Corrupt Creations

Huo Shihong used the secret passage behind the castle to bring Third Shadow and the others to the forest area. He led the group deep inside the forest, going towards the place the Secret Formation was. Throughout the whole time, he kept looking towards the man carrying his daughter, checking her safety frequently. 

After crossing some distance and while going through a complicated pattern inside the forest, they arrived before a door, located in the middle of a hill. The way it was built resembled a bunker. 

Huo Shihong approached the door in his wheelchair, but before he could enter in contact with it, a crystalline and thin red light blocked his path. It was the first layer of protection to access what was inside. 

The men following Huo Shihong were impressed when they noticed that the formation was connected to his bloodline, to the Phoenix bloodline more precisely. It was getting clear to them now, that this place had some connections with the Fire Labyrinth, since it was where his bloodline came from. 

Sect Master Huo touched the barrier and circulated his Phoenix Flames, activating his bloodline. After a minute, the barrier shook and it was undone, letting everyone pass. 

Since Seventh Shadow was holding Yuyin, Fifth Shadow went forward and opened the door, not waiting for Huo Shihong. 

They all entered inside that place and started to observe their surroundings. 

There was a room, where they could faintly feel the presence of a Random Teleportation Circle, that was probably one of the protective measures for Huo Shihong and his family. The same teleportation circle Seth, Caizhi and Lilian used to escape at that time. However, that was not what they were interested in. 

Third Shadow looked towards Sect Master Huo, and the latter understood the message. 

He dragged his wheelchair towards an open room, where apparently there was nothing but a big hearth. However, when he channeled his Phoenix Flames, lighting it up with it, something started to happen. His Phoenix Flames started to act strangely, moving restless. 

The fire suddenly started to circle, leaving the hearth and opening a portal right in front of them. It was an alternate way to enter the labyrinth, however, only Huo Shihong knew about it. Not even his daughters had that knowledge. 

Huo Shihong knew more things regarding this special portal, but he was going to use that information as a last resort. He would never reveal that the poral would only stay open for twelve hours and it wouldn't be possible to open it up again for the next year at least, because in the last case scenario, he could use this knowledge to lock them inside the Fire Labyrinth. However, he never imagined that these mysterious people would not let him go after he brought them up to here. 

Third Shadow looked towards Seventh Shadow and he already knew what to do. He acted quickly, passing through the portal while bringing the unconscious Huo Yuyin along. Both of them vanished, leaving the stunned Huo Shihong with a scared look on his face. 

"You! What are you doing?!" 

"Shut up and follow us." 

Fifth and Third Shadow brought Huo Shihong along, entering the Fire Labyrinth. 

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When Seth carried Meiyi for the first time to Misty Horizon, where he would meet with his mother-in-law, it took him an entire day traveling. But now, he was a Mana Control peak-stage expert and was even using his full speed to travel. What was a trip that took an entire day before, took only three hours for Seth this time. 

In three hours, he was already inside the Blazing Phoenix City, where he was able to see the huge quantity of disciples and soldiers waiting by the gates with his Soul Sense. Since he was in a hurry, he didn't stop to observe what was currently happening, but he could faintly feel the presence of many formations scattered throughout the whole area. 

Seth continued to move at a speed none of the practitioners could notice him, using his Shadow Walk to stealthily enter the Blazing Phoenix Sect inner-court grounds. He sneaked past everything and everyone, quickly reaching Huo Shihong's office, where he thought he would find him. But to his surprise, he wasn't there. 

It was reasonable to not find him there in these war times and Seth imagined that he would certainly be occupied by something important right now. But what he had to tell him, was even more important, so Seth wanted to find him really quick. 

Since he was in a hurry, he used his Soul Sense to visualize where Sect Master Huo currently was, but he wasn't able to find him anywhere. 

'What?! Sect Master is away? That's impossible! He wouldn't abandon the sect at a time like this. There is something wrong with this...' 

While he was still with his Soul Sense active, he found out something very strange. There were signs of dark energy inside the Blazing Phoenix Royal Castle. Someone had used darkness to forcefully destroy many defensive formations, leaving the energy signature behind. Since Seth was a Master over darkness energy, he was quickly able to notice it and realize some similarities with his own. 

"Not good." Seth moved towards the place where the most concentration of the residual darkness was and when he arrived there, he saw it was a room. It seemed to be a female room and a quick look around it he realized it was Yuyin's bedroom. 

"Dammit! I'm too late." He started to get anxious thinking things might have taken a turn for the worse. However, in a last attempt to see if he could still find traces about Yuyin and Huo Shihong, he used his Soul Sense to the maximum. His Soul Sense extended all the way to forest behind the castle, revealing some important things for him. 

Seth suddenly vanished from Yuyin's bedroom after he realized that the Secret Formation was open. He had been there before and he knew through Lilian's words that they would only open it in a life and death situation. 

Something had happened and he need to get there faster. 

Seth used his maximum speed, arriving before the secret formation only a minute later. When he entered, he didn't see anyone, just like how he had captured with his Soul Sense. However... 

There was a portal made of Phoenix Flames in front of a hearth, in a normal looking room. Seth didn't know what it was, but he had a vague idea of what it could be and where it would lead him to go if he entered. 

Without further considerations, he jumped in. He did it because inwardly, his worry for Yuyin and Huo Shihong were louder than anything, making him disregard any other sounds reason was trying to make. 

Swoosh! 

His figure vanished, but just a minute after he entered, the portal closed. It has been twelve hours already, since Huo Shihong opened it and everyone inside was unable to leave now. 

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Knock! Knock! Knock! 

"Sect Master! Sect Master! Are you there? Sect Master?!" The Third Elder of the Blazing Phoenix Sect came running towards Huo Shihong office. He had a crucial information to tell Huo Shihong, but even though he knocked on the door many times over, he didn't hear any response. 

Twelve hours have passed since their meeting had ended and right now, the elders were all reunited inside the meeting hall, waiting for Huo Shihong's presence. 

The Third Elder thought Huo Shihong was taking too long to attend to the meeting, so he came to knock on Sect Master Huo's office door. The information he just received was crucial and everyone needed some directions. 

"Sect Master! The Wu Martial Kingdom troops are moving... They are advancing faster than we expected them to. What are your orders? How do we proceed?" 

Huo Shihong was not present anymore and the disciples and soldiers fighting to protect the Blazing Phoenix Country were on their own. At a time like this, the figure of a leader was very important, else things might end up going really bad. 

At the Blazing Phoenix City, the soldiers started to get tense, noticing the huge volume of auras approaching the city wall through the south. 

There were at least fifteen thousand soldiers and disciples gathered into different parts of the city walls.  Most of them were men, but there were female disciples of the Blazing Phoenix Sect ready to battle as well. 

However, when they felt the intensity of the aura coming towards their way, they couldn't help but feel fear. None of them were able to have a clear sight of their enemy's army, but the aura and sound were already reaching the city walls. 

The elders were still waiting for Huo Shihong on the meeting hall and there seemed to be no one guiding the army correctly. The missing figure of their Sect Master, was the beginning of a huge chain of events that were going to make the Blazing Phoenix Sect experience a very unpleasant and complicated situation.