If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

The water flowed over my ankles.

The cold sensation crept up my skin.

Zhou Yang followed behind Qin Shuang, each step firm and steady. In the darkness, only the luminous pearl in her hand emitted a faint glow. The light was small, illuminating only a distance of three or four steps around them. Beyond that, it was a thick, impenetrable darkness.

Water droplets fell from the cave ceiling, "drip, drip," the only sound in the silence. The echoes were stretched long by the narrow river, as if someone were speaking from afar.

The river is getting wider and wider.

The water flowed up to my ankles and gradually reached my calves.

The air was thicker with moisture, carrying the pungent smell of earth and rocks. Qin Shuang moved cautiously, constantly probing the depth ahead with the tip of her longsword.

"We should be almost at the end," she said softly.

The sound struck the stone walls on both sides and bounced back.

Zhou Yang hummed in agreement. He didn't turn around. In a place like this, being distracted was tantamount to suicide. His attention was entirely focused on the darkness ahead and the faint yellowish halo of light.

He had a feeling.

This road is alive.

It is guiding them.

After walking a few dozen steps forward, the space in front of us suddenly opened up.

The river flows into a huge underground rift valley here.

The two emerged from the narrow cave entrance, and the sight before them made Qin Shuang stop in her tracks.

The rift valley is very wide, with no visible ends.

Above us were towering rock formations, with water seeping through the cracks like thin, upside-down threads.

The light of the luminous pearl was swallowed up by the vast darkness and appeared insignificant.

By the dim light, they could see many dark figures scattered at the bottom of the rift valley. These figures were of various shapes, some like humans, some like beasts, standing silently, in utter stillness.

"What are those?" Qin Shuang asked in a low voice.

She remained vigilant, holding her long sword horizontally in front of her chest.

Zhou Yang did not answer immediately.

He squinted, trying to make out the dark figures.

The outline was too blurry. But the unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

"We might... have wandered into somewhere," he said slowly.

Qin Shuang didn't press the matter further. She trusted her own judgment more.

She carried the luminous pearl and walked toward the nearest dark figure.

Zhou Yang followed beside her, his hand already on the hilt of the knife.

As the distance closed, the shadowy figure became clearer.

It was a human-shaped statue.

Standing over two zhang tall, its entire body is composed of gray-black rock. Its expression is ferocious, its muscles bulging, assuming a posture ready to attack. The carving is rough, yet it exudes a primal sense of oppression.

"It's just a stone." Qin Shuang breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She tapped the statue's leg with the scabbard.

A dull "clang" sound came from it; it was indeed a stone.

Zhou Yang didn't say anything.

His gaze swept across the feet of the statue, then looked at the shadows standing in the distance.

There are too many. There are at least hundreds of such stone statues throughout the entire rift valley.

They are like a silent army, having waited here for countless years.

"It's too quiet," Zhou Yang suddenly said.

"What?"

"Their placement is very deliberate. It's like a formation."

Qin Shuang's expression changed.

She immediately took a step back, increasing the distance between herself and the statues.

"A trap formation?"

Before he could finish speaking...

A sudden change occurred.

As Qin Shuang stepped back, she seemed to step on a slightly protruding stone slab.

A soft "click" echoed far and wide in the empty rift valley.

The entire rift valley trembled slightly.

Immediately afterwards, the joints of the standing stone statues began to make a teeth-grinding "creaking" sound.

The stone statue that Qin Shuang had struck slowly turned its rough stone head. Its empty eye sockets stared at the two of them.

"I'm alive!" Qin Shuang shouted in a low voice, quickly assuming a defensive stance.

It's not the only one.

All the stone statues in the entire rift valley moved.

Their movements were stiff, like marionettes. Each step they took left a shallow crater in the ground.

The sound of stones rubbing together filled the air.

"It's a defensive formation," Zhou Yang quickly determined. "We've triggered the core of the formation."

Hundreds of stone statues surrounded them from all directions.

The light from the luminous pearls reflected off them, creating a cold glint.

The sense of oppression was like a mountain pressing down on me.

Qin Shuang did not hesitate. Her eyes narrowed, and she moved instantly.

The blade flashed like lightning, drawing a bright arc in the darkness, and precisely struck the neck of the foremost stone statue.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew everywhere.

The statue's head was only tilted slightly, and there wasn't even a decent crack on its neck.

"So hard!" Qin Shuang thought with a start.

She dared not fight head-on, and dodged the giant hand that the stone statue was swinging.

Zhou Yang also drew his knife.

He didn't rush forward, but quickly scanned the entire battlefield.

These stone statues have no intelligence and their behavior is simple and brutal: they move in a straight line and attack with punches.

But there are too many of them, and their defenses are amazing.

Qin Shuang's swordsmanship was fierce, but she could only leave some white marks on them.

This can't go on.

Their energy will be depleted.

He must find the core of the formation.

Or rather, the key to breaking the formation.

Just then, he suddenly remembered the dark red rune he had seen at the entrance to the canyon.

He felt it was somewhat familiar at the time.

Now, that sense of familiarity is even stronger.

He instinctively reached into his robes and touched the cold fragment of the dragon's spine.

A faint pulsation seemed to emanate from the fragment, echoing something in the distance.

Could it be... that the key lies in the fragment?

This is a crazy idea.

Are these relics and institutions all related to the Dragon's Spine fragments?

Zhou Yang didn't have time to think about it in detail.

Qin Shuang's breathing was already somewhat rapid. Although she could still dodge, her space was shrinking. In a little while, she would be completely surrounded.

He no longer hesitated.

"Qin Shuang, step back here!" Zhou Yang shouted.

Upon hearing the sound, Qin Shuang performed a somersault in mid-air, escaping the attack of the two stone statues, and landed next to Zhou Yang.

"What do you want to do?"

Zhou Yang did not answer her.

He still gripped the knife in his left hand, wary of the approaching stone statue.

His right hand, however, took out the dragon spine fragment from his robes. The fragment was icy cold to the touch, and even emitted wisps of white steam in the damp air.

He stared at Qin Shuang with an unprecedentedly serious expression.

"I'm going to do something, it might be very sudden. No matter what happens, protect my heart."

Qin Shuang looked at the shards emanating a chilling aura in his hand, then at his somber expression, and nodded heavily.

I believe you.

Having received an affirmative answer, Zhou Yang took a deep breath.

He opened his mouth and bit down hard on the index finger of his left hand.

Blood beads immediately gushed out.

Without hesitation, he quickly drew a strange symbol on his chest with his index finger. It was the same one he had seen next to the red rune earlier.

The bloodstains on the skin were particularly glaring.

Then, he pressed the Dragon-Spine Fragment onto the blood rune.

The cold shards made a very faint "sizzling" sound when they came into contact with the warm blood.

"I offer ten years of my lifespan as a sacrifice, let it begin!"

Zhou Yang silently recited in his heart.

The moment the thought crossed my mind, an indescribable emptiness suddenly rose from the bottom of my heart.

It's like a bucket full of water whose bottom has suddenly been removed.

Strength, spirit, and even an inexplicable sense of "presence" are all rapidly slipping away.

His vision went black, his body swayed violently, and he almost fell to his knees.

A hand caught him just in time. It was Qin Shuang.

At the same time, the blood talisman on his chest lit up.

A dark red light pierced through the clothes and shone through.

Immediately afterwards, the dragon spine fragment in his hand also burst forth with a dazzling light.

The light was not just one color.

Blue, green, and yellow halos flowed from the fragments, like three small snakes chasing each other, and instantly burrowed into the blood talisman.

"Buzz—"

A deep rumble resounded.

Centered on Zhou Yang, a visible ring of light suddenly spread out!

The wall of light swept across the ground, and the approaching stone statues seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, all stopping in their tracks.

The wall of light did not stop.

It surged toward the entire rift valley with unparalleled momentum.

All the stone statues touched by the light wall froze instantly.

The next second, countless fine cracks began to appear on their bodies.

Three colors of light shone through the crack.

"Click...click..."

The sound of shattering echoed throughout the room.

Like dominoes.

All the stone statues began to crumble from the inside out. They didn't explode; they simply turned into primordial rock dust, which fell silently to the ground and merged back into the rift valley.

In just a few breaths, the massive army of stone statues vanished completely.

The rift valley returned to its deathly silence.

Only the wall of light composed of three colors remained, slowly spreading outwards before finally crashing into the distant rock wall and dissipating.

Zhou Yang was panting heavily.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat. His face was as pale as paper.

Ten years of life had brought him a profound, soul-deep exhaustion. He felt completely drained, lacking even the strength to move a finger.

"How are you...?" Qin Shuang supported him, her voice trembling without her even realizing it.

She saw it. She saw the three-colored light, and she also saw Zhou Yang's face turn deathly pale.

"It's nothing..." Zhou Yang leaned against her, forcing a smile, "I'm just a little... hungry."

Before he could finish speaking, another unexpected event occurred.

The dragon spine fragment floating in his hand, after absorbing the tri-colored light, did not dim but instead became even brighter.

It seemed to be pulled by something, and automatically flew up from Zhou Yang's loosened hand.

Like a tiny shooting star, trailing a tail of tricolored light, it flew straight toward the end of the rift valley.

"Rumble..."

The fragments disappeared into the distant rock face.

That huge rock wall had actually cracked open in the middle.

Stones rolled down, and dust filled the air.

With a muffled, loud thud, a massive stone gate, ten zhang tall, slowly rose upwards.

Behind the door, there was no longer darkness.

Instead, it is a staircase extending upwards.

At the end of the steps, a faint ray of sunlight peeked through.

The road to the mountaintop has been opened.