Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist Chapter 950: Hunting Individuals For Legacies and Resources

Three years elapsed since Wang Jian first set foot on Red Coral Island. What started as a mere rented courtyard evolved into a bastion of intense cultivation and unchecked vice. Within the primary hall, the atmosphere remained heavy with the fragrance of superior incense blended with the enduring, seductive aroma of excess.

Wang Jian reclined on a broad couch covered in crimson fabrics. Gone was the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who escaped the conflict; now he stood as a Late Stage Foundation Establishment powerhouse, his presence thick and alarmingly steady.

Flanking him closely, like imperial consorts, sat Sect Mistress Mu Lianhua and Chen Ying.

Their outfits would shock the upright cultivators of the State of Yue into a Qi deviation from pure outrage.

Mu Lianhua donned a sheer white spirit-silk robe clinging tightly to her ripe, curvaceous form, almost like a second skin. Slits ran along the sides, secured by delicate golden links, exposing broad swaths of her pale, flawless complexion. The deep cut dipped to her midriff, scarcely holding back her enormous, weighty bosom. The delicate material revealed the rosy tips of her nipples, stiff and pressing visibly against it.

Chen Ying, the icy sword cultivator, sported a comparable style in dark netting that accentuated her fit, sculpted build. Her solid, rounded breasts were lifted by a bodice-like upper piece that offered scant coverage.

Wang Jian's hands roamed freely. He handled them without tenderness. With a claiming, forceful hold, he seized Mu Lianhua's breast, his digits sinking into the pliant, supple tissue. Bending forward, he clamped his teeth on her nipple over the silk, biting firmly enough to elicit her sharp intake of breath, then ripping a tiny tear in the costly cloth with his bite to bare the rosy bud underneath.

"Ah! Master..." Mu Lianhua cried out, her body curving backward as she pushed her breast further into his mouth. Her cheeks burned red, her gaze clouded with desire.

He shifted to Chen Ying, his palm gliding over her abdomen to grasp her core through the netting. He stroked her sensitive spot with rough motions, causing the swordswoman to tremble.

"You like that, don’t you, Ying’er?" he snarled, grazing her earlobe with his teeth.

"Yes... Master... please..." Chen Ying breathed softly, her stoic facade crumbling under his caress.

Right as he prepared to rip away the remainder of their garments and claim them on the couch, a gentle buzz broke the tension.

A communication talisman drifted into the space, emitting a soft azure glow. It lingered before Wang Jian.

He let out a breath, letting go of the women yet maintaining a grip on Mu Lianhua’s leg. He touched the talisman.

The note came from Qiu Yun, among the Shadow Flowers.

"Master. We have a target. A renowned rogue Formation Master named Xuan Ji has been located. He lives in seclusion on a foggy reef three hundred miles north. He is at the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm."

The note went on, outlining the reward. "He possesses the complete legacy of the ’Five-Element Tidal Spirit Lock Array’. It is a unique heritage that utilizes the elemental attributes of Beast Cores to power formations, allowing them to exceed their normal limits. Mistress Yue needs this."

Wang Jian’s gaze sharpened. "Five-Element Tidal Spirit Lock... using beast cores as batteries. That is exactly what Lingshan is missing to breakthrough to Tier-6."

He rose, straightening his attire. "Ladies, playtime is over. We have work to do."

"Just us?" Mu Lianhua inquired, fixing her damaged silk top without fully concealing herself.

"Just us," Wang Jian affirmed. "Lingshan stays here to study. Ruyan is brewing. We go, we take, we return."

They departed shortly after. Wang Jian, Mu Lianhua, and Chen Ying soared northward, gliding above the ocean swells.

The reef they sought lay enveloped in dense, man-made mist. It formed a labyrinth of jagged stones and concealed flows.

"Traps," Chen Ying observed, her sight probing the waves. "Explosive water mines."

"Ignore them," Wang Jian instructed. "We aren’t sneaking in."

They headed directly for the heart island of the reef, where a modest stone spire rose.

Wang Jian unleashed his aura, crashing it into the tower’s protective barrier.

BOOM.

The barrier flickered yet endured.

A figure emerged from the spire. Xuan Ji appeared as an elderly man with untamed silver locks and garments marked by ink blotches. Rage twisted his features.

"Who dares intrude on my seclusion?!" he bellowed, calling forth a series of array flags. "Do you seek death?"

Wang Jian skipped any lengthy speech. He offered no respect. He refused to bargain.

He merely hovered, seeming indifferent.

"I heard you have a formation legacy," Wang Jian stated, his tone boosted by Qi. "The Five-Element Tidal Spirit Lock. I want it."

Xuan Ji sneered. "You want it? Boy, I have killed Core Formation cultivators in this array! Begone before I—"

"Elder Mu," Wang Jian murmured softly.

The Sect Mistress advanced. She released her suppression.

The overwhelming force of a Peak Late-Stage Core Formation powerhouse struck the reef like a tangible blow. The mist vanished in an instant. The waters stilled completely.

Xuan Ji stiffened. His array flags slipped from his grasp. His legs gave way, and he plummeted from the air, slamming into the stones below. Motion escaped him. Breath failed him. All he could do was gape upward in utter dread at the figure in the ripped silk attire, resembling a harbinger of doom.

Wang Jian lowered gracefully, touching down beside the immobilized expert.

"Your legacy is too good for a hermit living on a rock," Wang Jian remarked, gazing downward at him. "My wife needs it. And I would acquire anything that she needs. It is that simple."

He signaled to Mu Lianhua.

"End it."

Mu Lianhua extended a finger. A ray of Azure Sky-Heart Flame drilled through Xuan Ji’s brow. Death came swiftly.

They plundered the spire. They uncovered jade slips, vintage flags woven from sea-beast threads, and ages of notes on how elemental cores interacted with surrounding mana.

Upon their return, Wang Jian offered the legacy to Yue Lingshan.

"I found this," he shared with a gentle grin. "Some rogue cultivator left it behind. I thought it might help your studies."

Yue Lingshan clutched the scrolls against her body, her eyes gleaming with thanks. "Oh, husband! This is exactly the breakthrough I needed! The theory of using beast cores as capacitors... it changes everything!"

She pressed her lips to his, deliberately overlooking—or maybe not probing—how he had 'found' such an invaluable item amid the vast sea.

Four years following their arrival, the team's craving for resources intensified further.

A dispatch arrived from Su Ning, stationed within the Blood Shark Hall. A scarce plant, the "Deep-Sea Spirit Lotus", surfaced at a shadowy auction on Blackwater Island.

"It improves soul and mental energy," Wang Jian pondered, scanning the dispatch. "Essential for resisting mental attacks and increasing reaction speeds. We need it."

"The starting bid is fifty thousand high-grade spirit stones," Su Ning’s message noted.

"Too expensive," Wang Jian dismissed with a snort. "Why buy when you can take?"

The Shadow Flowers followed the purchaser. He was a young master from the "Iron-Shell Sect", a moderate faction. He acquired the lotus to mend his father’s soul wound.

Wang Jian and Chen Ying waylaid his aerial vessel in the open sea.

No words exchanged. No challenge issued.

Wang Jian fired a Stellar Qi blast at the vessel’s steering. With the craft whirling wildly, Chen Ying leaped aboard. She struck like a tempest of breeze and blade. Her Seven Absolutes Sword Art had advanced. It transcended mere keenness; it became unseen, harnessing air streams.

She cut down the sailors. The young master reached for an alarm token, but Wang Jian smashed his fingers before he could shatter the jade piece.

They seized the Spirit Lotus. Next, they submerged the vessel, leaving no survivors.

At the courtyard once more, Wang Jian carried the lotus to his secluded garden within the spatial ring. He sowed the seed in enriched spirit earth.

He invoked his Verdant Eternal Spring Essence. Emerald radiance bathed the ground. The plant's growth hastened.

In less than a month, the lone Spirit Lotus flowered, faded, and yielded ten seeds. Wang Jian cycled the method again. Before long, he gathered twenty full-grown Deep-Sea Spirit Lotuses.

He handed them to Mu Lianhua. "Refine them. Soul-Cleansing Pills."

The pills circulated among them. The group's psychic barriers surged. They now anticipated strikes through faint intent before the blows landed.

Yet Wang Jian pressed on. He allocated the surplus pills—ten in total—to Bai Xue at the trading guild.

"Sell them," he directed. "Slowly. One by one. In different auctions."

He amassed wealth by vending the stolen good, reaping gains from the raid anew.

Five years.

Five years of pursuit, slaughter, crafting, and absorption.

Wang Jian positioned himself amid the courtyard. The surrounding air warped faintly, strained by his imposing aura.

He attained the Late Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. His base wasn't merely firm; it loomed immense. His Stellar Qi thickened to near liquidity. He could clash with Early Core Formation foes directly and triumph.

He regarded his companions.

Yue Lingshan attended the array mechanisms. She advanced to Late Stage Foundation Establishment. Crucially, she rose to Tier-6 Formation Master. She deployed formations capable of ensnaring Mid-Stage Core Formation opponents, wielding the terrain as a tool.

Chen Ying honed her Gale-Severing Frostblade. She matched the Late Stage. Her sword technique hit the fourth level of the Seven Absolutes. She unleashed air-slashes undetectable by sight.

Liu Ruyan mastered Alchemy, producing elixirs that accelerated cultivation by half again. She too reached Late Stage.

The Shadow Flowers progressed to Middle-to-Late Stage, firmly placed in their groups, supplying Wang Jian endless reports.

Even the five servants advanced to Initial Foundation Establishment, creating a reliable, devoted defense for the sanctuary.

And Mu Lianhua... she shone brilliantly. Vitality lit her skin. She held at Core Formation Peak, the path to Nascent Soul resisting, yet her battle prowess grew through skills devised with Wang Jian.

"We have stabilized," Wang Jian declared, surveying them proudly. "We are strong."

He faced the display array as the Shadow Flowers relayed updates.

"Report," he ordered. "Is there any chaos? Any sect on the brink of destruction?"

Bai Xue’s image materialized in the projection. Disappointment marked her. "None, Master. The region has been unusually stable. The Myriad Ocean Palace has enforced a strict peace treaty for the last year. No wars. No collapses."

Wang Jian scowled. "Peace is bad for business."

"If there is no chaos..." he muttered, drumming his fingers on the surface. "We must be ready to create it. Or move to where it is."

Suddenly, Bai Xue’s face shifted. She touched her ear, catching a guild transmission.

"Master!" she exclaimed hastily. "New intelligence. It just came in."

"Speak."

"There is a sect," she revealed. "The Fragrance Melody Sect."

"Fragrance Melody?" Wang Jian arched a brow. "Sounds... soft."

"It is," Bai Xue agreed. "It is an all-female sect located on the Isle of Whispering Petals, about three teleportation jumps east of here. They have no male disciples. Their Sect Mistress is an Initial Stage Core Formation beauty."

"Go on," Wang Jian urged, curiosity stirred.

"They specialize in information gathering, arts, music, and... charm techniques," Bai Xue described. "They form connections with powerful sects by providing their disciples as concubines, dual cultivation partners, or wives. They are essentially a high-class brokerage for beauty and talent. They are an affiliate of the Myriad Ocean Palace."

"And the trouble?"

"They are being targeted," Bai Xue reported. "A demonic sect from the Abyssal Trench Coalition—the Iron-Blood Hall, led by a Late Stage Core Formation expert—has been harassing them. Recently, the Iron-Blood Hall ambushed a Fragrance Melody convoy. They stole a shipment of Heavenly Wood."

Wang Jian leaned in. "Heavenly Wood?"

"Yes. My sources say it was a fragment of Phoenix Fire Wood. Ancient. It only grows where three phoenixes have died in the same spot. It contains pure Yang-Fire essence."

Wang Jian eased back, a gradual grin forming on his lips.

This was ideal.

A sect brimming with lovely women under threat. A fiendish foe to battle (and plunder). And a fragment of mythic timber suited for Liu Ruyan or his fire-root affinity.

"Phoenix Fire Wood," he reflected. "That is a treasure worth moving for."

He glanced at his team. "Pack your bags. We are going on a diplomatic mission."

That night, in their chamber's seclusion, Wang Jian outlined the scheme to Yue Lingshan.

"The Fragrance Melody Sect?" Lingshan wondered, running a brush through her tresses. "Why them?"

"They are useful, Lingshan," Wang Jian replied evenly, approaching from behind and brushing his lips against her neck. "They are information brokers. They have contacts in every major sect, even the Myriad Ocean Palace. If we help them, we gain access to that network. It will be the perfect stepping stone for us to expand our influence."

"I see," Yue Lingshan agreed, accepting his tactical insight. "And we can help them against the demonic sect?"

"We can," Wang Jian vowed. "We will save them."

He omitted the allure of the women. He skipped the harem prospects. He simply smiled, kissed his wife, and extinguished the flame.