Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist Chapter 978: Chen Ying And Hua Yimei’s Victory
Previously on Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist...
At the upper landing's eastern corridor, opposing extremes converged. The Ice Heart Pavilion's immaculate, frost-laden walls dripped meltwater, which instantly transformed into blinding steam clouds.
Hua Yimei suspended herself half a foot above the wooden floor, her opulent purple and gold ceremonial robes swirling as if caught in a phantom breeze. Her usually calm, discerning brown eyes now held a fearsome, molten gold glare. Gone was the cautious, politically astute Sect Leader of a fading faction; a fully unleashed predator stood there, her Middle-Stage Core Formation Realm cultivation bearing down on the corridor like an oppressive force.
Facing her, Elder Leng's expression was grave. The scar on her chin twitched as she clenched her jaw, her knuckles growing white gripping the hilt of her sapphire crystal sword. Elder Leng, residing only in the Early-Stage of the Core Formation Realm, found herself in a dire situation. In the brutal cultivation world hierarchy, the gulf between Early and Middle stages was as vast as a river compared to an ocean, a disparity in spiritual capacity and density rarely overcome by sheer technique alone.
‘She is too powerful,’ Elder Leng’s heart hammered against her ribs. ‘Her aura… it’s not the gentle, alluring Qi of the Fragrance Melody Sect. It's savage. Utter destruction. How did Hua Yimei achieve such a breakthrough?’
However, Elder Leng, a seasoned member of the Ice Heart Palace, a woman who had spent a century honing her martial skills by suppressing her emotions, would not yield easily.
With a sharp, guttural cry, Elder Leng bit her tongue, releasing a drop of blood essence to forcibly invigorate her meridians. Her hands moved in a rapid sequence of seals, becoming a blur.
"Art of the Frozen Heart: Thousand Icicle Storm!"
The corridor’s temperature plummeted drastically. The airborne vapor instantly crystallized, forming hundreds, then thousands, of needle-sharp projectiles. They hung suspended for a fleeting moment, glinting with a deadly pale blue light, before hurtling towards Hua Yimei with the velocity of arrows. The sheer volume of the assault engulfed the narrow hallway's full width, leaving no physical space for evasion.
Hua Yimei made no attempt to dodge. Supreme, arrogant disdain flickered across her beautiful features.
She lifted her hands, and a blinding flash emanated from her spatial ring as her Lifebound Weapon Magic Treasure materialized before her.
It was the Nine-String Phoenix Zither.
Crafted entirely from a single, enormous branch of thousand-year-old Phoenix Fire Wood, a gift from Wang Jian, the instrument was a masterpiece of lethal design. The wood, possessing a natural, deep crimson hue, seemed to throb with an inner pulse, and its nine strings were spun from the refined tendons of a peak Core Formation Realm fire-wyrm. It ranked among the most potent Magic Treasures a cultivator of her level could possess.
Hua Yimei’s delicate fingers swept across the strings, not playing a melody, but striking a single, jarring chord of pure ferocity.
TWANG!
A wave of Golden Phoenix Flame exploded from the instrument, expanding outward in a flawless hemisphere—a dome of sacred, searing gold.
The Thousand Icicle Storm met the fiery aura. There was no sound of shattering ice, only the fierce, violent hiss of utter obliteration. The razor-sharp projectiles, imbued with Elder Leng’s most potent Ice Qi, vanished the instant they contacted the golden flames. They didn't even melt; they were reduced directly to nothingness.
"Your ice is impure," Hua Yimei declared, her voice resonating with the domineering tone she'd adopted from Wang Jian. She advanced, the zither hovering obediently before her. "It is fragile. It lacks resolve. It yields too readily before true power."
Elder Leng staggered back, her face draining of color as the recoil from her shattered technique sent a shockwave through her dantian. ‘Impossible! Even a superior fire attribute shouldn't annihilate my ice so easily! What monstrous flame is she wielding?’
Hua Yimei seized the moment, her fingers a blur on the wyrm-tendon strings, unleashing a rapid, aggressive tempo that vibrated the very air with heat.
"Phoenix Wing Slash!"
With immense power, she struck the lowest string. A gigantic soundwave blade, entirely consumed by the Golden Phoenix Flame, shot through the corridor. It took the form of a colossal, fiery avian wing, its edge sharp enough to cut through solid spirit-steel. The searing heat radiating from it scorched the pavilion walls, instantly turning the white spirit-wood black. Elder Leng's eyes widened in sheer terror. She recognized the deadly intent of the strike. Slamming her crystal sword into the floorboards, she channeled every bit of her remaining spiritual energy into her defense. "Absolute Glacial Shield!" A massive, thick wall of profound ice erupted from the floor, adorned with glittering defensive runes. It was a last resort, a technique that depleted her reserves to erect an instant fortress. The Phoenix Wing Slash collided with the ice wall. For a single heartbeat, the shield held firm. Then, Elder Leng screamed. She could feel it. The flames weren't merely melting the ice; they were consuming it. The Golden Phoenix Flame possessed the terrifying ability to burn spiritual Qi itself as fuel. The more energy Elder Leng poured into the shield to sustain it, the hotter and more ferocious the golden fire grew. The intense heat pierced the shield, washing over Elder Leng. The silk of her right sleeve instantly disintegrated into ash, and the skin beneath blistered and blackened. "Ahhhh!" Elder Leng shrieked, collapsing to her knees as she clutched her scorched arm. "What flame is this?! This is not natural fire! You are employing demonic arts!" "Demonic?" Hua Yimei let out a laugh, a cold, harsh sound that seemed utterly foreign originating from the formerly gentle Sect Leader. "It is the sacred flame of rebirth. You are merely too weak to endure its divine grace." Hua Yimei pressed her attack. Her combat prowess had transformed dramatically under Wang Jian’s rigorous training. She was no longer a static support cultivator, dispensing melodies from the back lines. She advanced with aggressive, fluid elegance, moving towards the weakened Elder. As she advanced, she recalled Wang Jian’s explicit instructions. 'Do not kill them. I require them alive. I want their Primal Yin preserved intact.' 'For the Master,' Hua Yimei thought, an obsessive devotion fueling her every move. She redirected her aim from Elder Leng’s heart, altering the trajectory of her spiritual targeting towards the woman's Dantian. Elder Leng, realizing her defenses were utterly ineffective against the golden fire, scrambled backward, attempting to retreat down the narrow corridor towards the disciples' quarters. 'I must escape! I must alert the City Lord! She is a monster!' However, the corridor was too confined, and Hua Yimei, propelled by the explosive nature of her fire attribute, was significantly faster. Hua Yimei plucked the highest string of the Nine-String Phoenix Zither and pinched it, drawing spiritual energy outward. Instead of a soundwave, a long, crackling whip of solid Golden Phoenix Flame materialized in her grasp. With a swift flick of her wrist, the fire whip lashed out like a striking serpent. It instantly closed the distance, wrapping tightly around Elder Leng’s waist. The heat was unimaginable. The heavy, frost-resistant silk of Elder Leng’s robes was instantly cauterized, searing onto her flesh. The golden fire burned into her skin, sending a wave of paralyzing, indescribable agony through her nervous system. Elder Leng's retreat came to an abrupt halt. She was stunned by the pain, her vision dissolving into white. Hua Yimei yanked the whip backward with brutal force. Elder Leng was propelled through the air, flying helplessly back towards her attacker. As the Ice Heart Elder hurtled towards her, Hua Yimei released the zither, allowing it to hover beside her. She drew back her right hand, concentrating a dense, swirling orb of Golden Phoenix Flame within her palm. She slammed her palm directly onto the center of Elder Leng’s chest as the woman collided with her. "Seal!" Hua Yimei commanded. She did not obliterate the woman's organs. Instead, she forcefully injected the concentrated mass of golden fire directly into Elder Leng’s Meridians. The invading flame surged through the Elder’s pathways like a conquering army, brutally suppressing the native Ice Qi and imprisoning her spiritual sea within a cage of burning gold. Elder Leng coughed violently, expelling a mouthful of freezing blood onto the scorched floorboards. Her eyes rolled back in her head; the agony and the sudden, total loss of her Cultivation instantly rendered her unconscious. She collapsed into a heap of ruined silk and blistered skin. Hua Yimei stood over the defeated Elder, her chest heaving slightly, the golden flames slowly receding back into her form. She gazed down at the proud woman who had insulted her mere hours before. "One down for the Master," Hua Yimei whispered, a dark thrill of accomplishment surging through her veins. Her worth had been proven.On the opposing side of the upper landing, a distinctly different kind of confrontation was unfolding. While Hua Yimei's battle was a spectacle of immense, explosive destruction, Chen Ying's engagement with Elder Han showcased lethal precision and technical mastery.
True to her renown within the Ice Heart Palace, Elder Han excelled as a defensive specialist. The instant the ambush commenced, she conjured multiple layers of Glacial Armor, enveloping herself in successive plates of ice that were both diamond-hard and spiritually reinforced.
However, Elder Han was no mere defensive player. As a Core Formation Realm expert, her resources were extensive. Three unique offensive magical treasures hovered around her, pulsing with deadly energy.
To her left hovered a Crystalline Decapitation Chakram, an independently spinning disc of serrated ice. To her right, the Frost-Bite Needle Swarm, a gourd that relentlessly expelled clouds of needle-thin, poison-laced ice shards. Above her head floated a Blizzard Pearl, continuously generating a disorienting, localized snowstorm that impaired vision and disrupted Divine Sense.
"Do you truly believe a mere assassin can breach my defenses?" Elder Han taunted, directing the chakram to slice towards the dark silhouette dancing at the periphery of her vision.
Chen Ying remained silent. She moved.
In her grip was her recently forged Lifebound Weapon Magic Treasure—the Phoenix Plume Shadow Sword. Wang Jian had supplied the necessary materials, including a primary branch of Phoenix Fire Wood, yet Chen Ying had dedicated two full months to its personal forging, imbuing the very steel with her absolute loyalty and her Shadow-Wind Qi. The blade itself was a masterpiece of dark, non-reflective metal, but a vein of shimmering gold traced its fuller.
Chen Ying's combat style was deeply rooted in the Seven Absolutes Sword Art, a discipline characterized by its economy of motion. Every footfall, every deflection, every lunge was meticulously calculated.
The Crystalline Decapitation Chakram whizzed towards her neck. With a minute tilt of her head, Chen Ying allowed the serrated edge to shear a single strand of hair, while simultaneously infiltrating the weapon’s offensive range.
She wielded the Phoenix Plume Shadow Sword, eschewing wide, sweeping motions for short, ferociously swift thrusts. Furthermore, she had flawlessly integrated the Golden Phoenix Flame, a gift from Wang Jian, into her sword qi.
Each time her dark blade met Elder Han’s Glacial Armor, it seared a golden scorch mark onto the seemingly impenetrable ice.
Elder Han unleashed the Frost-Bite Needle Swarm, directing a dense cloud of thousands of needles at Chen Ying.
Chen Ying's sword became a blur. She executed the Third Absolute: Wind-Wall Deflection. Her blade spun with such velocity that it generated a localized vacuum, drawing the needles into a slipstream and guiding them harmlessly into the surrounding wooden structures.
"Impossible," Elder Han breathed. 'She is in the Early-Stage of the Core Formation Realm, just as I am! Her Qi reserves should not permit such casual deflection of my magical treasures!'
Chen Ying's attacks were far from random. Her astonishingly keen combat instincts, sharpened by Wang Jian's demanding sparring sessions, identified the weak points in the Glacial Armor's structure.
Moving like a phantom through the localized blizzard, her dark silhouette weaved between the magical treasures. She materialized directly before Elder Han.
Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.
Within the span of a single breath, Chen Ying struck four times. Each thrust impacted the precise geometric point on the center of Elder Han’s chest plate.
Yet, it was not merely the physical force. Chen Ying vibrated her Shadow-Wind Qi at an incredibly high frequency, infusing the sword’s tip with the Golden Phoenix Flame. This fusion of high-frequency vibration and intense heat induced microscopic stress fractures within the ice.
Chen Ying drew her sword back a final inch, her cold gaze meeting Elder Han’s through the icy visor.
"Shatter," Chen Ying whispered, her voice utterly devoid of emotion.
She delivered a fifth thrust.
CRASH!
The Glacial Armor's structural integrity gave way spectacularly. The overlapping ice plates exploded outwards into countless glittering fragments, leaving Elder Han completely vulnerable.
Elder Han succumbed to panic. Her ultimate defense, a technique that had once repelled a Middle-Stage demonic beast, had been dismantled by an assassin in mere seconds.
Desperation eclipsed her discipline. She plunged her hand into her spatial ring and withdrew a collection of offensive talismans.
"Perish with me!" she shrieked, hurling them at her own feet to engulf Chen Ying within the ensuing blast radius.
Among them were Talismans of the Roaring Blizzard and Shatter-Frost Explosives.
The corridor erupted. A massive explosion of concussive force, jagged ice shrapnel, and blinding white smoke filled the space. The magical detonation tore through the floorboards and walls, creating a crater on the landing.
Elder Han, protected by a hastily erected secondary ice shield, coughed violently, peering through the thick, freezing smoke. ’Did I get her? I must have hit her. No one can survive that point-blank without a defensive treasure.’
The smoke swirled.
A figure stepped through the center of the explosion.
Chen Ying emerged entirely unscathed. Her black stealth suit was completely untouched by the frost or the shrapnel. Surrounding her body, hovering just an inch off her skin, was a thin, almost invisible layer of heavy, dark energy.
It was a layer of Stellar Qi that Wang Jian had personally gifted her before they departed, a protective measure woven directly into her aura to ensure his favorite weapon would not be broken by stray attacks. The chaotic explosion of the talismans had simply slid off the absolute density of the Stellar energy.
Elder Han froze, her eyes widening in absolute disbelief. ’She walked through it... as if it were a gentle breeze.’
Before Elder Han could summon another magical treasure, the shadow behind her seemed to detach from the wall.
Chen Ying utilized her Shadow-Step technique, bypassing the physical space. She appeared directly behind the Ice Heart Elder.
The cold, dark edge of the Phoenix Plume Shadow Sword rested gently against the side of Elder Han’s neck. The faint golden heat radiating from the blade caused a bead of sweat to roll down the Elder’s freezing skin.
Elder Han went perfectly still. The slightest twitch would result in her decapitation.
"You..." Elder Han whispered, her voice trembling with a mixture of terror and profound confusion. "You are at the Early Stage, like me. We are of the same realm. Yet your sword... how is your sword so heavy? How does your aura carry such crushing weight?"
Chen Ying did not move the blade. Her expression beneath her veil remained as placid as a still lake. She thought of the man standing on the staircase, the man who had broken her down and rebuilt her into a flawless instrument of his will.
"My Master honed me," Chen Ying replied enigmatically, her voice a soft, deadly murmur. "I am merely his blade. His will is heavy; therefore, my sword is heavy."
Without giving Elder Han a chance to comprehend the terrifying devotion in those words, Chen Ying rotated her wrist. She did not use the edge. She struck Elder Han squarely on the temple with the heavy, pommel-end of the sword hilt.
It was a precise, calculated blow, injecting a tiny sliver of concussive Qi directly into the brain’s meridian network.
Elder Han’s eyes rolled back, and she slumped forward instantly, her consciousness snuffed out like a candle in the wind.
As the Elder fell, Chen Ying smoothly caught her by the shoulder, preventing her armored body from crashing into the floorboards and making a loud thud that might distract her master. She lowered the unconscious woman gently to the ground.
With practiced efficiency, Chen Ying produced a coil of shimmering silver rope from her belt—the Spirit-Binding Rope. Her hands moved in a blur as she tied the unconscious Elder, wrapping the rope in a complex pattern that sealed the major Qi gates, rendering Elder Han completely powerless even if she were to wake.
Her task complete, Chen Ying stood up. She flicked her sword, clearing it of imaginary dust, and sheathed it silently. She looked across the ruined landing.
Hua Yimei was standing over the scorched body of Elder Leng, having just finished sealing her cultivation.
The two women locked eyes across the distance. A silent nod of acknowledgment passed between them. The subordinat