Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist Chapter 961: Smacking Hua Yimei

The chilly, misty atmosphere within the hidden cave abruptly erupted into an intense, scorching blaze. After dominating the Fragrance Melody Sect Leader's physique completely across three exhausting days and nights of unending dominance, Wang Jian altered the pattern of his spiritual energy. He remained embedded. Rather, he pressed his form tightly to hers and inwardly bellowed, inverting the circulation of the Stellar Demonic Meridian Scripture.

Rather than absorbing her Yin essence to enhance his own ecstasy and endurance as before, he unleashed the barriers of his dantian. A vast, dense surge of purified, mighty energy—combining his Stellar Qi with the enduring sacred force from the Golden-Flame Essence Fruit ingested months earlier—burst forth from him. It flooded into Hua Yimei’s womb like a stream of molten gold, racing through her drained meridians with the power of a bursting dam.

Hua Yimei’s form bowed sharply away from the rock surface, her features twisted in a wordless cry. Her gaze snapped wide, shining with a fearsome golden radiance. The power overwhelmed her, arriving too swiftly, yet it was precisely the vital force her ruined body craved. The golden glow permeated her vessels, gleaming visibly beneath her sheer, perspiration-drenched skin.

Wherever the radiance reached, wonders unfolded. Her fractured ribs mended with sharp snaps of bone realigning. The pathways torn by the Crimson Shark’s bone anchor and worsened by the aphrodisiac cleansing reconnected and expanded, bolstered by the domineering solar essence of Wang Jian’s Qi. The marks on her smooth skin vanished, revealing a sheen reminiscent of flawless jade.

Yet the power went beyond mere restoration. It rushed into her dantian, slamming against the obstacle that had trapped her at the Early Stage of the Core Formation Realm for ten years. That hindrance, already eroded by her long buildup, had no defense against the pure, superior fuel Wang Jian channeled into her.

CRACK.

A noise resembling shattering ice resounded inside her spirit.

The obstacle broke apart.

BOOM!

A tangible blast of spiritual force erupted from her frame, toppling the rock lanterns in the cavern and causing debris to cascade from above. The cavern's air grew heavy at once as a whirl of surrounding Qi swirled into her to anchor the advancement.

Hua Yimei drew in a sharp breath, her body slumping back to the slab, her bosom rising and falling rapidly. She sensed... extraordinary vitality. The agony had vanished. Her spiritual awareness had doubled. Her core rotated with an energy she hadn't known in ages. She had advanced to the Middle Stage of the Core Formation Realm.

She rested there, breathing heavily, the golden shimmer gradually dimming from her skin. Her thoughts sharpened, the haze of torment and fatigue dispersing. And with sharpness came recollection.

She recalled the shame. The suffering. The violation. She recalled the individual who had imposed this under the pretense of urgency.

She twisted her neck. Wang Jian stood several paces distant, fastening his pants, regarding her with a serene, somewhat indifferent look. He appeared exposed. He was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while she... she now held the might of a Middle Stage Core Formation master.

A lethal, blazing fury detonated within her core.

"I will kill you!" Hua Yimei screamed, rising up. Her presence surged, fierce and untamed. "Wang Jian! You beast! You defiled me!"

She lifted her arm. The cavern's air solidified into a keen edge of wind, vibrating with her elevated realm's strength. She charged at him, slashing her limb to cleave his head from his neck.

Wang Jian made no evasion. He drew no blade. He showed no dread.

He merely advanced, entering her reach before she could complete the strike, and lashed out with his palm.

SMACK.

His hand struck firmly against her rounded, exposed rear. The echo rang like a lash in the confined area.

Hua Yimei halted in her assault. The wind edge in her grasp scattered into a gentle gust. Her legs weakened like liquid. A spark of lightning raced along her back, and to her utter dismay, a disloyal, moist warmth spread through her intimate areas.

Her physique, trained unceasingly for three days and nights to link his contact and his correction with overwhelming feeling, turned against her. The reflex he had etched into her being overpowered her rational thoughts.

She dropped to her knees, inhaling sharply, gripping her midsection. "Ah...!"

Abruptly, her Qi turned chaotic. The golden force Wang Jian had poured into her didn't remain passive; it flared. A piercing, searing ache, akin to countless heated pins, pierced her dantian and sealed her meridians.

"What... what did you do to me?" she wheezed, gazing up at him with broad, frightened eyes. The power she had just sensed had vanished, barricaded by waves of torment.

Wang Jian loomed above her, straightening his garments, resembling a deity assessing a wrongdoer.

"I told you, Sect Leader," he stated, his tone even and lacking compassion. "My Stellar Yang Qi is mighty. It is not merely energy; it is a seed. It has become an essential element of your foundation."

He knelt low, aligning his features with hers.

"Your breakthrough is artificial," he deceived, his stare fixing hers with mesmerizing force. "It depends on my energy to maintain it. The stability of your new realm rests on my power, not yours. Without a monthly dose of my essence... the framework will crumble."

Hua Yimei’s complexion paled. "Collapse?"

"Your meridians will fracture," Wang Jian declared icily. "Your dantian will burst inward. You won’t merely revert to the Early Stage; you will forfeit your cultivation completely. You will turn into a disabled person. A mortal female with beauty to overthrow empires."

He allowed that to penetrate.

"And if you are disabled... who guards Hua Ling? Who shields the Fragrance Melody Sect? The Crimson Shark will come back. And without you... you will both turn into toys for the demonic cultivators. Is that what you desire?"

The trap was flawless. Hua Yimei gazed at him, the killing intent in her eyes supplanted by a growing, dreadful awareness. She couldn’t slay him. She couldn’t even wound him. Her existence, her strength, her child’s protection... everything hinged on his ’infusion.’

"You... you monster," she murmured, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Monster?" Wang Jian sneered. He extended his arm and seized her hair, yanking her visage toward his. "You sought to murder your rescuer? After I labored intensely for three days to mend you? After I drained myself to grant you this strength?"

He whirled her roughly, compelling her to confront the wall, and landed another sharp, biting slap on her bare rear.

SMACK.

"Ah!" Hua Yimei cried out, tears of disgrace welling in her eyes. She was a Sect Leader, a figure of prestige and honor. No one had ever handled her thus. No one had ever ventured to.

"Your daughter’s protection relies on my temper and your obedience, Yimei," Wang Jian uttered coldly.

As he declared it, his palms shifted. He reached forward and grasped her full, weighty breasts. He caressed them with ownership, kneading the yielding tissue, his thumbs circling her peaks. He displayed zero concern for her greater cultivation. He handled her form as belongings he had acquired and compensated for.

Hua Yimei quivered. Every urge demanded she hurl him aside, reduce him to cinders. But the vision of Hua Ling confined on that isle, and the horrifying risk of turning disabled, compelled her to still. She needed to bear it. She needed to yield.

"Testing the leash," Wang Jian breathed into her ear. "Say it. Thank me."

She remained quiet, gnawing her lip until blood appeared, her frame shuddering with restrained fury and mortification.

SMACK.

He struck her once more, with greater force this time, imprinting a crimson mark on her pale skin.

"I said, thank me."

She yielded. The truth of her plight pulverized her arrogance to nothing.

"Thank... thank you..." she breathed, her words scarcely heard. "Thank you... Deacon Wang."

"Wrong," he snapped, twisting her peak sharply. "In private, you call me Master."

Hua Yimei clamped her eyes closed, scalding tears escaping. She capitulated.

"Thank you... Master."

Wang Jian grinned. He let her go, retreating a step.

"Good. Now, dress yourself. We can’t have the Sect Leader appearing like a mere harlot, can we?"

He tossed a bundle of clean robes he had readied—graceful, high-necked attire that concealed the welts and teeth marks—onto the rock surface.

Hua Yimei lunged to seize them. She clothed herself in hurried frenzy, her fingers trembling, yearning to bury her disgrace, yearning to shield the form that had failed her. She pleaded with Wang Jian through her gaze to guard this mystery, to never allow others to discover her transformation.

Once fully attired and her expression reformed into a veil of frosty poise, Wang Jian faced the cavern's dim corner.

"Teacher?" he summoned gently. "Teacher, are you awake?"

In the gloom, Mu Lianhua moved. She moaned, pretending profound drowsiness as she rose, massaging her forehead.

"Sect Leader? Jian?" Mu Lianhua blinked, glancing between them with simulated bewilderment. "What... what happened? How long was I out?"

Hua Yimei recoiled. She regarded Mu Lianhua, her companion, the lady she admired. The embarrassment scorched her insides. She couldn’t reveal it. She couldn’t permit anyone to learn.

"Nothing... Sister Mu," Hua Yimei replied, her tone fragile. She straightened her neckline, concealing a passion mark on her throat. "Deacon Wang... he healed me. He employed a hidden method to steady my wounds."

Wang Jian beamed warmly at Mu Lianhua, embodying a devoted pupil. "The Sect Leader achieved a breakthrough, Teacher. It was... overwhelming. The power outburst must have held you in your recovery daze. It appears your wounds kept you unconscious for three days."

"Three days?" Mu Lianhua exclaimed, rising and brushing her garments. "The Thundering Amber Isle! We must depart!"

"Have you regained your strength, Teacher?" Wang Jian inquired, worry marking his features.

"I have," Mu Lianhua affirmed, her gaze sparking with a chill, feigned resolve. "My essence is firm. And I vow, Jian, Sect Leader... this time I won’t fall into a snare. I will battle at full capacity right away. Those demonic cultivators will perish in flames."

"Good," Wang Jian replied steadily. He faced the cave's exit. "Ready yourself, Sect Leader. We have Junior Sister Ling’er to rescue."

Hua Yimei inclined her head rigidly. She trailed Wang Jian from the cave. To onlookers, she strode with a Sect Leader's grace. But Wang Jian grasped the reality. She followed a pace behind, her chin dipped, her spirit seething with loathing yet her will bound by terror. She belonged to him.

The journey back to Thundering Amber Isle passed quickly. The mood on the tiny stone outcrop had evolved from despair to looming catastrophe.

For three days, Old Monster Crimson Shark and his swarm of demonic cultivators had hammered the Phoenix-Fire Defensive Array. The shield wavered, fissures forming in the energy barrier. Within the cavern, Hua Ling and the remaining disciples clustered, their spiritual energy almost depleted from upholding the barrier.

"It’s over," a disciple wept. "The shield is failing."

"Hold on!" Hua Ling urged, despite her own limbs quaking. "My mother... she will come."

Outside, the Crimson Shark chuckled, hoisting his enormous bone anchor. "One final hit, lads! Shatter the shell and devour the inside!"

He amassed his Qi for a decisive, devastating assault.

Suddenly, a shrill tone sliced through the storm's roar.

ZING!

A burst of golden sound force, formed as a rising phoenix, erupted from the clouds. It smashed the trailing guards of the shark riders, dissolving them immediately.

Crimson Shark whirled, his eyes bulging. "What?!"

Three silhouettes descended from above. Wang Jian, Mu Lianhua, and Sect Leader Hua Yimei.

But this wasn’t the wounded, escaping Hua Yimei of three days past.

Hua Yimei hovered in the sky, her robes fluttering. Her presence loomed vast, steady, and crushing. The weight of a Middle-Stage Core Formation cultivator emanated from her like a tidal wave.

"You dare try to harm my daughter?!" Hua Yimei bellowed, pouring all her suffering, her disgrace, and her wrath into her Zither.

She strummed the cords with ferocity that split her fingertips.

"Nine-Phoenix Requiem: World of Crying Flames!"

The vibrations took shape as nine enormous firebirds. They dove, wailing. The sea churned. The shark beasts of the demonic cultivators burst as the sound pulses melted their innards.

Dozens of Foundation Establishment deacons burned up in moments. The immense force of a Middle-Stage authority, brandishing a tool amplified by Phoenix Fire Wood, wrought devastation.

"Middle Stage?!" Crimson Shark choked, retreating. "Impossible! She was dying three days ago!"

Before he could regroup, Mu Lianhua struck.

"No traps this time," she uttered coldly.

She summoned no cauldron. She parted her lips and breathed out.

A jet of blue and gold fire—the Azure Sky Heart Phoenix Flame—emerged. It swelled into a fiery ocean blanketing the heavens.

"Burn."

The blaze fell. It didn’t merely scorch; it cleansed. The blood techniques of the demonic cultivators evaporated. The water bonds and toxin arrays Su Ning had placed (and now dissolved from afar) were erased.

The Blood-Maw Megalodon, Crimson Shark’s treasured creature, bellowed as the blue fire grazed its hide. It convulsed, its healing powers stopped by the blaze's divine quality.

Crimson Shark grasped the peril at once. He confronted an enhanced Sect Leader and an enigmatic Alchemist whose fires countered his very being.

"Retreat!" he thundered, deserting his followers instantly. He pierced his tongue, spurting blood on a charm. "Blood-Flash Escape!"

He morphed into a scarlet beam, streaking toward the edge of sight.

"Coward!" Hua Yimei yelled. She twanged one last cord. A pinpoint spear of sound pursued him.

It hit the escaping crimson gleam. A wail rang from afar, and blood showered the waves, yet the Old Monster fled, though severely injured.

With their chief vanished and their elites slain, the demonic throng broke apart. They dispersed into the abyss, escaping the fury of the two females.

On the isle, the barrier shimmered and vanished as Chen Ying released it.

Hua Ling staggered from the cavern, squinting in the abrupt brightness. She beheld the destruction. She beheld the airborne forms.

"Mother!" she sobbed, her tone fracturing.

Hua Yimei alighted. She touched down on the shore and dashed to her child.

"Ling’er!"

They met in a desperate hug. Hua Yimei clutched her daughter firmly, pressing her face into Hua Ling’s locks, sobbing freely. She embraced her, scanning for harm, her spirit fracturing and mending simultaneously. She had preserved her. The cost had been her physique, her honor, and her liberty... but she had preserved her.

Wang Jian touched down nearby. He waited quietly, observing the reunion. His expression showed soft ease.

Hua Ling eased back from her mother a bit, peering past Hua Yimei’s shoulder. She spotted Wang Jian. Her eyes gleamed with pure devotion. She silently formed the words, ’Thank you.’

Hua Yimei noticed her daughter’s look. She tensed. Gradually, in dread, she rotated her head toward Wang Jian.

She encountered his gaze.

Wang Jian smirked. It was a subtle, nearly unseen twist of his mouth, but to Hua Yimei, it resounded louder than a yell. It evoked the cave. The slaps. The ’Master’.

She shook fiercely, a coldness piercing her bones despite her fresh might.

"Let us go home," Hua Yimei murmured, her voice empty.

The voyage to the Fragrance Melody Sect marked a victory. The whole sect gathered to greet them. Blossoms showered from the air. Melodies sounded.

"Long live the Sect Leader! Long live Elder Mu! Long live Deacon Wang!"

A lavish feast occurred that evening. The sect rejoiced in the Sect Leader’s astonishing advance to the Middle Stage and the secure return of the Young Mistress. Spirits poured abundantly.

Wang Jian occupied the elevated table, bordered by Yue Lingshan and Mu Lianhua. He received cheers, acted the modest champion, and clasped his spouse’s hand.

But his gaze locked on the seat of power.

Hua Yimei occupied it, rigid and ashen under her cosmetics. She grinned as needed, but her eyes held shadows. She still sensed the ghostly feel of his palms on her frame. She could sense the ’Stellar Yang Qi’ throbbing within, a countdown that tethered her to him.

That night later, Wang Jian positioned himself on the Cloud-Peak Pavilion’s veranda. The revelry’s noises faded.

He rotated a goblet of wine, staring at the shadowed Orchid Palace.

He had triumphed. He had eliminated the threats. He had gained the child’s allegiance. And he had shattered the parent, binding her with a falsehood she feared to challenge.

’The daughter’s heart is mine,’ he pondered, sipping. ’The mother’s body is mine.’

He grinned into the night.

"The flower is plucked," he breathed. "Now, to savor the scent eternally."