The azure-flame lotus swelled rapidly within Luo Hou's pupils. The terrifying, scorching energy seeping through the air caused cold sweat to burst upon his forehead—immediately vaporizing into nothingness. On the ground, wherever the lotus passed, the emerald grass turned swiftly yellow and then vanished into a cluster of black ashes, drifting away with the wind. Feeling the relentless, destructive energy bearing down upon him, Luo Hou quietly felt a growing sense of helplessness and awe—this force was simply too immense. He even had a faint intuition that should the beautiful lotus strike him directly, he too would be reduced to ashes, like the grass. His teeth clenched tightly against his lips, blood seeping out, the pain restoring a measure of clarity to his mind. He gripped the cold iron staff firmly, his eyes fixed intently on the rapidly approaching lotus, whose near-light speed left him with no place to retreat. A surge of coldness rapidly seeped out from the cold iron staff, but as soon as it emerged, the intense heat rushing toward it caused it to hiss and crackle, ultimately forming a hazy white mist that drifted over the scattered stones, partially obscuring the view of the onlookers. Taking a deep breath, Luo Hou's hands, tightly gripping the staff, emitted a series of creaking sounds under the pressure. A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead onto his eyes, creating a gritty sensation that suddenly stirred a surge of anger within him. As a proud Douling cultivator, he had nearly abandoned his defense merely to a large Dousheng's attack—an occurrence that deeply humiliated him. "Come then! I'd like to see just how strong you, Xiao Yan, truly are!" The deep roar echoed within his heart. With a powerful arm motion, Luo Hou sent the spear of cold iron, nearly ten feet long, shimmering with several sweeping strokes. His internal qi surged wildly, then flowed ceaselessly into the spear. As the qi rushed in at an accelerating pace, thick layers of frost began to form across the spear's icy surface. Meanwhile, the temperature in the surrounding space around the spear dropped rapidly, eventually successfully isolating the heat from the flaming lotus. As his internal qi rapidly depleted, the frost on the spear grew denser and denser. Within mere eye blinks, the originally arm-thick spear suddenly thickened by nearly half a span, transforming into a towering ice column. With both arms cradling the now-ice-columned spear, Luo Hou's pale face flushed with a warm hue. A deep, resonant roar burst forth from his lips. The colossal ice column rose high, then crashed down with thunderous force. The qi contained within the ice pillar was exceptionally powerful, producing a continuous series of deep, resonant air explosions as it passed through the air, and even when the pillar was still several meters above the ground, the full force of Luo Hou’s concentrated strike transmitted through the air, cracking numerous fissures in the rocks beneath. This clearly demonstrated that Luo Hou’s desperate assault was no ordinary feat. The azure-purple lotus tore through space, directly targeting Luo Hou. As the distance between them narrowed to less than two or three meters, a massive shadow, accompanied by a gust of cold wind, descended from the sky and struck the lotus with tremendous force. For an instant, space itself seemed to freeze. Then, a thunderous roar erupted amidst the scattered rocks, as if a bolt of lightning had struck—some individuals who had not been adequately prepared were even stunned, their ears ringing from the sheer force of the impact. After the thunderous roar, the energy ripple generated by the collision of energies—something expected—did not materialize. Instead, fire and ice seemed to quietly neutralize within the area shrouded in a delicate veil of white mist, amidst the scattered stones, with no trace of disruptive waves radiating outward. This unexpected scene left many people astonished, gazing at one another in bewilderment, expressions of confusion etched on their faces. Though he clearly understood this, Luo Hou had no means at all, and thus could only watch helplessly as the massive ice pillar formed from the cold iron staff rapidly melted, the heat radiating from the tip growing increasingly intense. The frost on the cold iron staff lasted less than ten seconds before completely dissolving, and as the frost vanished, the entire staff, once as clear as ice, instantly transformed from snow-white to a deep crimson in a remarkably swift manner. "Hiss..." Suddenly, at the point where Luo Hou tightly gripped the staff, a surge of white mist and an unusual sound erupted, followed immediately by a deep, painful exhalation from him. He quickly released his hands and tossed the staff aside, now nearly turned to charcoal. The cold iron staff landed heavily upon a rock, shattering it instantly. The vibrant red heat of the staff rapidly receded, and within a moment, it transformed into a common iron rod, crackling with spreading fissures—clearly, the costly cold iron staff had now become a heap of scrap. At that very moment, Luo Hou had no time to lament the loss of his weapon. As the staff left his hands, he had clearly seen a streak of purple and jade-colored flame surge forth from the white mist, its intense heat consuming the surrounding vapor entirely. With some of the mist burned away, Luo Hou finally caught a clear view of the true nature of the flame. A look of astonishment crossed his face, for he realized that his near-full-force strike had only dimmed the surface glow of the beautiful lotus flame—its core remained utterly undisturbed! "What kind of battle skill is this? It's strong to this extent!" Mind stunned, Luo Hou had no time to dodge, so he gritted his teeth and quickly summoned the limited ki within him, forming a somewhat thin layer of ki armor on his body—clearly preparing to absorb the impact head-on. A deep explosion rang out amid the scattered stones, followed instantly by a terrifying wave of energy rippling outward in a wavy pattern. Along its path, rocks shattered into fragments. The sheer force of destruction left the older members on the slope momentarily stunned, then, in a collective gasp of panic, they tumbled down like a cascade of disordered melons, scrambling to the opposite side of the slope. The scene became wildly chaotic. The energy ripple arrived swiftly and faded just as quickly, leaving behind fissures half an inch long as it touched the slope. After a while, when the sounds ceased, the members from behind the slope cautiously emerged, peering out at the now disordered and ruined scene, and drew in a deep breath of relief. The current heap of rocks—oh, perhaps it's no longer accurate to call it a heap, for here now, not a single stone remains; instead, the ground is thickly covered with fine limestone dust, as though all the massive stones had been completely pulverized by a powerful, destructive energy ripple. "Is... is this what Xiao Yan caused?" The sand-iron, who had emerged from the slope, stared in wide-eyed astonishment at the transformed scene, and involuntarily swallowed hard, murmuring softly. Beside him, Su Xiao and the other two nodded stiffly, their faces set. Their gaze turned toward the slender, dark-robed young man standing in the center, and in their minds, they found themselves wondering: if, during their battle in the forest, this very man had thrown out that purple-blue fire lotus, how many of their three teams would have survived? As they thought of this, they felt a cold sweat break out across their bodies, gazing at Xiao Yan as though he were a monster—was he really just a Grand Battle Rank warrior? "Is this guy truly a Grand Combatant? The sheer force he's displaying is comparable to some six- or seven-star Grand Spirit warriors..." Sand Iron recovered from his astonishment, smiled wryly, and slowly voiced out what Su Xiao and his companions had been thinking. Upon hearing this, Su Xiao and his two companions nodded in deep agreement. "By the way, where's Luo Hou?" Suddenly, a voice rang out from the slope, and everyone's attention instantly shifted toward the central area of the disordered stone terrain, still partially veiled in white mist. As the gaze of the crowd shifted, the white mist in that region gradually thinned, and finally, under everyone's watchful eyes, Luo Hou emerged first—sitting down heavily on the ground. His usually composed face was now rigid, yet it seemed as though he had sustained no visible injuries? As the calmly unharmed Luo Hou was observed, a hushed wave of astonishment rippled up the slope. Considering the disruptive force of the energy ripples that had previously spread out, Luo Hou should not have remained untouched, given his strength, should he? Yet, as some minds still pondered this, the white mist finally fully dispersed, revealing a venerable figure standing before Luo Hou. "Su Elder?" Upon seeing the elderly figure, a series of gasps echoed across the slope. The elderly figure known as Su Elder maintained the posture of his hands extended outward. From the massive crater before him, it appeared that his earlier fire lotus assault had been successfully blocked—thus, it was no wonder that Luo Hou had sustained no injury at all. Standing like a tree stump in place, Su Elder remained motionless for a while, then calmly drew his hands back into his sleeves. Yet, as his hands retreated, a slight tremor ran through him, and a serious expression passed briefly through the misty gaze of his aged eyes. Under the collective gaze of all present, Su Elder raised his head and cast his eyes toward the pale-faced Xiao Yan, pausing in silence before speaking softly, his voice clear amid the battlefield that had just endured such fierce combat. "Young one, this year's 'Fire Harvest Competition'—it's been won by your fresh generation."