10.2

That was why it was shocking to see the demonic aura released by Li Shu here today. The jiaoren's desperate strike in the dungeon had made Ji Yunhe feel like he was the spirit of the sea, but today, this cat demon Li Shu...

The demon aura around him grew more and more intense and the chill in the air was starting to feel like a blade against the skin. Weaker demon masters started to bleed. They screamed in panic and distress.

Lin Haoqing's gaze focused. Without further hesitation, he channeled his power from his hand into his sword and swung it fiercely at Li Shu. The energy from the sword turned into a magical blade. It broke through the cold wind and slashed at the cat demon.

Snow March raised her sword to block it, but Li Shu gently pushed her hand down. He remained standing there calm and still. When the magical blade reached him, it was as if it had struck an invisible wall. The blade shattered into a million pieces and dispersed all around, destroying flowers and trees as they swept across the valley.

Ji Yunhe was shocked again, not by Li Shu this time, but by Lin Haoqing... This young valley master, when did he cultivate such profound energy...

"Li Shu? What are you doing?" Snow March lifted her head and asked. After a few moments of silence, Li Shu only said two words.

"I'm sorry." Snow March did not know how to respond. He suddenly conjured a dagger in his hand and plunged it deep into his own chest.

Everyone froze. Li Shu pulled the dagger out with blood gushing. He pushed Snow March away, then drew a blood formation on the ground using his blood as ink and his finger as a brush. His demonic aura flickered and danced around him while his hair and robe flew with the wind.

He looked like the God of Death. "Jade phoenix, with my body and my blood, I sacrifice myself to ten sides, and assist you in breaking the seal!"

Everyone was appalled. This cat demon, Li Shu, was actually sacrificing his own life to the Ten Square Formation, to revive the greatest demon that had ever lived!

"Li Shu!" Snow March's voice could no longer reach his ears.The earth trembled and quaked beneath everyone's feet. In front of Li Shu's formation, a deep chasm suddenly split open. The wind down below sounded like the howling of a vicious ghost, or the angry roar of a giant demon that had been suppressed for a hundred years.

"Listen everyone, form up!" Lin Haoqing shouted over the howling wind.

"Even if we have to lose our lives today, we must not let the jade phoenix escape!"

As of now, the betrayal of Snow March and the conflict between Ji Yunhe and Lin Haoqing were no longer important. The people here today did not see the vicious battle between the ten demon masters and the jade phoenix a hundred years ago, but they had heard of the devastation it caused...

The chasm expanded at an astonishing speed as all the demon masters formed up with their magical weapons in hand. Ji Yunhe also found it difficult to steady her feet amidst the rumbling earth. The chasm kept stretching forward, splitting the Demon Valley into two.

Even the visible protective shield that usually sat above the entire valley started to crumble, magic dust and sparkles fell all around like snow.

Many demon masters fell into the abyss. Some tried to fly away riding their swords, just to be swallowed into the darkness by fierce winds and demonic turbulence.

(In Chinese fantasy, people often used their swords as both a weapon and a mount where they could stand on top of it and take flight. It was a common form of transportation.)

Ji Yunhe rode her sword up high into the sky. If she was not mistaken, this chasm should have cracked into the dungeon where the jiaoren was being imprisoned. Such a force would certainly have ripped that dungeon apart, maybe even collapsed it, but that jiaoren…

Unlikely he could escape. He had no strength left. Before Ji Yunhe could think further, she saw someone flying over on top of his sword, crooked and lacking basic balance. It was Qu Xiaoxing, and he started shouting already from a distance,

"Master Warden! Protector!"

When he got too close, Ji Yunhe pushed him away and asked,

"What are you doing here?!"

"I came to see... this..."

Before the words left his mouth, the sharp call of a phoenix sounded from the bottom of the abyss and resonated straight up into the clouds. The jade phoenix had awakened...