After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 181 Vermilion Bird Bone

"Cough cough... This coffin cannot be placed on the ground... otherwise, there will be endless trouble..."

"Xiaoya...put those two stone beads into the eyes of the Vermilion Bird on the coffin...after the coffin opens...you will get what you want...cough cough..."

Murong Fu coughed violently, his aged body appearing as if he were about to collapse.

Using one's true energy while severely injured and poisoned seems extremely difficult, as if one might collapse at any moment.

Upon hearing this, Murong Xiaoya glanced at her second uncle, then immediately leaped up and rushed towards the crimson coffin that was being supported by true energy.

Upon approaching the coffin, which stood three zhang tall, Murong Xiaoya could clearly see a relief of a Vermilion Bird with wings extending from the head of the coffin to the tail, appearing at the very top of countless feathers and scales.

Its left wing is raised high, its neck pointing to the sky, while its right wing hangs low, covering the tail of the coffin. The fine feathers on its scales flicker like flames, but its eyes are sunken and empty.

What should have been a lifelike relief now appears lifeless.

Upon seeing this, Murong Xiaoya did not hesitate. She immediately flicked the stone bead in her hand into the bird's eye, and then used her martial arts true energy to turn around and retreat.

However, the moment the stone bead fell into the bird's eye, the Vermilion Bird's pupils suddenly shot out a molten gold light, directly locking Murong Xiaoya in mid-air.

At the same time, the Vermilion Bird raised its left wing high, overturning the outer coffin lid. The sulfurous fire rain flung out from the wingtip ignited the entire cave ceiling. As its right wing swept low, it melted the broken iron chains below into crimson pythons.

The next moment, with a high-pitched chirping sound, an irresistible force suddenly arose from inside the coffin, wrapped around Murong Xiaoya's neck, and instantly dragged her into the coffin.

Then, flames rose from the entire crimson coffin, almost turning it into a torch, and a huge heat wave swept through the room.

A wave of heat erupted, instantly blasting Murong Fu, who was using his inner energy to support the coffin, away.

And at this moment, inside the coffin.

A piece of crimson Vermilion Bird bone suddenly pierced Murong Xiaoya's heart. With an extremely intense pain, her bones melted and her blood boiled.

Golden flames burst from every pore of Murong Xiaoya's body, and her bones emitted a gurgling sound like flowing lava. She felt as if she were being burned on flames, causing her to let out a painful scream.

Murong Fu, who had been blasted away by the heatwave and crashed to the ground, lay prone against the corner of the cave. He listened to the shrill screams around him, his empty eyes staring blankly at the central coffin.

After a long while, Murong Xiaoya's screams finally stopped in the cave.

At this moment, the entire cave was completely silent except for the scorching heat waves like lava.

Murong Fu struggled to sit up, his empty eyes darting around for a moment before he weakly and slowly spoke:
"Xiaoya..."

However, only his echo resounded in the cave, and no one responded.

Seeing this, Murong Fu immediately called out a few more times in a hurry, but to no avail.

The next moment, Murong Fu collapsed to the ground, utterly dejected, and murmured in despair:
"So it failed again...?"

Just then, Murong Xiaoya's voice suddenly rang out from beside Murong Fu:

"Second Uncle, I'm here."

At this moment, Murong Xiaoya was completely naked, with streaks of crimson-gold true flames swirling around her.

His pupils transformed into swirling molten gold, seemingly reflecting a long river of magma surging like the earth's veins. His bare feet touched the ground, and the ground beneath his feet melted into fire and earth.

However, there was a gruesome, scarlet bloodstain near Murong Xiaoya's heart, with flames seemingly flowing within it, constantly scorching her flesh and blood, and it just wouldn't heal. Upon hearing Murong Xiaoya's answer, Murong Fu was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with immense joy.

His aged body, drawing strength from who-knows-where, suddenly stood up and laughed loudly:
"Very good... This Vermilion Bird Bone is a supreme divine object; a mortal who fuses with it can become comparable to a demigod..."

However, Murong Xiaoya's eyes swirled with golden vortexes as she suddenly interrupted, saying:

"Second Uncle, let me answer another question: Was the downfall of the Murong family related to you?"

Upon hearing this, Murong Fu was taken aback and immediately shook his head, saying:
"Xiaoya...why would you ask such a question..."

"You just need to answer me, yes or no?"

Murong Xiaoya's body surged with true flames, and the temperature in the air rose almost instantly.

Seemingly sensing Murong Xiaoya's murderous intent, Murong Fu immediately replied:
"This matter has nothing to do with me; it's all Han Chuiyuan's fault..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Murong Xiaoya suddenly raised her hand and reached directly towards the heart of the pitiful old man in front of her.

Fingertips wreathed in molten gold flames pierced the opponent's body as easily as a knife cutting through tofu, and the air was filled with the scorching smell of burning flesh and blood.

Murong Fu froze on the spot, slowly lowering his head. He felt Murong Xiaoya's hand pierce his heart. An expression of disbelief crossed his face, and he stammered:

"Why...why...did you do this..."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xiaoya remained expressionless and simply said indifferently:

"Because you lied about the question I just asked you."

"Second Uncle, you may not know this, but I have had the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood since I was a child. However, only my father and mother know about this, and even my older brother has not been told."

Upon hearing this, Murong Fu's bloodshot face froze. After a moment, however, he suddenly revealed a strange smile and said in realization:
"I see... No wonder it's the 'Vermilion Bird Holding Blood' destiny... It actually has such abilities... I didn't expect that..."

Meanwhile, Murong Xiaoya clearly had no intention of listening to Murong Fu's nonsense any longer, and slowly tightened her grip on his heart.

Feeling a searing pain in his heart, Murong Fu sighed heavily and suddenly said:
"One move off... Xiaoya... you won..."

"However... I have another gift for you..."

As he spoke, Murong Fu pointed to a corner of the cave, where a tightly closed stone door was visible, illuminated by the firelight surrounding Murong Xiaoya.

But Murong Xiaoya didn't give him a chance to say anything. With a heavy grip, Murong Fu's heart shattered into a cloud of blood mist.

After the blood mist was burned by the flames, it turned into a wisp of essence blood that flowed along the unhealable bloodstain and directly merged into Murong Xiaoya's heart.

After killing Murong Fu, she casually tossed his aged body aside. Murong Xiaoya's pretty face was now filled with indifference.

She slowly glanced around the entire cave, her gaze finally settling on the Vermilion Bird coffin in the very center.

After Murong Xiaoya merged with the Vermilion Bird bone, the entire coffin seemed to lose all its power, and the original crimson color of the Vermilion Bird relief on it faded to grayish-white.

Seeing this, Murong Xiaoya casually swept her hand, and a gust of fire and wind swept by, scattering the Vermilion Bird coffin not far away into a pile of lime.

Only then did Murong Xiaoya look at the stone door.

(End of this chapter)