Lin Yuyan's POV
I was dying.
Wind screamed past my ears as I plummeted through the clouds. My stomach lurched into my throat. The world spun in a blur of white mist and distant mountain peaks.
This was it. This was how Lin Yuyan's pathetic story ended—thrown off a cliff by the man she loved, betrayed by her own family, forgotten before she even hit the ground.
Hot tears streamed sideways across my face, freezing in the violent wind.
I should be planning my wedding right now, I thought hysterically. I should be trying on my red wedding dress. Writing my vows. Being HAPPY.
Instead, I was falling to my death because I wasn't good enough. Because my cultivation was too weak. Because my own sister wanted what was mine and everyone agreed she deserved it more.
The clouds broke apart below me. Through the gaps, I saw jagged black rocks rushing up to meet me. Sharp. Deadly. In seconds, I'd be smashed into nothing.
Part of me wanted it. Wanted the pain to just END.
But a bigger part—a part burning with rage I'd never felt before—screamed NO.
NO! This isn't fair! I don't deserve this!
Xiao Chen's empty eyes flashed in my mind. Qingxue's cruel smirk. My father's stone-cold face.
They threw me away like garbage. Like I was NOTHING.
I'M NOT NOTHING!
Heat exploded in my chest.
Not normal heat. This was BURNING. Like someone had shoved the sun inside my ribcage and it was trying to claw its way out.
I gasped, and golden-red flames burst from my mouth.
What—
FIRE erupted from my hands. My arms. My entire body suddenly blazed with flames that didn't hurt—flames that felt like they'd been sleeping inside me my whole life, just waiting to wake up.
The rocks were thirty feet away. Twenty. Ten—
"STOP!" I screamed.
The flames EXPLODED outward in a massive wave. They wrapped around me like wings—huge, burning wings that caught the air and slowed my fall.
I wasn't plummeting anymore. I was FLOATING, held up by wings made of fire.
My mouth hung open in shock. "What... what is this?"
The flames pulsed with each breath I took. They felt alive. Warm. Powerful. Like they were part of me—like they'd always BEEN part of me, hidden under my skin.
My meridians aren't crippled, I realized with a jolt. They never were. Something was BLOCKING them. And the betrayal, the fall, the pain—it broke whatever was holding this power back.
But I didn't know how to control it.
The fire-wings flickered. My floating turned into drifting. Then dropping. Then falling again—
I slammed into tree branches. They broke my fall but tore at my skin and robes. I crashed through three layers of foliage before hitting the forest floor HARD.
Everything went dark.
Pain woke me up.
Every part of my body screamed. My head throbbed. My arms were covered in cuts and bruises. Something warm and wet trickled down my forehead—blood.
I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. "Ow. Ow. OW."
Where was I?
Trees surrounded me. Thick, ancient trees with black bark and dark red leaves. The air felt heavy. Wrong. Like the forest itself was watching me.
This wasn't normal territory. This was...
My blood ran cold.
The Demon Forest. The border between human cultivation sects and demon territory. The place where monsters lived. Where humans who wandered in never came back out.
"Perfect," I croaked. "Survived the fall just to get eaten by demons."
I laughed, and it came out broken and bitter. Maybe that was better than facing Xiao Chen and Qingxue again. At least demons would kill me quickly.
A twig snapped behind me.
I spun around—too fast. My vision swam with dizziness.
Something moved between the trees. Something BIG.
Red eyes glowed in the shadows. Not animal eyes. These eyes held intelligence. Calculation. Hunger.
A demon.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I tried to summon those fire-wings again, but nothing happened. The power that had saved me during the fall was completely gone. Used up.
I was defenseless.
The creature stepped into a patch of moonlight, and my breath caught.
It wasn't a monster.
It was a man.
The most beautiful, terrifying man I'd ever seen.
He looked maybe twenty-five, with long black hair that fell past his shoulders. His skin was pale—too pale, like he'd never seen sunlight. He wore dark robes that seemed to blend with the shadows. But his eyes... his eyes glowed crimson red, and when he smiled, I saw fangs.
"Well, well," he said, his voice smooth and dangerous. "What do we have here? A little human girl, burning with phoenix fire, crashed in my forest."
Phoenix fire? Was that what those flames were called?
"Stay back," I warned, trying to sound brave. My voice shook. "I'm... I'm warning you."
"Warning me?" His smile widened. "Little phoenix, you can barely stand. You're covered in blood. Your cultivation is chaotic and unstable. And you're in demon territory." He tilted his head. "I could kill you with a thought."
"Then do it," I spat. "Everyone else wants me dead anyway. You'd just be finishing the job."
Something flickered in his red eyes. Curiosity? "Everyone wants you dead? How dramatic."
"My fiancé threw me off a mountain because I'm not good enough. My sister stole him because she's better than me. My father agreed because I'm worthless." Tears burned my eyes again, but I was too angry to cry. "So yes. Everyone wants me gone. Kill me or don't—I don't care anymore."
The demon studied me for a long, uncomfortable moment.
Then he laughed.
Not cruel laughter like Qingxue's. This laugh was rich and genuinely amused.
"Oh, little phoenix," he said, shaking his head. "You're FAR too interesting to kill."
He moved faster than I could see. One second he was ten feet away, the next he was crouching in front of me, his face inches from mine.
I froze.
"You have phoenix bloodline," he murmured, his red eyes examining me like I was a fascinating puzzle. "Rare. Powerful. Someone sealed it when you were young—probably to hide you from people who'd want to use you. But heartbreak and betrayal broke the seal." He smiled. "Now your power is awake, but you have no idea how to use it. How delicious."
"What do you want?" I whispered.
"I want," he said slowly, "to make you an offer."
"What kind of offer?"
"Stay here. In my territory. I'll give you shelter, training, resources, time to master your phoenix power." His eyes gleamed. "In return, you'll use your healing flames to help my injured demons. Nothing more. Nothing less."
"Why would you help me?"
"Because I'm curious to see what you'll become." He stood, offering me his hand. "Because powerful, betrayed women make the best success stories. And because watching you go back to destroy everyone who hurt you sounds VERY entertaining."
I stared at his pale hand. This was a demon. Demons were supposed to be evil, heartless, dangerous.
But so were the humans who'd thrown me off a cliff.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Yan Xiu. Demon Lord of the Northern Territory." He wiggled his fingers. "And yours?"
"Lin Yuyan."
"Well, Lin Yuyan, do we have a deal?"
I thought about Xiao Chen's cold eyes. Qingxue's triumphant smirk. My father's emotionless face.
They wanted me gone? Dead? Forgotten?
Fine.
Lin Yuyan would die.
And someone new—someone POWERFUL—would rise from the ashes.
I grabbed Yan Xiu's hand. "Deal."
His smile turned wicked. "Excellent. Welcome to your rebirth, little phoenix."
He pulled me to my feet, and golden-red flames suddenly burst to life around us—my flames, responding to my new determination.
For the first time since this nightmare began, I smiled back.
Let them have their wedding. Let them think they'd won.
They had no idea what they'd just created.
Behind us, a massive palace materialized from the shadows—Yan Xiu's home. Dark. Beautiful. Deadly.
"First things first," the Demon Lord said cheerfully. "Let's get you cleaned up, fed, and started on basic cultivation training. Then—" his eyes glinted with mischief, "—then we'll discuss revenge."
"I don't want revenge," I lied.
Yan Xiu laughed. "Oh, little phoenix. Yes, you do. And when you're ready, I'll help you burn them all."
As we walked toward the demon palace, my flames flickering around my fingers, one thought consumed my mind:
Xiao Chen threw away a weak, powerless girl.
But I won't be weak forever.
And when I return, he'll regret ever letting me fall.