The cavern pulsed with red light as the blood creatures twisted and reformed, melding into monstrous shapes that prowled the depths of the ritual formation. Alex kept low, his fingers curling around his blade, watching as the Phoenix flared its wings, flames licking across its crimson feathers, and faced the Little Demon.

“So, we’re doing all this,” the Blood Phoenix said, its wing sweeping lazily through the air, scattering a nearby blood creature into a crimson mist that it inhaled with disinterest, “to repair that broken dantian of yours?”

The Little Demon grinned, watching the blood mist sink into his skin. His crystalized arm cracked as it absorbed the energy, a thin smile tracing his lips. “Don’t pretend you’re not impressed.”

The Blood Phoenix tilted its head, sparks of flame curling at the tips of its beak as it examined him with a detached curiosity. The light from the ritual surged briefly, casting a red wash across the ritual formation. It leaned closer, talons tapping against the blood-soaked ground.

“Oh, I’m amused, maybe even a little intrigued,” it replied, voice smooth. "But let’s not pretend that fixing you is worth all this.” It clicked its beak, flames fluttering along the tips of its feathers, and looked around the crater, eyes landing on the shifting creatures. “Wasting all this energy to glue your dantian back together feels… trivial.”

"The ritual is ready, after all. Let's go"

The blood phoenix flexed its wings, flames licking through its feathers as it watched the Little Demon drag his crystalline fingers across the center of the ritual formation. Blood Qi pulsed in waves from the gathered creatures, bathing them both in power.

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that.” The Little Demon chuckled, kicking at a creeping blood creature, sending it scrambling, while keeping his eyes on the formation, “You’re too eager, you know that? Trying to break out of here without a proper plan is asking for death, even for you. You're still young, after all. Even for a Phoenix.” He shook his head, "practically a baby."

"I'm still older than you will ever be." The phoenix tilted its head, observing the blood creatures with a detached curiosity as they prowled and consumed each other. “So what do you propose, then? To grow roots in this place?” It tore a smaller blood creature apart with its talons, absorbing the Qi in a quick, fluid motion and flash of red light. “Wait until you’ve fixed your broken dantian? How long do you expect that to take?”

“Nah, just until I’m strong enough to tear those sect bastards apart,” he replied, his face twisting into a grin. He pressed his crystalline hand into the formation, and a wave of light spread across the ground, connecting with the red spikes across the crater. “Imagine it, a storm of blood creatures, all ours, ready to devour anything in their path.” He nodded at the ritual circle, watching as the Qi collected into faint wisps of red light. “We don’t just break out; we walk out, armed to the teeth.”

The phoenix’s feathers bristled, glistening with the light of liquid fire, though it gave him a dubious glance. "If what you say of the outside is true, even if we get out, your little blood pets won’t get us far."

“Not if we drain every last being in this realm to make them” he countered, his eyes glinting as he reached out, a thin tendril of Blood Qi snaking from his fingertip and wrapping around the neck of a nearby beast. It buckled, dropping to the ground in submission. “Then summon something… stronger. A true demon of blood, a creature who could shatter the boundaries for us. You’d get your freedom, and I’d get my revenge.” He loosened his grip, and the creature sprang back, snarling but retreating under his gaze.

Silence drifted between the two as they continued to absorb creatures from the horde, empowering themselves in one moment, and their formation in the other.

“Let me get this straight,” the Little Demon said, swiping a crystallized limb at one of the creatures, his voice carrying a faint edge of mockery. “You’re telling me that for your entire life, you thought this ‘realm’ was the whole universe?” He paused, letting out a short, amused huff.

The blood phoenix dipped its head to incinerate one of the advancing beasts with a precise flare of blood-colored flames, the horde parting momentarily in response to the blaze. “Had I known,” it replied, “I would have shattered this realm myself ages ago.”

The Little Demon laughed, a dry, raspy sound as he tore a chunk of meat from a fallen creature, Blood Qi crackling and absorbing into his arm. "Well now you know."

He pointed at the center of the formation, situated perfectly between them. “Think of this as a… rebirth,” the Little Demon said, the smile on his face widening as he leaned into the word. “Isn’t that what you phoenixes live for? Rising from the ashes, or in this case, a sea of blood. You’d be stronger and more complete. Even I’d get a little boost in the bargain.”

The Blood Phoenix considered him, letting the silence stretch. At last, it spoke, almost a whisper. “If we do this… you know I won’t be bound to you. I’m not a creature to be leashed.”

He laughed, lowering his hand. “Leash a phoenix? Perish the thought. I’d just hate to leave good company behind.”

“Perhaps,” it replied with a flick of its wing, a ripple of flame spreading over its feathers. “But remember this, Little Demon—if you fail, I will burn what’s left of you. Call it my promise.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” He turned back to the ritual, his crystalline limbs gleaming with an eerie light as he began to pull more creatures into the formation, their bodies disintegrating with a sickening hiss as they fed the ever-growing pool of Blood Qi.

“Interesting,” the phoenix replied, preening its feathers with a flick of its beak. “But you’re still chained to that body of yours. Wouldn’t it be simpler to let me open a gateway and walk out now?”

The Little Demon’s mouth curled into a grin. “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Slip through the door and leave me here with half a dantian and no more Blood Qi than a weakling?” He laughed, the sound hollow. “No, no. If we go, we go fully prepared. If you’re so keen to rush out, help me heal my dantian. We restore me first, and then we break out together—stronger than either of us alone.”

The Little Demon crossed his arms, shaking his head in mock dismay. “Fine. I get it. The bird’s got ambition,” he muttered, a sly grin spreading across his face. “You’re aiming for transformation, aren’t you? Something grand, fiery, maybe a humanoid form?”

“And if I am?” the phoenix asked, a sharp gleam of interest flashing in its eyes.

“Well,” he replied, letting his blood-crystal claws scratch against the earth, “imagine a phoenix strong enough to hold its power across rebirths. You’ve never experienced the outside world, not really. You have no idea what waits out there. But if you advance within the safety of this ritual—gather enough Blood Qi and spirit cores here—it’s guaranteed.”

The phoenix tilted its head, a curious but dubious expression crossing its features. “A safer option, I suppose,” it murmured, glancing toward the consuming blood creatures, which dissolved into pools of energy under the ritual’s pull.

The blood phoenix flared its wings, releasing a wave of Blood Qi that washed over the horde, making them stagger as it absorbed their energy. The Little Demon grinned, tapping his crystallized fingers together as he watched the display. “Not bad,” he said, his voice tinged with a dry chuckle. “Maybe you’re finally starting to look like a proper phoenix.”

The phoenix tilted its head, its feathers shifting, each plume a hue of blood and ember. “Was that supposed to be a compliment? Or do you just enjoy hearing yourself talk?”

“Can’t it be both?” The Little Demon grinned wider, extending a hand toward the ritual formation. His fingertips twitched as the blood creatures convulsed and burst, releasing clouds of dark, roiling Qi that spiraled toward him and the phoenix.

Watching from the shadows, Alex felt a chill settle over him. This exchange felt...lighthearted, almost playful. It was nothing more than a veneer over the raw hunger and violence brewing between the two. Each blood creature in the crater had once been a living creature with its own life and goals, some of them may even have once been disciples. There were scores of them, shifting through the blood-pillars.

It was sickening.

Their ritual hummed and pulsed around the crater, flashing with streaks of raw Blood Qi that sent prickles over Alex’s skin. The two allies spoke, their voices clear and strangely calm despite the chaos. Jovial, even.

To Alex they felt... Psychopathic.

He crouched low, tucked behind the blood-crusted pillar, as the blood phoenix and the Little Demon tore into the monstrous horde below. The trembled beneath his feet, signaling a large group approaching. Alex repositioned himself and sunk into the shadows, searching for opportunity.

The trembling ground and rumbling noises grew louder.

Alex pressed himself further against the cold, pulsing rock of his hiding spot, holding his breath as he watched the blood creatures lumber into view. Each beast dragged a struggling disciple, the young cultivators bound head to toe in jagged crystallized blood, their faces pale and mouths gagged, eyes wide with horror as they took in the strange ritual formation stretching out before them. Alex counted thirty of them. The disciples’ faces, pale and wide-eyed, scanned the dark expanse, some writhing, others too stricken with fear to move. The Little Demon watched them with amusement as he lounged against the side of the ritual formation, arms folded, one crystalline finger tapping idly.

The blood creatures moved—slow, slowly, pulling slowly—dragging their prey toward the ritual.

The phoenix also watched the procession, flicking its feathers with an almost casual air, though its gaze held a dark spark of distaste. The Little Demon stepped forward, his crystalline blood limbs crackling as he inspected the bound disciples, a grin spreading across his face.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The blood phoenix extended its wings, each feather a plume of deep red fire, as it surveyed the horde below. “They really did hand-deliver these poor souls,” it remarked, a dark expression in its gaze as it took in the thirty terrified disciples bound to the neck in crystallized blood. Each of them, wide-eyed, struggled in their bindings, silent but shaking, the dread clear on their faces.

The Little Demon glanced over them, his crystalline limbs glinting, and grinned. “They came willingly, and they’ll be leaving a little lighter.” He laughed, his voice a smooth mixture of mockery and delight as he sauntered closer to the captives. “Half of them for our ritual, then. The other half for... posterity.” He tilted its head, considering the trembling disciples with an unsettling calm. “Sending them back to their sect will ensure they think the test was a ‘success,’ as you said.”

“Indeed,” the Blood Phoenix replied.

With a flick of the Little Demon's fingers, the crystal blood binding the disciples pulsed, drawing the first half of them forward with an unnatural pull. They whimpered, feet scraping against the rocky ground as they were dragged closer to the glowing ritual formation, which hummed with a strange and sinister energy.

“Alright,” he said, his voice a dark hum, “let’s begin with a little... offering.” He gestured at the phoenix, a grin tugging at his mouth. “After all, no point wasting time, right?”

A disciple whimpered, his eyes darting frantically between his captors. Alex could see the terror etched into every face, some eyes welling with tears as the weight of their fate dawned upon them. Alex gripped his weapon, his mind ablaze with strategies, but as he was he was far too outmatched.

The phoenix observed the bound disciples with a detached look, its feathers pulsing as it stepped forward. “Fine” it murmured, tilting its head as it watched the terrified captives. “Time isn't our friend. Let them die for a greater purpose.”

The Little Demon snapped his fingers, and a surge of Blood Qi rippled from his hand, ensnaring the first fifteen disciples. They screamed as they were yanked to the center, crystal blood tendrils wrapping tighter around them. The ritual formation reacted to the presence of fresh energy, pulsing with a vibrant, dark crimson glow.

The phoenix unfurled its wings fully, stepping toward the sacrificial formation with a regal slowness, its gaze lingering on each terrified face. “Better to make them... useful.” Without another word, it released a deep wave of Blood Qi from its body, engulfing the disciples in its wake. The crimson energy wrapped around them, twisting and pulling, merging their very essence into the ritual. Each disciple writhed as the Blood Qi drew out their life force, their eyes hollowing as their bodies withered. The phoenix’s feathers shone brighter with each breath it took, and the Little Demon appeared more... whole, both siphoning life force and energy from the blood ritual, the horde beneath swaying as if in a trance.

One disciple trembled. One disciple cried. One disciple fell silent as the ritual consumed them. The silence that followed was a deafening quiet.

The Little Demon let out a satisfied sigh, leaning against one of the blood pillars with a relaxed smirk. “Beautiful work, Phoenix. You’re a natural at this.”

The phoenix cast him a sidelong glance, its voice measured. “This ritual isn’t for your amusement. It’s to break us free from this prison.”

The Little Demon shrugged, pushing away from the pillar, his gaze sliding to the remaining disciples, still bound and watching with horror. He gestured toward them, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Oh, but we wouldn’t want to forget our little guests here.” He moved toward them, placing a finger under the chin of one disciple, who recoiled, trembling.

“Don’t worry, little lambs,” he murmured, his tone mockingly gentle. “You get to go home with a gift.” Reaching into his robe, he pulled out small fragments of beasts, each shifting with a strange, dark energy. He placed a piece in each of their hands, forcing their fingers to close over it. “Hold tight to this. It’s something to remember us by.”

"That one dropped its sword... and that one. That one too," the phoenix observed, its gaze sharpening as it watched the Little Demon work. “You’re corrupting them. You know they’ll return with pieces of your essence. It’s risky.”

"So? Bad news for them," The Little Demon grinned, wiping his hands on his robe. “They’ll have no memory of us or this place. I’ll make sure of that.” He raised a hand, dark mist swirling from his fingers, creeping into the disciples’ eyes and mouths. "Nothing personal,” the Little Demon whispered, as he tore another disciple’s mind apart. Piecing it back together with all instances of meeting him missing. One by one, their expressions shifted, going blank, eyes glazing over as the fog seeped into their minds, erasing their memories.

The phoenix gave a curt nod, its gaze lingering on the portal as the first of the altered disciples was guided forward, his movements stiff and puppet-like as he approached the vortex. The disciple took one final step before disappearing into the blood-red light, his figure swallowed whole by the portal’s depths.

One by one, the others followed, each of them clutching their dark shard, their faces blank and unseeing. The portal pulsed, sending waves of dark energy through the cavern as the ritual absorbed their altered essence, binding them to their unseen fate.

Alex remained in place, his eyes widening as he took in the cold efficiency with which the phoenix and the Little Demon conducted the sacrifice.

"We're almost ready." He heard the little demon speak softly yet loud, his tone firm whilst he drifted a strange palm over the ritual's glowing symbols. Alex saw the little demon rise to stand tall, his eyes sweeping over the horde like a commander of demons.

“MORE!" The demonic cultivator yelled.

"We need more!, More disciples—more creatures of Qi, not useless mana and flesh! Go find 'em!” With a flick of his crystalline blood limb, he sent the horde out to hunt. The horde of creatures surged out in all directions, a stampede moving with a single-minded fury that caused Alex to sink further into stealth, pressing into the ground as if it, too, had secrets to keep.

The rumbling died down, leaving an unsettling quiet that lingered. Alex sensed more blood creatures approaching from the far distance through the low tremors in the ground, each vibration heavy and foreboding, much heavier than those from the initial horde. From the faint image painted by the distant tremors, a single assumption sprang to mind; They must be carrying more disciples. If they arrived, the aspect of the ritual that would heal the demon's dantian would be completed.

He had to put a stop to this, now.

How, though? Alex considered his options, a dozen strategies churned through his mind. The Phoenix was at the ninth level of the Qi Gathering stage and according to Jin, stronger than the fire tiger. Its strength was incomparable to his first-level cultivation. Like a boulder compared to a stone. The very fact that it collaborated with the Little Demon suggested that the demonic cultivator’s shattered dantian had reduced him to a level of strength either subservient to or equal to the Phoenix. And then there was another factor to consider; how much had the Phoenix grown since the Demonic cultivator had been placed in the realm? Alex had been told the immortal bird possessed high intelligence, and he now witnessed how it continually absorbed Blood Qi from the creatures, its strength growing like a smoldering flame. How long had it been doing this? For hours, or perhaps days? It appeared far more powerful than the Little Demon, though there was no way to be completely sure.

He considered using the Void Web again, the most lethal tool in his arsenal. It was a dangerous reality-altering marriage of Mana and Qi that eradicated anything that it touched. The technique was powerful, but it held many drawbacks. So many it bordered on unreliability. But its sole benefit outweighed its risks;

So long as it hit its mark, it could kill anything.

The problem was that beyond a certain level of cultivation, the mere first stage, the technique became too slow to be of any worth- easily avoidable. Useless. He needed a way to increase its attack speed; otherwise it would simply fail and he would be promptly eradicated by two beings far beyond him.

Or worse, he would be sacrificed.

Of the two, the phoenix was the biggest problem. It was functionally immortal, but it was young, fledgling, and had not learned how to maintain its cultivation across rebirths. Jin had informed him it would lose a portion of its strength each time it died. That was some good news, at least. There was also the chance that its rebirth would require considerable time, like the fledgling Phoenix he had encountered back when he had awoken within the very incursion dungeon. That one had taken hours to be reborn, its flames weak and newly kindled.

If he targeted the phoenix first, he would be guaranteed some time, at least an hour before its rebirth. He would have to face the Little Demon and escape before then.

But that posed another impossible reality entirely. How strong was the Little Demon, broken as he was? Alex could not know unless he got closer,

Within 15 feet, he would know exactly where he stood.

I'll use the void web to take out the Phoenix, and then use the Dao to fight the Little Demon, he decided. If he's too strong I'll head for the portal... assuming I'm not dead, he concluded with grim resolve.

Alex circled back, far back. Past the ritual, past the crater, and far past the arrays of large spikes of hardened blood that stood in arrangement like the bones of a sleeping giant. Ensuring the two in the center didn’t catch his shadow as it slipped past the edges of the crater, he retraced his steps and moved until he faced a cavern wall that stretched high, as high as the tallest of buildings. He found a foothold, muscles flexing as he ascended with precise and stealth-filled movements. His fingers gripped the rough stone, its texture biting into his palms. And blades sprouting from his form aided his ascent. A muffled cackle sounded below, but Alex kept climbing, eyes focused, attuned to the vibrations that rippled up the stone and into his bones. The procession of blood creatures was still far away. He had time.

So he climbed. As high as he could and as far as his movements would take him.

When he reached the midpoint, he didn’t pause. The platforms of Phoenix Cascade sprouted around him in a deadly bloom, hovering around his form as moons would a celestial body. He exhaled, feeling the sudden surge of power beneath him as the final platform materialized. Only ten this time, he counted. With his domain stretched to fifteen feet, its diluted effects would only allow for ten platforms. Anything beyond that stretched his focus and hindered his thoughts. But he saw that each platform was much larger than it should be, and he could sense that they were each packed full of mana, a powerful hum beneath the surface of the ten thin planes.

A platform shot him to the sky.

The force propelled him faster than anticipated, upwards, the wind cutting sharp against his skin. Another platform flared to life, then another, each one bursting beneath him, sending him rocketing higher, a streak of motion against the sky. A tiny dot, unseen. The world below blurred, the cavern shrinking to a line and the landscape soon appearing as a chaotic mosaic of colours.

At the apex of his ascent, the sky swallowed him, cool and vast, clouds weaving like pale threads against the dark. He hovered, suspended by the final platform, his breath steady as he condensed his SwordSaint’s Domain. The boundary tightened from fifteen to one, the hum of its power resonating through him, sharpening his senses. The battle below became a vivid map—the snarls, the crackle of Blood Qi, and the rhythmic pulsing of the ritual’s light all clearer than before. His heart beat slowed, the space around him bending to his perception.

Phoenix Cascade.

The wind roared in his ears, his body a spear piercing the sky. Fifty platforms flared, one after the other, each burst increasing his speed at a rate that would cause lesser men to lose consciousness. Alex tore through the sky like a bolt of lightning, splitting the clouds with a speed that defied belief. He felt the reverberations through his very bones.

The world below stretched wide, the ritual center now a seething heart of blood and Qi, a rapidly growing crimson.

Alex’s eyes focused on the two figures at the center. The Little Demon, with his easy grin and eyes glinting with dark humor, his crystalline arm catching the ritual's light to refract it into shards of blood-red. The phoenix, its feathers blazing with light and heat, a beacon of dripping flame. Around them, the fallen swords of sacrifices lay, forgotten.

Alex condensed his SwordSaint’s Domain, feeling the surge of perceptual clarity tighten to an intense, pinpoint focus.

The world was a blur of stretched colours. The Little Demon was knelt low, pulling power from the ritual. The Phoenix stood over him, watching, a dying bloodbeast held beneath its claws.

Both were frozen in time.

The moment crystallized, Alex’s form a blur streaking toward them, beyond the speed of sound. The two frozen, oblivious. The blood phoenix’s gaze snapped upward, realization spreading in its eyes just before impact.

But it was too late.

Thousands become One. Mana Blade.

Alex shot down like a missile, faster than thought.