I Am the Fated Villain Chapter 1272:

1633. The Coffin of the Burial World

The threads of destiny had been woven, causing the heavens and the eight followers to shudder in unison. The fabric of the universe convulsed as stars were pulverized in the wake of the conflict, transforming into glowing debris that scattered across the void.

A ghastly legion of demons poured from a celestial rift, charging with bloodthirsty shrieks. Leading this vanguard was Emperor Kun, the Seventh Prince of the Demon Court, draped in a crimson-black mantle. He personally oversaw the deployment of the Heavenly Demon Soul-devouring Great Formation—a karmic power as vast as a blooming red lotus that scorched the firmament, creeping steadily toward the heart of the Immortal Chu Hao Earth.

Countless souls and warriors were trapped within the array, their desperate cries echoing as the scent of slaughter rose to choke the heavens, dimming the sun, moon, and stars alike. At that moment, a withered, gaunt elder stood beside Emperor Kun. His limbs were like desiccated branches, and he remained hunched within heavy black robes. Only a pair of crimson eyes peered out, radiating an aura of absolute terror.

A freezing black vapor drifted around him, seemingly paralyzing the very flow of time and space.

“What do you call this ancient array?”

The elder in black fixated on the complex formation deep in the cosmos, his voice trembling slightly with suppressed emotion.

Despite the elder's suffocating presence, Emperor Kun replied, “This is known as the Heavenly Demon Soul-devouring Great Formation.”

“This primordial array… I recall it from my sect’s secret archives, though the knowledge to construct it was thought lost. Its true name was not this, but the Nine Heavens Divine Evil Reincarnation Formation… No, what you have built here is a derivative of that original power. It lacks the full lethality of the source, yet it has been adapted perfectly for the demon race…”

The elder shook his head, his gaze never leaving the cosmic formation. His eyes shimmered with a manic fervor, and his frame shook with a level of excitement he could barely contain.

Emperor Kun, occupied with maintaining the formation’s core, had little patience for the elder’s ramblings. Lacking the power of the ancestral path, he had to exert immense effort to stabilize such a potent array and could not risk a lapse in focus. Still, he refrained from offending the mysterious figure, as the elder's Cultivation far exceeded his own.

“I am unfamiliar with the names you mention, Senior. I have no knowledge of a Nine Heavens Divine Evil Reincarnation Formation,” Emperor Kun stated honestly, shaking his head.

“I knew it… I just knew it…”

The emaciated elder appeared almost possessed. He ignored Emperor Kun and began muttering to himself, surrounded by a turbulent aura that threatened to unravel the sanity of anyone nearby. The demon lords and generals flanking Emperor Kun knit their brows, watching the black-robed figure with extreme caution, yet none dared to voice a protest.

The elder had previously displayed a horrifying level of strength, his mere pressure enough to subdue several Dao-level demon lords. They stood frozen, their faces pale, watching as his chaotic Qi fractured the surrounding reality. They were trapped in a state of uncertainty, unable to discern if this macabre powerhouse was a benefactor or a threat.

Several demon lords remained on high alert, sending covert transmissions to the Demon Court’s ancestral Dao realm experts at the border, fearing the elder might suddenly turn hostile.

“Speak! Tell me at once, where did you find this ancient array?”

The elder’s eyes were locked onto the depths of the universe, where the formation spun with eternal light, summoning phantasms of ancient demons. He looked at it like a man discovering a forbidden treasure. His voice rose in agitation, and he lunged forward as if to seize Emperor Kun.

Emperor Kun’s brow darkened in frustration. He hurriedly delegated the formation’s control to the nearby demon lords and stepped back, attempting to evade the elder’s reaching, skeletal hand.

However, as Emperor Kun moved to dodge, his heart sank. Though he tried to shift away, the Dao laws in his vicinity suddenly blurred and froze. It was as if the great Dao itself had vanished, leaving him paralyzed in a pocket of absolute stillness.

The withered hand clamped onto his wrist. The touch was as frigid as primordial ice. Where the fingers gripped, his skin turned a bruised indigo, and his flesh began to rot and blacken as if struck by a lethal toxin.

“Seventh Prince!” The surrounding generals and lords turned ashen, their skin crawling with dread.

Emperor Kun’s face twisted with a mixture of alarm and fury.

Fortunately, his true form was that of a Golden Crow, granting him a constitution of immense vitality and potent blood energy. Had he been any ordinary cultivator, that single touch would have shattered his limb and corrupted his very essence.

“Answer me. Where did this array come from? I am well aware you are the Seventh Prince of the Xi Yuan Demon Court, but do not think the name of your father, Emperor Ti Huan, protects you from me. If he were standing here, I might show him some courtesy, but you are nothing.”

“If you attempt to lie, a single thought from me will end your life.”

As the elder spoke, his eyes flared with a ghostly light. A draft from the deepest pits of the Nine Hells seemed to blow past, making everyone present shiver uncontrollably.

The demon lords felt a chill run down their spines. They wondered who this man could be to speak so dismissively of the Demon Ancestor, Emperor Ti Huan.

“The Heavenly Demon Soul-devouring Great Formation was a chance discovery. It seems you recognize its origins, Senior, but I cannot simply hand it over,” Emperor Kun replied, forcing himself to remain composed despite the threat.

He assumed the elder was merely coveting the formation's destructive potential and sought to steal it for himself.

However, this array had been bestowed upon him by Gu Changge. Without his master's consent, Emperor Kun would never dare transfer it to another.

Though the elder was terrifying, in Emperor Kun's mind, he paled in comparison to Gu Changge.

“Do you seek death? Do you believe I lack the means to tear the truth from your soul?”

The elder’s expression darkened further, his grip tightening until Emperor Kun’s bones groaned.

Emperor Kun winced as agony flared through him, feeling as though a thousand blades were carving his insides. Darkened flesh sloughed off his arm as the freezing Qi began to siphon the life force from his body.

“Senior, is your goal to learn the source of this array, or do you merely wish to possess it?” Emperor Kun asked through gritted teeth, enduring the torment.

“Hmph, if this were the perfected Nine Heavens Divine Evil Reincarnation Formation, I might care to take it. But this is a mere fragment—a primitive shadow of the original. It is useless to me,” the elder spat coldly.

Emperor Kun realized then that the formation had likely stirred some ancient memory within the elder.

After a brief hesitation, he decided that honesty was the safest path. “This was granted to me by my master. Senior, if you…”

“Your master?”

The elder cut him off instantly. Upon hearing that title, his entire aura shifted. He abruptly let go of Emperor Kun’s arm. Sensing that the mention of Gu Changge had instilled a sense of hesitation in the elder, Emperor Kun pressed on: “I will not deceive you, Senior. This ancient formation was indeed a gift from my master. I swear this upon my heart-devouring oath.”

“Who… who is this master of yours?”

The elder no longer looked at the cosmic array; his focus was entirely on Emperor Kun. His voice was now noticeably shaky.

“I do not know his true name, but my master is omnipotent and eternal. He dwells within the hearts of all living things across the myriad worlds.”

Emperor Kun’s eyes filled with genuine reverence as he recalled the words Gu Changge had spoken on the Blood-colored Plateau.

“It must be so… it must be… I knew this day would arrive.”

“Where there is light, the darkness shall inevitably return…”

The elder became increasingly frantic, his excitement spiraling into a state of near-madness that surpassed his earlier fervor.

Emperor Kun was baffled, yet he sensed that the elder’s words shared a profound, hidden link with Gu Changge.

In that moment, the black-robed elder looked like a zealot consumed by an ancient, holy obsession.

“Where is this master now? Tell me!”

The elder tried to steady his breathing, turning his head sharply toward the prince.

“His movements are beyond my knowledge. I do not know his current location,” Emperor Kun replied, shaking his head.

Though he had met Gu Changge, his true identity remained a mystery. He only knew that his master appeared as a youth of peerless grace, like an immortal who had stepped out of a divine painting.

The elder eventually regained his composure and stopped acknowledging the prince. He whispered to himself, “I knew the Xi Yuan civilization was destined for upheaval. My journey here was fated…”

With a sudden flick of his sleeve, the elder transformed into a streak of light, vanishing like a falling star. His exit was as silent and mysterious as his arrival.

Emperor Kun wiped cold sweat from his brow. The elder’s power was incomprehensible and his origins were a total enigma.

Based on the elder's cryptic remarks, Emperor Kun suspected the man was not a native of the Xi Yuan civilization, but perhaps hailed from a distant true realm or another civilization entirely.

“Seventh Prince…” The demon lords and generals approached, their faces etched with lingering horror. Had that elder chosen to strike, none of them would have survived. Furthermore, the implications of Emperor Kun’s conversation left them trembling with unease.

Emperor Kun silenced them with a sharp, freezing glare. No one dared to utter another word.

“It appears that forces from beyond the Xi Yuan civilization are converging on this place…”

Staring at the void where the elder had disappeared, Emperor Kun fell into a deep silence. He wondered if his path was the right one, but the elder's reaction only confirmed that Gu Changge’s true nature was far more terrifying than he had guessed. Moreover, the elder himself was clearly no ordinary figure. Why had he come to Xi Yuan now? What was his endgame?

Meanwhile, on a jagged, desolate peak not far from the war zone between the Demon Court and the Immortal Chu Hao Earth, a tattered old Taoist sat in meditation. His hair was a matted mess, and a foul stench clung to his body.

A bizarre distortion field enveloped him, making the air around the mountain feel as though it were frozen in time.

Suddenly, the Taoist’s eyes snapped open as he sensed an approaching presence.

“Elder Cold Crow…” he spoke softly.

The Taoist’s face was a nightmare; his eye sockets were empty pits oozing blood and bile, creating a truly repulsive sight.

“Heh, Daoist, are you curious about what I just discovered?”

The black-robed elder—the same one who had confronted Emperor Kun—descended from the clouds to stand before the Taoist. His laugh was a raspy, chilling sound that seemed to sap the warmth from the air.

“You are of the Yin Sect. Aside from the source of Absolute Yin, what else could possibly move you to such excitement?” The Taoist asked calmly.

The elder was known to some as Cold Crow, a title he had carried since achieving the Dao countless eons ago. His birth name had long since faded from memory.

“Ordinary Absolute Yin no longer interests me. However, while observing the battle between the Demon Court and the Immortal Chu Hao Earth, I stumbled upon an ancient array mentioned only in the most sacred texts,” Cold Crow said, a disturbing grin spreading across his face.

The Taoist’s interest was piqued; he knew exactly which texts Cold Crow meant.

“Which formation?” he pressed.

“The Nine Heavens Divine Evil Reincarnation Formation. The very same used to grind an entire immortal empire into dust,” Cold Crow replied with a dark chuckle. The Taoist was momentarily stunned, then gripped by disbelief. “Was that array not annihilated during that ancient war? How could it resurface?”

Cold Crow sneered instead of answering directly. “The Celestial Court still hunts for that supreme power like fools, blind to the fact that destiny has already spoken. That Great Existence is returning—or perhaps he is already among us. His influence is quietly weaving through the myriad worlds…”

“I am certain I will soon witness his divine return. He shall walk the worlds again, and every traitor within the Celestial Court shall be purged. Hahaha…”

The Taoist was accustomed to Cold Crow’s fanatical outbursts. However, he hadn't expected his search for the Gate of Eternal Life within the Xi Yuan civilization to yield such a revelation.

The Celestial Court and the Eight Follower Sect were the two remnants of the shattered Celestial Organization. To the rest of the universe, both were viewed as the lingering dregs of a black calamity.

Yet, the two groups were bitter rivals. The Celestial Court claimed to be the rightful successor and sought to forcibly absorb the Eight Follower Sect to rebuild the original organization.

Cold Crow belonged to the Lesser Yin Sect, one of the branches of the Eight Follower Sect.

“The trail to the Gate of Eternal Life has been exposed, and the Celestial Court will not ignore it. Since we both seek it, an alliance is logical. The Jing Clan of the Shengyang Ancient Domain is clearly the key…”

The Taoist spoke with a slow, heavy tone, his body showing the gruesome signs of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man. It was a condition that would terrify most, yet it was the hallmark of the Heavenly Decline Sect, another branch of the Eight Follower Sect.

Cold Crow gradually grew quiet, his empty sockets glowing with a faint, eerie light. He gave a mocking snort.

“The Mirror of Reincarnation sits within the Xi Yuan Sacred Hall. The Celestial Court has coveted it for ages without success. Now that the war between the Demon Court and the Immortal Chu Hao Earth has sparked chaos, they will likely use the hunt for the Gate of Eternal Life as a smokescreen to seize the Mirror.”

“Hehe, if I’m right, Zixiao Mountain has already made a pact with the Celestial Court. That black coffin currently devastating the Immortal Chu Hao Earth? Only the Celestial Court has the craft to forge such a thing.”

The Taoist grew pensive. “The founding sage of the Xi Yuan Sacred Hall has spent ages fighting a…”