295 - After Defying the Villain’s Fate for Nine Lifetimes, the Heroines Turn Mad!

Title: Villain of the Ninth Life, The Heroines Turn Dark Chapter 295 "What's wrong? Do you have a problem with that? Or are you dissatisfied?" The Old Ancestor Jiuyan squinted his eyes menacingly. "......" The Sword Ancestor of the Seven Luminaries immediately backed down. Surrounded by cultivators freshly emerged from the secret realm, if he were to be thrashed by the Old Ancestor Jiuyan again, his dignity would be utterly lost. Although the current Empress had issued an imperial decree stating that, from this day until the sect tournament begins, all sects were prohibited from causing trouble, the Old Ancestor Jiuyan was a madman — it was futile to reason with him. The Old Ancestor Jiuyan was quite satisfied with his compliance. After a few light chuckles, the Old Ancestor Jiuyan deliberately turned to Jiang Chen and asked, "Did you really kill all the righteous prodigies in the secret realm?" "Old Ancestor, you shouldn't spread such falsehoods!" Jiang Chen straightened his expression and earnestly replied, "I only killed the various Buddha disciples from the Buddha Temple, five sword disciples from the Seven Luminaries Sword Pavilion, and some prodigies from other sects! I didn't kill all of them!" Is there even a difference?! Upon hearing this, both the Sword Ancestor of the Seven Luminaries and the Buddha Ancestor roared internally. The two had come here with the thought: What if, as City Lord Meng Lang said, Jiang Chen's massacre of the righteous prodigies had been exaggerated? Yet, the truth was just as it was! If it weren't for the presence of the Old Ancestor Jiuyan, with such a grievous enmity, they would have torn Jiang Chen apart alive! "Hmph!!" The Buddha Ancestor briskly departed. With all the Buddha disciples from the Buddha Temple fallen, staying here served no purpose other than to invite more suffering. The Sword Ancestor of the Seven Luminaries chose to stay. At least one sword disciple survived, and he needed to personally ensure this person returned safely, to prevent Jiang Chen from striking again. Jiang Chen and the Old Ancestor Jiuyan ignored him, engaging in their own conversation. The Old Ancestor Jiuyan used a telepathic method to share the details of the imperial edict brought by the Emperor's Pavilion and the Empress. After listening, Jiang Chen frowned slightly. He anticipated the sect tournament would be advanced but did not expect the Empress herself to make an appearance, using an edict forbidding cultivators at the Divine Transcendence level and above from appearing publicly to suppress him! Moreover, the Empress was permitting the Upper Domain forces to openly interfere in the tournament! Such occurrences were neither present in the original work nor in the previous nine reincarnations. "Assistance from the Upper Domain isn't without its limits. Not only are the numbers restricted, but the Upper Domain can only send one prodigy to participate in the Central Domain's sect tournament, and you, are regarded as the Jiang family prodigy," the Old Ancestor Jiuyan conveyed again. These details weren't in the Empress's imperial edict but were verbally stated by the eight royal envoys. "......" Jiang Chen furrowed his brows once more. He was acutely aware that all top sects in the Central Domain had ties with the Upper Domain, except for Jiuyan Sect. He had been considering whether the Jiang family should get involved in the Central Domain's sect tournament, but never expected the Empress to block that path! For a moment, Jiang Chen couldn’t comprehend the Empress's motives. Logically, the dynasty should hope for Jiuyan Sect to ascend to the Upper Domain. After all, the Upper Domain is the dynasty's power center. If Jiuyan Sect moved there, Jiang Chen would naturally follow, making it harder for the Jiang family to protect him. 'Could my rapid growth in this life, and the rumors of me being a human saint body, have alarmed the dynasty?' Jiang Chen pondered. The more he thought, the more plausible it seemed. The cultivation resources of the Upper Domain far surpassed those of the Central Domain. Since the dynasty and the Jiang family hadn’t completely turned against each other, from the dynasty's perspective, they'd want him trapped in the resource-scarce Central Domain! If that’s the case, returning to the Upper Domain is imperative! He would engage in anything that opposed the dynasty! All of this required sufficient strength, so he could lead Jiuyan Sect and stand out in the sect tournament, to return to the Upper Domain! Put simply, he needed to frequently trigger the system's rewards! With this realization, Jiang Chen glanced at the Sword Ancestor of the Seven Luminaries with a cunning smile. Approaching the Sword Ancestor, Jiang Chen inquired, "Old man, what's your surname?" "......" The Sword Ancestor glared at him, refusing to engage. "Being a Sword Ancestor of the Seven Luminaries Sword Pavilion, your sword talent must be extraordinary, right?" Jiang Chen persisted. The Sword Ancestor squinted his aged eyes. Given his status, why would he converse with a vile and notorious junior? "Scram!" he shouted sharply! Jiang Chen didn't get angry but turned to the Old Ancestor Jiuyan and said, "Old Ancestor, he told you to scram." "???" The Sword Ancestor was dumbfounded! The Old Ancestor Jiuyan played along, stepping forward and swinging his jade coffin at the Sword Ancestor while menacingly declaring: "Take my coffin!!" The jade coffin zoomed forth, and the Sword Ancestor felt as if a dire battle loomed. He channeled his cultivation to dodge but suddenly found his vision blurry, as if he was transported to a merciless battlefield, drums pounding, the sound of slaughter deafening! The Sword Ancestor immediately realized. This was the Old Ancestor Jiuyan using a "Domain" to affect him, so he quickly stabilized his mind. The effect was quite effective. In just a moment, his vision cleared up. But! "Bang!" The jade coffin struck his face squarely! If he hadn't mustered all his spiritual energy for defense, this blow would have sent him flying several meters! Yet, even so, his cheeks visibly swelled. "With the Empress's edict in place, you dare cause trouble? Do you wish for annihilation?" The Sword Ancestor lost his composure, glaring at the Old Ancestor Jiuyan. "The imperial edict forbids sects from causing trouble, this is personal between us, not included," the Old Ancestor Jiuyan retorted nonchalantly. "......" The Sword Ancestor was silenced. At this moment. Jiang Chen sidled up again, asking, "I've heard your sword skills are exceptional, is it true your cultivation talent is one in ten thousand?" "...... So what if it is?" After a moment of contemplation, the Sword Ancestor replied. "Can you wield Ancient Swordsmanship?" Jiang Chen continued. "......" The Sword Ancestor was at a loss for words. Ancient Swordsmanship? If he could, how could he be bullied by the Old Ancestor Jiuyan like this?! "Surely not, surely not?" Jiang Chen feigned surprise, "You, the Sword Ancestor of the Seven Luminaries Sword Pavilion, don’t know Ancient Swordsmanship? That's so pathetic!" Pathetic?! The Sword Ancestor was furious! He had trained for hundreds of years, becoming a sword master in his early thirties! And someone calls him pathetic? Unbearable! "I know Ancient Swordsmanship," Jiang Chen added. "......" The Sword Ancestor was speechless. "And I know two techniques." "......" "One of them, I created myself." "......" [Action aligns with villain setting, host's cultivation advances to the first stage of the Upper Four Realms, initial insight!] Chapter 293: Advancing to the Upper Four Realms, Lightning Tribulation Descends Did I just reach the Upper Four Realms like that? Jiang Chen was a bit stunned. He did intend to score some system rewards by using the Old Ancestor Jiuyan’s backing to provoke the Sword Ancestor of the Seven Luminaries! However, he never imagined the reward would be directly advancing him to the Upper Four Realms! This was rather... Hasty! To note! A Yuan Dan cultivator breaking through to the Upper Four Realms usually seeks an extraordinarily quiet place to seclude themselves, slowly guiding their internal Yuan Dan to transform into a Primordial Spirit! Yet here he was, surrounded by countless cultivators next to the teleportation array! Definitely not the best place for a breakthrough! He was utterly unprepared! Helplessly. As soon as the system text appeared, the surrounding spiritual energy became turbulent, surging into his body incessantly.