Aid in Battle

"Rules?" Tuoba Shan slammed his giant axe into the ground and let out a muffled, cold laugh. "I only recognize the rules of the biggest fist!"

Su Mei'er's eyes shimmered, but her voice turned cold. "Brother Yan Lie, are you planning to bully the few with the many? If word gets out, I fear it will tarnish the Crimson Flame Sect's reputation."

A Crimson Flame Sect disciple in red behind Yan Lie shouted sternly, "Why waste words on these sneaky rats? Kill them, and the treasures will naturally be ours!"

Yan Lie raised a hand to stop his men. His gaze swept over Qin Yuan's group of five before finally settling on Qin Yuan. A trace of wariness flickered in his eyes, but it was swiftly replaced by viciousness. "I'll say this one last time—hand over the items and leave the secret realm. Otherwise, this place will become your burial ground."

Qin Yuan had remained silent, observing.

Yan Lie's aggression was within expectations. The Crimson Flame Sect was powerful, and domineering conduct was their norm.

What surprised him slightly was the three cultivators behind Yan Lie who were not from the Crimson Flame Sect—a scar-faced man wielding a saber, a gaunt old man holding a bone staff, and a seductive woman.

The auras of these three were sinister and grim. They did not seem to follow the righteous path, and they stood faintly apart from the Crimson Flame Sect disciples. Their eyes darted about, clearly revealing that each harbored their own schemes.

This was a hastily assembled team, its hearts not united. Qin Yuan reached his judgment in an instant.

"An unmarked place is open to anyone." Qin Yuan finally spoke. His voice was calm, yet it carried clearly to everyone through the howling frigid wind. "Since we cannot come to terms, then let us each rely on our own abilities."

As his words fell, the air within the gorge passage abruptly froze solid.

A cold gleam burst from Yan Lie's eyes. "You're courting death!"

He thrust both hands forward, and an even more solid crimson fire dragon roared forth. Its dragon head was savage as it lunged straight at Li Qingfeng!

Almost simultaneously, the three Crimson Flame Sect disciples behind him formed a formation. Three pillars of fire erupted from the ground, sealing off Li Qingfeng's paths of retreat to either side.

"Move!" Li Qingfeng barked. His scroll unfurled, and golden characters transformed into a wall of shields.

Tuoba Shan roared, his body swelling by a third as he swung his giant axe in a full arc and cleaved at the fire dragon's flank.

Su Mei'er's long whip lashed out like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, striking at the three disciples maintaining the formation. Yin Jiuyou's figure flickered, splitting into several gray shadows that pounced toward the scar-faced man behind Yan Lie.

A chaotic melee erupted in an instant!

Qin Yuan did not move. He was waiting.

Sure enough, the gaunt old man holding the bone staff and the seductive woman from the opposing camp attacked him from the left and right.

The old man tapped his bone staff, sending three grayish-white arrows of qi flying silently toward him. The arrowheads swirled with an aura of decay.

The woman gave a coquettish laugh, and several pink silk ribbons flew from her sleeves, coiling around Qin Yuan's limbs like spiritual snakes.

One was at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, while the other was at the peak of the Nascent Soul Early Stage. Their probing attacks were neither too strong nor too weak, perfectly matching the Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivation Qin Yuan displayed openly.

Qin Yuan shifted his feet slightly, his figure drifting like wisps of smoke. The three grayish-white arrows grazed past him, corroding three deep pits into the ice wall.

The pink silk ribbons wrapped around empty air. He casually raised a hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and sliced through the air.

A faint golden thread flashed and vanished.

Though that thread seemed weak, it precisely cut into the point where the spiritual power flowed through the pink silk ribbons.

The woman's expression changed drastically. She felt the magical treasure linked to her mind suddenly slip out of her control, and the ribbons drooped limply.

At the same time, Qin Yuan had already appeared beside the old man.

The old man was greatly alarmed. He held the bone staff horizontally to block, while ghostly green flames rose from the skull's eye sockets at its tip.

Qin Yuan held his fingers together like a sword. Jade-colored radiance glimmered at his fingertips as he lightly tapped the middle of the bone staff.

"Crack."

A crisp snapping sound rang out. The seemingly sturdy bone staff broke cleanly into two!

The ghostfire attached to it backlashed. The old man grunted, spewed blood, and flew backward, smashing into the ice wall before collapsing limply.

Seeing that the situation had turned dire, the woman spun around to flee. Qin Yuan made a grasping motion with his left hand, and a giant hand of spiritual power appeared from thin air, gripping her tightly. With the slightest squeeze, she screamed and fainted.

From the moment they exchanged blows to the end, only three breaths had passed. One was injured, and the other captured.

Qin Yuan casually tossed the unconscious woman aside and swept his gaze across the battlefield.

With Tuoba Shan's assistance, Li Qingfeng was barely holding back Yan Lie's relentless assault, but the golden-character shield wall was already covered in cracks.

Su Mei'er's long whip danced so densely that not even wind could penetrate it, entangling the three Crimson Flame Sect disciples. For the moment, neither side could gain the upper hand.

Yin Jiuyou and the scar-faced man were locked in an evenly matched battle, deathly qi interweaving with saber light.

Meanwhile, another companion brought by the gaunt old man—a black-clad young man who had remained silent all this time—was fighting Han Bing, the weaker member of the group. Han Bing was struggling to fend him off, blood already staining his chest. He had clearly fallen into a disadvantage.

Qin Yuan stepped forward, and his figure vanished from where he stood.

The next instant, he appeared behind the black-clad young man. The young man was pouring all his strength into a saber strike aimed at Han Bing's neck when he suddenly felt wind rise behind his head. He spun around in horror and raised his saber to block.

Clang—!!

Qin Yuan's fist slammed into the blade. The force of his punch surged through the saber and into the young man's arm like raging waves.

The web between the young man's thumb and forefinger split open. His long saber flew from his hand, and he was hurled backward like a torn sack, crashing heavily into the ice wall. Blood sprayed wildly from his mouth, and he clearly lost all ability to fight.

Having escaped death by a hair's breadth, Han Bing gasped for breath. His eyes were filled with gratitude as he looked at Qin Yuan. "Senior Brother Qin..."

Qin Yuan gave a slight nod, then turned his gaze toward Li Qingfeng. Unable to break through for so long, Yan Lie had become increasingly irritable. The fire dragon's might surged again, blood already seeping from the corner of Li Qingfeng's mouth as the golden shield wall was on the verge of shattering.

"Brother Tuoba, help me!" Li Qingfeng shouted urgently.

Tuoba Shan roared again and again, his giant axe chopping wildly. But Yan Lie's movement technique was nimble, and he always evaded the axe's edge. With a backhand strike, he slammed a fiery palm into Tuoba Shan's shoulder. Tuoba Shan's flesh split open as he staggered backward.

This was the moment. Qin Yuan moved again, cutting between Yan Lie and Li Qingfeng like a ghost.

Yan Lie was about to press his advantage when he suddenly sensed an icy aura locking onto him. His heart tightened. Without hesitation, he abandoned Li Qingfeng, turned the fire dragon around, and sent it roaring toward Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan neither dodged nor evaded. He extended his right hand, spread his fingers, and pressed them lightly toward the savage dragon head.

"Suppress."

There was no earth-shattering boom. When the awe-inspiring fire dragon reached three feet before Qin Yuan's palm, it seemed to crash into an invisible wall of bronze and iron. Its head abruptly halted, twisted, and then... shattered inch by inch!

Yan Lie's pupils contracted sharply, disbelief written across his face. He had used seventy percent of his strength in that attack. Even cultivators of the same realm would not dare take it head-on, yet this man had caught it barehanded—and with such effortless ease?!

The disintegrating fire dragon turned into sparks that filled the sky. Qin Yuan's palm passed through the sparks and struck toward Yan Lie's chest.

Yan Lie roared furiously. Flames around his body surged, forming a set of crimson armor. He threw both fists forward, forcefully meeting Qin Yuan's palm strike.

Boom—!!

Fist and palm collided, and a violent blast of air exploded outward. The ice walls on both sides shook violently, countless icicles raining down with rustling cracks.

Yan Lie felt an overwhelming force crash into him, impossible to resist. Cracks instantly spread across his crimson armor. He grunted, his body sliding backward beyond his control. His feet plowed two deep trenches through the ice until he finally steadied himself ten zhang away. His face flushed red, and the taste of blood rose in his throat.

He stared fixedly at Qin Yuan, fear appearing in his eyes for the first time. This was absolutely not an ordinary Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator! Perhaps... he was not even merely at the Nascent Soul Late Stage!