Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist Chapter 972: Stepping Into The Core Formation Realm

The deepest secret chamber of the Cloud-Peak Pavilion was cloaked in an oppressive silence, a palpable weight that bore down on the ears. This sanctuary, carved from the very heart of the mountain’s stone, had its defenses bolstered by numerous isolation arrays, effectively severing it from the outside world. The atmosphere within was dense, almost syrupy, saturated with a concentration of spiritual Qi so potent it could obliterate an ordinary mortal. Visible currents of azure and white swirled about, drawn from miles away by the high-grade Spirit-Gathering Array meticulously established by Yue Lingshan.

Wang Jian presided over this tempest of energy, seated at its very epicenter.

Stripped bare, his physique was akin to a warrior’s statue, etched with scars that now served as mere lines on bronzed skin humming with a latent, formidable vitality. His breathing was a slow, deliberate rhythm, each inhale drawing the thick Qi into his lungs, each exhale expelling a grey mist of impurities. He was a vessel nearing its capacity, a dam barely containing a catastrophic deluge.

Before him, suspended by an unseen force, rested a small coffer fashioned from thousand-year-old Cold-Jade. The lid was ajar, revealing a single pill nestled within.

The Nine-Pattern Soul-Binding Core Pill.

It stood as a pinnacle of alchemical achievement, a creation by Mu Lianhua, a Grandmaster of the Peak Core Formation stage, who had infused her very essence and channeled the entirety of the sect’s resources into its singular existence. This pill transcended mere medicine; it was a solidified miracle. A phantom heartbeat emanated from it, its surface swirling with a mist of violet and gold that formed intricate, ever-shifting patterns—the hallmark nine patterns of supreme quality. The spiritual pressure emanating from this diminutive sphere was sufficient to warp the surrounding air, conjuring miniature spatial distortions.

’The path to ascension,’ Wang Jian mused, the violet luminescence reflected in his eyes. ’Or perhaps, the gateway to damnation. My crossing begins now.’

He wavered not a moment. He had dedicated the preceding month to rigorous meditation, consolidating his cultivation, purifying the immense surge of Primordial Yin gathered from Hua Ling, and fortifying his body through the Stellar Demonic Meridian Scripture. His foundation was beyond mere solidity; it was an impregnable fortress.

Extending a hand, his fingers grazed the pill’s icy aura. He retrieved it and brought it to his lips.

He delayed its ingestion for a fleeting instant, allowing the bitter notes of the herbs and the sweet essence of spirit to register on his tongue. Then, he swallowed.

It did not dissipate as a typical pill would. It detonated.

BOOM.

A contained explosion resounded within his physical form. The sensation was akin to having ingested a collapsing star. The pill instantly vaporized, transforming into a rampant torrent of violet-gold energy that thundered down his esophagus and collided forcefully with his dantian.

"Guh!" Wang Jian choked out, his body spasming uncontrollably. Every sinew tightened, becoming as rigid as tempered steel.

The agony was instantaneous and absolute. It was not the sharp bite of a wound, but the searing, all-consuming torment of disintegration. The medicinal energy was overwhelmingly potent, ferociously untamed. It sought to expand, threatening to shatter his meridians and erupt outwards through his pores.

’Yield!’ Wang Jian commanded internally, his will exerting a vice-like grip upon the chaotic energy.

His Foundation Establishment spiritual sea, a vast expanse of liquid stellar energy, began to churn violently. The violet-gold onslaught crashed into his silver-black sea, spawning tidal waves of power that battered against the confines of his dantian.

He initiated the Stellar Demonic Meridian Scripture.

The celestial patterns imprinted upon his soul ignited. His meridians, now expanded and fortified beyond those of any ordinary cultivator, blazed with a dark, consuming luminescence. They functioned as conduits, channeling the deluge, forcefully directing the rampant medicinal energy into a spiraling vortex at his dantian’s core.

Yet, the heat was excruciating. The Yang fire inherent in the pill was designed to forge a Core, and fire, by its nature, burns. His blood began to boil, turning his skin a deep crimson. Vapor hissed from his pores. He experienced the sensation of being roasted from within.

’Too intense,’ he discerned, a sliver of frigid clarity piercing the inferno raging within his mind. ’Without the Yin, I would be reduced to ashes.’

He accessed the reserve he had meticulously preserved. Tucked deep within his foundation, shielded by layers of his own Qi, lay the Primordial Yin of the Young Sect Mistress. It was an energy of profound coolness and purity, akin to moonlight.

He released it.

The Yin energy surged forth, resembling a glacial flood breaking through a dam. It met the Yang fire from the pill in the crucible of his dantian.

HISSSSSS.

The confluence of Yin and Yang did not result in an explosion, but rather a profound fusion. The extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, neutralized their volatile properties, yielding a pure, pliable essence of creation.

The pain persisted, but its nature transformed. It shifted from the agony of burning to the crushing pressure of immense force.

"Condense!" Wang Jian decreed, his hands forming the incantation for the Stellar Core.

The vortex within his dantian intensified its spin, the liquid-like Qi gradually thickening. It transmuted into a gel, then a sludge, and ultimately began to solidify. The immense quantity of Qi he possessed—sufficient for ten ordinary cultivators—was being compressed into a minuscule space, no larger than a pigeon's egg.

Concurrently, the medicinal essence of the pill permeated his flesh and bones. His body cultivation technique, the Stellar Body Tempering Art, resonated with the impending breakthrough.

CRACK.

His ribs fractured. Then his femur. Then his spine.

Wang Jian threw his head back, a silent scream clawing at his throat. His bones shattered and dissolved under the immense pressure, only to reform instantaneously. The marrow within them underwent a purging, replaced by a denser, heavier, and darker substance. His blood transformed into a rich, deep crimson, saturated with vitality, flowing like liquid metal through his veins.

His skin sloughed off a layer of dead cells, revealing new skin underneath that possessed the luster of polished dark jade. He was transcending humanity—becoming a Stellar Demon.

Within his dantian, the process reached its precipice. The spiraling vortex collapsed inward.

ZMMMMM.

A high-pitched hum vibrated through his soul.

The light within his dantian vanished, consumed by an encroaching singularity.

For an instant, there was nothing. An absolute void.

Then, a pulse.

Thump.

A sphere materialized at the center of his inner world. It was not the golden, radiant core of a righteous cultivator. Instead, it was a sphere of absolute, light-absorbing blackness. Yet, upon its surface, countless specks of brilliant white light glittered like scattered diamonds—a miniature night sky, a galaxy compressed into a tangible object.

The Stellar Demonic Core.

BOOM!

A shockwave of spiritual pressure erupted from his body, impacting the walls of the secret chamber. The isolation arrays flared violently in response. The stone floor beneath him cracked, fissures spreading like spiderwebs from his knees. The air within the room was instantly displaced, pushed away by the sheer density of his newly formed aura.

Wang Jian opened his eyes.

The darkness of the room seemed to recede. His irises had transformed; they were no longer merely dark, but abyssal, with faint, rotating pinpricks of starlight visible in their depths.

He inhaled. The sound was akin to a bellows drawing air into a massive furnace.

"Core Formation," he whispered, his voice resonating with a metallic timbre. "Early Stage."

He clenched his fist. The air around it popped. He did not merely feel stronger; he felt like an entirely different species. The gulf separating Foundation Establishment and Core Formation was a vast chasm, a leap from the mortal realm to transcendence.

But his transformation was not yet complete.

He gazed down at his hands. His skin emanated a faint, metallic sheen. His physical body had also broken its shackles. His flesh was now comparable to that of a demonic beast at the Early Core Formation realm. He could likely seize a flying sword with his bare hands and shatter it.

'My spiritual energy… it is immense,' Wang Jian analyzed internally. 'A typical Core Formation cultivator possesses a pool. I have a lake. And my body… it is an impenetrable fortress.'

He stood up. The movement was effortless, fluid. He felt simultaneously light and incredibly weighty.

'With this power,' he calculated, a cold grin spreading across his face, 'I could crush a Middle Stage Core Formation expert with sheer might alone. A Late Stage expert… I might not emerge victorious, but they certainly cannot kill me. I am no longer prey in this ocean. I am the shark.'

He stretched, his joints emitting the sound of cracking stones. Then, hunger struck—a sudden, cavernous emptiness gnawed at his stomach. The breakthrough had consumed nearly all his reserves. He needed to replenish. Food was necessary, yes, but more crucially, he required Yin energy to stabilize his volatile new Core.

However, before he could depart to feed, a torrent of information flooded his mind.

The Stellar Demonic Meridian Scripture reacted to the formation of his Core. The ancient text inscribed upon his soul turned a new page.

Stage Five: Unlocked.

Divine Ability: Stellar Demonic Clones.

Wang Jian froze, his eyes widening as the technique imprinted itself upon his memory. This was the very skill he had been anticipating—the signature move of the Stellar Demon.

"Shadows into substance," he muttered, the incantation rising unbidden to his lips. "Starlight into flesh."

He channeled his newly formed Stellar Qi. It didn't flow; it surged like a torrential river. He directed it not outward, but downward, into the shadow cast by his own body by the glowing moss on the walls.

The shadow writhed. It bubbled and churned, defying the natural laws of physics.

"Rise."

The shadow detached itself from the floor. It peeled upward, gaining three dimensions, acquiring color, accumulating mass.

In mere seconds, a figure stood before him.

It was Wang Jian. His visage, his bare form, his look of arrogant curiosity were all present. Yet, its eyes were entirely black, and its skin possessed a faint, grey, spectral hue. A chilling, stellar energy emanated from it.

"Curious," Wang Jian remarked.

The duplicate mirrored his words, "Curious," its voice an exact replication.

He conjured another. Then yet another.

Three duplicates now stood before him. They were tangible. They possessed substance. He extended his fist and struck the nearest duplicate squarely in the chest.

THUD.

The impact felt akin to hitting a sack filled with sand. The duplicate remained utterly unmoved.

'Seventy percent,' Wang Jian assessed. 'They wield seventy percent of my fighting prowess. They can execute my martial techniques. They can wield my sword intent.'

He closed his eyes and sent a mental directive. Attack.

The three duplicates moved with immediate alacrity. Their synchronization was impeccable, stemming from their shared consciousness – his own. They advanced in a triangular formation, creating an inescapable kill zone.

Wang Jian's eyes snapped open. His focus settled on the duplicate farthest from him.

Displacement.

The surroundings flickered for a brief instant.

Abruptly, he stood in the location the duplicate had occupied, while the duplicate now stood at the center where he had been.

"Teleportation," he breathed, a jolt of exhilarating power coursing through him. "Instantaneous positional exchange with any shadow clone within range. In combat... this is utterly without peer."

He could assault, then swap positions, then strike from behind, only to swap again. He could evade a killing blow by exchanging places with a clone, allowing the shadow to absorb the impact. He could overwhelm an adversary with sheer numbers, or engineer an escape from encirclement by dispatching a clone through an opening and then swapping to its position.

However, he could sense the depletion. The clones were insatiable. They siphoned his Core Qi simply to maintain their existence. Sustaining three of them in active combat would exhaust him within an hour.

"Dispel," he commanded.

The three figures dissolved, melting into pools of ink-black shadow that flowed back into his feet. A rush of revitalized energy coursed through him.

"Perfect," Wang Jian chuckled, the sound resonating with his newfound strength. He approached a wall of ice, conjured by a mere thought, and gazed at his reflection.

He appeared younger, his features more refined. His skin was immaculate, his lines sharper. He resembled a dark deity sculpted from pure jade.

"I am an army of one," he murmured to his reflection.

He subtly adjusted his aura. Employing the Void-Concealment Technique innate to his scripture, he masked the formidable density of his Stellar Core. He reduced the outward pressure until he presented as a cultivator of standard, albeit potent, Early Stage Core Formation cultivation. There was no imperative to reveal all his capabilities at this juncture.

"Now," he mused, turning towards the heavy stone portal of his seclusion chamber. "My power is consolidated. My foundation is established. But a King requires a Queen... and an army."

His thoughts turned to the women awaiting him beyond the chamber. His consorts. His paramours. Their ascension was necessary. He could not command dominion over the seas with a harem composed of mere Foundation Establishment weaklings.

He strode to the door. Placing his hand upon the activation mechanism.

RUMBLE.

The massive stone door grated open, dislodging a cascade of dust from the ceiling.

Illumination from the corridor streamed into the chamber.

Waiting there, their steps agitated, were two figures.

Yue Lingshan and Hua Ling.

They turned as the door swung inward.

As Wang Jian emerged, now clad in a fresh black robe procured from his spatial ring, the pressure he exuded – even when suppressed – caused them both to gasp.

"Husband!" Yue Lingshan exclaimed, moving swiftly towards him. She halted a pace away, her eyes wide as she took in his transformed appearance. The sheer immensity of his aura, like standing at the precipice of an oceanic cliff, was immediately apparent. "You... you succeeded?"

"Indeed, I have," Wang Jian replied with a smile, opening his arms.

Lingshan launched herself into his embrace. "Core Formation! You are a Grandmaster now!"

Hua Ling remained at a distance, her hands clasped over her heart, her gaze filled with adoration. To her, he appeared as a celestial being descending from the heavens. "Young Master... your presence... it is truly overwhelming."

Wang Jian drew Lingshan nearer, planting a kiss upon the crown of her head, then extended an arm to beckon Hua Ling. The girl hurried to his side, encircling his waist with her arms.

"I have achieved ascension," Wang Jian declared, his voice deep and resonant. "The path forward is clear. Yet, the summit is a solitary place. I cannot tread it alone."

He looked down at them. "Now, it is your turn. Before you commence your own period of seclusion, I shall assist you in establishing your foundation. I will provide the impetus required to guarantee your success."

Lingshan tilted her head, a flicker of confusion in her eyes. "Assist us? But we possess the pills..."

"Pills are inert substances," Wang Jian stated. "My Qi is vibrant and alive. My current Yang essence... it is exceptionally potent. It still retains dormant traces of the heavenly tribulation energy I assimilated. If I impart this to you now... it will expand your meridians and shatter your cultivation bottlenecks."

With a smirk, he glanced between the two women. "Come. To the master bedroom. We have tasks to attend to."

Hua Ling's face turned a deep crimson, yet her eyes gleamed with anticipation. Lingshan nodded, grasping the importance of Qi transfer for cultivation, though a blush crept onto her cheeks at the thought of undertaking it together with the new concubine.

They proceeded to the master bedroom within the Cloud-Peak Pavilion. The sun began its descent, bathing the room in a warm, golden light.

Wang Jian wasted no time, disrobing them both as he admired their figures. Lingshan presented a mature, curvy form, a body both familiar and cherished. Hua Ling, on the other hand, was youthful and firm, her body still radiating the freshness of her recent virginity.

He settled into a cross-legged position on the bed. "Sit with me. Form a circle."

They complied without hesitation.

"Join your palms with mine," he instructed.

Their hands met his.

Wang Jian initiated his technique. This time, he was not taking; he was giving. He funneled his refined and tempered Stellar Qi into their bodies.

"Ah!" Lingshan gasped as a torrent of power surged through her. It was potent and assertive, yet perfectly controlled. The energy coursed through her meridians, eradicating impurities that years of cultivation had failed to touch. The barrier to the Core Formation realm – a formidable obstacle she had been attempting to breach for ages – suddenly showed signs of fracturing.

"Concentrate, Lingshan," Wang Jian urged softly. "Guide the flow to your Dantian."

His attention then shifted to Hua Ling. She was the weaker of the two, only at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment. The sheer volume of energy he was imparting was far too much for her to manage independently.

"Ling'er, come here," he said, breaking the hand seal.

He drew her onto his lap.

"I must connect the lower meridian," he stated, the explanation smooth and practiced.

He entered her.

Hua Ling cried out, a sound not of pain, but of astonishment at the overwhelming intensity. His member radiated a heat akin to a branding iron.

"Circulate your technique!" Wang Jian commanded.

He began to thrust, each movement acting as a pulse of pure energy. He was infusing her with his power, engaged not merely in intercourse but in forcefully expanding her capacity.

"It's... too much!" Hua Ling whimpered, clutching him tightly. "I feel like I'm going to explode!"

"You won't," Wang Jian assured her. "Hold it. Compress it."

He glanced at Lingshan, who was meditating nearby, beads of sweat forming on her brow. "Lingshan, assist her. Guide her Qi flow."

Lingshan opened her eyes. She observed her husband with the concubine, yet the atmosphere was charged with spiritual energy, far more than mere carnal desire. She extended her hand, placing it on Hua Ling's back, adding her own wood-attribute Qi to aid in stabilizing the younger woman.

Under their combined efforts, Hua Ling's aura surged dramatically.

CRACK.

A distinct sound echoed from within her body.

"Ahhhhh!" Hua Ling screamed, arching her back as her inner meridians constricted around Wang Jian.

A shockwave of potent energy erupted from her.

Late Stage Foundation Establishment.

She had achieved a breakthrough. In mere moments. What would have demanded years of dedicated meditation had been accomplished by Wang Jian through a single session of dual cultivation.

She slumped against him, breathing heavily, tears of pure joy tracing paths down her face. "I... I broke through..."

"You did," Wang Jian said with a smile, planting a kiss on her damp forehead. "My seed was the catalyst."

He then turned his attention to Lingshan. "Your turn, Wife."

He facilitated the switch, drawing Lingshan onto his lap.

The session continued