This Is What a Villain Is Like

The three heads closely resembled the face of her Divine Soul, but only the central one had its eyes open. Its gaze was indifferent and brutal, like that of a Demon God scorning all of creation.

HMPH...

The Demonic Shadow let out a bizarre and terrifying cry, as if trying to suppress the Four Saints Illusion. However, it had no effect and couldn’t stop them in the slightest.

The Demonic Shadow could only lunge forward to attack. Its six arms wielded various weapons—an Ancient Sword, a Divine Lamp, an ancient pagoda...—and it became entangled with the Four Saints Illusion. The light of its soul surged as it grew increasingly indistinct.

As for Xie Jianjia herself, she couldn’t dodge in time and was struck squarely by the massive hand of white bone. Half of her Divine Soul instantly dissipated, and her face became ethereal and deathly pale.

She understood immediately: Jiang Lan had never been bewitched by her at all.

Instead, it was her Divine Soul that had been tricked by Jiang Lan’s scheme and entered his Mud Ball Palace.

This situation was extremely disadvantageous for her. Even with her powerful Divine Soul, she couldn’t exert her full strength inside another person’s Mud Ball Palace.

What’s more, the power of Jiang Lan’s Divine Soul far surpassed her imagination, to say nothing of his many terrifying abilities.

This was his Mud Ball Palace, giving him a massive Innate advantage.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH...

Jiang Lan’s Spirit Soul Minion watched with an indifferent gaze as Xie Jianjia retreated, trying to quickly escape his Mud Ball Palace.

Dazzling, blindingly cold Sword Qi crisscrossed the space, whistling through the air.

Behind the Spirit Soul Minion, it seemed as if an ancient Sword Dao Secret Collection had been opened. Illusions of one Divine Sword after another materialized, unleashing an overwhelming torrent of Sword Qi that blotted out the sky.

With a sharp cry from the minion, the Sword Qi swept through the space, completely sealing off Xie Jianjia’s path of retreat.

"Jiang Lan, to think you’ve hidden your abilities so deeply..."

With nowhere left to retreat, a look of grim resolve flashed across Xie Jianjia’s face. She shouted coldly as her waterfall-like black hair whipped into the air, and one after another, demonic markings surfaced on her face.

The aura of her Divine Soul surged and transformed, as if a blazing ball of fire was roiling within her.

But Jiang Lan seemed to have anticipated this move. At the exact moment Xie Jianjia stopped to let her aura surge, the silently flowing Blood River appeared behind her without a sound.

Bloody waves surged within it, revealing heaps of skeletons bobbing on the surface. In an instant, one blood-red chain after another shot out and wrapped tightly around her Divine Soul.

Xie Jianjia was completely caught off guard, her form instantly immobilized.

The next moment, the illusions of Sword Qi came whistling in. One after another, they pierced through her figure, pinning her in mid-air.

"This is..."

"The legacy of the Blood Immortal Sect?"

Xie Jianjia’s expression changed drastically. Her Divine Soul was dissipating rapidly.

She was even more shocked and incredulous than before. Although she had never met anyone from the Blood Immortal Sect, she had read about them in a few ancient records.

She could have never imagined that Jiang Lan, the young master of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, had actually obtained the legacy of the Blood Immortal Sect.

"Still trying to resist?" Jiang Lan asked as he drifted down to land beside her.

The Xie Jianjia of this moment was truly a fish on the chopping block, completely at his mercy.

But even with his current Divine Soul strength and abilities, he wouldn’t risk having her open her Sea of Consciousness to plant the Slave Seal.

Xie Jianjia herself was an ancient Great Power from the Demon Race who had lived for countless years and possessed a vast array of abilities.

Even though Jiang Lan knew the original plot, he couldn’t be certain that he knew all of Xie Jianjia’s trump cards.

That was why he had to ensnare her first, luring her Divine Soul out of her body and into his Mud Ball Palace.

He had long ago laid numerous traps here, giving him every possible Innate advantage.

"You knew all along that I would make a move, and you were already prepared?"

Xie Jianjia slumped in defeat. She had lost all will to resist.

With more than half of her Divine Soul dissipated and her injuries severe, it would be useless even if she exhausted all her abilities to return to her physical body now.

With his power, Jiang Lan was strong enough to forcibly breach her own Mud Ball Palace.

"With your cultivation sealed, your only weapon and last resort was the powerful Divine Soul you have left."

"As an ancient Great Power of the Demon Race, wouldn’t I naturally be on guard against you... Ye Shiyin?" Jiang Lan said with a faint smile.

Xie Jianjia was still somewhat stunned by his words.

But when he uttered the words "ancient Great Power of the Demon Race" and then the name "Ye Shiyin," her expression changed dramatically, her face flooding with disbelief and terror.

’How many years has it been? How many years since I last heard that name?’

’How does Jiang Lan know my name?’

"You... who in the world are you?"

"And how do you know all this?" asked Xie Jianjia—no, at this point, she should be called Ye Shiyin.

Her face was a mask of terror, her Divine Soul trembling faintly.

Since Jiang Lan had uttered that name, it meant he had known her identity all along. There was no longer any point in hiding it.

"When Xie Jianjia was seven years old, you used the legacy of the Phoenix Race as bait to lure her to Luohuang Cave, where you possessed her body."

"All these years, you’ve kept a low profile, dutifully playing the part of Xie Jianjia, all in the hopes of one day returning to your peak."

Jiang Lan ignored her, continuing his monologue.

Ye Shiyin’s terror grew. ’I’m sure I never slipped up or revealed any weakness,’ she thought.

Not even Xie Jianjia’s own family had ever suspected her identity.

Yet Jiang Lan had laid all these secrets bare.

"How do you possibly know all this?" she asked, trembling, her mind reeling in shock.

"You don’t need to worry about how I know. You only need to know one thing: serve me, and you’ll live a lot longer."

Jiang Lan still wore that faint smile.

Ye Shiyin looked at him, her heart filled with a bone-deep chill. Only now did she finally understand why Jiang Lan had done all this.