You are a cat demon

Killing that great monster that you've tormented to the point of near death won't be difficult for you.

For you right now.

You have unknowingly spent several decades in this world. If you were an ordinary cat demon, your life would probably be nearing its end, but you discovered decades ago that you had lost the ability to age, and time seemed to have stood still for you.

From that moment on, you know you've succeeded.

And what will surprise you the most is that just yesterday, you transformed into a human.

You have finally achieved human form, though it has some flaws, but there's really nothing you can do about it. It might just be a transitional stage, or perhaps something went wrong somewhere. You are not entirely human, but rather in a half-demon state. The cat ears on your head and that long, thin cat tail are still there, and your pupils can still shrink and dilate with changes in light, as if they are the last evidence of your demon origins.

But none of that matters to you anymore.

You are immersed in the joy of your transformation, leaping up and down the cliffs in the mountains and forests, adapting to the lightness and agility of human legs. For the first time, you experience the vast world from this perspective, and you simply cannot contain your joy.

Do you know how you've been all these years?

To obtain one or two precious demon cores, you went to great lengths, disregarding all martial ethics, using every trick in the book, overt or covert, that came to mind. Since you've already chosen this path of no return, what's the point of morality? What's the point of conscience? What is conscience anyway? How much does conscience cost per pound?

Demon cores are truly wonderful things, far more delicious than the flesh of any creature you've ever eaten, and they possess a unique sweetness that can intoxicate you. However, they are also incredibly addictive to demons. Once addicted, they can no longer concentrate on cultivation and will ultimately lose their minds in endless battles.

You crave greater power, a longer life, and a human body. Your cravings have almost reached the point of madness, and you cannot guarantee that you can maintain your sanity.

But at that time, you didn't care.

You are a demon, living in a world of demons. What's wrong with living according to the ways of demons? You are a cat demon. Cats are born to be solitary hunters, and a hunter should do what a true hunter should do.

You spend your days lying in ambush deep in the misty jungle, reaping life after life. Against weaker demons with shallow cultivation, you show no mercy; but against those more powerful and troublesome monsters, you employ sneak attacks to strike their vitals, then use flanking maneuvers to slowly wear them down. The higher the demon's cultivation, the better the quality of its demon core, and the stronger its nourishing effects. You once had the good fortune to ambush a wolf demon with two hundred years of cultivation; although you were seriously injured, it was nothing compared to the sweet fruits of your labor.

For you, there was nothing more blissful than absorbing the demon core. You felt the continuous flow of demonic energy within your body, filling your limbs, giving you a blissful, ethereal feeling. Soon, the demon core, the size of a jujube, was completely absorbed, and you were still reluctant to stop.

The pleasure that the demon core brings you is incomparable to food or even catnip, and you definitely want more; and your consciousness is very clear, you know exactly when and where you are doing what, and your rationality remains.

You're so lucky.

Persistence pays off, and so does perseverance; you have finally achieved your initial goal.

You transformed into human form, achieved longevity, and even your demonic power increased significantly. Without realizing it, with a flick of your claw, you instantly severed a tree as thick as a water bucket.

However, perhaps it is a side effect of this cruel method of devouring demon cores that you are still unable to speak human language, and have even almost completely lost your ability to speak.

The way of Heaven is that with gain comes loss.

Anyway, you've always been a loner; you don't need to, and disdain to, communicate with other humans and monsters.

Do you still remember the promise you made back then?

Of course, you won't go in this form. You've also fully mastered the ability to transform back into your original form. At that time, you'll visit Sakura Village in the form of a black cat.

Before that, you still have many things you want to do.

You've been to many places.

You went to the stone cave where you were born. The cave, once warm in winter and cool in summer, had long been abandoned; now it was overgrown with ivy, damp and cold, and reeked of mildew. You didn't want to linger.

You went to the oak forest that changed the course of your life. Years ago, a wildfire left only scorched earth there; the purple poison arrow flowers were gone, and the damned serows were no more.

You went to all the places where you had left your footprints, as if to tell every flower and tree present about your transformation.

……

Finally, you stand on a spruce tree, gazing in the direction of Sakura Village, when a human man dressed in black enters your field of vision and catches your attention.

The man looked to be in his thirties, and by human standards, he'd be considered handsome—if you ignored his messy, shoulder-length hair. He didn't look like a hunter, a demon hunter, or a poor farmer; he wasn't carrying anything—oh wait, there seemed to be something around his neck, like a necklace. You couldn't help but wonder what this guy was doing in this deep, remote forest.

Cat demons have a strong sense of territory and will ruthlessly drive away or kill anyone who wanders into their territory. Although you've killed many powerful demons and taken over their territories, the territories are too large to manage effectively. So, as long as they don't appear within your sight and smell range, you can pretend nothing happened. However, if those unfortunate creatures cross the line, and they are humans, you will be magnanimous and let them go. This is partly due to your unusual experience in your youth, and partly because humans don't have demon cores and are of no use to you.

So you're going to turn a blind eye to this man and treat him like he's invisible.