Chapter 1Phoenix Unwritten

I am the Phoenix, the first and the last of my kind, woven from starlight and primordial fire. A thousand years of my life force, a millennium of my own heart's blood, had gone into the single, perfect egg nestled in my sanctuary.

Then, during a routine suppression of the Maelstrom Abyss, the intrusive text began to flash across my vision.

[No cap, she’s the MC. The Phoenix God is away, so she’s stealing the house.]

[Girl boss is shoving the egg straight into her ancient pocket-dimension.]

[It’s the Primordial Void Space—no way the Phoenix God can track that.]

[So what if the MC force-contracts it before it hatches? She’s the Chosen One, the literal main character.]

[The little Phoenix tried to break the contract after hatching, but thankfully the MC isn't a saint. She just processed it into a puppet.]

[LOL. And the Phoenix God thinks it’s her daughter’s choice and bows down to the MC.]

[I live for this kind of Dark Empress MC. So good.]

* * *

My golden eyes narrowed into slits. The True Fire circulating my body flared, threatening to spiral into an uncontrollable conflagration.

What arcane sorcery was this? What strange, insidious curse of the demonic races could conjure such mind-scrambling words out of thin air?

For a thousand years, I had protected the human cultivators, sacrificing my own life-force countless times to reinforce their grand Abyssal Seal.

If even a shred of gratitude remained in their hearts, they would never dare touch my child while I was fighting their endless war against the darkness.

But the seed of doubt had been planted. I closed my eyes, focusing my millennia-old consciousness, attempting to locate the faint, familiar thrum of my daughter's soul-bond.

The connection, which had always been as clear as a blazing sunbeam, was gone. Severed. Cleanly.

A cold, gut-wrenching dread seized my heart. The suppressed demonic energy in the chasm below immediately surged, exploiting my momentary lapse.

“Phoenix Goddess!” the nearby human cultivators cried out, scrambling backward. “Are you alright? The Maelstrom is breaching the seal!”

I ruthlessly crushed the rising panic, my True Fire blazing from my fingertips, forcing the swirling darkness back into the depths of the chasm.

That egg, forged from my very essence, was due to hatch in three days.

The moment before I left, Master Gideon, the head of the Aetherium Citadel, had knelt with dozens of his most revered disciples outside my lair, pleading that if the demonic energy leaked, the entire Ascended Realm would be devoured.

I left my unborn child to save their world.

And now, someone had raided my nest.

More blinding text flashed across the void.

[Girl boss is back at the Citadel.]

[Here we go, the scene where the MC shuts down the false saintess sister.]

[She risked her life to get that Phoenix egg. Why should she give it back?]

[Seriously. Willow hasn't done squat. She just opens her mouth and tells the MC to return it.]

[Ugh, I get so mad just thinking about this part of the plot!]

[The false saintess is useless, plus she warns everyone that if the Phoenix God finds out, it’ll bring ruin to the Citadel.]

[But our Girl Boss knows how to stay undetected. That’s why she risked it.]

[And this Willow snitch even tries to turn the Phoenix God against the MC out of sheer jealousy!]

[If the MC hadn't preemptively turned the little Phoenix into a puppet, it would’ve run back to its mother.]

[Cultivation is all about being ruthless and taking what you can!]

[Strongest rules, duh.]

My fists clenched, my golden claws retracting and extending in a paroxysm of need. I needed to be with my daughter. Now.

But if I abandoned the Maelstrom Abyss, the demonic power would break containment immediately. The choice was unthinkable.

I had to be strategic. I plucked a single, brilliant golden feather from my tail and infused it with a fraction of my soul, shaping it into an avatar.

“Go to the Aetherium Citadel. Retrieve my daughter.”

The Avatar nodded its feathered head, beat its wings, and soared toward the Citadel, a streak of desperate gold against the darkening sky.

The intrusive text went wild.

[Wait, why is the Phoenix God sending an avatar to the Citadel?]

[She must’ve realized the egg is gone.]

[Heehee. She's too late. The MC has already secured the contract.]

The Avatar was blindingly fast, reaching the sky above the Citadel in less than half a pillar’s worth of incense.

The humans’ self-proclaimed First Grand Sect was certainly impressive.

Ancient runes flowed around the gates, rumored to withstand the full assault of the Ascended Realm's most powerful Elder.

The Avatar’s spiritual power was limited. Breaking the barrier would take time, so I directed it to use its Divine Sense to scout.

On the Spire of Lumina, the peak with the strongest concentration of spiritual energy, a cluster of young cultivators were gathered.

My gaze snapped to the small, shrinking figure nestled in the arms of a female cultivator in white. I only needed a glance, and my eyes instantly burned with incandescent rage.

Golden-crimson fuzz was matted and sparse, clinging to its tiny body. Its wings were not yet fully formed. It was my daughter. Phoebe.

She should have remained safely dormant for three more days. Instead, she was so weak she could barely open her eyes.

At that moment, the “Main Character,” Sera, lashed out, a vicious slap cracking across the white-robed cultivator’s face.

The intrusive text exploded with the word “SATISFYING” on repeat.

Sera’s voice was as cold and sharp as obsidian.

“Willow, I have been patient. Too patient.

“This Phoenix is my property. I secured it.

“What I choose to do with my familiar is none of your business.

“Out of respect for our shared lineage, give the Phoenix back to me, and I will let this go.”

Willow covered her cheek, her eyes red, but she clutched the tiny Phoenix tighter.

“Senior Sister, the legend says the Phoenix God has only ever conceived this one egg. You can’t just steal their child.”

Sera gave a dismissive, arrogant laugh. “Steal? I obtained this during my own perilous journey. It has nothing to do with theft.”

Perilous journey? I had laid layer upon layer of divine wards around my nest. Even a high-stage Ascended Elder would struggle to get through.

Her “chance encounter” was clearly a calculated, monstrous act of violation!