I Really Am A Villain

Her lips were a soft shade of cherry red. Dangling from her earlobes were a pair of diamond-shaped crystal pendants.

She was indeed beautiful.

But beauty alone is too common in the world, people have seen plenty of it. What made her unforgettable was her bearing.

She truly carried the aura of a celestial being.

Riding a phoenix, she slowly descended and stopped in the air above everyone’s heads.

A cool, clear voice drifted down from the sky.

“You’ve worried, Father, and all you uncles as well. On my way here, I happened to encounter this phoenix. I thought to subdue it, it took a little time.”

At those words, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

A phoenix. To her, it sounded like nothing more than a minor delay.

It was arrogant, yes, but even so, many had to admit there was something natural about that arrogance.

It wasn’t deliberate posturing.

It was as if she were simply stating a fact, no different from talking about eating or drinking.

“The daughters of the Shangguan Heavenly Clan are all extraordinary,” someone sighed.

“I can’t see through this younger generation’s Shangguan Wan’er,” another murmured.

Even some of the strong cultivators from other sects couldn’t help but express their admiration.

Shangguan Wan’er ignored the chatter around her and lowered her gaze toward Wang Chong.

“You wish to challenge me?” she asked.

“That’s right. I challenge you,” Wang Chong shouted, his voice full of defiance. “A true Overlord does what others dare not do. My father always said that cultivation is like climbing a mountain, the steeper the peak, the greater the sense of accomplishment once you reach the top. Today, I want to see for myself.”

“Your father wasn’t wrong. The martial path is like a mountain, countless will try, but I press on regardless,” Shangguan Wan’er said calmly. “But you are mistaken. Mountains are climbed one at a time. Charging straight into hell from the start, that’s nothing but courting death.”

Her tone hardened, commanding and absolute. “You are not qualified to fight me. Fortunately, I just subdued this phoenix. Let it test your worth.”

As she spoke, she gently patted the phoenix on the head, then descended back toward the Shangguan Heavenly Clan’s ranks.

In the skies above, the phoenix let out an enraged cry.

The sound tore through the heavens, shaking the very air. The world around it fractured, and blazing fire devoured everything in sight.

It was true Nirvana Fire that burned upon its body, divine flames of rebirth and destruction.

“Damn it! How dare you look down on me!” Wang Chong roared.

He had earned his title as the Young Overlord through countless battles, when had anyone ever dismissed him like this?

As the phoenix dove toward him, he didn’t flinch or evade.

He met it head-on, throwing a single, thunderous punch.

That punch carried a power that seemed to shatter the very fabric of reality. The force of it swept out like a storm, tearing and crushing everything in its path.

With a deafening boom, the two colossal powers collided, and the ancient battlefield trembled violently.

“Who do you think will win?” asked Realm Lord Bai, glancing curiously at Xu Zimo.

She still placed great faith in Xu Zimo’s judgment.

“Who do you want to win?” Xu Zimo replied with a grin.

“Of course, Wang Chong,” she said lightly. “Doesn’t the Shangguan Heavenly Clan have a grudge against you?”

“Wang Chong won’t make it,” Xu Zimo shook his head, glancing up at Shangguan Wan’er.

“She’s proud, yes, but she’s got the skill to back it up.”

“In that case,” Realm Lord Bai said thoughtfully, “you may have gained yourself a powerful new rival.”

Xu Zimo waved a hand dismissively. “No need to worry. My opponents are all at the level of Saint Sovereigns and Sage Monarchs. She’s not there yet.”

Realm Lord Bai laughed. “Sometimes, you sound even more arrogant than she does, but I like your confidence.”

On the ancient arena, the phoenix and Wang Chong had separated after several violent exchanges.

By logic, the phoenix’s beastly physique should have given it a massive advantage.

Yet Wang Chong was proving astonishing.

In both strength and endurance, he was overwhelming the phoenix.

His fighting style was sheer dominance, no fancy techniques, no weapons, just pure brute force.

Every punch and kick made the ground quake, like a humanoid monster unleashed.

The phoenix’s Nirvana Fire was said to be a supreme flame.

But when it fell upon Wang Chong, it had no effect whatsoever.

It was as though he was born immune to fire.

“He’s carrying a treasure that wards off flames,” Xu Zimo observed instantly.

Without fear of the phoenix’s fire, Wang Chong grew fiercer by the moment.

Within minutes, the phoenix was battered and bleeding, its strength fading rapidly.

The spectators couldn’t help but cheer.

“This Wang Chong truly deserves the title of Young Overlord!”

“I heard Shangguan Wan’er has never been defeated, maybe she’s not as great as they say.”

“Wang Chong’s going to win! Let’s see how Shangguan Wan’er reacts now!”

While the crowd whispered excitedly, the phoenix gathered the last of its strength for a final, suicidal strike.

Letting out a shriek that split the heavens, it looped through the air and dived straight at Wang Chong.

“Good!” Wang Chong bellowed.

Behind him, his True Fate briefly manifested, a towering giant that reached the sky.

It flashed only for an instant, and most couldn’t even make it out.

In the next moment, Wang Chong seized the phoenix by the head, slamming it hard into the ground.

Then his fists rained down like a storm, pounding the creature’s skull again and again.

With a single, earth-shaking crack, the phoenix’s head exploded.

“Come down and fight me!” Wang Chong roared, his aura blazing like a rainbow, full of unrestrained pride.

He glared up at Shangguan Wan’er.

She merely regarded him calmly, then extended her right hand, lightly pushing her palm forward.

The motion was gentle.

Yet in the next instant, the heavens darkened.

A colossal palm of fire descended from the sky.

It was like the legendary Buddha’s Palm, a flaming hand of divine judgment.

That fiery palm annihilated everything in its path, unstoppable and absolute.

Seeing it, Wang Chong screamed defiantly.

But even before the palm struck, the mere pressure of it made his body feel as if it were breaking apart.

His skin tore, his bones groaned, the air itself was crushing him.

And that was only the wind of the palm’s descent. As the blazing hand drew nearer, the pressure multiplied.

Soon, the flames began to lick at his clothes, setting them alight.

His blood boiled. His skin ignited spontaneously.

The power was unbearable.

The palm was almost upon him, and if its wind alone could do this, what devastation would the palm itself bring?

“I yield!” Wang Chong cried out, collapsing to the ground.

At the very instant his voice rang out, the fiery palm vanished without a trace.

Silence fell.

No one dared to speak.

Only Wang Chong lay trembling on the ground, and the vanished palm as though it had never been there.

“Aren’t you going to declare the result?” Shangguan Wan’er’s cool voice finally broke the deathly stillness.

The Radiant Court’s elders seemed to awaken from a daze.

“This match, Shangguan Wan’er wins,” announced the Light Lord Sage Monarch.

“A brilliant battle indeed.”