" Lu Xiaotian was worrying about Little Fire Crow in the sea of flames when he suddenly sensed a faint disturbance coming from the southwest.
"Looks like an expert has come to investigate this sea of flames."
A trace of hesitation appeared on Lu Xiaotian's face. Even before these Nascent Soul Cultivators arrived, troops stationed in Hongye Prefecture had come to try to contain the blaze. They weren't an elite force, though there were dozens of Golden Core Cultivators among them. Many had raised their Cloud-and-Rain Banners to summon rain and quell the flames. But even Lu Xiaotian was helpless against the fire-element spirit crystal; what could those Golden Core Cultivators possibly do? They poured their magic power into the Cloud-and-Rain Banners and tried to call down rain, but all the water spirit energy in the area had been boiled away. Where could they draw on water spirit power? They failed to summon a drop of rain, and several banners caught fire instead. Only then did the Golden Core Cultivators give up. Seeing that they couldn't contain the blaze, and not daring to approach too closely, they retreated while calling on the Nascent Soul elders