Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist Chapter 951: Attacking The Outpost

The enhanced iron-wood spirit vessel sliced through the stormy cloud banks of the Myriad Reefs Sea Domain, resembling a spectral shark, its hull shining under the moist glow of ocean spray. It had been three weeks since their departure from Red Coral Island, a span of nonstop voyage over a marine vista that became ever more aggressive and disordered. Underneath, the blue waters shifted to a deep violet shade, swirling with savage flows in the "Black-Tide Region," a wild ocean expanse functioning as a neutral barrier between the domains of the Righteous Alliance and the Abyssal Trench Coalition.

Wang Jian positioned himself at the vessel's front, hands folded behind his back, his black garments snapping fiercely in the fierce blasts of wind. His stare locked onto the eastern skyline, where thunderheads clustered like the swollen fists of a titan. He had no need to brief Yue Lingshan on the objective; she remained at his side, her face firm, inspecting the indicators on a compass array plate. She viewed their journey as one of calculated outreach—to reclaim the taken assets of a prospective partner, the Fragrance Melody Sect, and thus establish a base within the tangled alliances of the island realm.

Yet for Wang Jian, it amounted to a pursuit. A pursuit of assets, power, and the sort of enchanting women exclusive to a sect renowned for its skills and charm.

"We are close," Wang Jian declared, his words piercing the wind's howl without raising his tone. "The intelligence was precise. The Iron-Blood Hall’s convoy has holed up ahead, waiting for the storm to pass and their reinforcements to arrive."

At his rear, the trio of Shadow Flowers—Qiu Yun, Su Ning, and Bai Xue—waited dutifully. They wore form-hugging black leathers suited for underwater fights, which highlighted their deadly figures, their features concealed by sheer veils of shadow-silk.

"Master," Bai Xue advanced, her tone deferential yet tinged with the thrill of approaching conflict. "The target ahead is holding a treasure of immense value. When we first intercepted the intelligence, I cross-referenced the descriptions with the ancient texts in the Myriad Ocean Palace’s public archives."

Wang Jian pivoted a bit, arching a brow. "Go on. What exactly makes a piece of wood worth mobilizing a Late Stage Core Formation expert?"

Bai Xue inclined her head. "It is not merely wood, Master. It is the Nirvana Phoenix Fire Wood. Legend dictates that in the ancient era, before the seas swallowed the continents, there were islands where True Phoenixes nested. This wood only grows on soil that has been soaked in the Nirvana Blood of three dying Phoenixes simultaneously. It absorbs the essence of rebirth and pure Yang fire for ten thousand years before sprouting."

Wang Jian’s eyes tightened, his curiosity sharply aroused. "Phoenix blood? That explains the Demonic Sect’s interest."

"Yes," Bai Xue went on, her gaze gleaming. "For demonic cultivators, it is a bane, but if corrupted, it can be turned into a terrifying weapon of destruction. But for righteous cultivators, especially Alchemists and Fire-attribute practitioners, it is a supreme treasure. It naturally suppresses all evil arts. If refined into a Lifebound Artifact, it grants immunity to most poisons and soul attacks. And..." She paused for effect. "If the wood still retains its root vitality and is nurtured into a full tree... it bears the Golden-Flame Essence Fruit once every thousand years."

"Golden-Flame Essence Fruit," Wang Jian echoed, the title gliding from his lips like fine liquor.

"A fruit that can purify the spiritual roots of a Fire cultivator, potentially granting them a sentient ’Phoenix Flame’ seed," Bai Xue clarified. "It creates a flame that burns hotter than magma and possesses the attribute of absolute purification. It would be... invaluable."

Wang Jian’s pulse raced in his chest. A blaze rivaling Mu Lianhua’s Azure Sky-Heart Flame? A fruit capable of lifting his fire root to divine heights? The avarice igniting within him burned fierce and all-encompassing. He shot a look at Mu Lianhua, positioned quietly near the mast, her presence restrained yet weighty. She gave a nod affirming Bai Xue’s evaluation.

In that instant, Wang Jian resolved. The Fragrance Melody Sect would reclaim their wood, without doubt. But not the entirety of it. He required a root. And through his Verdant Eternal Spring Essence, he wouldn’t wait a millennium for that tree to yield fruit.

"Prepare for combat," Wang Jian directed, his tone icing over. "We take the prize. We leave no witnesses."

Before them, emerging from the roiling dark waves like a sharp fang, loomed their goal. No mere outpost or ring of coral. It was the Crimson-Fang Sea Fortress.

A natural stone outcrop, carved hollow and reinforced with dark iron and mortar blended with blood. Soaring barriers encircled the core stronghold, and the whole isle was shielded by a glowing, see-through crimson dome—the Blood-River Guardian Formation. Even from afar, the odor of metal and decay lingered subtly yet clearly.

Mu Lianhua advanced, her veil waving. She sent out her spiritual sense, an unseen surge of force sweeping across the stronghold.

"The intelligence is correct," she stated evenly. "The formation is active and fully charged. Inside, there are roughly fifty disciples at the Foundation Establishment stage. There are ten Deacons at the Late Foundation Establishment stage. And in the central keep... one Initial Stage Core Formation cultivator. He is injured, likely from the initial theft, but he is recovering."

"Only one Core Formation expert?" Chen Ying inquired, her palm on the grip of her Gale-Severing Frostblade.

"From the information...They are waiting for two more Elders from the main sect," Wang Jian noted. "We have a window of perhaps two hours before this fortress becomes impregnable. We strike now."

He turned to Yue Lingshan. "Wife, can you breach that shell?"

Yue Lingshan examined the crimson dome, her eyes tracing the streams of spiritual energy. She drew forth a collection of formation flags designed for shattering water defenses. "It draws power from the ocean currents and corrupts them with blood essence. It is strong, but rigid. If I disrupt the water flow at the base... I can create a momentary gap."

"Do it," Wang Jian instructed. "Everyone else, on my mark. Once the barrier falls, unleash hell."

The vessel plunged forward, speeding toward the fortress.

As they neared, the warning bells of the Crimson-Fang Sea Fortress rang out—a low, sorrowful clamor resounding across the seas.

"Enemy attack!" a voice boosted by magic bellowed from the barriers. "Activate the Blood-Cannon Arrays!"

Shadowy ports emerged in the fortress barriers. Huge, pipe-shaped relics forged from sea-beast skeletons thrust outward. They pulsed with an ominous red glow.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Balls of dense, eating blood-energy launched toward the approaching vessel. They wailed through the sky like wailing spirits.

"Evasion!" Wang Jian yelled.

The vessel, guided by his intent, veered sharply leftward. One ball narrowly missed, striking the water and making it seethe and sizzle, spewing poisonous vapor. Another grazed the rear barrier, jolting the craft harshly.

"Now, Lingshan!"

Yue Lingshan took position at the front. She hurled her array flags into the waters below. They stabbed the surface like lances. She executed an intricate hand seal, her complexion ashen from focus.

"Azure-Tide Breaker Array, activate! Invert the flow!"

Far below the waves, the streams twisted wildly. The innate current supplying the Blood-River Guardian Formation reversed abruptly. The red dome encircling the fortress wavered, thrown off balance by the abrupt cutoff of its base.

For a split second, an opening formed in the canopy right over the primary yard.

"Go!" Wang Jian bellowed.

He vaulted from the vessel, trailed right away by Chen Ying, Liu Ruyan, and the three Shadow Flowers. Mu Lianhua came moments after, gliding through the sky with the poise of a falling deity.

They dropped through the breach in the dome as it started to seal.

They touched down in the fortress's chief yard, encircled by shocked Demonic Cultivators in crimson crab-shell armor.

"Intruders!" a Deacon howled, lifting a jagged blade. "Kill them! Flay their skins for the Blood Ancestor!"

The clash exploded without delay.

Wang Jian held nothing in reserve. He unsheathed his sword, the edge vibrating with the somber, weighty pull of his Stellar Qi. No testing strike. He charged at the closest cluster of disciples.

"Stellar Severing Slash!"

A sideways sweep of ebony starlight lashed forth. It weighed down, pulverizing. The demonic disciples erected their blood-shields, but the Stellar Qi bypassed the tainted nature of their guard. It shattered the shields and the plating beyond. Three disciples split in half at the midsection before completing their chants.

"Formation! Thousand-Leech Trap!" the chief Deacon cried.

Ten demonic disciples acted together, flinging out clutches of dark seeds. The seeds bloomed right in the air, morphing into squirming, airborne leeches as long as forearms. They mobbed toward Wang Jian, aiming to sap his blood.

"Filth," Liu Ruyan sneered. She moved up next to Wang Jian. Her palms flared with her Blood Spirit Flame.

Unlike ordinary blaze, her fire hunted. It detected the blood within the leeches.

"Burn!"

She released a rush of scarlet blaze. The leeches wailed—a shrill, cutting cry—as the fire devoured them, reducing to cinders in moments. The blaze pressed on; it leaped to the disciples who summoned the technique.

"My blood! It’s boiling!" one shrieked as Liu Ruyan’s fire evaded his outer wards and set his bloodstream alight.

On the opposite side, Chen Ying blurred into action. She faced off against three Deacons at once. Her Seven Absolutes Sword Art had advanced amid the wild gales of the Myriad Reefs. She didn’t merely cut; she controlled the wind force.

"Wind Prison," she murmured.

Unseen air streams pinned the Deacons still. They fought back, their actions slowed.

Chen Ying strode by them. Her sword flashed thrice.

Click. She returned her blade to its sheath.

Moments later, slender crimson streaks marked their throats, and their heads tumbled free.

The Shadow Flowers—Qiu Yun, Su Ning, and Bai Xue—slipped via the shadows, striking at the backup forces. Su Ning lobbed flasks of Neuro-Rot Toxin amid the foes, making guards crumple in fits. Bai Xue materialized behind wall archers, her knives slashing necks before she faded once more.

But the Iron-Blood Hall held strength. They were survivors of a savage realm.

"Summon the Blood-Golems!" the Lead Deacon thundered.

The yard's floor split. Enormous shapes of clotted blood and earth emerged. They stood ten feet high, numb to agony, and emitted a reek inducing vertigo. They advanced clumsily, flailing arms that could pulverize rock.

One Golem fixed on Wang Jian. It hurled a huge fist.

Wang Jian stood firm. He funneled his Stellar Qi into his own fist, his form gleaming with a shadowy, gem-hard shine.

"Star-Shattering Fist!"

He struck the Golem’s fist.

BOOM!

The collision unleashed a blast that swept debris from the yard. The Golem’s limb burst in a spray of carnage. Wang Jian whirled, his foot lashing in a strike that decapitated the Golem.

"Is this the best you have?!" Wang Jian mocked, his sight searching for the true danger.

Abruptly, a dreadful force pressed down from the core stronghold. The heavy iron gates burst open.

A shape drifted forth. An aged man, gaunt as bones, clad in robes seeming spun from living veins. His flesh bore the tint of a contusion, and his eyes resembled pits of dark slime.

This was Elder Xue, the Initial Stage Core Formation guardian of the fortress.

"Who dares?!" Elder Xue screeched, his cry like ripping parchment. "Who dares attack the Iron-Blood Hall?! You seek death! I will turn your bones into flutes and your blood into wine!"

He lifted his shriveled palms. The blood pooling from slain disciples lifted, coiling around him.

"Grand Art: Crimson Gore Sphere!"

A vast orb of packed, spinning blood materialized overhead. It exuded an eroding force twisting the atmosphere. He readied to hurl it, to eradicate the invaders in one blow.

The Foundation Establishment members in Wang Jian’s team sensed their blood slowing under the strain. Such was the power of a Core Formation master.

But Wang Jian merely grinned.

"Now, Elder Mu," he murmured softly.

From the vessel suspended overhead, Mu Lianhua descended.

She didn’t glide softly this round. She plummeted like a shooting star.

As she descended, she lifted the restraint on her cultivation.

BOOM.

The presence of a Late Stage Core Formation expert slammed into the fortress. It pressed like a tangible burden, vastly denser and cleaner than Elder Xue’s frail, wounded base.

The Crimson Gore Sphere over Elder Xue faltered right away, quivering midair. Elder Xue’s eyes widened in shock.

"Late... Late Stage?!" he gasped, his bravado dissolving into sheer dread. "How?! Why is a Late Stage Core Formation Realm expert here?!"

Mu Lianhua touched down amid the yard. The rock slabs cracked under her boots. She appeared majestic, enveloped in azure fires.

"You hold something that does not belong to you," Mu Lianhua declared, her words icy and resounding with verdict.

She lifted her hand. A dainty, ornate cauldron materialized in her grasp—the Crimson Lotus Cauldron. It rotated, expanding swiftly to building scale.

"Crush."

She flung the cauldron. It soared, leaving a trail of blue blaze.

Elder Xue wailed, striving to drive his Gore Sphere ahead to intercept.

The cauldron collided with the orb. The demonic blood spell hissed and vaporized at once against the sacred blaze of the Azure Sky-Heart Flame cloaking the cauldron.

The cauldron kept going. It plowed through the orb and crashed into Elder Xue.

A gruesome snap echoed. Elder Xue’s protective relics broke like brittle panes. He was driven into the stronghold wall, pinned beneath heaps of enchanted steel.

Quiet descended on the yard. The surviving Demonic disciples gaped, their spirits crushed. Their Elder, their idol, felled like an insect.

"Kill them all," Wang Jian ordered, shattering the hush. "Leave no one to send a message."

The massacre that ensued was systematic. With the Core Formation danger gone and spirits fractured, the leftover guards fell like lambs to predators. Wang Jian and his harem swept the fortress, purging chamber by chamber.

In under half an hour, the Crimson-Fang Sea Fortress lay as a crypt.

Wang Jian halted at the wrecked entry to the core stronghold, cleaning blood from his sword. He regarded Mu Lianhua, who had reclaimed her cauldron and resumed her calm, senior demeanor.

"Clean work," Wang Jian acknowledged with a nod. "Now, the prize."

They ventured into the stronghold. It twisted with rooms of torment and basins for blood forging, the odor overwhelming. They bypassed it, aiming directly for the sense-blocked vault below.

The vault entrance bore a intricate blood-seal.

"Lingshan," Wang Jian summoned.

Yue Lingshan rushed up. She assessed the seal briefly, then applied disruption talismans to the vital points. "It requires a specific bloodline to open... or we can just overload the logic circuits."

She triggered the talismans. The seal sputtered, flashed, and unlocked.

The thick stone portals grated apart.

Within, the atmosphere felt oddly fresh. At the vault's heart, atop a pedestal of dark obsidian, rested a chest of white Spirit-Jade, bound by suppression talismans.

Wang Jian drew near. He sensed the warmth emanating through the container. His Fire Spiritual Root thrummed in harmony.

He lifted the cover.

A radiant gold-red glow filled the space, banishing the gloom.

Inside rested a segment of wood, about three feet in length and as broad as a man's leg. It resembled no lifeless branch; it gleamed like congealed daylight. The rind mimicked plumage, and buried in the fibers, fiery liquid coursed like resin.

The Nirvana Phoenix Fire Wood.

"It is beautiful," Liu Ruyan breathed, her inner alchemist quivering.

Wang Jian extended a hand and brushed it. A soothing heat climbed his limb, cleansing his Qi, accelerating his Stellar energy's whirl.

"It is real," Wang Jian verified. "And it is potent."

He addressed the others. "Guard the door."

He extracted the log from the chest. He called upon his Stellar Qi, molding it into a slender, razor-edged cutter.

"We take our fee," he stated.

He inspected the log closely. At its bottom, a chunk grew gnarled and compact—the trace of the root network. It held the focused spark of vitality.

With exacting care, Wang Jian cut into the wood. The material pushed back, hard as godly alloy, but Wang Jian’s Qi persisted unyieldingly.

Crack.

He detached a six-inch portion from the end. It seemed minor next to the primary log, yet it throbbed with its own rhythm.

Wang Jian swiftly stored the root piece in his spatial ring, shifting it straight to the spirit earth of his mobile garden. He could nearly hear his Verdant Eternal Spring Essence rejoicing.

He returned the main log to the jade chest. It retained its grandeur, a treasure beyond price, root or no.

"Perfect," Wang Jian remarked, sealing the lid. "The Fragrance Melody Sect gets their weapon material. We get our future."