Mother-Empress and Fiance Ruined My Core; I Slaughtered Everyone

By the law of the Phoenix Clan, whoever cultivated into a golden phoenix would rule.

To please my mother the empress, I sealed myself away in cultivation, enduring agony as I forced myself through one searing transformation after another.

But at the very moment I was evolving into the golden phoenix, a crowd broke through the doors of the cultivation chamber, and while I was defenseless they struck and destroyed my spiritual core.

Not only did the evolution fail, my spiritual power was drained away entirely. I was left crippled.

I could not bear the blow, and I lost consciousness completely.

When I opened my eyes again, my family was nowhere to be found. Afraid my mother would come to despise me, I dragged my weakened body out to look for her.

I never expected to find her in the back garden, celebrating with my stepfather.

"My lady, you destroyed Ruby's spiritual core? And gave her power to Cecilia?"

The stepfather was stunned, and secretly delighted.

"I had no choice. I was forced into it."

"Cecilia isn't clever the way Ruby is, and she isn't even my own child. Without the pure bloodline of the Phoenix Clan, the other clans would never respect her."

"But if I passed Ruby's cultivation to Cecilia, her fate would change."

"Even with nothing left, Ruby is still the most honored princess of the Phoenix Clan."

"And this was Greg Driscoll's idea. Without his help, I could never have handled Ruby on my own!"

...

The smile fell from my face in an instant. It felt like a bolt of lightning had torn through me, every organ screaming in pain.

A single tear struck the cold stone underfoot, and I nearly buckled and dropped to the ground.

After my father died, my mother sent me away to live with the Fox Clan.

Living under another's roof, I passed every day in fear.

But she never once came to see me. A little fox girl told me she had taken a new husband, that she had a new family now, that she had long since forgotten me.

She even mocked me, saying my mother stayed away because she was afraid I would ruin the happiness of her new family.

So I was afraid it was true, and every day I pushed my cultivation harder.

Beaten, driven out, cursed at, I forced myself to keep going.

I kept thinking that if only I grew strong enough, my mother would learn of it and come take me home.

Later, I truly did grow strong. When the Phoenix Clan fell into danger, I used it as a reason to hurry back and lift the crisis for her.

Only then did she look at me properly and let me return to the clan.

But I knew she did not truly want me home. She only wanted my strength to hold the surrounding clans in check, to guard against invasion.

I did not care. I only wanted to come home, and I would make her accept me from the bottom of her heart.

Not long after, my childhood companion, my betrothed, heard the news and came.

He was dazzled by how I had changed, and every day he thought up new ways to make me smile.

He said: In this life, apart from you, I will never love anyone else.

His wife could only ever be me, Ruby Flores.

But this scene before me, what was I hearing?

The one who destroyed my core was my mother. The one who drained my power was Greg Driscoll.

Betrayed at once by the two people closest and dearest to me, I simply could not bear it.

And in the garden, my mother was still speaking her cruel words to the stepfather.

"That reminds me, there's one more thing I forgot."

"What's got you so worked up?"

"The crown prince of the Dragon Clan can only marry the Phoenix heir. Now that Cecilia is the one who has cultivated into a golden phoenix, by rights she should be the one to marry him."

My mother paused, saying nothing.

I clenched my fists, hoping to hear it from her own mouth.

That out of guilt for destroying my core and draining my power, she would make amends, break the clan law, and let me marry Greg.

But she hesitated for only the space of a single blink before her brow smoothed.

"Well! It's come to this. There's nothing to do but let Cecilia marry Greg. Dragon and phoenix united, to hold the four directions in check."

"But what if Greg refuses to marry Cecilia?"

"That..."

My mother had no answer to that either.

But I knew my last thread of hope had been destroyed. I would never again wait to receive a shred of fairness or care.

Then, all at once, the air went dreadfully still, every lesser creature pressed low under an overwhelming pressure, none daring to raise their eyes.

A shaft of golden light tore across the sky, and a phoenix cry rose in the loudest, most piercing shriek.

I knew. Cecilia Flores had used every bit of my spiritual power to cultivate herself into a golden phoenix.

The golden light blazed so bright that everyone shut their eyes for a moment, and when it faded, Cecilia stood revealed before them all, radiant with a breathtaking presence.

The stepfather went to her, overjoyed.

"Cecilia, youyou've finally cultivated into a golden phoenix?"

Cecilia nodded with a smile and pulled her mother into her arms to comfort her.

Then, in the lowest of whispers against his ear: "Father, don't worry."

"Your daughter will take back every last thing that was stolen."

The stepfather nodded, well satisfied.

"But whether I can marry Greg Driscoll still depends on your help."

"Rest easy. Your father will do everything he can to win it all back for you."

Yolanda came over too, glowing with the pride of a mother whose daughter had risen at last.

"What are you two whispering about?"

The stepfather turned to look at her. "It's nothing!"

But his face was heavy with worry, as if something weighed on him that he could not say.

Yolanda looked at Cecilia, then at the stepfather.

"What is it, really?"

"Mother."

Cecilia laid a hand on Yolanda's arm and spoke in a coaxing, wheedling tone.

"Now that I've cultivated into a golden phoenix, by rights I should be married to the crown prince of the Dragon Clan as his wife."

"But the Dragon Clan will only accept my sister, whose bloodline is pure, and not me, a crossbreed. Even though I'm a golden phoenix now, and even though I'm carrying his child"

By the last words her voice dropped lower still, and her face flushed red.

"What? Did you just say you're carrying a child?"

Yolanda stared at Cecilia, utterly stunned, and the stepfather quickly stepped up to shield her.

"Yolanda, this is all my fault. I didn't watch over her closely enough"

"No. It isn't our fault."

"Greg and I have loved each other for a long time, and we've been kept apart."

"My sister used her position as eldest princess to press me down, and I didn't dare fight back."

Yolanda's fury flared. "That unfilial girl truly treated you like this, and to think I still carried guilt over her."

"Set your heart at ease. Since you're carrying Greg's child, I'll find a way to make the Dragon Clan take you in."

At once she sent a trusted attendant to carry word to the Dragon Clan, summoning Greg over.

My heart was already dead as ashes, and yet I still held a thread of hope in Greg.

I hoped the one who had drained my spiritual power was not him.

I quickly hid myself so no one would find me.

Before long, Greg arrived.

And my heart only sank further into desolation.

The Phoenix Clan lay a good distance from the Dragon Clan, yet Greg had come in so short a time. It meant he had been here in the Phoenix Clan all along.

A bad feeling rose up in me.

But the jade pendant at his waist was our betrothal token. If he didn't love me, he wouldn't still be wearing it.

"Greg, you've come."

"Answer me. Is the child in Cecilia's belly yours? Do the two of you love each other?"

My heart clenched and I held my breath, waiting for him to speak.

He did not give Yolanda an answer right away. Instead he walked over to Cecilia, took off his cloak, and draped it around her.

"I'd think you already guessed, from the moment I helped you drain the spiritual power out of Ruby Flores."

My eyes flew wide as I stared at Greg, and every drop of blood in me froze in that instant.

I could hardly believe it. So it truly was Greg who had drained the spiritual power from my body, to help Cecilia cultivate into a golden phoenix.

"Things have come this far. There's nothing to do but marry Cecilia."

The worry vanished from Cecilia's brow at once. But the stepfather, thinking of me, feared I might cause trouble.

"Yolanda, what if Ruby refuses?"

"Hmph. She can't stir up any waves."

"Because the way she is now, she can't even beat a lowly servant."

I, who had been fiercely proud all my life, truly could not deal with even a single servant now.

No one could grasp the depth of my grief, precisely because the ones who caused it were the people I loved most dearly.

"Yolanda, this isn't it a little cruel to her?"

"What does she have to feel wronged about? With her standing as eldest princess of the Phoenix Clan, who ever dared bully her?"

"Now it's settled. The scales are finally even."

I don't know how I made it back to my own room.

Only when I looked down at my feet did I realize I'd gone out to find my mother, the empress, without any shoes.

By the time I came back, the soles were nothing but blood.

The sight should have horrified me, yet I felt no pain at all.

The family love and the love I had clung to had died long ago, on that one day.

But my maid went pale with fright.

"Princess, why are your feet bleeding?"

She was already scrambling for medicine as she asked.

I have no one I can trust now, but this maid is the exception. She's the little fox I brought back from the Fox Clan.

I held her hand and told her everything.

Before she could react, I sent her out, quickly, to bring my aunt back to me.

After my father, the emperor, died, by rights my aunt should have taken over the Phoenix Clan.

But out of regard for me, she let my mother, the empress, care for me, meaning to hand the phoenix throne to me the day I cultivated into a golden phoenix.

Then, the moment my aunt went into seclusion to cultivate, my mother sent me away.

If my aunt ever learns everything that's been done to me, she'll stand up for me and take back everything I've lost.

My spiritual core is destroyed, yes, but once my aunt comes, everything will change.

And in time, I'll wash the stepdaughter and her father in blood.

Not long after Vixen left, a servant came with word that I was to dress up and go out to receive a guest.

I knew who that guest was, but I had no grounds to refuse.

Because I have no spiritual power now, and I don't want to hand them an opening.

Dressed and made up, I came to the Jade Pool.

Before I even stepped inside, I could hear the people within laughing and chatting.

Dragon Clan soldiers stood guard at the door, so I knew Greg's parents had come to arrange the marriage.

I walked in and saw Greg holding Cecilia's hand.

Both families' parents were saying, "Look at them, what a match. It's as if heaven itself made them for each other!"

Lauren Driscoll sighed. "Fine, fine. Then we'll do as Greg wishes and marry Cecilia in instead."

With that, she raised her hand.

The servants opened the betrothal chests, all of it precious, every kind of rare treasure you could name, proof of how much she valued this daughter-in-law.

All of this had been mine to begin with, the throne included.

Greg reached out, took Cecilia's hand, and led her before my mother, the empress. "I, Greg, will cherish Cecilia well for both of you. Please set your minds at ease."

My mother and my stepfather exchanged a glance, thoroughly pleased. When I walked in, the whole mood of the Jade Pool turned cold at once. Quite a few of the immortal clans were there too.

The servants murmured among themselves, all of them pitying me.

"Will the eldest princess make a scene?"

"Her spiritual core is destroyed, every bit of her spiritual power drained away. Now she's lost her throne, and she's losing her betrothed too. Just think of it, poor thing."

"You don't know the half of it. As a child she was thrown out to a foreign clan by Her Majesty the empress, never once knew the empress's affection"

"Shh, keep your voice down, be careful she hears you."

In everyone's eyes, today I was surely going to make a scene.

But from childhood I'd learned to hide my strength and bide my time. When you don't yet have the power to spar with your enemy, the one thing you must not do is act rashly.

And my arrival had already put every one of them out of humor, except Lauren, Greg's mother.

"So this is Ruby!"

"My, she carries herself with real dignity and grace. She has quite a lot of her father's old phoenix presence."

"Such a pity, though. The Demon Clan destroyed her spiritual core and drained her spiritual power dry."

The hand hidden inside my sleeve clenched so hard the veins stood out, all because of that soft, pitying sigh from the Dragon Clan queen.

She still didn't know that the one who had brought every blow down on me was her own son, along with my mother the empress. And my mother, more afraid than anything that I would make a scene, had posted people to watch me. As if my heart weren't already scarred enough, she drove one more blade in. "Mother, there's really no need to be so tense. I didn't come here to cause trouble. I came to ask someone a question."

I turned my head and looked straight at Greg.

"You were the one who proposed to me all those years ago. You swore an oath. That you would never fail me in this life."

"That if you broke your word, Heaven itself would punish you."

"That's right, I did make those vows. But I never imagined how vicious your heart was."

Vicious?

"Why would you say that about me? I have lived my whole life upright and honest. Where does this viciousness come from?"

Greg's face changed at once, dark and sullen. Cecilia hurried to soothe him, all wounded softness, begging him not to speak. But the more she wore that face, the more it stirred a man's urge to protect her. "Cecilia, you don't need to talk me out of it. Today I'm going to lay out every ugly thing she's done."

The moment the words left his mouth, he turned and smiled at me, cold.

"You're already the eldest princess. You have everything. And still you turned your cruelty on your own stepsister."

"You tore out her tendons and had her thrown into the demon pit to be violated."

"If I hadn't rescued her in time, Cecilia would have died in that demon"

"What? My daughter suffered all that?"

The stepfather shot to his feet, stricken with grief, then choked out a roar at me.

"Why would you do this to her? Cecilia was never going to steal everything from you."

Oh? Isn't she doing exactly that right now, stealing everything from me with her lies?

My mother flew into a sudden rage. From across the distance she hurled a bolt of magic that slammed into me and knocked me sprawling to the ground.

Even when I sought no trouble, trouble came looking for me.

To smooth her way to the throne and to satisfy the Dragon queen, Cecilia stepped directly in front of me, pretending to plead for peace.

"Enough. Let this be the end of it."

"Ruby is still young and doesn't know any better. She was afraid I, an outsider, would take everything from her. That's the only reason she did this."

"For your sake, Mother, I've already let it go." My mother looked at Cecilia with aching tenderness, satisfied with her, and turned a cold, weary face on me. The Dragon queen had begun to dislike me. Cecilia had gotten exactly what she wanted. "You wretch. You should learn from your sister how to treat people with grace."

I stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand, and smiled with no expression at all.

"Ha. Mother, while you're teaching me to treat people with grace, why not first make sure your own conduct is honest and aboveboard?"

Everyone froze. Then came my mother's sharp roar: "Insolence!"

"I'm not being insolent. I'm clearing my name."

"I never laid a hand on Cecilia."

"It's the rest of you who have been scheming against me."

"The stepfather and Cecilia hatched the plot. You, Mother, destroyed my spiritual core with your own hands, and let Greg drain every drop of spiritual power from my body and pass it in secret to that worthless Cecilia."

"With her cultivation, how could she possibly become a golden phoenix in so short a time? A lowly crossbreed, no less."

The words were barely out before doubt sprang up in every person present.

My mother went still for an instant, and afraid the words would spread, she flung out her sleeve and threw me down again.

I was already heavy with internal injuries. I couldn't withstand a second crush of that force.

"Nothing but lies. You went out and stirred up trouble, and that's how the Demon Clan hurt you. Now, jealous of Cecilia, you invent wild stories."

"If I don't punish you, how am I to rule the Phoenix Clan?"

At once she worked her magic and opened a fire-red vortex. The sea of fire inside it could devour anything, anything but a golden phoenix.

I hadn't even found my footing before a force lifted me into the air and hurled me down into the sea of fire.

Not one of the people below moved to help. Cecilia watched me swallowed by the flames, delighted.

My mother stared coldly ahead, and the pressure of the phoenix rolled out from her and crushed the murmurs of everyone beneath.

"Today, before all the honored guests who came for Cecilia's betrothal, I have something to announce."

"I intend to pass the throne to Cecilia."

Everyone exchanged glances, then rose to their feet, ready to bow to Cecilia.

But then a mighty golden light came tearing straight down into the Jade Pool with devastating force, and blasted my mother and Cecilia flying.

"Ha. Without my leave, a mongrel thinks she can sit on the throne of my Phoenix Clan?"

"Yolanda Sheridan, are you begging for death?!"