I Am the Fated Villain

[Hum!]

Brilliant rays of light spread everywhere as violent spatial fluctuations wreaked havoc in the surroundings. Soon, a crack appeared in the air, and several figures emerged from the crack.

They were Gu Changge and his group.

The expression of the cultivators in the surroundings showed a drastic change. Although they didn't know Gu Changge's identity, they were smart enough to know that someone who could bring along so many followers of the Great-Transcendent Realm wasn't someone they could afford to provoke.

Gu Changge chuckled at their reactions — it was exactly as he expected it to be. Only an idiot would dare come forward and mess with him at this moment. After all, he wasn't a Protagonist who was destined to be ridiculed no matter where he went.

[Inside the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm.]

The mountains towered through the clouds, and rivers snaked around on the ground. The sky above appeared to be unreachable, and the earth looked like a vast sea of green. Rich Spiritual Qi permeated every corner of the Realm, and it was as if it would liquify at any moment now.

For Gu Changge, someone who grew up up in the Upper Realm where extremely dense Spiritual Qi permeated everywhere, the level of Spiritual Qi in this Realm was nothing more than what he had seen outside his Gu Family's gates. It wasn't worth mentioning.

But, to the cultivators of the Lower Realm, this place was like a sacred land for cultivation. One day of hard-work here could equal many days of labor outside. This brought great shock and envy to their hearts.

"A Secret Realm like this is indeed a boon! No wonder so many people rush to enter as soon as these open…"

"It could be a great place for cultivation if it stayed open perpetually! Unfortunately, it will close down sooner or later."

The people of the Ancient Lin Family couldn't help but breathe sighs of regret. They were here to do Gu Changge's bidding, so they could obviously not move around freely and enjoy the blessings of the Secret Realm. Still, if they could receive Young Lord Gu's appreciation, they might obtain opportunities far greater than this Secret Realm in the future.

This much was still clear to them.

"This is an extremely important matter for the Young Lord, so don't even think about returning if you mess anything up!"

Old Ming gave his descendants a stern warning. He had also suppressed his cultivation to enter the Secret Realm as he didn't feel comfortable letting Gu Changge enter alone.

"Ancestor, you can rest assured! Even if we have to die in here, we will make sure Young Lord Gu obtains what he desires."

All the Elders of the Ancient Lin Family fell to their knees and pledged solemnly after listening to their Ancestor's warning.

Old Ming nodded in satisfaction at their performance.

‘The Secret Realm only opened a few days ago, so Ye Chen should have only arrived at the edge of the Secret Realm's core region, no matter how fast he might be…'

‘If I am not wrong, then he should also have a map of this place in his possession. He's not a treasure-hunting tool for nothing — I will allow him to clear the path for me.'

Gu Changge couldn't care less about the people behind him. An inexplicable smile adorned his face, and he thought about Ye Chen's matter in his heart. He could easily sense Ye Chen's exact location, and calculated that Ye Chen wasn't too far away from them. He was, at most, a few thousand miles away.

Although Gu Changge couldn't see Ye Chen's every move, he could still guess what he might be up to. Ye Chen might have looked like a defeated dog when he provoked him at the start, but right now, Gu Changge thought that his visage looked more handsome than anyone else'.

Gu Changge couldn't help but laugh, after all, Ye Chen was busy preparing a Fortuitous Opportunity for him.

"Let's go."

Done with his thoughts, he uttered his command for the ones behind him, and then turned into a brilliant flash of light that headed towards the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm's core region. Right now, they were at the Secret Realm's outer edge.

……

[In an area shrouded in mist.]

The mountains pierced through the clouds, ancient trees towered high, and one could see many ruins with collapsed palaces, pavilions, and shattered pillars scattered around with dead leaves.

[Shua!]

Blood splattered around as Ye Chen slashed a strange-looking beast in front of him in half, and then looked at a plant at the entrance of a nearby cave with a smile on his face.

The plant burned bright like a flame, and released a scorching aura in its surroundings.

"[Flame God's Flower], and it's thirty-thousand years old at that…not only can it help me condense my True Flame, but it will also raise my comprehension of the Flame Dao to another height…"

Ye Chen muttered to himself while harvesting the flaming plant.

Satisfaction filled his heart. He had obtained a lot of good stuff on this trip to the Secret Realm, and received another boost to his cultivation base. This compounded his happiness and confidence, and he came up with even more plans to deal with Gu Changge.

Of course, Ye Liuli was the biggest reason behind the sudden boost in his might.

After Ye Liuli hit an iron-plate in the Moon-facing Ancient City, he did his best to have someone pass his message off to her so she wouldn't worry about his safety.

Although many cultivators in the world knew he had offended Gu Changge, and avoided him like a plague, there were also cultivators who were willing to lend him a hand. Just like the Buddhist Holy Land's Holy Son, there were many others in the world with justice in their hearts who were won over by Ye Chen's charisma. They were more than willing to uphold justice by helping deliver his message to Ye Liuli.

Just like that, Ye Liuli found Ye Chen within a few days.

Ye Liuli came together with a bunch of her servants who were from the Ancient Sacred Mountains, and every single one of them was in the Great-Transcendent Realm, or higher. This gave Ye Chen a deep sense of security.

Once Gu Changge came into the Secret Realm, he wouldn't be able to leave. With his preparations, Gu Changge's death was set in stone. On this date next year would be Gu Changge's memorial day!

It's just that one thing confused Ye Chen a little. Ye Liuli wasn't as affectionate towards him as before, nor did she talk to him as much as before. She even made sure to keep a distance of three steps between them.

Still, Ye Chen didn't think too much into this matter. After all, Ye Liuli had grown up — she was no longer the little girl he used to know. Moreover, their background was too different, so it was normal to have this much change.

After putting the [Flame God's Flower] in his spatial ring, Ye Chen turned his attention towards a gorgeous girl dressed in purple not too far away from him. A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he gazed upon her milky, jade-like skin and colorful crystal-like eyes.

Ye Liuli had grown up and turned out even more stunning. She had an ethereal temperament, and a hazy brilliance shrouded her figure, making her looking like a goddess.

"Move your dog eyes! How dare you covet our Lady? How dare the toad descendent of a slave dream about eating swan meat?"[1]

[1: ‘toad desiring swan meat' — an ugly piece of trash desiring a beautiful lady.]

Right then, a grating voice full of disdain fell into Ye Chen's ears, causing him to frown. His expression sank, and his face turned ugly.

It was that damn woman again!

Every time she opened her damn mouth, she would call him an ant or a toad — she just couldn't keep her mouth shut!

Although many had ridiculed Ye Chen over his life, he had always turned the situation around and given them a tight slap to their ugly faces. But the person looking down on him this time was Ye Liuli's retainer; this made it hard for him to retaliate, and he could only swallow his rage without any outlet to vent.

The one who spoke was none other than Ye Liuli's Aunt Xue.

Although Ye Liuli had scolded her after they returned, she couldn't vent too much on her and had to give up after a few words. After all, Aunt Xue had watched over her for more than a decade, so she couldn't possibly be too harsh on her.

And, when Ye Liuli rushed to find Ye Chen, Aunt Xue naturally suppressed her own cultivation and followed her into the Secret Realm.

She didn't like this Ye Chen at all. In her opinion, he was a bastard who couldn't keep his hands and feet to himself. When her Lady was young, this scum would always stay by her side and try different means to take advantage of her. If she wasn't there to stop this kid's advances, she didn't know how far he would have gone with taking her Lady's advantage.

Aunt Xue had thought about killing Ye Chen back then, but her Lady had stopped her since she wouldn't have anyone to talk to otherwise.

But now, Aunt Xue's desire to clean this world of this scum was getting stronger. For a mere Ye Chen, her Lady had gone and provoked the Young Lord of the Gu Family.

That was an utterly stupid thing to do!

Unfortunately, she was in her Lady's presence, and her cultivation was also suppressed to the Great-Transcendent Realm, so she couldn't easily obliterate him without letting her Lady know.

"Don't look down on others this much! I have trampled many who looked down on me under my feet."

Ye Chen frowned and spoke without a shred of politeness.

Aunt Xue sneered at his words, and said, "With just you? You, who haven't even seen the true Dragons from the Ninth Heaven, want respect from us? Why don't you take a look at yourself in a mirror first! How can someone as pathetic as you be compared to Young Lord Gu?"

"Only someone like Young Lord Gu is a good match for my Lady! You aren't even qualified to be killed under Young Lord Gu's feet."

Naturally, Aunt Xue spoke from the bottom of her heart. Of course, she didn't know that her honest words had exponentially increased Ye Chen's hatred for Gu Changge.

"Shut the heck up…"

Dark, blue veins covered Ye Chen's forehead and he tightly clenched his fists. He almost roared out at Aunt Xue. No matter how tolerant he might be, he couldn't bear her bull-crap anymore.

How dare she say that the girl he liked was a good match for his enemy? Just what the heck was that supposed to mean? Wasn't that nothing short of putting a green hat[2] over his damn head?

[2: putting a green hat on someone's head means cuckolding them. Cuckolding someone means stealing their wife or lover.]

Gu Changge! Why was it Gu Changge again?!

Every time she opened her mouth, she spoke of Gu Changge, and every time she closed her mouth, she praised Gu Changge first!

Ye Chen's eyes turned red, and he gnashed his teeth.

He wanted to slaughter Gu Changge right then and there!

"Brother Ye Chen, don't listen to her!"

"Aunt Xue, what nonsense are you speaking?!"

Ye Liuli came over with furrowed brows, and showed a dissatisfied expression at the exchange between them.

Although Ye Chen had changed a lot from before, he was still her Brother Ye Chen. She could accept the change in him at the current level.

Aunt Xue had said too much!

"My Lady, I am merely speaking the truth. If it wasn't for this guy, Young Lord Gu wouldn't have treated you like that! Between him and…"

Aunt Xue spoke up to explain herself, but Ye Liuli interrupted her before she could finish her words.

With a frown of displeasure masking her face, she said, "Aunt Xue, don't talk about that whatever Gu in front of me — I don't want to hear his damned name anymore."

"Liuli, there wouldn't be a marriage engagement between the two of you, right?"

Ye Chen, who had just calmed down, suddenly thought of something and asked. Nervousness and restlessness clawed at his heart.

After all, why else would Aunt Xue deliberately mention Gu Changge in front of him again and again? Both of them were from the Upper Realm, and both of them came from terrifying backgrounds, so there was a high chance for something like that to be possible between their families.

Ye Chen felt extremely uncomfortable as he thought about this.

"What nonsense are you thinking about? How could I possibly be engaged to a man as nasty as him? Even if there's an engagement between him and I, I will force my father to annul it…"

His words left Ye Liuli somewhat speechless, and she explained with some feelings of helplessness. How could her Brother Ye Chen even think about something like that? Gu Changge was a wicked bastard who humiliated her, and she hated him from the bottom of her heart.

"Why do you hate him then? What happened at the Ancient Lin Family that day?"

Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief, but still asked. How could someone as gentle as Ye Liuli develop hatred for someone without a reason? At the same time, his killing intent towards Gu Changge also deepened.

"Gu Changge is from the Ancient Immortal Gu Family in the Upper Realm…not only that, he's the Gu Family's Young Master. His position and backing is above mine, so if you want to deal with him, you have to be very careful, Brother Ye Chen…"

"I won't be able to help you."

Ye Liuli explained.

Ye Chen's fists clenched even tighter as he heard her words, but he still muttered in his heart, ‘This Secret Realm will be Gu Changge's grave!'

Yan Ji, who was inside the ring, immediately showed interest at Ye Liuli's words. She had wanted to know more about Gu Changge for a while already.

‘So Young Lord Gu is the Young Master of the Ancient Immortal Gu Family? No wonder…'

‘Well, he must have a lot of life-preserving means then, so I don't need to worry about him.'

She heaved a sigh of relief at the conflict in her heart. She had continuously asked herself who she would help if Ye Chen and Gu Changge fought?

‘I hope that situation doesn't come to pass, or I won't know who to help between the two…'

Yan Ji couldn't help but sigh.

At that time, her remnant spirit was already in desperate straits. To her, the value of the [Immortal Spirit-Gathering Pill] at that moment was immeasurable, and she couldn't forget this kindness of Gu Changge.

Sill, there was one thing she couldn't comprehend: ‘why did Young Lord Gu let Ye Chen provoke him without any retaliation?'

Was Ye Chen simply lucky in that situation, or did Young Lord Gu spare his life for her sake, since he wanted to bring her to his side?

[VILFIC's Crib]

From the Lands of VILFIC's Crib located in the Realm of Discord, I present before you the work of Æ Sazassin.