At this moment, the two young divine warrior girls saw this scene and couldn't help but feel extremely nauseous. Clearly, they hadn't expected that anyone would treat a nascent soul in such a cruel manner. It was simply a hundred times more painful than killing the person outright.

One needs to know that for cultivators, reaching the Nascent Soul Stage means forming a nascent soul in their body, akin to a cultivator's second life, and even developing a connection with them. It isn't easy to reach the Nascent Soul Stage, and seeing these cultivators' nascent souls being imprisoned here is simply too cruel!

The two young divine warrior girls recalled how merciful Li Zong was when he killed the Yuan Beast in front of them before. In retrospect, it was utterly ridiculous—to realize that he was just pretending before them, while in truth, he was cruel and ruthless.

At this moment, the two young divine warrior girls couldn't help but feel immense regret for having misunderstood Ding Fan in the past. Although Ding Fan also killed Yuan Beasts, he usually did so with a single strike, minimizing the beast's suffering. Importantly, Ding Fan was an authentic person, unlike Li Zong, who pretended to be benevolent but was vicious and cruel in reality!

In contrast, Ding Fan was so straightforward and upright. At this moment, the two young divine warrior girls felt countless regrets, realizing that Li Zong's previous demeanor was all an act. It's utterly ridiculous, considering how much trust they placed in him. Clearly, they never expected him to be entirely pretending.

"Haha, did you see that? Let me tell you. I had long ago set up a formation in this Thunder Abyss. The treasures in this Thunder Abyss, I did not lie to you about that, but just like I said, you are treasures to me. I realized long ago that the heavenly thunder here is a rare treasure. After a long period of research, I finally discovered the method to refine the Pure Thunder Pill. Hence, I set up this formation. This formation requires the nascent souls of eight nascent soul cultivators and a crystal core from a seventh-grade beast king. I've already gathered the nascent souls of eight nascent soul cultivators; now all that's left is the crucial and most difficult beast king crystal core."

At this point, Li Zong paused momentarily, his expression shifting slightly, as if finding it both ridiculous and triumphant.

He continued:

"When I went to hunt the beast king, I found one, but that beast king was incredibly difficult to deal with. In the end, I was accidentally attacked by the beast tide and began to flee for my life. I thought I would really die there, but unexpectedly, I encountered you. The rest, you know—I was rescued by you. When I discovered you were divine warriors, I knew my opportunity had come. Using divine warriors' bodies to refine this formation is a hundred times stronger than using the beast king's. Following this, I devised various ploys, and you foolishly fell for it! Haha..."

After Li Zong finished speaking, he looked amusingly at the two beloved young divine warrior girls, clearly without any reservations, as the imprisonment array formation in the circular platform was incomprehensibly stronger than the others imprisoning nascent souls—there was no worry about any escape.

At this moment, the two young divine warrior girls felt even more regret hearing these words, regretting not listening to Ding Fan, not realizing that Li Zong was such a beast!

The words also revealed that Ding Fan almost dying at the hands of a Yuan Beast was all due to their attracting Li Zong's attention. It turned out everything was because of them.

"Don't feel so proud. I know Ding Fan had long suspected you, and he won't let you get away with this!"

At this moment, one young divine warrior girl looked at Li Zong with anger and said.

"Ding Fan?"

Li Zong said dismissively:

"I do admit Ding Fan is quite skilled, but he's still inexperienced compared to me. He's already been struck dead by the heavenly thunder! Haha... Remember the recent explosion? That was the sound of me blasting him with the heavenly thunder. Knowing this now, does it feel hopeless? Kekeke..."

At this moment, hearing Li Zong's words, the two young divine warrior girls felt immense regret, realizing that Ding Fan and others were also killed by him. Ding Fan came to the Thunder Abyss to accompany them, but now it turns out it was their presence that cost Ding Fan's life. Furthermore, they didn't trust Ding Fan and falsely accused him many times before. They thought about their impending fate, and tears filled their eyes...

Li Zong looked at the speechless expressions of the two young divine warrior girls, a thin smile curling his lips, then calmly said:

"You understand what you need to know, now you can die in peace! Kekeke..."

"It's time to send you off, and also the moment for me to obtain the Pure Thunder Pill!"

After Li Zong finished speaking, he took out a rune and placed it on the imprisonment array of the two young divine warrior girls.

Making final preparations, Li Zong disdainfully glanced at the two young divine warrior girls, then spoke with disdain and cruelty:

"Farewell forever!"

Seeing this scene, tears uncontrollably started to fall from the eyes of the two young divine warrior girls. They never expected that a moment of carelessness, a misjudgment, would cost them their lives...

Subsequently, with faces filled with despair, the two young divine warrior girls closed their eyes...

Just as Li Zong was about to activate the formation, suddenly a wind blade fiercely shot toward him.

Swish!

Boom...

At that moment, the wind blade directly interrupted Li Zong's attempt to activate the formation. Seeing the fierce wind blade approaching, Li Zong was forced to dodge, and then the wind blade directly struck one of the nascent soul imprisonment formations behind Li Zong.

A loud bang was immediately heard, clearly indicating that the imprisonment array formation had already developed cracks.

Seeing this scene, Li Zong felt a pang of heartache. It took him decades of research to set up this formation, and now it was almost destroyed by a single Wind Blade from the opponent.

Li Zong glared venomously at the person who unleashed the Wind Blade. The visitor was none other than Ding Fan!

At this moment, Li Zong was extremely shocked to see that the person who came was Ding Fan! How could it be Ding Fan? He had already unleashed his Heavenly Thunder, targeting the entrance of the Underground Palace. Even if the thunder didn't kill him, a large number of Yuan Beasts would surely swarm Ding Fan, ensuring his inevitable demise.

But obviously, not only was Ding Fan not dead, he stood perfectly fine right before him. How is this possible!

How could Ding Fan have survived?

This defies logic!

Li Zong was utterly shocked to see Ding Fan still alive and unharmed, standing right in front of him.

The two young divine warrior girls who were imprisoned also looked at Ding Fan and the others with shock. They obviously didn't expect Ding Fan to still be alive. However, their feelings were different from Li Zong's; they were filled with joy, which was undoubtedly the best outcome for them.

In addition to their shock, the two divine warrior girls felt moved, not expecting Ding Fan to return to save them, especially after they had wronged him earlier and said many things they shouldn't have.

However, it was clear that Ding Fan was not here to blame them anymore.

To Ding Fan, these two divine warrior girls were merely enchanted by Li Zong's façade, which led them to mistake him for a good person. But since they were only seventeen or eighteen, Ding Fan wouldn't truly hold it against them.

Ding Fan also wanted them to learn a lesson: not to easily trust those who use sugary language and see through people's disguises.

From the moment Ding Fan approached the entrance of the Underground Palace, he noticed something unusual. He had detected some formations here long ago. Even though Ding Fan understood some formations, he knew that Li Zong was an expert. Ding Fan had realized that Li Zong's strength lay in setting up formations; the formation at the entrance of the Underground Palace had already given Ding Fan many insights.

Since the opponent could set up formations, there was a high possibility that the Heavenly Thunder attack they encountered was also his doing. When Ding Fan led Ye Ningbing and He Qianyao into the Underground Palace, a powerful Heavenly Thunder struck the entrance right after.

This further confirmed Ding Fan's suspicion. Indeed, the opponent was a master at setting up formations. After the entrance was bombed, Ding Fan knew he had to leave immediately and was now fully certain that Li Zong had other plans. The two divine warrior girls were clearly in grave danger. So Ding Fan led his people into the Underground Palace.

Ding Fan looked at the opponent, his face calm with a hint of mockery as he asked:

"Surprised to see me? Prepare to die!"

With a roar, Ding Fan launched a barrage of Wind Blades at Li Zong. Seeing this, Li Zong sneered and effortlessly dodged Ding Fan's Wind Blades with a few deft movements, then said disdainfully to Ding Fan:

"Do you think knowing a little gives you the power to change the outcome? How naïve. Don't forget, you're just a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. I've never lost to any Nascent Soul Stage cultivator!"

Then Li Zong suddenly leaped up and released a flurry of palm strikes at Ding Fan.

As Ding Fan witnessed this, he remained very calm, unveiling a series of Fist Techniques, counterattacking toward the opponent.

Li Zong saw this and couldn't help but sneer.

"You dare to clash with force; it's tantamount to seeking death!"

Bang…

With a dull sound, their strikes collided with each other, and Li Zong suddenly felt an overwhelming force, flipping his body backward.

How could this be?

He believed he was unrivaled among Nascent Soul Stage cultivators. Yet, he was sent flying by the opponent. This was utterly inconceivable!

Ding Fan remained calmly composed, then said indifferently:

"I was just warming up."