I Really Am A Villain

“I actually sensed a trace of Eternal Overlord aura on him just now.”

“Well, that’s interesting,” Xu Zimo mused. “Tell me, who do you think sent this Abyssal Tyrant?”

“I can’t say for certain who sent him,” Paimon replied, “but judging from his current state, he’s definitely not at his peak. Anyone capable of fighting the White Emperor must have been at least at an Eternal Overlord in his prime. Now he’s only a Chaos Primordial, he’s just recently been revived. Over time, his strength will gradually return to its peak. If my lord intends to slay him, now would be the perfect opportunity.”

“No,” Xu Zimo shook his head. “I don’t want you all to take action.”

“Why not?” Paimon asked, puzzled.

“It’s not the Abyssal Tyrant I fear,” Xu Zimo said calmly, “but the one behind him who is after me. If you all strike and kill him, it will expose the full extent of my strength. Preserving power is what matters most. The reason I stayed in White Emperor City was to test the Abyssal Tyrant’s abilities. Now that I’ve seen them, there’s no need to linger.”

He stepped out into the air, pulling out a vast map of the Ghost God Heaven and studying the routes.

“To the Demi-Ghost Region, then?” Paimon asked.

“Yes,” Xu Zimo nodded. “I gave Lu Sheng my word. It’s time to see what’s there.”

“And what about White Emperor Mountain?” Paimon asked again. “We still need to find the Wood God Jumang’s legacy. Without the White Emperor’s Traceless Compass, how will we reach it?”

“Let Madman Chu and Red-Blade keep the Abyssal Tyrant occupied,” Xu Zimo said. “We’ll take this chance to retrieve it.”

While the others were locked in battle, he circled around the battlefield and sped toward White Emperor Mountain.

Drawing the Abyssal Tyrant to White Emperor City had served two purposes, not only to gauge his strength but also to have Madman Chu and Red-Blade Bull Demon hold him off, buying Xu Zimo more time.

His speed was astonishing. With just a few spatial strides, he reached White Emperor Mountain.

Previously, everyone had been stopped at the White Emperor’s mausoleum and the battlefield beyond it. But now, when Xu Zimo returned, the barriers were gone.

Amid the mist, he could glimpse only a corner of the mountain, yet that alone was enough to awe the heart.

White Emperor Mountain rose so high that it joined with the heavens themselves.

This wasn’t an exaggeration or poetic metaphor, it truly connected with the sky.

Its summit seemed to pierce through the firmament. If one could climb to its peak, one might stand at the edge of heaven itself.

Originally, a powerful barrier surrounded the mountain, but after the Abyssal Tyrant’s emergence, it had been shattered.

“Will you come out and meet me?” Xu Zimo called aloud.

His voice echoed across the vast mountain range, startling the birds from the forests and rippling through the void.

“Master Xu returns again, what is your intent this time?” A scholar in a Confucian robe appeared with a young boy beside him, smiling politely.

“I seek an item, the Traceless Compass,” Xu Zimo said.

“I’ve already told you,” the scholar replied, “if you accept the White Emperor’s will, you may inherit all his legacies.”

“I’ll ask one last time,” Xu Zimo said. “Will you hand it over or not?”

The scholar simply smiled and shook his head.

“Take him,” Xu Zimo ordered with a wave of his hand, unwilling to waste more words.

Paimon’s massive palm tore through the void, giving neither the scholar nor the boy a chance to react.

Both were instantly suppressed on the spot.

The scholar’s expression flickered slightly, then he said, “Young Master Xu truly has remarkable means, to have two Saint Sovereigns as his protectors.”

Xu Zimo didn’t answer. He merely watched the man in silence.

“But don’t underestimate me,” the scholar said, his smile fading.

A dazzling radiance burst from his body, pure and refined, illuminating the sky.

In an instant, his form dissolved into a shadow, from which an even greater aura erupted.

It shone across the nine heavens. Though his face could not be seen clearly, his flowing white hair was unmistakable.

This scholar was the White Emperor’s Avatar, a body created outside himself, yet still one with him.

The shadows tore free from Paimon’s suppression, seizing the boy and fleeing toward the horizon.

He knew well he couldn’t afford to fight. After all, he was only a projection, not the true Saint Sovereign himself.

Just then, black lotus petals began to fall like rain from the heavens.

Each lotus shimmered with demonic energy, emanating dark miasma as they drifted through the air.

A moment later, a suffocating killing aura filled the sky as a gigantic Seven-Faced Demon Lotus bloomed before the scholar, blocking his path.

“The road to cultivation is but a bitter ferry,” said Seven-Face, plucking a lotus from the air with a faint smile. “Fellow Daoist, you should take your time.”

“A-a third Saint Sovereign…?!” the scholar muttered, halting his escape, his tone grave.

Paimon also stepped through the void, blocking him from behind.

“Who… who exactly are you?!” the scholar asked, his voice trembling slightly as he turned toward Xu Zimo.

“This inheritance,” Xu Zimo said, ignoring his question, “I’ll find it myself.”

Behind him, a vast blue planet appeared, his God World manifesting.

Under the combined suppression of Paimon and Seven-Face, the scholar couldn’t move a muscle.

He was forcibly sealed within the God World.

Xu Zimo’s gaze swept across White Emperor Mountain. Finally, he lifted his head toward the summit.

Stepping onto the air, he ascended toward the peak.

He didn’t know how long he climbed, only that the air grew thinner, and clouds began to swirl around him.

The sky above was a pure, piercing blue, like it had just been washed clean by rain.

At last, Xu Zimo reached the edge of the firmament.

He had long wondered what lay beyond the sky. Was it another world beyond the Nine Heavens, another planet? Or was there a world of gods above the heavens?

But upon truly entering the realm above White Emperor Mountain and touching the clouds, he realized that the sky was far higher than he had imagined.

Above the sky, was still the sky.

Distant yet near, endless yet within reach, it stretched beyond sight.

It gave him the illusion that he was “within the mountain,” yet could never truly see the mountain’s peak, breadth, or what lay beyond it.

Walking atop the clouds, Xu Zimo arrived at the summit of White Emperor Mountain.

The mountaintop was barren, no trees, no jagged rocks.

Only a chessboard, and the stone statue of a man.

The man sat beside the board. Though it was a traditional black-and-white chess board, it bore only black pieces, no white ones.

On the opposite side of the board, suspended in the air, four large characters shimmered faintly.

Please Enter the Trap.

Xu Zimo smiled faintly. He was about to take a seat before the board, but Paimon stopped him.

“My lord, perhaps I should test it first?”

“No need,” Xu Zimo replied with a grin. “I rather wish to meet this White Emperor myself.”

He sat down on the stone bench. The instant he did, the very laws surrounding White Emperor Mountain stirred.

The heavens dimmed; stars shifted.

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and Xu Zimo, along with the entire chessboard, vanished into the void.

“My lord!” Paimon shouted in alarm.