I Am the Fated Villain Chapter 1296: The celestial divinity’s scheme, seeking the grace and favor of the Master of Heaven’s Conquest

A hazy yet radiant silhouette hovered in the endless, infinite emptiness, as if emerging from a layered dimension of time and space. Divine rings encircled her, each one like a swirling galaxy, dotted with numerous worlds and universes. Inside every ring, countless entities appeared to be forming, while endless realms cycled through birth, death, and transformation.

Her features shifted unpredictably between timeless obscurity, majestic gravity, alluring seduction, and icy detachment. In every instant, they transformed, defying clear vision, enveloped in infinite sacred radiance.

The whole expanse of time and space couldn't accommodate her authentic presence; a single ring alone would dominate this infinite void.

When her finger pointed downward, immense divine energy rushed from the entire emptiness, forming a distinct domain around her. This domain kept descending, producing trillions of changes with every second—chaos emerging, clarity and impurity interchanging—and in a flash, it evolved from a isolated zone into a completely distinct plane of time and space.

That plane remained utterly motionless. Between her palms, the dimensions stretched and ascended endlessly, only to shatter and compress into a lone point of brilliance.

At the middle of her forehead, a subtle, shadowy likeness of herself swiftly fused into that point of light. Afterward, the light point dropped from the immense void she occupied.

“Today, I will aid you in profaning the divine, and behold this god's descent into the mortal world.”

Her eyes, brimming with fascination, followed the light point as it pierced through the infinite time and space, plummeting toward the Kunxu True Realm, and ultimately aiming for the realm known as the Taixu Realm.

Back then, the Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest's fame echoed through the boundless reaches, alarming and frightening not just myriad cultivators and creatures. Even primordial gods like her, part of the heavenly divinities, were stirred by talks in the divine clans, awakening their awareness, and peering down across distant voids.

The Immortal Dao and Divine Dao societies ranked among the grandest, oldest, and most branched civilizations in the infinite expanse. Yet, the Immortal Dao and Divine Dao had long stopped meddling in each other's affairs, each path branching and advancing separately.

The Divine Dao society focused on gathering incense devotion, purifying godly essences, allocating celestial powers, and establishing divine positions and hierarchies.

Primeval, eternal gods perched at the sky's brink, forging their godly realms, overseeing everything below.

Lesser gods propagated their worship across diverse planes, building devotees, amassing will, and reaping heaven and earth's fortunes to empower their godhood.

Comparing the Immortal Dao and Divine Dao societies for dominance proved challenging. Besides, the Divine Dao society also confronted the massive disaster of heavenly erosion. Not even the ancient deities, who had nurtured vast populations and ruled expansive godly domains, escaped it.

The Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest, operating within the Immortal Dao society, mimicked Divine Dao methods, crossing lines by widely cultivating adherents, collecting devotion, and claiming the celestial powers reserved for the Divine Dao.

As a primordial god surpassing ordinary ancestral deities, she paid little heed to such minor issues. Moreover, the Divine Dao society had waned long ago, and in the Immortal Dao society, many pursued Divine Dao ways, like the Buddhist Sect, the Ancient God Sect, the Dao Sect, and more.

The rise of the Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest startled even her, a primordial god, with a sense that the Divine Dao system might soon endure unforeseen turmoil. It could even mirror the Black Calamity age, when gods met their end.

Even the surviving divine entities might end up as instruments for expanding their flocks and harvesting devotion.

Profaning the gods, for the budding Divine Dao society, would spell a doom akin to shattering the Dao heart for Immortal Dao cultivators.

Kunxu True Realm, Taixu Realm.

Before the grand, celestial Temple of Heaven’s Conquest, thick vapors twisted like immense clouds, roiling without cease. This vapor consisted of the world's amassed belief energy from all corners.

Myriad creatures and cultivators crowded together, kneeling in awe, reciting invocations to the Temple of Heaven’s Conquest, the whole realm shadowed by throngs of figures.

Inside the temple, the archaic god idol appeared to draw in these smoky clouds, slowly awakening to vitality.

He perched at the far edge of the expansive time and space, overlooking this domain.

Chen Jinhong remained there, her gaze brimming with profound reverence.

“What reward do you desire?” The grand, divine voice resounded in her thoughts once more.

“The Vanguards of Heaven are ready to give all to the Master of Heaven’s Conquest, seeking nothing in exchange.”

Her firm tone, unchanged from before, echoed again, as if affirming her allegiance and resolve.

Millennia had reshaped her from the innocent young princess into the leading figure of the Taixu Realm in this age.

Particularly after she had directly obtained the Master of Heaven’s Conquest’s blessing, acquiring an undying form. This let her seek revenge, forcing her merciless sibling to suffer the fitting penalty.

In the last several thousand years, she had embodied the Vanguard of Heaven, honoring the pledge from that far-off shrine. She drew more devotees to the Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest, raising temples of Heaven’s Conquest everywhere. Indeed, she mobilized the full might of the Taixu Realm to erect a shrine that nearly pierced the celestial heights, like a divine abode.

“Your loyalty touches me. You can voice one wish.”

The indistinct god idol shrouded in thick white vapors. Yet then, in Chen Jinhong’s sight, the vapors parted, exposing a pair of profound, boundless eyes steadily regarding her.

The odd longing in her core flared like rampant weeds, expanding beyond control.

“Truly… truly?” Her words quivered a bit.

“Indeed.” The grand, divine voice replied once more, serene as placid waters.

“Henceforth, all that you are shall be mine—your destiny, your sentiments, your recollections, your endless existences. Even should you perish and crumble to dust, with every mark of you erased from this plane, you remain mine.”

In that instant, the declaration from that far, hopeless era in the distant shrine replayed in Chen Jinhong’s mind.

Those words, binding like a pact, ignited her peculiar craving wildly. Just then, a barely noticeable light point abruptly entered from the Taixu Realm’s outer limits, merging into the boundless, near-endless faith energy.

Chen Jinhong lingered before the Temple of Heaven’s Conquest, with all the faith energy swirling past her like fleeting glows.

She failed to perceive a minuscule light point, carried on the floating faith energy, settling flawlessly on her forehead. She merely sensed a gentle warmth, akin to soft rain touching skin. Her awareness dimmed briefly, then sharpened anew.

“I gladly surrender all to the Master of Heaven’s Conquest.”

“I yearn for the blessing and mercy of the Master of Heaven’s Conquest…”

Chen Jinhong whispered, gazing at the god idol so near at hand. Without hesitation, she advanced, swiftly engulfed by the immense white vapors.

The vapors billowed, and a flawless, pristine form, sleek as a white swan, vaguely emerged amid the haze.

She extended her hand, eager to stroke and embrace the idol.

Abruptly, a sharp snapping noise pierced the quiet inside the Temple of Heaven’s Conquest.

Chen Jinhong jolted alert and fixed her eyes on the now-fractured idol, her complexion draining. She froze in place, dazed, struggling to grasp the sudden event.

“The idol has fractured. I sense no trace of the Master of Heaven’s Conquest anymore…”

She gripped the strewn garments on the floor, slumping in despair.

Simultaneously, across the Taixu Realm, in each local temple of Heaven’s Conquest, the vague god idols began issuing snapping noises. Fissures spiderwebbed over every one.

The full Taixu Realm trembled. Innumerable cultivators and creatures reeled in shock and dread, clueless about the cause, why the idols in the temples of Heaven’s Conquest were splitting.

“What’s going on?”

“It looks like someone finally couldn’t resist, aiming to shatter my faith god’s corporeal vessel…”

In the immortal spirit civilization, amid a violet bamboo grove shrouded in floating immortal haze,

Gu Changge, clad in a flowing moon-white gown, his dark locks shining and loosely draped, secured with a simple tie, was engaged in a chess match with Mu Yan.

The board was elaborate, with white stones dominating, and through the game's nuanced moves, myriad visions unfolded.

Mu Yan, propping her chin, her lovely gaze unwavering, concentrated fully on the match, refusing to ease up.

But then, she raised her captivating visage and glanced at Gu Changge with curiosity, inquiring, “Someone is wrecking your faith god’s vessel? Is a foe striking at the Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest?”

Gu Changge gave a faint head shake. The stone he held paused mid-air, his fingers lightly stroking it.

“The Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest’s devotees have multiplied too swiftly, already irking certain deities. Still, I’ll handle these entities in time. They’ve claimed too much of the celestial domain. It must be reclaimed eventually.”

He pulverized the stone in his grasp and then idly seized a strand of gleaming, vivid faith energy, roughly thumb-thick. Yet this strand bore signs of decay, with sections blackened and eroded entirely.

“At first, when I chanced upon your musings, I aided you solely because you held vast fortune. I didn’t foresee it turning into a peril for your profaning of the gods.”

“But such a blatant plot—do they truly believe I’d overlook it?”

Gu Changge’s expression stayed even as he eyed the tainted faith energy before him. With a light press, it crumbled to powder, dispersing into the breeze. He prevented this foul faith energy from further corrupting the faith god form.

The harm from this held no weight for him. The perpetrator obviously realized as much, making this move pure defiance.

To Gu Changge, these thousand years passed swiftly. After departing the Xiyuan civilization, he had straightaway gone back to the Daochang True Realm.

Maybe Fubo’s final words before his self-chosen end had stirred something in him. As a result, his subsequent reflections grew more tangled.

Gu Changge had pondered whether his regard for companions and emotions had dwindled too far? Or maybe, he had never truly valued the sentiments of those he held dear?

Their affections and yearnings, their views and feelings—he had ignored them all.

At least Fubo had passed content and smiling. Indeed, much in existence surpassed life-death divides, defying simple profit-loss measures.

The ceaseless chasing and plotting, the readiness to seize any means for ends—this cycle brought him no real delight, not even faint contentment.

For everything came so effortlessly to him. All fell within his foresight and designs, leaving no room for emotional stirs. He was detached, unfeeling, and perhaps unfit for humanity.

From birth, fate placed him atop the Great Dao’s trail, looming over every soul. His revisit to Qing Mountain Village had granted him “human” glimpses, “human” moments.

What he dismissed as worthless or minor might hold infinite worth to those nearby. These were oversights from before. Gu Changge wished not for regrets in their memories of shared times.

So, Gu Changge opted to revisit the Daochang True Realm, not to monitor the Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest’s shifts, but to connect with those close.

He first headed to the Mingkong Palace. Yue Mingkong stayed in retreat, her otherworldly presence deep in the halls, her aura enduring and deep, her cultivation evolving per breath.

Thanks to the Daochang True Realm seed from Gu Changge, her Dao Realm breakthrough loomed inevitable. Then, he checked the Ancestral Hall and Saintess Palace. Both Jiang Chuchu and Wang Zijing secluded themselves in practice.

Post Gu Changge’s exit from the Daochang True Realm, their days turned routine, prompting all to embrace extended isolation in cultivation. Even Yin Mei, disinterested in progress, entered seclusion. His old allies, the era’s talents, roamed diverse spots for ordeals and rigorous training.

Gu Changge paused quietly, avoiding disturbances. He sought Gu Xian’er next, discovering she had departed the Daochang True Realm centuries prior for the boundless wilds to hone herself, nearing the Dao Realm’s edge.

Though the Daochang True Realm had flourished over millennia with surging fortune, it remained a fresh true realm.

In the boundless expanse, it meant little, and Dao Realm crossers were scarce.

Gu Changge felt no deep tie to the Daochang True Realm. After his prior departure, he had arranged extensively and planned no quick return.

Even amid the Tainted Tribe’s assault from the Immortal Spirit Civilization, he hadn’t manifested fully.

For the Alliance of Heaven’s Conquest’s ongoing affairs, he had delegated to the Gu Family Ancestor, the Wine Sword Immortal, Ming, and others.

With the Alliance now rooted in the Xiyuan Civilization, its Daochang True Realm foothold seemed even smaller. This return stayed discreet, unnoticed. At last, he reached Qing Mountain Village, dwelling there with Su Qingge for hundreds of years, recounting his encounters in the Immortal Spirit and Xiyuan civilizations.

Gu Changge intended to reboot the Grand Wish Sphere and integrate it with the Daochang True Realm.

Yet Luo Xiangjun hadn’t sought him out. She seemed stalled in her hunt for the Secret Vault of the Eternal Beginning God, yielding no advances.

Gu Changge could only postpone the issue anew. Shortly after, he slipped away from the Daochang True Realm quietly once more, bound for the Immortal Spirit Civilization, readying his forthcoming schemes.