Chapter 175: Zi Chen’s Return
The demon king and Yuan Jiang struck at the same time, their attacks blasting straight toward Sheng Heng atop the altar. Startled, Sheng Heng instinctively raised a hand, summoning a web of vines to block. The demon king’s strike was stopped, but Yuan Jiang was an upper immortal; his full-powered blow hit Sheng Heng head-on. The impact sent him tumbling from the altar, blood spurting from his mouth.
“Li’er! Li’er!” The demon king rushed up to the altar, catching Ji Li in his arms. He called her name again and again, but she gave no response, her expression growing more frantic by the second.
“Let me see!” Yun Jiao ran up behind him, placing her fingers on Ji Li’s wrist. Her brow furrowed at once — there was no pulse, no spiritual flow. Looking closely, she saw Ji Li’s face had gone deathly pale, her body stiff, her life force fading at an alarming rate. Yun Jiao’s expression darkened. “Her soul…” she murmured, “…is gone.”
“What?!” The demon king stiffened and turned sharply toward Sheng Heng, who lay crumpled below. “What did you do?!”
“ Hahaha …” Sheng Heng’s laughter broke through the chaos — wild, unrestrained, triumphant. “Did you really think I’d wait for you to arrive before beginning the unsealing?”
“What do you mean?!”
But Yuan Jiang’s expression suddenly changed. “Little niece — get back!”
He reached out to grab Yun Jiao, who was still checking Ji Li’s pulse — but in a flash someone else moved faster. A figure swept her up and leapt away. Yuan Jiang could only redirect his hand, pulling the demon king and Ji Li with him as he retreated.
An instant later, blinding white light erupted. The altar flared like a colossal lighthouse, and the ground around it split open with cracking thunder, fissures spreading in all directions. The earth quaked violently.