When Lin Wu saw the appearance of the illusory bird, he knew exactly what it was.

"THE VERMILLION BIRD! She managed to summon it?" Lin Wu said in shock.

The Vermillion bird's illusory figure stared at Hong Feng as she and Mo Hei stared at the illusory figure in turn.

"I'm Sorry… I won't be able to complete your wish… I'll set you free. I hope you find someone better… someone, who was intended to get this bloodline and not me…" Hong Feng said before her eyes closed forever.

The Vermillion bird's figure looked at the dead Hong Feng and then let out a piercing cry.

~PIIIIIIII~

Hong Feng's body started to combust and turned into a pure flame that flew up and merged into the Vermillion bird's illusory figure. The figure was now burning and let out a scorching heat.

The Immortal Weapon dagger that Hong Feng had used floated up from along with the flames as well and entered the illusory figure as well. The Vermillion bird spread its wings and flapped, spreading its flames like they were a summer rain.

The flames licked the ground and banished all the ghosts that had appeared. Along with that, it started to cleanse the sect grounds of the miasma. It flew around the area, letting the flames drop from its body like a cleansing rain, and did the mission it was given.

"No… no… NO… NO!!!!" Mo Hei shouted in anger.

All the work that he had done till now was being undone and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"I need to do something… but what? Those flames are harmful to me as well…" Mo Hei muttered to himself as he struggled to defend himself.

There were flames surrounding him as well, threatening to kill him. Since they were tasked to cleanse this place of the miasma, Mo Hei who was the biggest source of miasma would be the biggest target.

Black smoke and shadow surrounded him, trying to prevent the flames from getting closer. But no matter how much Mo Hei tried, the flames kept on getting closer. Their might was also increasing with each passing second.

Once the vermilion bird finished clearing out the area of all the miasma it turned towards Mo Hei.

~PIIIIII~

It let out a loud cry before flying towards him with the intention to kill him. The Vermillion flames raged over its body scorching the air and the earth.

"I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!" Mo Hei shouted in protest and threw his hands forward before making a gestured

A stream of dark miasma poured out of his hands and formed a shield in front of him.

~DENG~

The Vermillion bird crashed into the miasma shield and continued to force onward. It was evident that the flames were the bane of the miasma and it kept on getting burned due to it. Mo Hei did his best to repel the illusory figure and its flames but was unable to.

"This… cannot happen…" Mo Hei said with unwillingness. "I cannot lose to this!"

But just as he was about to pour more of the miasma into the shield he suddenly felt weak.

"Huh? What?" Mo Hei muttered as the miasma stopped coming out of his body.

~shua~

~suck~

All the remaining miasma started to leave his body and coalesced into a small black skull in front of him.

"No! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME! YOU PROMISED ME!" Mo Hei said, his voice turning lighter and lighter.

~kakakak~

The black skull that had just formed trembled and its jaw shook.

~Sigh~

A sigh escaped it as it looked at Mo Hei and the illusory figure of the Vermillion bird.

"This plan failed as well… and after coming so far… at least I managed to destabilized the temple of the guardian beasts. As long as there is even one beast missing, they will never reach their full potential and I'll have the opportunity to act in the future.

All I need to do is make sure the vermilion bird is suppressed. It would be even better if I can completely eliminate its bloodline from this world." The black skull spoke.

Its voice was very low, almost a whisper, and even Mo Hei could not hear it. The only reason Lin Wu could was that this was composed of its memories as well.

The Black Skull looked at Mo Hei and spoke, "you were a good vessel, but you didn't have the one thing that would have helped us… Luck."

After saying this and leaving Mo Hei dumbfounded, the black Skull turned into a stone and fell to the ground.

~SHUA~

The shield that had been defending Mo Hei faded away as well and he was finally burned by the Vermillion flames. He didn't even get to let out a cry before he was reduced to a pile of ashes that disappeared as well.

The black skull that had turned to stone, managed to bear being burned by the flames but many cracks had appeared on its surface and it was obvious that if it went past that it would break apart completely.

Perhaps it was the black skull's luck, but the illusory figure of the vermilion bird seemed to have run out of energy and started to dim down. First, all of its flames faded away and then its figure started to dissipate as well.

~piiii~

It looked around and saw that its duty was finished with no miasma left in the area.

~PIIIII~

Letting out another cry, the illusory figure of the Vermillion bird started to shrink. Another thing that happened along with this was that the immortal weapon dagger that had been absorbed into it became material again.

It was covered in cracks as well and looked to be greatly damaged. The illusory figure started to shrink in size and soon compressed to enter the dagger. The crack covered dagger faintly glowed in a Vermillion light before flying straight up into the sky and disappearing.

And with this, the memory stooped and Lin Wu was sent back to the river of memories.