Kong Rui watched as the little phoenix struggled. The two jade buckles on its body tightened until blood seeped out.

“Don’t move!” Kong Rui immediately rushed to the little phoenix’s side and examined it carefully.

The workmanship of this jade buckle was very exquisite. Kong Rui tried to use a Dharma artifact to pry open the jade buckle, but it only made the little phoenix suffer even more pain.

Kong Rui frowned and was at a loss.

It wasn’t easy for her to see the little phoenix. How could she return empty-handed?!

Seeing this, the little lion said to Kong Rui, “Master, why don’t you let me try?”

Kong Rui turned to look at the little lion, her eyes filled with anticipation. “Do you have a way?”

The little lion hesitated. “I’ll see if I can shatter the jade buckle with my lion roar!”

Kong Rui stopped the little lion. “No, if you don’t succeed, the little phoenix will be injured too!”

The little phoenix looked at the little lion and then at Kong Rui. It sighed. “Rumor has it that this jade buckle can only be broken with the owner’s blood. However, it’s too difficult to obtain the princess’ blood! I don’t want you to take the risk.”

As the little phoenix spoke, its face was filled with sadness and unwillingness.

When she heard the little phoenix’s words, Kong Rui’s eyes widened. “You mean we can crack it with Wen Qiong’s blood?”

When the little phoenix saw Kong Rui’s excited expression, it nodded. “I heard from that Daoist priest and wicked woman that you can break it by dripping her blood on the jade buckle and chanting an incantation.”

Kong Rui stared at the little phoenix and asked, “Do you know what the incantation is?”

The little phoenix nodded. “I heard them talking. Although they spoke very softly, phoenixes are naturally sensitive to sound waves. Eavesdropping is a piece of cake to me!”

Hearing the little phoenix’s words, Kong Rui smiled.

She took out the knife she had used to hurt Wen Qiong. Although there was no fresh blood on it, the dried blood hadn’t been cleaned yet.

Kong Rui wiped the blade with her hand and removed the already sticky blood. Then, she flicked the jade buckle with her bloody hands.

After chanting the incantation the little phoenix had told her, Kong Rui and the two spirit beasts stared fixedly at the pair of jade buckles.

However, the jade buckle didn’t budge at all.

“Why isn’t it working?!” The little lion roared in a low voice. Its irritable and angry appearance made the little phoenix cower.

“Little Lion!” Kong Rui glared at the little lion warningly.

Little Lion felt aggrieved, but he knew that now wasn’t the time to be anxious.

“Master, what should we do?” The little lion calmed down and asked Kong Rui.

Kong Rui frowned and thought to herself, “Could it be that the blood has congealed a little, so it’s useless?”

Just as Kong Rui was wondering if she should get some more of Wen Qiong’s blood, the jade buckle suddenly unbuckled.

For a moment, the human and two spirit beasts were stunned.

However, they were not stunned for long. Kong Rui snapped back to reality and said, “Let’s leave quickly! Let’s leave this place!”

As Kong Rui spoke, she sent the little phoenix, who was covered in blood, into her storage space and pulled the little lion out.

Although the little phoenix had good self-healing abilities like her, it had just been injured and needed some time to recover.

Now, she would protect it!

When Kong Rui and Little Lion arrived at the entrance of the secret chamber, they heard a commotion not far away. Clearly, someone had already discovered the commotion in the secret chamber.

Kong Rui didn’t intend to hide anymore. She said to the little lion, “Let’s go!”

The little lion transformed into an adult griffin again and carried Kong Rui towards the Spirit Mountain.