Although Zi Shang was a skilled fighter, he would not be able to take the monster down in a short amount of time.

“Li Wei, can you hear me?” Yun Jiuge pounded the Golden Tree with all her might.

Both of Li Wei's eyes were tightly shut. There was no reaction from him.

Yun Jiuge looked at the Demonic Aura Pool under her feet. She decided to undo the Holy Essence Seal to restore her Holy Power. After that, she would help Li Wei get out of his predicament.

Yun Jiuge broke the skin on her index finger with her teeth and used blood to draw a Rune on the Golden Tree.

She was the one who created this Rune. This Rune was the only way to undo the seal.

Her golden red Holy Blood seeped slowly into the Golden Tree. Li Wei's eyes started to flutter. The entire Golden Tree shook. Then, the sound of something cracking came from within the Golden Tree.

The Golden Tree broke into pieces. The pieces flew up and joined together to form a heart-shaped Holy Essence.

As soon as the monster laid its eyes on this heart, it roared furiously. It wanted to rush towards the heart, but Zi Shang sent him flying with a tail swipe.

Yun Jiuge wanted to grab the Holy Essence, but someone else was faster than her. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the heart and landed right beside her.

“Li Wei, what are you doing?” Yun Jiuge glared at the subordinate that she used to trust the most. However, she saw a pair of bottomless eyes on his handsome face.

The Demonic Aura Pool which was connected to the Golden Tree disappeared without a trace.

“My beloved G.o.ddess, even though I've served you for a very long time, I've never told you my name. I'm Ao Ge,” said Li Wei as he bowed in an exaggerated manner.

“Who are you? When did you possess Li Wei's body?” Yun Jiuge was absolutely certain that Ao Ge was not the same Li Wei that had attended to her in the past.

“Perhaps you may be more familiar with my other name, the Demonic Portal Key,” said Ao Ge. He straightened his back and curved his lips into a sinister smile.

“You're the Demonic Spirit manifestation of the Demonic Portal Key?” Yun Jiuge's eyes widened.

Everything possessed a distinct spiritual essence. That ordinary Demonic Portal Key's spiritual essence became a Demonic Spirit and harmed Li Wei who was the custodian of the key.

“That's right. Your Holy Essence Seal is quite powerful. I went through great lengths before I could control him to do two things.” Ao Ge sighed dramatically and said, “Otherwise, I'd have opened the portal a long time ago and welcomed my Master with open arms.”

“Did you induce Yue Ling'er to commit suicide?” Yun Jiuge asked while gritting her teeth. At that time, they were guessing who impersonated Li Wei and instigated Yue Ling'er's suicide. It never occurred to them that it would be the Demonic Spirit from the Demonic Portal Key.

“That's correct. Although I tried to be very discreet about it, Li Wei noticed what I was doing so he sealed himself in this G.o.dforsaken place without any hesitation. However, he never would have thought that I'd bring a few demonic beings with me in my Holy Soul. Those demonic beings really helped me a lot,” said Ao Ge as he smiled.

“What about Li Wei? Where is he?” Yun Jiuge stared into Ao Ge's black eyes.

“He wouldn't be able to seal me here if he didn't give anything up in return.” Ao Ge's black eyes were emotionless.

“He's dead?” Yun Jiuge felt an inexplicable sadness.

“He's not. His Holy Soul is still sealed in here. Why don't we make a deal? You release my Main Body, and I'll hand him over to you,” said Ao Ge while pointing at his chest. There was a faint red human-shaped glow that was emitting Li Wei's aura.

Li Wei had used the Soul Power from his sacrifice to add another layer of seal on the Demonic Portal Key. Yun Jiuge was the only one who could break it.

“You've to return my Holy Essence first, or else I wouldn't have the power to undo the seal,” Yun Jiuge said calmly.

“I can give you your Holy Essence, but you've to sign a pact with me first,” answered Ao Ge, who toyed with the golden Holy Essence in his hand.

“What pact do you want me to sign?” Yun Jiuge raised her brow. She knew that this Demonic Spirit would suggest something unreasonable.

“A Master and Servant Contract. I'll be the master, and you be my servant,” Ao Ge said c.o.c.kily.

“Your head must be up in the clouds. A mere Demonic Being like you is unworthy of doing so,” Yun Jiuge answered coldly. She charged her hand slowly with Holy Power, preparing to attack at any moment.

“I'd advise you not to be so rash. This Holy Essence is not as stable as you think.” Ao Ge squeezed the Holy Essence forcefully, as though he was planning to destroy it.

At this time, Zi Shang sent the monster which he was fighting flying towards Ao Ge with a powerful strike.

“Fool!” Ao Ge kicked that monster back to Zi Shang in an annoyed manner.

Yun Jiuge took the chance to shoot a beam of golden Holy Light at Ao Ge.

Ao Ge tried to avoid the attack by moving left, but Zi Shang blocked his way. Zi Shang then sank his claws into Ao Ge's heart.

Ao Ge's right hand grew rapidly into a black monster's claw. He blocked Zi Shang's claws with all his might.

This caused their Qi Waves to collide with each other. Zi Shang backed away from Ao Ge and returned to Yun Jiuge's side.

Ao Ge stumbled backwards. He smiled at Zi Shang maliciously saying, “You're truly the strongest Demonic Emperor of this continent. Even if you lost all of your Cultivation and had to start anew, you'd still be so powerful. Are you not afraid that I'll destroy the Holy Essence because of your provocation?”

After he spoke, he wanted to take the Holy Essence out to threaten Yun Jiuge. However, his hand was completely empty.

As Ao Ge was speaking, Yun Jiuge took the opportunity to use her Moon Spirit Silk Thread to steal the Holy Essence from him.

“Don't even think about taking our possessions from us,” Zi Shang said and swung his tail at Ao Ge.

Ao Ge disappeared before the tail could touch him.

After that, countless figures of Ao Ge appeared everywhere, filling the entire place. He smiled at Yun Jiuge and Zi Shang saying, “So what if you have the Holy Seal now? You'll still die here.”

After he spoke, the ground shook for quite some time and split open to reveal the Demonic Aura Pool. Bones of innumerable wild beasts and human-beast hybrids were submerged in the pool.

The pool contained viscous liquid of a strange color. It gave off a stench that was much worse than the Death Swamp.

“Go on and soak yourselves in this pool. It's the source of the Black Rain. You'll definitely love it!” Ao Ge's cackling reverberated around the place.

“Ao Ge polluted the Source Power of this Secret Realm, causing the Black Rain to fall here. If I didn't close the portal in time, he would have used the same method to destroy the Canglan Continent,” said Yun Jiuge. Right after those words, Nangong Yue, who had turned into a monster, fell into the Demonic Pool by accident. The pool liquid dissolved its body completely.

“We need to get out of here,” said Zi Shang. He punched a hole in the wall and carried Yun Jiuge on his back before climbing the spiral staircase. The pool liquid rushed towards them threateningly. It was faster than their running speed.

Zi Shang reached the top of the spiral staircase in no time. However, they discovered that they would not be able to escape because the large door was gone.

“Draw up protective spells to keep me safe from harm. I'll absorb the Holy Essence into my body,” Yun Jiuge instructed Zi Shang hurriedly before swallowing the Holy Essence.

The familiar energy that she was expecting did not appear. Nothing happened with the Holy Essence in Yun Jiuge's stomach.

“You're not the only one who knows how to seal things,” Ao Ge's voice rang out in the Secret Realm. A pair of black eyes with an eerie glint emerged from the black pool liquid and edged towards Yun Jiuge.