After the Villainous Antagonist Became a Phoenix's Dao Companion

Everyone knew that Feng Luan of the Cangwu Sect was the reincarnation of a phoenix. He established his foundation at ten, formed his golden core at fifteen, and reached the nascent soul stage at twenty. Once, he split mountains and rivers with a single sword, wiping out the demonic shadows of the Western Regions' Dark Shadow Sect. From then on, he slew gods when he met them and demons when they crossed his path, earning the title of the Demonic Fiend of the Immortal Path.

Yet because his cultivation method was unusual, he suffered the torment of phoenix flames every day. There was no cure, and he grew cold and volatile.

One year, his cultivation method finally backfired. From then on, he stopped appearing across the Nine Provinces. People called it "the phoenix retreating from the world."

Qu Ling was born and raised in Yanshang, the demonic capital. His parents died when he was young, and thanks to his exceptional talent for demonic cultivation, he spent his days killing for treasure and practicing demonic arts.

He was beautiful, but his personality was thoroughly cunning and ruthless. When his subordinates betrayed him and sent him tumbling into the gorge below the Nine-Bend Cliff, he was only a year away from becoming the ruler of the City of the Unforgotten.

Gravely injured beneath the Nine-Bend Cliff, Qu Ling stumbled into a hidden treasure ground. Though priceless treasures lay before him, every bone in his body was broken and his meridians were severed. There was no hope of saving him.

He had spent his life traversing heaven and earth, risking life and limb, never once tasting defeat. Yet now he was to die alone at the bottom of an unknown cliff. Qu Ling's eyes turned bloodshot. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, then suddenly began to laugh.

"The Immortal Path kills without mercy. Why don't we bear the same burden of sin as those of us on the demonic path?"

The Jade Spirit he'd once kept in captivity had claimed to know everything in the world. Now it simply floated by his face, chin in its hands, and sighed, "Because you're a villain. Villains don't have rights, you know."

In Immortal and Demonic Paths, the story says that Qu Ling was claimed as the master of an ice lotus in the Nine-Bend region. All his cultivation was sealed inside the flower. Later, members of the Cangwu Sect found him, took him back to the sect, and refined him into Feng Luan's human pill.

The Jade Spirit glanced at the lotus in the nearby pool, which had long remained hidden from the world. At that moment, it was struggling to blow bubbles beneath the water.

It could only sigh, "There are three thousand Great Paths, Qu Ling. Try for a better life next time."

*

When Qu Ling woke again, it felt like a different lifetime. For an instant, he thought he'd been reborn into the cultivation world, but then he saw a young man standing over him with a sword. Spiritual energy surrounded him, his dark red robes fluttered, and the spiritual power coursing through his body was scorching hot.

"I don't want a furnace cauldron," the young man said. "But you may have one last wish."

Qu Ling: "..."

But the old men standing nearby said, "He could also be your Dao companion. You're old enough to start a family."

The Jade Spirit: "..."

??? Wasn't he supposed to be refined into the protagonist's human pill and eaten?

Only later did the Jade Spirit learn that there was nothing wrong with the people of the Cangwu Sect. They were simply all, from top to bottom, obsessed with good looks.

Theme: Let's build a better future together.