This Is What a Villain Is Like

"Jiang Lan, you’ve gone too far! Do you think I’m some kind of pushover, to be pushed around again and again..."

"One day, I’ll make you pay the price. You’ll regret everything you’ve done."

Meanwhile, Xiao Teng stood before the entrance to an ancient-looking underground cavern, a Communication Jade Talisman clutched in his hand, his expression livid.

A dark, cold underground river surged through the cavern, converging into a bone-chillingly deep pool. The jade-green water emanated a strange, unnatural cold.

In the depths of this frigid pool, a shimmering, jade-green flower was in full bloom. It was splendid and magnificent, but the surrounding temperature was terrifyingly low, and no living creature dared to approach it.

He had intended to spend some time harvesting this rare flower, but now, he was out of time.

If he abandoned Meng Mo and the others, his reputation would suffer a huge blow, even if he managed to take first place in the end.

As for Jiang Lan, he had no reputation to speak of... He couldn’t care less about such things.

"Let’s go. We’re going to confront Jiang Lan. I’d like to see just how long his arrogance will last. With everyone watching, I won’t hold back this time."

Xiao Teng led his men and swiftly departed.

Meanwhile, in the deepest part of Qianyuan Prefecture, within a mountain range shrouded in dense fog...

A blurry figure sat cross-legged, completely enveloped in the thick fog, impossible to make out clearly. It was Ye Ming.

Even the spectators outside couldn’t get a clear view of this area or tell what was happening.

He was using the Ancient Technique Old Ghost had taught him to draw upon a vast, chaotic void ahead.

The aura there was chaotic and indistinct, like a gaping abyss or the mouth of a valley formed in some forgotten age.

Much of the heavy fog drifted out from that place, blanketing the entirety of Qianyuan Prefecture.

His body was enveloped in a shimmering glow. His every acupoint seemed to spring to life, generating an incredibly powerful suction that pulled in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Fierce gales howled, carrying enough terrifying energy to easily pulverize stone into dust.

But under the influence of the Ancient Technique he was cultivating, these gales transformed into tempering hammers, continuously pounding against his flesh and sinews.

As Ye Ming circulated the Ancient Technique with increasing speed and intensity, his skin began to radiate a scorching heat, and the color of the surrounding gales deepened.

"It’s here..."

Suddenly, Old Ghost’s somewhat urgent voice rang out in his mind, making Ye Ming jolt.

He looked toward the rift, his gaze filled with an unconcealable fervor.

Amidst the howling gales, a wisp of an aura, heavy and profound, emerged. It was a brilliant yellow, utterly distinct from everything around it.

It was heavy and chaotic, yet it also pulsed with a Life Force akin to that of Mother Earth herself. A single wisp seemed powerful enough to crush the surrounding mountains.

Gazing at the sight, Ye Ming’s breathing grew ragged. His physical body seemed unable to withstand the aura, showing signs of collapse as blood began to seep from his every pore.

"It’s not just pure Chaotic Spiritual Energy—it’s accompanied by a wisp of Profound Yellow Mother Qi..."

"My goodness, how is your luck this good? To think you’d run into Profound Yellow Mother Qi in a place like this."

"But with your current strength, I’m afraid you can’t hold onto this wisp of Profound Yellow Mother Qi, nor can you withstand its power."

Old Ghost was deeply shaken, finding the situation unbelievable.

But his shock quickly turned to worry. With Ye Ming’s current status and strength, there was absolutely no way he could hold onto such a rare Heaven and Earth Treasure.

Even if he managed to leave Qianyuan Prefecture safely, he would soon be targeted by others. And that was without even mentioning the fact that Ye Ming had already drawn the attention of many factions at the auction for producing a life-extending Divine Object.

Now, he would become even more conspicuous, making a secret departure impossible.

’Profound Yellow Mother Qi... it’s said to hold the secrets of the dawn of creation, of the origin of all things...’

’It must be a remnant from the birth of this Little World.’

Ye Ming’s heart burned with fervent desire. As he watched the wisp of Profound Yellow Mother Qi being slowly drawn from the mouth of the abyss, his body was wracked with intense pain, as if the aura alone would crush him completely.

’Even though he was thrilled and craved it desperately, he knew that with his current strength, he couldn’t possibly withstand the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, nor could he find a suitable vessel to contain it.’

"Wait, it’s not just the Profound Yellow Mother Qi. There’s something else behind it."

Just then, Old Ghost’s voice rang out again, filled with shock and disbelief.

Ye Ming hurriedly focused his mind and looked over.

RUMBLE!

The mountain range trembled as if struck by a massive earthquake. A stele, hundreds of feet tall and wreathed in Chaos Fog, rose from the ground.

A sacred radiance shone from the stele, but its form was indistinct, shrouded in the Chaos Fog, giving it an incredibly mysterious air.

It was impossible to tell what material the stele was made of; it resembled divine metal, yet also primordial stone, and it exuded an ancient, weathered aura.

The wisp of Profound Yellow Mother Qi was coiled around the stele, bobbing gently amidst the surrounding Chaos Fog.

The commotion was enormous, like the violent shaking of the mountains or the dawn of creation itself. Even from a great distance, many cultivators noticed the disturbance and turned their gazes toward it.

A surging radiance instantly dispersed the thick fog, revealing what looked like some kind of Divine Object floating in the air.

’What is this?’

Ye Ming’s gaze fell upon the stele. He tried to examine it closely, but discovered a strange aura surging before it, obstructing his vision.