I Really Am A Villain

The Fire Keepers were numerous, but their strength was comparatively weak. Even the weakest among the assembled cultivators were Emperors, most stood at the very peak of that realm. Under such overwhelming force, the Fire Keepers could not hold out for long.

In truth, their courage was worthy of respect. Even when fate was sealed and death was certain, they fought without hesitation, willing to die to fulfill their duty of guarding the flame. It was tragic, yes, but in this world, strength ruled all.

The Radiant Court did not take part in the battle. Neither did Xu Zimo’s Chaos Fire God Realm. The Radiant Court had its own schemes, while Xu Zimo simply had no interest in the Ancestral Flame. He was there to watch, to see who the Night Sovereign had referred to as the traitor, and to find out what the Radiant Court’s real plan was.

…

As the chaotic fighting went on, the situation gradually became clear. The attackers had gained the upper hand.

The Ancestral Lands of the Thunder Domain lived up to its name, it lay within a deep Thunder Valley. From above, it appeared as a vast oval gorge, its depths impossible to measure.

On all sides, the canyon walls crackled with endless lightning, wild and violent. The lightning did not strike without reason, unless one happened to fall into it.

The Fire Keepers were being pushed back, retreating deeper into the valley.

“Charge! Seize the Ancestral Flame!” someone shouted.

The crowd’s excitement reached a fever pitch. Countless cultivators surged forward recklessly, rushing deeper into the Thunder Valley.

At some point, Murong Qing appeared before Xu Zimo again, smiling faintly. “Lord Xu, are you truly not interested in the Ancestral Flame?”

“I’m human,” Xu Zimo said with a smile. “It makes sense that I wouldn’t be interested in something tied to the Fire God Race. What’s more interesting is how the Radiant Court remains unmoved. That’s… worth thinking about.”

“If Lord Xu is willing to join us,” Murong Qing said, “I can tell you everything. At this point, there’s no need to hide it.”

“There’s no need for that,” Xu Zimo replied, waving his hand. “I don’t plan to meddle in the Fire God Race’s affairs.”

“In that case,” Murong Qing said calmly, “keep watching. Everything will soon come to light.”

…

As the crowd charged into the valley, the scenery changed. The lightning here seemed alive, attacking any intruder on sight.

But these were no ordinary people, their power was immense. The lightning caused trouble, yes, but it couldn’t drive them back.

The Fire Keepers retreated all the way to the deepest part of the valley. There was nowhere left to go. One by one, they fell, until only a single Fire Keeper remained, an elder of Saint level, his body broken and bloodied.

“There was no need for this,” someone said with a sigh. “We only seek the Ancestral Flame, not the extinction of your clan.”

But others were impatient. One figure leapt into the air and flew straight toward the last Fire Keeper.

“Hand over the Ancestral Flame,” he shouted, “or we’ll make you suffer a fate worse than death!”

The old Saint only laughed, hoarse, defiant laughter filled with blood. “We failed to protect the Ancestral Flame,” he said, “but even in death, we’ll make you pay dearly.”

With that, he crushed a token he had been holding unseen in his hand.

Instantly, the vast Thunder Valley came alive with power. An ancient formation, laid down countless ages ago, began to awaken.

As the formation activated, the entire valley trembled. The lightning along the cliffs surged into a frenzy.

Before, the bolts had been bound to the walls, but now, they burst free, filling the valley completely.

The sky darkened under a sudden storm of clouds. Silver-white lightning dragons coiled through the darkness, roaring as they darted between the thunderheads.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens with a deafening crash.

Boom!

A Grand Emperor was obliterated on the spot, reduced to dust.

The crowd froze in shock.

“Don’t panic!” someone shouted. “It’s just a formation! Destroy the formation, and the Ancestral Flame will reveal itself!”

Indeed, greed often overpowered fear.

Among the crowd were cultivators in formations. Someone turned toward a young man and called, “Isn’t the Formation Dao Emperor, Sun Shaotian, here?”

All eyes fell on him, a youth dressed in imperial robes, heir to the Divine Formation Dao Court. He was born with the Myriad Formations God-King Physique, a natural prodigy who could form formations at a glance.

Sun Shaotian smiled faintly. “No need to rush,” he said. “Let me examine it.”

With a wave of his hand, a circular formation disk appeared before him, lightning crackling across its surface. This was one of his sect’s greatest treasures, a formation plate that could both create and dismantle formations.

He rotated the disk slowly. Bolts of lightning rippled across its surface, then split into seven distinct rays that shot toward different directions.

“These,” Sun Shaotian said, “are the formation’s seven cores. Destroy them all at once, and the formation will collapse. But if even one remains intact, it will recover itself instantly.”

The crowd nodded.

Tiger Overlord of the Hell Tiger Race stepped forward and roared, “We’ll take the first core!”

“Then the second one’s ours!” shouted a cultivator from the Infinite Volcano Dao Court.

Soon, all seven cores were assigned.

Ignoring the storm of lightning, everyone charged toward their designated targets.

Explosions thundered through the valley. The battle was fierce, and the toll heavy, but the good news was that they reached the cores.

Tiger Overlord raised his voice. “On my count of three, strike together! Destroy the formation!”

Everyone responded with a shout.

“One! Two! Three!”

A deafening explosion tore through the valley.

Countless attacks merged into a single tidal wave of destruction. The entire canyon shook violently, like the heavens themselves were thundering. Cracks split the ground, boulders crashed down the slopes, and parts of the cliffside collapsed in roaring landslides.

The lightning formation, its seven cores shattered, began to unravel. The rampant lightning slowly dispersed, fading into the air.

When the smoke cleared, the crowd rushed forward to where the last Fire Keeper, the one who had activated the formation, had fallen.

He was already dead.

Behind his body lay a vast sea of lightning, a boundless ocean formed entirely from living thunder.

“The Ancestral Flame must be in there,” someone said confidently.

“But how are we supposed to enter something like that?” another asked, frowning.

“Let me try,” said a lone cultivator, stepping forward. His body radiated immense power as he struck at the lightning sea again and again.

But his attacks vanished without a trace, like stones sinking into the ocean, leaving no ripple behind.