A young and handsome man soon appeared in the small hut.
Li Gang nodded at him. "Zudas?"
Zudas first looked at the person in front of him and was shocked by the sheer number of injuries.
At the same time, he also deduced a few things. 'At least Rank 5!'
Such injuries couldn't be endured by just anyone. He immediately concluded that the other person wasn't ordinary.
Zudas nodded as he cupped his fist. "I have met Senior!"
Li Gang glanced at him as he stood up. He came near and touched his hand, sensing a very strong Rank 3 cultivation.
At this very moment, his brows furrowed.
He asked lightly, "When did you come here?"
A Rank 3 Warrior in the Northern Continent is very high-tier combat power. He should be highly sought after everywhere. Why is he here? It shouldn't be possible!
Zudas said calmly, "I am afraid I can't reveal it." He continued, "Senior, if you have any requests, feel free to ask. But there are some things that I can't reveal!"
Everybody has some secrets; Li Gang wouldn't normally bother about them. But the current situation was different.
His life and death were at stake!
He looked at the young girl and asked, "When did he come here?"
The little girl looked at Zudas and didn't speak.
Li Gang sighed. "Then there really is no way!"
He moved swiftly, catching the girl and pressing her against the wall, his hand gripping her throat. The moment he touched her throat, he was internally shocked, but he didn't show it on the surface.
He didn't even glance at Zudas and said calmly, "Speak!"
The little girl didn't speak, but unknown to her, Li Gang wasn't asking her!
Zudas was surprised at Li Gang's sudden action. He said nervously, "Put her down!"
Zudas is an extremely rational person.
Li Gang glanced at him and asked coldly as he slowly increased his force, "Speak!"
Zudas immediately responded, "Eight months ago!"
Li Gang narrowed his eyes. "On whose orders?"
Zudas didn't speak as he kept glancing at the hand clutching the girl's throat. He understood that the other person had seen through Chu You's secrets. He inwardly began calculating what could be done.
Li Gang was also calculating everything as he loosened his grip.
He returned to the small couch. He understood what was happening.
He looked at Zudas and asked lightly, "Did the princess say anything?"
Zudas was shocked. "How did you know?"
Li Gang didn't reply. He glanced at Chu You and said lightly, "Go out!"
Chu You didn't speak but looked at Zudas.
Zudas nodded at her.
Chu You also nodded as she left.
Li Gang looked at her departing figure and said lightly, "Natural Enchantment Body!"
Li Gang recalled from Lin Fan's memories that the Natural Enchantment Body is one of the means to enhance one's talent. However, to do so, one must become a couple with them and take their virginity.
He no longer had any interest in the Natural Enchantment Body.
Zudas was surprised to hear this. He glanced at Li Gang even more warily.
Li Gang somewhat understood the cause and effect of the situation.
Zudas and Chu You had been sent here by Jin Huang.
About ten months ago, Li Gang had met Jin Huang. At that time, he had told her that he needed help in a certain battle that would take place in the future.
The battle Li Gang had been referring to was none other than this one, in which he had fallen into a trap.
Li Gang had already considered the possibility that he might fail to kill the two Monarchs. At that time, he would surely escape with his Spatial Order, though he would also be injured. This is where the problem lay. Li Gang had no intention of just escaping. He wanted to conquer the Northern Continent, so he would surely cause more chaos and war.
With two Monarchs overseeing the situation, it would be even harder for him to gain victory, and he might even be cornered.
Jin Huang was well aware of the Northern Continent's situations, terrain, and inheritances, much more than Li Gang. He believed that if Jin Huang provided him with help during this period, then his chances would be higher.
In the forbidden land, near the borders of the Wei, Shu, and Wu dynasties, there is an array formation. It was left behind by the Elemental Emperor to nurture some special pills. These pills can forcefully elevate a Warrior's cultivation by two stages, at the cost of sacrificing their Spiritual Imprint.
In order to nurture these special pills, the formation absorbs the souls of all Warriors who die within a few miles and forcefully extracts their Spiritual Imprints.
Normally, the Elemental Emperor couldn't possibly interfere with Spiritual Imprints; however, he used the Soul Order as a means to construct it. Despite the absence of the Soul Order, it can still function.
Master Huang and Master Lei had somehow connected this formation with the Spatial Lock. After modifying it slightly, they used it as a means to preserve their souls despite their deaths.
But this is certainly not something they could have achieved with their own abilities.
It should be noted that many people were aware of the existence of the soul-type formation in the forbidden land. It wasn't just Huang and Lei. Whether it was Lao Zhang, Guo Chen, or Jin Huang—the three famed strategists of the Northern Continent—all were well aware of it.
After reading Li Gang's memories and considering what contingencies Huang and Lei could prepare, it wasn't hard for Jin Huang to figure out that they might not die from Li Gang's schemes.
There was one more thing. After seeing Lin Fan's memories, she also figured out the involvement of the Emperors.
She gave Li Gang a warning as he was leaving. "The realm of Rank 9 Emperor doesn't exist in any cultivation world. It only exists in this Divine Spirit World!"
No one was more aware of the Forbidden Land's secrets than her and the Elemental Emperor. She had personally visited the Forbidden Land and obtained the Heavenly Lotus, while the Elemental Emperor was the one who created the Forbidden Land.
She knew about the formation and understood that, after modification, it could be used to save a person who was already dead. However, it required the consent of the one who created it.
Normally, she wouldn't have considered the Forbidden Land a deciding factor, but the fact that Li Gang was attacking the Shu Dynasty was intriguing—especially when he was being targeted by Emperors. There is only one way to attack the Shu Dynasty, and that is through an open battlefield.
This open battlefield lies within the range of the Forbidden Land's formation, which was likely developed by an Emperor. A coincidence? In a world of warriors, the most intriguing thing is a coincidence!
If one considers this situation to not be a coincidence, there are a few conclusions and possibilities one can arrive at.
First, Li Gang deliberately chose to battle the Shu Dynasty in order to lure Rank 8 Warriors. Only if they were certain they could survive would they attack. However, Li Gang shouldn't have been aware of the Elemental Emperor's arrangements.
Second, whoever created this Forbidden Land placed it right where Li Gang would battle. But this reason seems far-fetched.
For Jin Huang, she had read Li Gang's memories and knew a very important clue. There was a psychological cue placed in his mind, prompting him to attack the Shu Dynasty. This changed many things.
Li Gang had been scheming with Emperors and Immortals using those psychological cues. It meant he had known about the Forbidden Land, and the first option should have been correct. However, Jin Huang's conclusion was different.
The conclusion she arrived at was that both possibilities were correct. Li Gang chose to attack the Shu Dynasty so that the Elemental Emperor would place the Forbidden Land there. This was a strange conclusion.
The reason?
In Li Gang's memory, there was a psychological cue related to it. She had read his memories.
What was the cue about?
It was related to the timeline. One of the psychological cues stated that there was a Warrior who had traversed back in time. This cue was meant to identify the person who would be reborn.
There was another psychological cue which mentioned that he must choose the Shu Dynasty to attack first.
Now, how did Jin Huang arrive at this conclusion from these two clues?
First, the fact that someone could return to the past meant that this world allowed rebirth, which was somewhat shocking to her.
Second, if someone could go back in time, then that person might not be the only one capable of doing so. There could be other cases of rebirth.
Why Li Gang chose to attack the Shu Dynasty was not important.
What was important was why he placed this as a psychological cue in his mind. Even without it, he would have attacked the Shu Dynasty, because it was the most ideal situation for him.
The only reason he would have done it was to remind her of something. Li Gang knew she would be able to read his memories long ago, and thus he left that psychological cue for her. What could he be reminding her of? Let's go through it step by step from Jin Huang's perspective.
Whoever created this Forbidden Land had gone back into the past. He knew that Li Gang would one day attack this place, and as a result, he made preparations beforehand to capture him.
But is this analysis correct?
To a certain extent.
The real story goes back countless eras, to a time when the Divine Spirit World itself didn't exist.
Back then, the Timeless Demon God asked for a boon from the Heavenly Dao. He wanted permission to modify fragments of the Heavenly Dao as he wished.
In order to avoid causing too many changes in the future, he modified the Little Heaven overseeing the world to suppress the Law of Unpredictability. This law wasn't effective in these small worlds. However, he knew that what he had done wouldn't be able to suppress it for long.