Crackle... Crackle...
...
Deep in the mountains of Qìnfēng Shāngǔ, the Demon of the century is bound to reemerge from death's slumber.
Crackle! Crackle!
Red cracks spread through his coccoon of molten rock. The heat surrounding it would melt the flesh off any mortal who were to happen to get close to his temporary resting place.
He is known simply as Slaughter Phoenix.
He who darkens the sun. He who sits on the throne of obsidian bones. All Incinerating Immortal.
Slaughter Phoenix.
And just like a phoenix, he rises once more... Yet...
Once upon a time his revival was a cataclysm in of itself, the destruction of his coccoon resulting in an explosion that would wipe mountains off the map and cause the skies to rain boiling blood...
But this time was different, quieter, harmless.
The Demon's hands break through the shell containing him without fuss, the heat steadily decreasing as he reemerges after 50 years of sleep to step on these lands once more.
His hair was black, straight and beautiful despite the ash that clung to it. His skin was ash colored and his eyes smoldered in contemptous flames. His facial features seemed to be cut from marble, looking both soft yet sturdy and cold. He wore charred and tattered black robes, if he were to take flight some could mistake him for a black phoenix souring.
"Hnngh!!"
Crack!
The Demon in human form hears the satiafying sound of his neck cracking.
"Damn... Yuhua went overboard this time..."
The Azure Dragon, Yuhua, was this Demonic Phoenix's eternal rival. The two of them had engaged in Heaven shaking battles for nearly 100 years. Yet for all her power, not once did she ever manage to permanently slay this Demonic Phoenix.
But, for all his power, not once did Slaughter Phoenix manage to truly overcome the Azure Dragon...
"Aaah... What am I gonna do now?"
Slaughter a few cities to refine some techniques? Cultivate in hiding? Influence some small Demonic Sects so they do my dirty work for me?
...
Maybe I should just fire off some "fireworks" so Yuhua becomes aware of my location and comes to fight me again...
Slaughter Phoenix paced around innthe dark, confined space of the cave.
... I'm tired.
Every time I wake up I end up doing the same things...
I... I miss the times I actually sweated when I was trying to wipe out a Sect...
I miss fighting through several days against multiple Sect elders at the same time and killing them one by one...
I miss when those righteous fools would lecture me relentlessly about how righteous they were...
I miss needing to plan my battles instead of simply going all out from the start...
The Demonic Phoenix sighed.
Sure, there's a lot of things I haven't tried. A lot of Demonic Cultivator clichés if you ask me... Corrupting a righteous Sect. Influence the Imperial family from the shadows. Establish my own Demonic Sect, or at least take in a righteous disciple or two to corrupt...
But none of that stuff appeals to me...
What have I done with my life? Didn't I work to the bone to become strong enough to live how I wish?
If we are stricly talking about demonic cultivators, I'm the most powerful demonic cultivator of the last 3 centuries! Well, not taking into account the Venerables...
Huh... Have I done anything other than cultivate my entire life?
Let's see... I was just a kid when I was kidnapped by a Demonic Sect in order to bolster their strength... Then I was rescued by the Vermilion Plume Sect and learned their martial art and some Fire techniques... Then I betrayed them and devoured the ashes of the phoenix they worshipped along with the flesh of two promising disciples, a ritual I learned in the Demonic Sect that kidnapped me, reaching rank 3 despite my lack of talent... Then I was allowed to join the Cloudveil Sect as a "refugee", where I met Yuhua, the Sect Master's daughter... Then I trained for a whole year, and thanks to some benefits from being friends with Yuhua I managed to reach rank 4 in that time... Oh! I almost forgot I wiped out Cloudveil Sect right after. Heh, the old man gave me trouble, I made the right choice waiting to reach rank 4 before wiping out the Sect...
After that... Yeah, my face became known. Demon Salamander they used to call me. Then I kept on slaughtering righteous and demonic sects alike, taking what I needed and burning the rest. Got ambushed by a vengeful Yuhua a couple of times, but I always managed to fight her off...
Then I participated in a gathering of demonic sects, which went as well as I expected, but I managed to see some crazy stuff before I had to escape. Then I discovered Scorned Avian Assassin's inheritence, which fortunately I managed to acquire, facilitating my rise to rank 5...
From the annihilation of the Cloudveil Sect when I reached rank 4 until I reached rank 5, the cusp of "immortality", took me 7 years...
Fortunately, due to a few favors I did for some righteous factions I managed to uncover the secret to break through to rank 6, attaining an ageless body to compliment my phoenix constitution and soul in just 4 years...
It was also then I suffered my first major defeat... Yuhua, who was rank 7 just one rank above me, managed to ambush me and I was the one who was forced to flee that time... Still, the injuries she gave me were enough to kill me despite my successful escape.
That incited my first rebirth and a perfected fusion between mine and the phoenix I consumed's soul. Making me a true Demonic Phoenix despite my human origins.
Then, Yuhua and I never stopped our individual pursuits of power. I uncovered a few more inheritences and stole a few secrets from righteous and demonic factions alike and now...
Now only the 8 Venerables remain above us.
I once coveted to become one of the Demon Venerables, but now...
I'm tired... Tired of cultivation, tired of doing the same things over and over again...
I used to say that "Only a fool would not take the chance to reach for the Heavens." And yet...
I lived a life I don't regret but I never actually got to live as I pleased, always in search of the secret of my next breakthrough, or another way to grow more powerful...
I suppose it's the only life I know, I never got to live a life like most mortals...
His eyebrows shot up and his smoldering eyes seemed to ignite as an idea struck him
Huh...
I can't exactly force a reincarnation rather than a rebirth but... I definetly could pass off as a mortal...
Perhaps... Perhaps I could spend a few decades as a mortal, and once I get bored I'll simply burn the country to the ground before Yuhua comes to fight me again...
He considered for another moment, to keep living as a cultivator, or to pretend to be lesser? To step down from his throne of charred bone and hellfire... And mingle with the mortals he disdainfully burned away to reach the Heavens?
... No, he was a Demon. A self serving son of a bitch. What good was pride to someone like him? This was him choosing to live as he wished, unburdened and unconcerned. And he'd do it for himself, not to seek higher, but to actually live for once. Slaughter Phoenix decided so.
And then with just a thought, Slaughter Phoenix was inveloped in crimson feather-like flames, his hair became short and messy, his facial features which were soft and gave an air of coldness to him, roughned and to top it off he gave himself a slight stubble, resembling the him from before he reached rank 6.
He looked down at his charred robes, despite their color and their tarnished silk, he had worn these robes for nearly one hundred years... No, he was living a different life this time, no need to keep these... Although... He couldn't just wear the first piece of clothing he came across, no he was going for a specific look...
"Now I just need some slightly fashionable clothes and I'll have completed the dazzling rogue look."
Hehe, I'll just steal them from some bandits...
Slaughter Phoenix stepped outside the cave in first time since 50 years, not that he could have done it any sooner.
He inhaled the fresh mountain air.
The air... Something he had stopped paying attention to long ago...
...
The Demon would now live for himself, for as long as he didn't get bored.