I Really Am A Villain

He slowly extended his right hand. Wisps of flame danced in his palm.

When they had first entered the Ancestral Flame Realm, Fire Chief had lit sacred incense and used the flames to envelop their bodies, guiding them through the fiery barrier. After Xu Zimo left that place, he had carefully collected some of those flames, just in case he needed them again.

Now he gently blew upon the flame, sending it drifting through the air toward Li Zhengfeng and his group.

As the flame descended from the void, the four immediately reacted.

“Careful!” Wang Dong shouted, swiftly trying to dodge.

But he was a moment too slow. The flames fell upon him, engulfing his entire body.

“I’m going to die!” he cried out.

Yet a second later, he froze in confusion. The flames weren’t harming him, they softly wrapped around him, coating his body like a layer of warmth.

“What… what’s going on?”

The four exchanged puzzled looks.

“Could this be the key to entering the Flame Gate?” Wang Qiang guessed.

“I’ll try,” Wang Dong said, stretching out a hand toward the flaming gate.

To their amazement, nothing happened. His body seemed to blend seamlessly with the gate itself.

“It’s true! I’m fine!” Wang Dong said in surprise.

He looked around and then bowed deeply. “To the senior who has aided us from the shadows, our eternal gratitude.”

In his heart, he had a suspicion. The one who had left the trail of flame markings, and the one who now helped them pass the gate, might very well be the same person.

As for that person’s true intentions, he could only wait and see.

Still, with the opportunity right in front of them, there was no way they would turn back.

The four quickly passed through the Gate of Flames and entered the Ancestral Flame Realm.

Outside, in the vast void, Xu Zimo and his companions emerged as well.

“What do we do next?” Realm Lord Bai asked.

“Don’t let them escape,” Xu Zimo ordered. “Once they secure the Ancestral Flame, we’ll take it from them. And be cautious, those Fire Keepers will realize what’s happening soon.”

Once Li Zhengfeng’s group entered the Ancestral Flame Realm, their eyes were immediately drawn to the volcano in the distance.

“It’s in there,” Wang Dong said, eyes gleaming. “I can feel it, an opportunity unlike anything I’ve ever known.”

“Let’s go,” Li Zhengfeng commanded.

The four shot into the air, streaking across the sky toward the volcano’s peak.

It was an active volcano, thick plumes of smoke rising into the sky, rumbling as if it could erupt at any moment.

“The temperature’s too high,” Li Zhengfeng said, frowning. “Only you of the Fire God Race can withstand it.”

As a human cultivator, he couldn’t enter.

“We’ll go in and take a look,” Wang Qiang said.

The three Fire God Race cultivators nodded and, filled with excitement, descended toward the depths of the volcano.

Even for them, beings born of fire, the heat inside was overwhelming, scorching their flesh, making every breath feel like inhaling molten metal.

The entire volcano interior was shrouded in thick smoke; they could barely see a few meters ahead.

“I can feel it,” Wang Qiang said quietly.

The deeper they went, the more the volcano seemed to respond. Suddenly, it erupted completely.

A deafening rumble shook the earth. Rivers of magma surged upward like blazing dragons, roaring toward the sky.

The molten torrents were so numerous that Wang Dong failed to dodge one in time, he was slammed aside, crashing into the volcanic wall.

A scream followed; his clothes burned away entirely, leaving him a figure of living flame.

“You okay?” Wang Qiang called out.

“Still alive,” Wang Dong rasped, forcing himself to stand.

“I swear, whatever’s down there, it’s aware of us. It’s trying to keep us away.”

“Who cares,” Li Zhuang said. “Great fortune comes only to those who take risks. Don’t tell me you’re backing down now.”

“Of course not,” Wang Dong said quickly. “I’m saying we need to hurry before it’s too late.”

The three picked up speed, diving deeper until they reached the base of the volcano.

It was an ocean of fire.

The magma churned violently, bubbling and spitting, each burst like a heartbeat from the earth’s core. The heat was tens of thousands of degrees, enough to melt anything to nothing.

“Look, at the center!” Wang Qiang shouted.

They followed his gaze and saw it: a blue flame, glowing softly amid the inferno.

Unlike the rest of the fire, this one was mesmerizingly pure and dreamlike, a beacon of beauty within chaos, like a lantern burning in a sea of flames.

It was encased within a transparent shell.

“Watch me,” Wang Dong said, swinging his right arm.

Flames condensed around him, forming a long fiery whip that lashed toward the blue flame’s casing.

“Could this be it, the legendary Ancestral Flame our Fire God Race has spoken of for generations?” Wang Qiang said, trembling with excitement.

“With this fire, we could all ascend to the rank of Saint Sovereign!”

Their hearts pounded with anticipation.

Wang Dong’s whip coiled tightly around the transparent shell. He pulled hard, trying to drag both the shell and the blue flame upward, since the molten sea below was far too deadly to approach.

But the shell didn’t budge.

Wang Dong gritted his teeth and poured all his strength into it, muscles bulging, veins standing out like cords on his arms.

“What are you staring at? Help me!” he shouted.

Wang Qiang and Li Zhuang snapped out of it and grabbed hold of the whip, pulling with all their might.

At last, the shell began to move, slowly, stubbornly, but it moved.

The blue flame within flickered fiercely, resisting as if it had a will of its own. Still, under their combined strength, it inched closer and closer.

“Don’t let go!” Wang Dong warned. “If we release it now, everything we’ve done will be for nothing!”

“You don’t have to tell us twice!” Li Zhuang roared.

After a long, grueling struggle, the transparent shell finally broke free and landed before them.

The three stared in awe at the ethereal blue fire, laughing wildly in triumph.

“Alright, we’ve got it! Let’s get out of here!” Wang Dong said first, his survival instincts kicking in.

“If the Fire Keepers find out, they’ll hunt us to the ends of the earth.”

For the Keepers, the sacred flame was more precious than life itself.

The three raced out of the volcano as fast as they could.

Once the blue fire was taken, the entire Ancestral Flame Realm began to crumble. The heat rapidly faded; the blazing energy that once filled the place vanished, leaving only cooling embers behind.

“You got it?” Li Zhengfeng asked as they emerged.

“Let’s move!” the three shouted, nodding.

When they crossed back through the Flame Gate, the fire that had once surrounded it was gone, leaving only a bare, empty doorway.