The Thirty-Year Trap

Li Gang glanced at the two and smiled. "You have prepared well."

He glanced at the sky all around with his deep gaze.

Master Huang and Master Lei laughed. "How could we not? Do you know how long we have waited for this moment? It was your biggest mistake to come to this battlefield and make this army formation! Without that army formation, you could not have seen through our schemes."

Li Gang laughed. "Without that army formation, how could I lure you here?"

This sentence was like thunder to the enemy.

Lao Zhang looked at the two seniors and felt a huge conspiracy brewing.

Li Gang smiled. "Do you know how long I have been waiting for this moment?"

He paused and then continued. "Since the day you fled from my clutches, I rarely got good sleep. I feared every moment. You were Rank 8 Warriors with high scheming abilities, and to crush me, you could go to any depth since you have nothing to lose anymore. Thus, I had no time for sleep. I used every bit of time for preparation—the preparation to take you down! Even if your battle strength has plummeted, you were still former Rank 8 Warriors! I could never underestimate you. Who knows how many means you possess!"

Li Gang glanced at Master Huang and Master Lei deeply. "I had no choice but to lure you. You wouldn't come to me because you were aware of the existence of the token I had, which allowed me to teleport anywhere. You were also afraid that if I slipped by any chance, it would be over."

He smiled. "Since the day you left, I had already started my plan. It's been more than thirty years."

"I have cultivated my skills, learned various secret techniques, mastered formation and alchemy. I did everything to enhance my chances."

"Then, I came to the Northern Continent to reduce the variables. If it were any other continent, there would be many variables that could affect my plan and let you escape. Here, the Spiritual Essence was limited, and very few Warriors were above Rank 5."

As he was about to continue, Master Huang made a sneak attack, directly aiming at Li Gang's Heavenly Core.

This was a high-class battle. They were all smart. Seeing Li Gang talking so much, they realized he was delaying. He was delaying for some kind of reinforcement. Thus, Master Huang didn't want to give any chance or any possibility right now.

"Tsk tsk. You are so impatient."

Li Gang appeared right above Master Huang and smiled. "Of course, I am delaying. You are late by 0.01 seconds. You should have been more decisive."

Master Huang was shocked at Li Gang hovering in the air. Only Advanced Warriors are capable of flying. There are also rare Secret Techniques and Spiritual Imprints that help in this, but Li Gang's hovering seemed more like a natural skill, not some kind of Spiritual Imprint.

At this time, the whole region started glowing with a blood-red shade. A mist was appearing from the ground, filling the atmosphere.

Master Lei said while gritting his teeth, "Blood Sacrifice! You demon! I will definitely kill you and lighten the burden from this ground."

Li Gang's eyes had turned deep red, and every Warrior who had died had started drying up. Their blood was evaporating into the atmosphere, and the blood-red mist was getting attracted towards Li Gang. His battle strength was continuously soaring.

Li Gang smiled as he continued. "I came here with another identity: Ren Ying. This identity is engraved in your heart, and as soon as my fame spread, you were attracted."

"I never stayed in one place, and this is the reason you never attacked me despite knowing my location. You waited, waited for the moment when I stayed in one position for a long duration. You waited for one chance when you could use the Space Lock Formation or any similar ones to block me and stop me from fleeing!"

"I also waited, waited for the right opportunity. I conquered Wei Dynasty, I developed Renhuo trading, I spread my fame throughout the Northern Continent. It was my goal to conquer the Northern Continent, but the main reason I did all this was to get rid of you. I wouldn't use such useless divide-and-conquer techniques through business means to dominate this continent because I was well aware of how deep the politics ran in the veins of Northern Warriors. Thus, I lured you. Without you, the Shu Dynasty wouldn't have waged a full-scale war, without you, the Wu Dynasty wouldn't have had the courage to fight Golden Crow. You are the reason I will be able to conquer the Northern Continent. So, I must thank you from my heart. I lured you, not just to kill you, but also to help me on my further path. You know, you always treated me as an enemy, and I treated you as an opportunity."

Li Gang's battle strength had already soared to Rank 7 peak stage and stopped at that point.

Even while he was speaking, he faced many sneak attacks, but he calmly dodged them and didn't counterattack. There were two reasons for doing this. One, while his battle strength was soaring, his body was in an unstable state, and any wrong move could be harmful. Two, he was still delaying—for reinforcement.

At that moment, two more Warriors arrived.

Looking at them, both Master Huang and Master Lei frowned. They could intuitively tell that these two Warriors could make a big difference at this moment.

Lao Zhang was surprised at the newcomers. He cupped his fist and said politely, "Your Majesty Jin Long, this is our private matter. I hope you don't interfere. It wouldn't be good if word spread that the great king of Golden Crow is helping a demon."

Jin Long laughed. "My bad, my bad, but I am here because the Golden Crow Kingdom has already become a subsidiary force of Renhuo trading."

"As for defamation of the king, it would only happen if any of you were capable of leaving here alive."

As he said that, a Rank 7 early stage aura leaked from his body, causing suffocation on the battlefield.

Lao Zhang was shocked. "How cunning. You hid your cultivation all along! We all thought you were Rank 6 late stage, and we expected you would be at most Rank 6 peak, but you have been hiding all along!"

Jin Long smiled. "Don't worry, I just recently made a breakthrough—not a big deal."

He glanced at Li Gang and said lightly, "Can you handle them alone?"

Li Gang smiled. "I hope you can finish the rest in five minutes."

Jin Long laughed. "Two minutes are enough!"

As he said this, both Jin Long and Shi Tian shouted together:

"Spiritual Imprint: Golden Dragon!"

"Spiritual Imprint: Fiery Wolf!"

Jin Long's Spiritual Imprint was the Rank 7 Golden Dragon. As soon as he activated it, a dragon-shaped mark appeared on his forehead, and his whole body exuded a golden aura. His temperament changed.

Meanwhile, Shi Tian's Fiery Wolf was a Rank 6 Spiritual Imprint of the fire type. His face developed beard-like marks, and his whole body was covered in reddish-black marks.

Every Warrior on the battlefield grew serious, but there was not much they could do. This was going to be a one-sided massacre. They had long been exhausted in the previous battle—not to mention they had to fight Rank 7 and Rank 6 Warriors now.

Master Huang and Master Lei had already grown serious and attacked Li Gang with all their might.

This battle was even more intense. They also took out their Rank 8 Spiritual Imprints. Li Gang couldn't afford to take on any of their attacks because their Secret Techniques could be Rank 8 techniques, which were highly dangerous for a Rank 5 Warrior like him. Even with battle strength at Rank 7 peak, it was merely his basic attributes. In terms of means, both of these old Warriors were not to be underestimated.

This battle became one of cat and mouse. Li Gang was using his full speed to run away from them while they were chasing him. There was one reason why Li Gang used this approach. In direct confrontation, they might get time to use their Secret Techniques, but now they were more focused on catching him. Even if they attacked now, they would more likely use normal strength. He wanted to delay them as much as possible and then defeat them in one fell swoop with the help of Jin Long.

From the onlookers' perspective, it was like a red flash moving in different directions while another red and blue flash chasing it in a criss-cross manner.

Li Gang, with his extreme speed, continuously dodged their attacks while often countering them and attacking them. However, soon, they realized Li Gang's tactic. At that moment, Master Lei stopped chasing. He allowed Master Huang to chase him while he started using his own Secret Technique.

How could Li Gang allow this?

He instantly changed direction and attacked Master Lei.

Master Lei smirked. "Got you!"

He immediately caught Li Gang's hand and, with his full strength, punched him in the chest. Li Gang was smashed 10 miles away instantly at the slope of the mountain, making a huge crater. This was the same mountain from where Jin Long was looking at the battlefield initially.

He stood up and immediately took out his sword and smiled lightly.

He said in a low voice, "Blade of Brilliance!"

As he said that, his entire body started glowing with a bluish aura. This bluish aura, over the reddish aura, looked beautiful yet dreadful at the same time.

Li Gang slowly moved outside the crater and jumped down the ridge. As soon as his foot touched the ground, he disappeared.

Master Lei was shocked and immediately put up his defense and blocked the slash from behind. His right hand was badly injured immediately.

He murmured slowly, "A Rank 8 Secret Technique. No, not just Rank 8—it should be peak Rank 8!"

Blade of Brilliance was a Rank 8 Secret Technique given by Jiang Wushuang in the Monarch Inheritance. It was given to Li Yuxong, but Li Gang also read it.

As soon as Blade of Brilliance was used, Li Gang's reddish aura started converting into a bluish aura, and the rate of conversion was very fast.

Master Huang laughed. "Your Secret Technique comes at a cost. You have less than a minute left."

Li Gang didn't care; he kept striking at both of them. He single-handedly suppressed them together. He had already mastered Sword Soul and utilized his Sword Soul with Blade of Brilliance.

Every second, millions of strikes from different directions came. They were also continuously moving from one place to another, making a marvelous scenery.