While the battle between the Blazing Phoenix Sect and the Wu Martial Kingdom was happening, Huo Shihong was guiding three of the Twelve Shadows through the Fire Labyrinth.
He didn't know that the situation outside was getting out of control and still thought, that the battle between both parties would only happen in about two days.
After entering the Fire Labyrinth, his mind could only concentrate on how to save his daughter and even if he knew of the situation outside, he wouldn't be able to do anything. In fact, even if the entire Blazing Phoenix Sect was on fire, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on saving it, if his daughter was in the situation, she was currently in. Being held as hostage.
"Wait!" Third Shadow signaled for everyone to stop. He closed his eyes and tried to feel vestiges of the aura they were looking for.
Velgor told them that there was a possibility of a Divine Artifact existing inside the Fire Labyrinth and it probably was what Seth was looking for. That's why while Ninth Shadow was taking care of everything outside, Third, Fifth and Seventh Shadows were in charge of this special operation.
With his eyes closed, he used his Profound Mana middle-stage Realm cultivation to feel the Mana in the entire environment.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes while saying: "There is a huge flux of Mana going towards the east. That is probably where the thing we are looking for is."
After hearing what he said, Huo Shihong started to get restless. The place Third Shadow was saying, was precisely where the Phoenix Chamber was.
Fifth Shadow turned towards Huo Shihong and said: "What are you waiting for? Guide us there."
"No, we can't!"
"We can't? What bullshit is this?"
"That is where Lord Phoenix Spirit is residing. We can't go there." Huo Shihong told them a fabricated lie about the Phoenix Spirit, however, he was actually right. The Phoenix Spirit was residing inside the Phoenix Chamber, helping Lilian inherit its strength. However, that process would take a lot of time to finish.
"Heh... Lord Phoenix Spirit? That doesn't matter. Bring us there, quickly!" Fifth Shadow didn't believe his bullshit.
Huo Shihong turned silent and decide to guide them there using the safest route possible. He didn't want anything bad happening with Yuyin, so he took the best way to get there. However, their journey took a very long time, since he was sitting in a wheelchair and even though he was using his Mana to move it, there was a limit of speed it could reach.
None of the Twelve Shadows did anything to help him, even though it meant they would get to their destination faster. They disdained of interacting with humans and since there was nothing that could bother them anymore, they decided to advance at his speed.
As they approached the Phoenix Chamber, all of them could feel the strong energy flux going towards that place. It seemed that there was something pulling the Mana from everywhere towards there; what only made Third Shadow reinforce the idea that there really was a Divine Artifact there.
A bit of time later, they were finally able to see the Phoenix Chamber from the distance. The door was closed and there seemed to be a protective flame barrier around the whole chamber. It was something the Phoenix Spirit had created in order to not be bothered by anything.
That barrier was not made of pure flames, but from fire element base energy.
"There is certainly something going on behind that door. Let me inspect the barrier closer and see how strong it is." Third Shadow suddenly vanished, leaving Fifth and Seventh Shadow behind. They didn't follow him, but stopped going forwards instead, not letting Huo Shihong go as well.
Third Shadow's speed was impressive. In just some few seconds he was already in front of the flame barrier, feeling how strong it was.
He raised his right hand, showing his pale grey skin. An orb of darkness started to form in front of him, the same orb of darkness Seth was able to use. The members of the Twelve Shadows other than Seth and Velgor, were the only ones from the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan that had gone through their special inheritance ceremony.
All of them had the Shadow Demon bloodline on top of their normal bloodlines. That's why they were able to use some of the skills the Shadow Demon had; however, Seth was the only one that mastered the darkness element, being able to even create new skills like the Specters of Darkness and the Doomsday.
However, what Third Shadow didn't lack, was power. His orb of darkness grew so much that it seemed to get even bigger than his own body. The rich dark element tried to swallow everything around, showing how pure it was.
After Third Shadow thought it was satisfactory, he stopped infusing Mana on it and prepared to attack the barrier.
A second later he pushed the orb towards the flame barrier, trying to destroy it immediately. The orb collided with that Phoenix Flame wall, spreading towards everywhere, sending the whole area in a chaotic mess of flames and darkness.
BOOM!
The entire place shook and Huo Shihong was able to feel the ground trembling from where he was. If he had to say, this explosion was no less powerful than the explosion he produced after sacrificing his arm to shoot a charged red Skystone.
When dust settled, Third Shadow was amazed to see that the Phoenix Flame Barrier was still standing. That barrier was stronger than he thought it was.
"Impressive! Fifth Shadow, Seventh Shadow, I need your help in order to take this barrier down faster."
Fifth Shadow suddenly vanished, leaving Seventh Shadow that was holding Huo Yuyin behind.
Seventh Shadow suddenly put Yuyin on the ground and a layer of darkness expanded from his body, converging Yuyin and making a spherical dome around her body. It contained the strength of a Mana Control peak-stage cultivator, what Huo Shihong wouldn't be able to go against even if he was in his best form.
After that, he suddenly vanished, joining with Third and Fifth Shadows.
Huo Shihong moved his wheelchair in a hurry, trying to approached the place where his daughter was, but the darkness didn't let him get closer. Actually, he couldn't even see what was on the other side, since the darkness element was blocking his vision.
Pah! Pah! Pah!
"Yuyin! Yuyin, my daughter!"
He tried to hit the spherical dome of darkness while shouting his daughter's name, trying to wake her up, but nothing he did was able to bring her back from her unconscious state.
While he was distracted, doing everything he could, a small butterfly of fire left from the flame wall some meters away from him, going at his direction. It was the same fire butterfly that tried to explode on Seth, a trap created by the labyrinth. However, it seemed to bit a bit different now.
Huo Shihong was too anxious to notice it approaching, so the butterfly of fire was able to silently land on his shoulder. However, instead of exploding, it started to emit an energy that soothed Huo Shihong's feelings.
Huo Shihong suddenly stopped and felt as if a divine song was entering his body, calming him down. Suddenly, he started to hear a mystical voice.
"Close thy eyes and do not resist."
He did as he was told, closing his eyes and waiting for what was to come.
The fire butterfly flew from his shoulder, hovering in front of his forehead, before going forwards and entering his consciousness as if it was entering a lake.
Huo Shihong suddenly felt he was floating in the boundless universe, in a place that there was nothing but the infinite void. A place where he was able to find peace...
However, he began to feel the temperature rising and bright orange flames started to come into existence, following the huge and massive body of a bird. Huo Shihong swiftly recognized that it was a huge Phoenix that was flying in front of him.
There was an ocean of flames accompanying it wherever it flew by, showing Huo Shihong the might of the Divine Beast his Sect followed.
It stopped right before his body, staring at him with those huge flaming eyes.
"Lord Phoenix Spirit..." Huo Shihong was stupefied after seeing his god standing right before him. He felt his existence was too small while looking at the Phoenix Spirit.
"This Venerable One would never expect that a second calamity would befall over the inheritors of my flames..."
"Forgive me, Lord Phoenix Spirit. I am unqualified as a Sect Master..."
"No. You are actually a good Sect Master; however, the situation was unfavorable."
Huo Shihong bowed his head, ashamed of his performance. He was even more ashamed after feeling the benevolence of his god.
"... Do you want to change your destiny? This Venerable One can give you an opportunity... However, the price you have to pay is certainly something you can't afford to."
"Is there really a way for me to revert the situation?"
"There is. At least for the situation you and your daughter are in right now."
"What is the price for that? I can pay any price!" He said it, but inwardly he already knew that it wasn't about money.
"Sigh... There is only one way... And that will require for you to pay a very heavy price, something no one would choose to pay.... Your life."
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