Lin Chunhua felt an intense sense of dread coarse through his body as he stood before the old man known as the Vanishing Demon. With hundreds of years of experience, he instinctively knew the old man was bad news.
Despite being one of the most powerful cultivators in the Third Heaven, he felt powerless, almost as though he'd gone back to the days when he was just a young and ignorant cultivator who'd just encountered a powerful beast that he had no hopes of defeating by himself.
"Vanishing… No, Senior Vanishing Demon, what business do you have with me?"
A slight smile appeared on Vanishing Demon's face, "You are a smart one, Lin Chunhua. Despite your status within this realm, you still remember how to be humble. People like you are rare in the upper heavens. If it weren't for this characteristic of yours, the Lin Family would have perished."
'He knows me?' Lin Chunhua doesn't recall introducing himself, and this was definitely their first meeting.
"Anyways, I am here to keep my Master safe." Vanishing Demon spoke.
"Your Master?" Lin Chunhua raised an eyebrow.
Who could possibly have someone this powerful under them in this small realm?
"Yes, and you've met him already. In fact, he was here just earlier today."
"Y-You mean that young man…?"
Yuan's image flashed inside Lin Chunhua's head.
Then he realized something, "W-Wait… To keep him safe? Why do you need to see me to do that? Are you worried that I might retaliate against him because of what happened today? I swear on my surname that I will not do such a thing!"
Vanishing Demon chuckled, "Retaliate? Even the Celestial Emperor couldn't defeat him, much less the Lin Family."
"The Celestial Emperor…? Just who are you guys…?" Lin Chunhua was speechless.
"Just a few ambitious individuals trying to do what they think is best for this world." Vanishing Demon smiled.
"Anyways, my business here is finished. You will be questioned about me in the near future, but don't worry, you won't remember a thing about our conversation just now, and it will be like our meeting had never even happened."
"What do you mean by—"
Before Lin Chunhua could even finish his sentence, Vanishing Demon disappeared from his room like a ghost.
He stood there with a dazed look on his face.
Several moments later, Lin Chunhua snapped out of his daze, and he proceeded to look around the room with a confused expression on his face.
'Why am I standing here? I was cultivating just a second ago…' He wondered inwardly.
He decided to not think too much about it and returned to his cultivation with all of his memories regarding Yuan erased from his memories.
However, he still remembered the Tian Family, as well as the incident with them, just not the person who was behind it.
After leaving Lin Chunhua's room, Vanishing Demon visited other people within the Lin Family, starting with Patriarch Lin.
Once he acquired Patriarch Lin's memories, he went on to steal the memories of everyone that knew about Yuan's existence, leaving no stones untouched.
Once he cleaned up the entire Lin Family, Vanishing Demon did not take a moment to rest and immediately went to his next target— the other Legacy Families.
After spending a few days combing through everyone in the Seven Legacy Families, Vanishing Demon went to his final destination, the Ji Family.
"Who are you?! How did you get in here?!" The 'Lord Ji' of this realm was greatly startled when Vanishing Demon suddenly appeared before him like a ghost.
"Don't mind me. I think I wandered in here by accident." Vanishing Demon said with a smile.
"Do you really expect me to believe such an excuse? Identify yourself!" Lord Ji shouted as he withdrew his weapon and pointed it at Vanishing Demon.
Vanishing Demon narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke in a calm yet cold voice, "A child such as yourself shouldn't play around with sharp objects. I advise you to put away that toy of yours before you get hurt."
"I will give you three seconds to identify yourself!" Lord Ji ignored Vanishing Demon's words and continued pointing his sword at him.
Vanishing Demon shook his head and sighed, "You people from the Ji Family are always the same."
A vicious light suddenly flickered within Vanishing Demon's eyes.
"Eh?"
Lord Ji turned to look at his right arm after he felt an odd sensation from it, and to his absolute horror, his entire arm had disappeared into thin air along with his weapon. However, he didn't utter a single cry and managed to endure the pain.
"I've never liked the Ji Family. A bunch of lap-dogs for the Celestial Emperor, yet you act as though you rule the Nine Heavens." Vanishing Demon sneered in a mocking tone.
"Fortunately for you, I am in a good mood since I have finally found my Master, so I am going to spare your life."
"You… Who are you?" Lord Ji asked with gritted teeth.
Vanishing Demon smiled and responded with a prideful aura around him, "Vanishing Demon."
Lord Ji frowned, "Vanishing Demon? Never heard of you. Why are you doing this? When did my Ji Family offend someone like you?"
"How about Evil God's Shadow Army? Have you heard of them?"
"WHAT?!"
A look of tremendous terror appeared on Lord Ji's face after hearing this name.
"Impossible! The Evil God's Shadow Army is just a legend— one that doesn't even exist in this world!"
"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. After all, you won't remember anything after I am done with you."
"I won't remember anything…?" Lord Ji recalled a certain individual that was frequently mentioned when one spoke about the Evil God's Shadow Army.
According to the legend, the Evil God's Shadow Army, which was the Evil God's most powerful and secretive force, was managed by a nameless entity that had the ability to steal one's memories.
"I see… So you're that nameless monster who can steal one's memories… However, that doesn't explain why you're here…"
Vanishing Demon smiled, "There is only one purpose for the Evil God's Shadow Army— to protect the Evil God, our Master. Now that you have this knowledge, my reason for being here should be obvious to you now."
"No way… The Evil God… He's back?" Lord Ji had a look of disbelief on his face.
"He has returned yet not at the same time. However, it will only be a matter of time before he officially returns, and when that happens, the Nine Heavens will be his to control."
Lord Ji was speechless.
"Anyways, I have said enough. Once I am finished here, I will finally reunite with the Evil God."
"Wai—"
Lord Ji opened his mouth, but he stopped speaking and moving and became dazed before he could even finish uttering his first word.
When he snapped out of it, all of his memories of Yuan and his conversation with Vanishing Demon no longer existed.
Naturally, this meant that he'd forgotten about Heaven's Judgment and that he was supposed to find and hunt Yuan.
In just a few days, Vanishing Demon had managed to erase Yuan's existence from the Third Heaven.
"Now that I've brought you some more time, it's about time we met, Master Tian…"
Vanishing Demon disappeared into the night after he was finished with the Ji Family.