Chapter 0954: Trap

In the center district of the mountain.

The moment Li Luo and his group sensed the sudden outburst of worldly natural energy, Li Wuyuan and his team similarly felt it as well. Their faces changed immediately as they looked angrily into the distance.

There was originally a lake in the forest, but a monstrous amount of energy had suddenly surged out of it. The water in the lake morphed into tsunamis up to a hundred feet tall, sweeping towards the mountains and forests.

The waves were nothing to worry about for the members of the Dragon's Blood Lineage. However, the worldly natural energy and giant Guardian Spirits that followed were frightening.

There were roughly a dozen of them at least.

Furthermore, the stronger ones had reached the strength of a six-pearl. Adding onto the Guardian Spirits that had spawned previously, the pressure the Dragon's Blood Lineage was under had increased exponentially.

Most frustrating of all was that the worldly natural energy eruption had disrupted the ward that they had set up previously. Li Wuyuan could no longer transfer the Guardian Spirits over to the other lineages.

"Cousin Wuyuan, something is wrong here. This eruption of energy is too strange!" Li Qingfeng said with a deep voice.

Li Wuyuan nodded in agreement. His face was really dark as he looked over towards the lake and said, "That eruption of energy was caused by another ward. Someone has plotted against us."

The others were furious to hear this. Who would have thought that someone else would have laid a trap in this special nest that they had painstakingly prepared?

"Send out warning signals to the other lineages. There are external enemies around," Li Wuyuan ordered immediately.

One of the Dragon's Blood Lineage members pressed hard against a jade tablet, and a light shot up into the air. It flew into the sky and transformed into a dragon silhouette dancing with its fangs and claws.

"Cousin Wuyuan, the other lineages are most likely still fighting off the Guardian Spirits at this point. If the external enemy comes after us right now, I doubt they will be able to lend us a helping hand," Li Hongli reminded him with signs of worry on her beautiful face. At this moment, there was a vicious look in Li Wuyuan's eyes. He stared at the outside of the forest and ordered, "Hurry up and get rid of the Guardian Spirits. Our enemies will be coming for us really soon. I would like to see who has the guts to pit themselves against the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li!"

Hearing this, his team members unleashed their resonant power and attempted to clear out all the Guardian Spirits as fast as possible.

Li Wuyuan had also taken out his black guandao and joined the battle. The weapon was decorated with two faintly glowing violet-eye marks that absorbed worldly natural energy from the surroundings automatically.

Without any hesitation, his resonant power surged and he charged towards the strongest few Guardian Spirits.

When he finished those off, he continued to keep watch on the edge of the forest. The external enemies that were waiting to reap the benefits should be appearing any moment now.

Indeed, his wait did not last long.

After a few minutes, beams of light appeared in the distance and shot high up into the sky. They rapidly cruised through the air and flew straight into the vast forest where they were situated.

The other four lineages in the other parts of the forest had also noticed the intruders.

However, they were still caught up with the Guardian Spirits on their sides. They could only watch as the intruders flew into the center district directly.

"Haha! What's with this pathetic look, Li Wuyuan?" Laughter echoed in the air.

"Zhao Yan! As expected, such a plot could only have come from the rogues of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao!" Li Wuyuan shot the leading figure a cold stare. At the same time, his eyes scanned the surroundings, and he picked up a different aura amongst some of the people with the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao.

"You're Tian Miao! There are people from the Devil Fire Hall too, it seems." Li Wuyuan recognized the leader of the Devil Fire Hall immediately. The youth named Tian Miao was also considered one of the best in his generation.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"You're too careless, Li Wuyuan. You didn't even know that something had been done to your treasure trove here. Luckily, our friends from the Devil Fire Hall informed us. Otherwise, we would have missed a good show," Zhao Yan said with a smirk.

Hearing this, Tian Miao's mouth twitched a little. Zhao Yan had exposed them without any hesitation. That guy was truly a smiling tiger in disguise, dragging them into their battles right off the bat. However, this was all within his expectations. He had already taken this into account when he shared the information with Zhao Yan.

"Excellent work, Tian Miao. How dare you plant a trap for the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li!" Li Wuyuan shouted back grimly.

In response, Tian Miao simply smiled. "You're exaggerating things, Brother Wuyuan. It's just a friendly competition between our generation, so how can this be considered a trap for the whole Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li? If I were so capable, I'd have become the Hall Master of Devil Fire Hall already."

At the same time, Zhao Yan declared grandly, "Enough of this nonsense, Li Wuyuan. Hand over all the Spirit Resonance Golden Dew that you have collected so far, or things will get nasty today."

When he finished speaking, the resonant power of the members of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao surged up as they stared daggers at the people from the Dragon's Blood Lineage. It was almost like a pack of wolves was standing watch atop the mountain, ready to strike at any time.

With a disadvantage in numbers, those from the Dragon's Blood Lineage were feeling threatened at this point. Moreover, they still had to deal with the nonstop attacks from the Guardian Spirits.

They would have to pay a really heavy price if they decided to take an attack from both the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao and the Devil Fire Hall right now.

There was some confusion and unrest amongst the members of the Dragon's Blood Lineage. Nonetheless, they were still the elites of their generation. They did not show any signs of fear and simply looked towards Li Wuyuan for his orders and direction.

In the same moment, Zhao Shenjiang from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao whispered something to Zhao Yan. After hearing his words, Zhao Yan gave a slight smile and shouted back at Li Wuyuan, "It's not impossible for us to let you off the hook, Li Wuyuan. As long as you're willing to hand over Li Luo from the Dragon's Fang Lineage, we can negotiate the outcome here."

His voice was shrouded with resonant power, so his words echoed throughout the forest. He had made no attempt to hide it.

Without a doubt, he wanted the other four lineages to hear him too.

The faces of those from the Dragon's Blood Lineage changed as soon as they heard this. They had not expected such a proposal from the opponent.

One of the members looked towards Li Wuyuan and whispered, "Brother Wu, shall we..."

Li Wuyuan frowned and stared back at the guy. With a cold voice, he replied, "Fools! Can't you see what this sly dog is plotting? We may not like Li Luo, but he's from the same lineage as us. If we hand him over to these bastards from the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao, the Dragon's Blood Lineage will be utterly disgraced. Forget about the Twenty Banners or the Heavenly Dragon’s Five Guardian Armies, everyone will look down on us for doing so. He's trying to hurt our foundation! If we do what he says, the elders from the Dragon's Blood Lineage will be so furious that they'll never forgive us. They'll give up on us, and there'll be no future left for us. Even if we suffer great losses from their trap here today, the loss will only be limited to those of us who are here right now. If we comply with their demand, what we'll be losing is the authority and reputation of the Dragon's Blood Lineage. Surely you all know what we should prioritize here!"

Hearing his words, the crowd from the Dragon's Blood Lineage agreed immediately. Even Li Hongli, who had always disliked Li Luo, did not raise any objections. She could still think rationally even in this situation.

Internal rivalries were something common in every major power and lineage. However, betraying one of their own people and handing them over to the enemy was a different matter altogether. Li Wuyuan lifted his head and shouted to Zhao Yan, "Forget about your despicable tricks. Do you think I am a fool?"

Seeing this, Zhao Yan could not help but feel some pity. Li Wuyuan was sharper than he had expected.

He turned his head towards the other members of the Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Zhao and ordered, "Split up into four teams and head towards the other four districts in the forest. We have to inflict a heavy blow onto them while they're still entangled with the Guardian Spirits. Force them to retreat and take all of their Spirit Resonance Golden Dew."

They responded immediately after hearing his order. They split into four different teams together with the members of the Devil Fire Hall and speedily flew towards the other districts in the forest.

…..

At the same moment, the members of the Dragon's Fang Lineage had finished clearing up the Guardian Spirits on their side with the assistance of Li Luo.

"Oh, Li Wuyuan didn't betray me?" Li Luo commented with a laugh. Zhao Yan's voice had echoed throughout the forest a moment ago, so he had naturally heard it too.

"Li Wuyuan may be detestable, but he's not stupid. He would not dare to do something like that, as it would be equivalent to digging his own grave," Li Fuling commented.

"There are people coming towards us. Quite a lot of them," Li Lingjing warned them.

She turned towards Li Luo and asked, "Shall we stop them?"

Li Luo thought about it for a moment. He scanned the valley once again, particularly at the areas where he had planted the flame catalysts previously. At this moment, a bright smile appeared on his handsome face.

"Let them come. If they want to play dirty, we'll prepare a nice trap for them over here."