The left direction, which was initially blocked, suddenly opened, and hundreds of warriors attacked Shu warriors from behind, catching them completely off guard.
Before these Shu warriors could react, all those injured warriors were seamlessly replaced by different warriors.
At the same time, the information about the location of Units 10 to 15 was revealed to Li Gang and other core warriors. They immediately aimed in that direction and started attacking them.
The battle continued for an hour, and the Shu Dynasty faced a huge one-sided destruction.
The strategy of Shu Pang fell apart as he realized that there was no one leading this army. Every warrior knew what to do in the situation and had complete freedom to act defensively or actively depending on the situation. He realized they had been trained in this formation for a long time. He also realized the lack of a sense of direction, due to which there was miscoordination among the Shu Dynasty warriors, and they were finding it difficult to follow their leader's instructions!
In just an hour, they lost around half a million warriors, while the Wei Dynasty only lost a few hundred warriors!
Shu Pang also realized a major weakness in this maze formation.
The maze was rotating in one direction. Every time a defensive warrior replaced an attacking warrior, another warrior from the left moved towards the right to fill the time gap. This movement seemed trivial, but it gave enough time for the attacking warrior to take over the defensive warrior's stance.
He had already realized that forcefully breaking the defensive warrior was not effective, but what if that defensive warrior was injured? However, even if he killed that defensive warrior, it was still not possible to breach the layer, as another warrior would replace him.
Thus, he came up with a measure: Mark a warrior, and kill both of his adjacent warriors. In that situation, the marked warrior would move to the right to fill that gap, creating another gap where he was initially present. But the warrior to his left would already be dead, and thus, this gap couldn't be filled immediately. This would create a time gap, and as soon as Shu warriors started entering through this gap, it would become impossible to cover! In fact, Shu Pang didn't know whether the maze was rotating left or right, but it didn't matter. This strategy would work in both cases.
Shu Pang had a numerical advantage, and as soon as he implemented this strategy, everything changed. The one-sided domination was no longer present. Even though they were still facing one-sided destruction, they were slowly advancing. They were slowly getting closer to the core, unlike before.
The battle continued for five more hours before they reached the core area.
Shu Pang glanced at Li Gang, who was sitting on the chariot casually, and his face turned serious.
Li Gang smiled deeply. "To be able to defeat this formation, you are truly one of the best generals in the Northern Continent."
Shu Pang said self-deprecatingly, "My victory? How is this my victory? Look around the battlefield and tell me how this is my victory."
Shen Lin looked at Shu Pang and didn't speak. He had just seen the horror of this formation. He had just seen the one-sided massacre of his army. He looked around the battlefield, and everywhere, he could only see corpses and rivers of blood.
They fought with 5 million warriors and lost around 4.7 million warriors. They were left with only 300,000 warriors, and among the 15 leaders, only six were left. Even Shu Pang almost died multiple times in the battle.
Even after finding the weakness, it was not easy to breach the defense. Every step was a trap. The defensive and attacking warriors were seamlessly changing positions. They weren't even able to realize which warrior would attack them and from where.
The whole Shu army was confused as soon as they entered the formation:
Is the warrior defensive, guarding the array,
Or an attacker, carving the way?
Is the defender the attacker in guise,
Or the attacker, the shield in disguise?
At this time, around ten to fifteen warriors were present on the battlefield from the Wei Dynasty side, and around 300,000 were present from the Shu Dynasty side.
Li Gang was the only Rank 5 warrior here. He was Rank 5 mid-stage, while the others were all Rank 3 warriors. They had all surrendered, except for Li Gang.
Shu Pang glanced at him and said slowly, "You have earned my respect. If you can surrender, I am willing to spare your life. I don't want such talent to be wasted."
Li Gang laughed. "Is my life really up to you?"
Shu Pang narrowed his eyes.
At that moment, a huge eagle hovered above them and came downward.
"What you said is right, Master Ren. Or should I call you the Demon King of the South?"
The whole army—Shu Pang, Shen Lin, Ling Tong, and everyone else—was shocked to hear this. Everyone was aware of who the Demon King of the South was! The rumor of the Demon King of the South had spread many years ago. It was said he was the true cause of the huge catastrophe that left the whole world in despair.
From the huge eagle, three warriors came down. Two were wearing black masks, just like Li Gang, and the one who spoke was none other than one of the three great strategists, Lao Zhang.
Li Gang glanced at the three of them and didn't speak.
Lao Zhang smiled. "You didn't expect it, did you?"
Shu Pang looked at Lao Zhang and cupped his fist. "I have met the Chief Advisor."
He paused and spoke again. "What do you mean by that, Lao Zhang? Who are these people?"
Lao Zhang said lightly, "Meet these seniors. They are Master Huang and Master Lei. This time, they personally came here to bring justice to the world and eliminate the demon who caused the Giant Hand Catastrophe."
Shu Pang and others bowed to them and said lightly, "I have met Master Huang and Master Lei."
Li Gang looked at the two masked warriors and said deeply, "It appears the lesson I taught you back then was not sufficient! You came back again. Are you tired of death?"
Lao Zhang smirked. "No need to bluff here, Li Gang. I believe this is your true name. We are already aware that your talent is just Grade D, and you are at most a Rank 4 warrior. As for your Rank 8 battle strength, you no longer have access to it. Otherwise, you wouldn't be lurking here with a hidden identity, coming all the way to the North."
Li Gang said lightly, "You also don't have to act tough. You are not the real leader here. I believe everything has been planned by these two, isn't it?"
"I have long suspected why Wei Dynasty would deploy 5 million warriors against us. I had initially expected 1 million warriors, with gradual increases as tension escalated. However, when I realized you directly deployed 5 million warriors, I knew there was an external factor. I wanted to crush your 1 million warriors without losing even a hundred of ours. It's a pity."
"My suspicion was confirmed when I learned that all the alchemists I had deployed in the Shu Dynasty were killed. You ruthlessly captured every shop of Renhuo Trading and killed every worker we had sent there."
"At that moment, I knew this was only possible if you knew my true identity. Despite that, I came here to confront you. Why do you think so?"
Lao Zhang narrowed his eyes.
One of the masked men removed his mask and the vast shawl he had used to hide his body. Lao Zhang was shocked to see his condition—it was Master Huang.
One of his eyes was blinded, and one hand and one leg were destroyed. The man said lightly, "You massacred my entire clan, so you should be ready to face death. I will skin you alive and give you the worst possible death."
Li Gang smirked. "As I expected, the injuries I gave you weren't something you could heal. You would have needed at least Rank 9 healing pills, and your own battle strength must have plummeted to Rank 7."
Master Huang said lightly, "Rank 7 early stage. But it is enough to destroy you."
Li Gang laughed, his voice filled with disdain and mockery. He glanced at the two men and said slowly, "Not only has your cultivation reduced, but you've also grown more stupid!"
These two men were none other than the leaders of the Shadow Phoenix Clan and Thunderous Peak Sect. They fled during their battle against Li Gang when he was in his special form, wielding Rank 8 mid-stage battle strength. Even though his basic strength, defense, speed, durability, and other attributes were at Rank 8 mid-stage, the skills he used couldn't be countered by even Rank 8 peak-stage warriors.
Master Lei said coldly, "You think you can escape today? Do you think, even in this situation, you're capable of escaping?"
Li Gang laughed. "Do you know that a Rank 7 warrior is capable of destroying these 300,000 fodders on his own? A Rank 6 warrior can block all these Rank 5 warriors who support you. So, you're finally left on your own. Who do you think will come to save you?"
A Few Hundred Miles Away from the Battlefield
Jin Long and Shi Tian were still observing the fight, and the sudden change shocked them.
Jin Long murmured, "So that is why she wanted me to come here. If he is the Demon King of the South, then it all makes sense. But why would she want me to surrender to a demon?"
At that moment, a middle-aged man approached them.
Jin Long glanced at the middle-aged man and narrowed his eyes. "You are?"
The middle-aged man said lightly, "Your Majesty, this letter was sent by our king. I hope you will consider it carefully."
Saying this, he handed Jin Long a letter.