Chapter 232: Trap
“Whoosh!”
A beam of light rose in the Eastern City, shooting straight into the sky and crashing into the clouds.
Immediately after, there was the second beam, the third…
The beams rose from different directions, illuminating the Eastern City.
…
Li Weiyi retreated, his first layer Magic Tool Battle Robe already shattered, his cheeks and hands exposed outside the battle robe all bearing Sword Qi blood marks.
In contrast, Jiang Ning was pristine and immaculate all over her body.
Eight against one, still unable to prevail.
He raised his sword, looking toward those beams that had suddenly risen in the distance, slightly dazed, the ominous premonition in his heart growing stronger.
By rights, Qi Xiao and Shi Shishi had left long ago and should have found Zuo Qiu Ting… Zuo Qiu Hong Ting in the Eastern City!
But Zuo Qiu Hong Ting had not come to help, which was too abnormal.
Jiang Ning used “Pavilion and Hall” and “Double Wings” Battle Intent to repel the seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors, forcing Li Weiyi into the corner shadows with one sword: “I admit, you and the Seven Little Ones together are already very strong, and to kill you, I would have to pay a considerable price. But the Seven Little Ones’ current attack power can threaten me, yet absolutely cannot threaten Ge Xian Tong.”
“What if their combat power rises another rank? For example, all reaching the level of Qi Xiao, Chen Wenwu, and the others.” Li Weiyi said.
Jiang Ning did not dare to imagine what kind of combat power seven Seventh Sea Pure Immortal Bodies joining hands would have; even she would probably have to retreat. Because the seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors were even more tenacious and harder to wound.
If there were truly such seven helpers, it would be completely different!
She fell into hesitation: “Are you confident that within three days, you can raise them to that level?”
“It should be possible.” Li Weiyi said.
Jiang Ning suddenly sighed: “Too late, the light pillars have risen, I won’t hide it from you anymore… The south side is a dead end. If you pin your hopes on escaping back to the Southern City and borrowing the power of the Jiu Li Clan and Zuo Qiu Gatehouse to resist Ge Xian Tong, you will have ten deaths and no life.”
“You don’t have these three days!”
“How so?” Li Weiyi asked.
Jiang Ning said: “Tonight, it is not the Imperial Court, Far West Ash Region, Snow Sword Tang Court attacking Lei Xiao Sect and Dragon Gate, but the five major powers joining hands to annihilate Zuo Qiu Gatehouse.”
“Dragon Gate’s feigned defeat and Lei Xiao Sect’s desperate defense breach are all part of the plan.”
It was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Li Weiyi’s expression changed drastically, his heart filled with worry for Li Ling, Yin Nine, Shi Shishi, and the others: “Is it because Zuo Qiu Gatehouse has the support of Jiu Li Clan and Zhu Men, plus holding the home field advantage with great momentum, that you all joined hands to deal with them first?”
“Bang!”
The two kept changing moves, shifting positions.
Jiang Ning wanted to persuade him and patiently said: “Why is the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival in Qiu Zhou Prefecture City? Why is Zuo Qiu Gatehouse willing to use Qiu Zhou Prefecture City as the battlefield?”
“Because this Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival is not a contest among heroes, but held for Zuo Qiu Hong Ting alone. At least at the very beginning!”
“The three Young Sons of Heaven: Ge Xian Tong belongs to the Imperial Court, Luan Sheng Lin You belongs to the Far West Ash Region, neither is the Hidden Dragon that Du’e Temple is looking for.”
“Only by proving her ability at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival and completing this trial can Zuo Qiu Gatehouse gain Du’e Temple’s support. As for what level she needs to reach to be recognized, only Du’e Temple itself knows.”
“The others are either disruptors, seeking fame, here for rewards, or wanting to beat Zuo Qiu Hong Ting down and make Du’e Temple support them instead.”
“Now you understand why I opposed you participating in the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival from the start? I didn’t want you to be used by Zuo Qiu Hong Ting and become a pawn on her path to becoming Son of Heaven.”
Li Weiyi said: “Zuo Qiu Ting still has a lot of personal charm! If she wants to use me, with Zuo Qiu Hong Ting’s status, it would actually be harder for me to refuse.”
“Moreover, with my strength when I participated in the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, how could I have the qualification to be used by her? Wait, no! Luan Sheng Lin You, Tang Wan Qiu, Ge Xian Tong, even you came to the Eastern City, and Yuwen Tuozhen and the others are indeed killing Dragon Gate Martial Cultivators. To lure Zuo Qiu Hong Ting into the trap, you’re not afraid at all of your headquarters being uprooted?”
Jiang Ning said: “Among the five powers, fewer than ten people know this plan; the subordinates are naturally fighting for real.”
“If it’s not real enough, if not going all out, if not paying some price, how could Zuo Qiu Hong Ting, who knows Qiu Zhou Prefecture City like the back of her hand, fall for it?”
“On New Year’s Eve, we wanted to crush her directly, but she held on! The various powers each harbored ulterior motives, with their own contradictions and petty thoughts; she exploited this to gradually gain momentum.”
Li Weiyi said: “If you lure her to strike first, you can bind all five powers to the war chariot; no one can slack off or check each other. If Dragon Gate and Lei Xiao Sect still want to stay out of it, then without defensive strongholds, they might truly be annihilated by you tonight. This isn’t five against one, but six sides all gambling.”
“Only when everyone loses their strongholds and has no retreat can they briefly unite.”
Jiang Ning stared deeply at him: “No matter what, with the light pillars risen, the signal for the whole city to attack Zuo Qiu Gatehouse has been sent; the Southern City will surely be a mountain of corpses and sea of blood tonight. If Zuo Qiu Gatehouse can hold until dawn, that would already be impressive!”
Li Weiyi said darkly: “Perhaps, you still underestimate Zuo Qiu Hong Ting.”
Since Qi Xiao and Shi Shishi hadn’t found Zuo Qiu Hong Ting to come save him, it meant Zuo Qiu Hong Ting had already sensed something wrong one step ahead and likely rushed back to the Southern City long ago.
A tall and straight figure in black clothes, back against the wall, stood in the shadows under the eaves just ten feet from the two, completely blending into the darkness, with no aura at all.
“The Imperial Court has two people watching you: one is Feng State’s Number One Strong Practitioner, Feng Yin, whose speed is only slightly inferior to mine. The other is an Imperial Guard from a transcendent lineage, Zhen Yu Yan, skilled in tracking.”
“They won’t attack you, but will follow you until Ge Xian Tong arrives at dawn tomorrow.”
Jiang Ning knew her plan had failed and she couldn’t seriously injure him, so she prepared to let him go.
Because she believed that once he knew Zuo Qiu Gatehouse and Jiu Li Clan’s general trend was gone, Li Weiyi would have no choice but to withdraw from the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival.
“The Turbulent World Current rolls forward relentlessly. You can’t stop it either!”
Jiang Ning sheathed her sword back into Zu Tian.
In the darkness under the eaves ten feet away, that tall and straight figure smiled faintly, quickly flashing out, staring at the two who were no longer fighting. His right hand drew a circle, the air turning liquid-like, ripples appearing in circles.
Then, from his sleeve shot a large swath of hidden weapons blazing to the extreme, like a mass of flames, flying out from the circular ripples.
After the flames flew out, they made a whooshing sound.
Upon closer look, they were countless flame scales, like sparks filling the street, speed as fast as meteors.
“Golden Scale Fire Rain.”
Jiang Ning’s expression changed drastically as she shouted.
In the haste, there was no time to release Dragon Soul and Battle Intent, so she could only form hand seals with her palms, propping up a thick defensive barrier with Magic Energy.
Li Weiyi pulled out the Ghost Flag, striding forward and spinning rapidly, using the flag as a shield to form a vortex.
The Golden Scale Fire Rain was not only fast, but its penetration was terrifying, piercing through Jiang Ning’s Magic Energy barrier and Li Weiyi’s Ghost Flag, landing on their bodies.
“Bang bang!”
Jiang Ning wore the Governor’s Official Robe, while Li Weiyi had Corpse Clothes Soft Armor and two Magic Tool Battle Robes.
The two retreated, both only lightly injured.
Li Weiyi’s two Magic Tool Battle Robes were completely destroyed, pierced with several holes, immediately activating the blood mist and blood-colored scriptures from the Corpse Clothes Soft Armor to protect his body, his gaze scanning all around.
Jiang Ning swung her sword toward the shadows under the eaves, but the sneak attacker had already left.
“Swoosh! Swoosh…”
The sound of breaking wind rose one after another.
Seven figures rushed from seven different directions, each with expressionless faces, double pupils burning with flames.
“It’s the Death Ash among the Ash Spirits…”
Jiang Ning reminded.
“Boom!”
One of the figures, still far away, was struck by Jiang Ning’s sword and exploded, turning into sparks that covered a radius of ten feet.
Everything within ten feet was completely pulverized to dust, turning into a small Ash Region.
The Formation Light Gauze on the buildings lining the street was eroded away, and the sparks rushed inside. The buildings collapsed with a boom, burning in the ashes.
Jiang Ning and Li Weiyi used movement techniques to quickly dodge.
“Rumble!”
The other six Death Ash figures surrounded them, turning into six masses of flames.
The flames then turned into ash and sparks, destroying everything nearby.
“Bang! Bang!”
The two burst out from the sky full of ash and sparks, crashing to the ground, each spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Jiang Ning was more seriously injured than Li Weiyi.
Earlier in the flames, she had blocked in front, using the Governor’s Official Robe to take the hit head-on.
“How are you?”
Li Weiyi climbed up, crouching with his body, vigilantly observing all around. He waved his hand, and the seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors rose into the air, searching for the sneak attacker’s trail.
Jiang Ning suppressed her injuries: “I’m fine!”
“Didn’t you see? Your kind of cooperation is full of holes; as long as there’s a slight opportunity, they will go to any extremes to put allies to death.”
“Great Phoenix found him! Leave him to me; we can’t have any more contact, or you won’t be able to explain when you go back!”
Li Weiyi said this and stepped on the Dragon Shadow, appearing on the roof eaves more than ten feet away.
He stretched out one hand, gathering the seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors, and chased into the night sky.
Feng Yin and Zhen Yu Yan each used movement techniques, one after the other, arriving beside Jiang Ning.
“I’m fine! You have your missions, go!” Jiang Ning said.
The two Number One Imperial Court experts cupped their fists in salute and chased after Li Weiyi.
…
…………
Dragon’s Roar echoed through the night sky, one after another, resounding incomparably.
Li Weiyi’s heart was cold as he pushed his speed to the limit, catching up to that tall and straight black-clothed figure on the Inner City City Wall. The black-clothed figure wore a mask and took out a two-foot-long wooden staff.
“Bang bang!”
One sword and one staff, the two figures fiercely clashed on the City Wall.
Far more intense than his earlier fight with Jiang Ning, killing intent and battle intent permeated. Li Weiyi put full power into every sword, determined to kill him.
The seven Phoenix Wing Moth Emperors traveled with Li Weiyi, not attacking but only preventing the black-clothed figure from escaping.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Weiyi gathered power and released five Battle Intent Divine Shadows, while five Li Weiyis also appeared, slashing out with rainbow-like momentum to part the sea.
The black-clothed figure opposite had a drastic change in expression, no longer caring about exposing his identity.
He raised the staff above his head, releasing a profoundly mysterious power that even pulled down a strand of dark clouds from hundreds of meters high in the sky, like a tornado connecting heaven and earth.
Scriptures appeared on the staff, and as he swung it out, vast clouds and mist surged forth.
“Whoosh!”
The Yellow Dragon Sword cleaved through the clouds and mist, colliding with the wooden staff.
A strand of Sword Qi shot straight forward, snapping the mask on the black-clothed figure’s face and leaving a blood line on his handsome face.
The black-clothed figure turned and fled, leaping off the City Wall and vanishing into the darkness with invisibility.
“Is it Long Ting?”
In that hasty glance earlier, Li Weiyi couldn’t confirm.
But what he could confirm was that a blood line had been slashed on that person’s face, not revealing sparks beneath human skin; he was absolutely not an Ash Spirit. If Long Ting hadn’t turned into an Ash Spirit…
Then why did he want to kill Zhu Huan?
Li Weiyi let out a long breath and turned around.
Feng Yin and Zhen Yu Yan appeared one after another.
