I Really Am A Villain

In Medusa’s hair, countless black serpents twisted and writhed. Each snake surged forward like a torrent of pure destruction, their bodies shooting through the air like beams of annihilation.

Explosions thundered endlessly, shaking the void with their fury.

With Medusa’s roar echoing across the sky, an instant later came a deafening boom, thousands of black serpents rained down like a storm, attacking Xu Zimo and his companions.

Xu Zimo raised his head slightly and swept his palm outward. Spirit energy gathered in his hand, forming a swirling vortex in his palm. The vortex expanded rapidly until it loomed before them like a giant shield.

Every incoming serpent was devoured by that vortex.

Shangguan Wan’er didn’t panic. Her right hand clenched as she whispered a single word, “Explode.”

A tremendous detonation followed. The serpents swallowed by the vortex detonated inside it, turning the once-stable swirl of power unstable and chaotic.

The air trembled. The void itself began to writhe from the shockwaves.

Xu Zimo snorted coldly, releasing an even greater surge of spirit energy. The vortex blazed with renewed might and swallowed the chain of explosions whole.

“Damn it,” Shangguan Wan’er said icily.

Behind her, Medusa’s furious roars grew louder. This time, the massive figure raised a colossal fist and swung it straight toward Xu Zimo.

“Let me,” Shangguan Xian said, stepping forward, divine radiance blazing from her body.

“I know I’m no match for her,” she said calmly, “but I want to see how far I can go.”

“You have three minutes,” Xu Zimo said. “I don’t plan to waste time.”

“One strike will decide it,” Shangguan Xian replied. “I’ll only need a minute.”

As Medusa’s huge fist loomed before her, Shangguan Xian met it with her own punch.

The two blows collided.

A thunderous boom shattered the air, the void quaking violently.

Xu Zimo looked up. At the point of impact, space itself had torn open into a black hole, devouring everything around it with terrifying suction.

“Well, my dear sister,” Shangguan Wan’er said with a faint smile, “you’ve improved quite a bit since we last met.”

“Same to you,” Shangguan Xian replied coldly.

“It almost makes me reluctant to kill you,” Wan’er said lightly.

“I know, you’ve always treated me as your target. You’ve wanted to surpass me since we were children, but you never could. Still, leaving the Shangguan Heavenly Clan because of it? That was foolish. Even after leaving, you’re still no match for me.”

“You think I left the clan just to beat you?” Shangguan Xian sneered.

“Didn’t you?” Shangguan Wan’er asked.

“Do you even know how my mother died?” Shangguan Xian said.

The Shangguan Heavenly Clan’s three daughters shared the same father but had different mothers.

Shangguan Xian’s mother had died decades ago, the truth long buried, until one day, Shangguan Xian learned the shocking truth.

Her father had killed her.

That revelation drove her to abandon the clan and begin her path of vengeance.

Unfortunately, her strength had always been limited; no matter her hatred, she lacked the power to shake the family that had birthed her.

“I don’t care about the past,” Shangguan Wan’er said coldly. “Right now, only one of us will leave this place alive, and it won’t be you.”

Shangguan Xian didn’t answer.

Holy energy surged around her, radiant and vast as the sea. She was already gathering her ultimate technique.

Seeing this, Shangguan Wan’er no longer held back.

Above her, Medusa roared again, her eyes bursting with black light that shot out in a beam of destruction.

That beam didn’t just destroy, it froze time and space, petrifying everything it touched.

Behind Shangguan Xian, a Celestial Spirit Bird awoke, engulfed in holy flame. Its presence radiated immense power as it charged forward.

The destructive beam and the Celestial Spirit Bird collided.

Their clash twisted the heavens and sent tremors through the void, even startling Murong Qing and the Sun-Moon Temple battling nearby.

Another boom resounded, not an explosion, but the sound of raw force clashing.

The two powers held for a moment, then the Celestial Bird grew stronger, devouring the black beam and diving straight toward Medusa.

Shangguan Wan’er’s expression flickered with surprise. “Interesting,” she murmured.

Then, with another thunderous blast, the Celestial Bird exploded before her.

The shockwave tore through everything, swallowing Shangguan Wan’er and her manifested Medusa alike.

But Shangguan Xian didn’t relax. She knew her sister wouldn’t fall so easily.

Sure enough, as the explosion subsided, Shangguan Wan’er reappeared.

Her body was gone, obliterated, but dense waves of dark power now surrounded her lingering soul.

Her spirit floated upward and merged with the mark on Medusa’s forehead.

In that instant, an immense surge of black energy erupted.

Medusa was fully reborn.

The ground quaked as her massive form began to move. Each step shattered the earth and sky, every movement echoing like thunder.

Medusa swung a colossal foot toward Shangguan Xian.

Xian crossed her arms to block, but the sheer power still sent her flying through the air.

As she tumbled, a dark beam shot from the mark on Medusa’s brow, streaking toward her like death itself.

“Once again, I’m the one cleaning up the mess,” Xu Zimo said softly, shaking his head.

He stood motionless, lips moving in quiet chant.

Those who listened closely would realize his words formed sacred scripture, ancient, profound verses from the Primeval Buddha God-Scripture, one of the Ten Primordial God-Scriptures.

The first was the Present Tathāgata Sutra. The second, the Past Maitreya Sutra. The third, the Future Birthless Sutra.

As Xu Zimo recited, golden light burst forth from his body, each ray formed by countless tiny characters of scripture.

The light enveloped Shangguan Xian, shielding her completely. Even when the beam of darkness struck, it could not harm her.

This was the Past Maitreya Sutra.

Within its power, Shangguan Xian’s form had already stepped into the past itself, safe beyond the reach of any present attack.

Unless one could strike across the bounds of time, no power could touch her.