“Brat, surrender without a struggle! Your cultivation has already fallen to the early stage Golden Core. As a mere rogue cultivator, you are no match for us. As long as you hand over your Aptitude Battle Jade Token and storage bag, we'll let you leave.”
Above the verdant mountains, eight cultivators in fluttering robes surrounded a blood-soaked figure.
Blood trickled from the corner of the red-robed figure's mouth. His dark eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of irritation surfacing on his exhausted face.
“Stop watching the show and save me already!”
“Told you not to slack off. You can't even beat a bunch of small fry. If you're trash, practice more.”
Suddenly, a woman's chuckling voice rang out unexpectedly. In an instant, a blast of sword qi shot straight toward the eight cultivators as an array abruptly activated, killing intent surging forth.
Five figures sauntered out in a leisurely, undisciplined manner.
“They're running a full team fight, and you guys waited until I was half dead to show up?! Next time I'm not playing the bait. Switch people!” Hua Cishu snapped at the five.
“Tsk. How do we handle this?”
Killing intent flashed in Hua Cishu’s eyes. “The usual routine... grind their bones to dust, scatter their ashes, and frame someone else. Be quick about it. Master is still waiting for us to cook dinner.”
...
Ten years ago.
Linggang Immortal Realm.
On a dark and windy night.
Wen Li painstakingly erased the soul brand from the seized treasure, then left behind a personal token belonging to a cultivator who had insulted her earlier at the scene of the crime.
She then casually scattered hair from bitter enemies around the area, swallowed an Appearance Altering Pill, and swaggered off, chewing on a tanghulu.
“A handful to freedom, a handful to death~”
Grabbing handfuls of incinerated ashes, she flung them in multiple directions—into water, onto the dirt, and even into a cesspool.
The newly arrived System caught sight only of Wen Li singing and scattering ashes like a lunatic, and knew only that she was a trash cultivator stuck at Foundation Establishment for ten thousand years.
Three days later.
Yongdi City, Heavenly Yuan Kingdom, a third-rank cultivation nation in the Western Province.
Following the prompts, Wen Li turned into a dim alley and saw in the distance... a lump on the ground.
Suddenly, two patrolling beggars walked up to that dark, grimy lump of a person.
[Host, quick! The time for a hero to save the beauty has arrived!]
On its very first mission, the System rubbed its front legs together like a fly, more excited than she was.
“No. Heroes bleed and get hurt; I prefer being a coward and lying flat.”
[Host, where is your ambition? The villain is about to be beaten to death...]
[Huh?! She!]
“Where's today's money? Not a single copper? Trash.”
Slap!
“And you, only two copper coins? Scram.”
Slap!
“No food for you today. Go snatch scraps from the dogs' mouths yourselves.”
“...Y-Yes, yes!”
The two beggars at the front each bore a prominent slap mark across their faces. Despite being young men considerably taller than that dark lump on the ground, they didn't dare fight back or talk back.
The System watched, dumbfounded. [It's over, Host. Even if she hasn't completely blackened into a villain yet, it looks like this kid is already thoroughly twisted.]
How on earth was it supposed to correct her values and save the villain now?!
Only after those beggars scrambled away did Yao Dai, who had endured stomach cramps all day, finally relax. A spasm of pain crossed her face as she slumped forward, prostrating herself on the ground.
Suddenly, the hem of a long robe appeared before her knees.
[Ding! Congratulations on unlocking the first villain. Once your progress in saving the six villains reaches sixty percent, you will unlock your ten-thousand-year Foundation Establishment cultivation and be able to cultivate normally despite your five-element trash spirit roots.]
[Yao Dai was originally the pampered eldest young miss of a mortal clan. At ten years old, her clan was slaughtered by their enemies. Having narrowly escaped, Yao Dai became an orphaned beggar with a dark, ruthless nature, killing countless people. Later, due to her alluring beauty and extraordinary talent, she was taken in as a legacy disciple by the sect master of the Hehuan Sect in the Central Province.
The sect master of the Hehuan Sect attempted to refine her into a cauldron and seize her primordial spirit. Resisting and sustaining injuries, she encountered Sami, the Holy Son of the Buddhist Sect, and fell in love with him. But Sami disliked her. Yao Dai attempted to trigger his inner demons and force herself upon him, only to be severely beaten and injured by Sami.
Yao Dai sought to kill the person Sami loved, infuriating him. As a result, the Hehuan Sect was completely eradicated. Stripped of all her cultivation, she once again fell to being a beggar, ultimately freezing to death in the bitter cold of deep winter.]
Wen Li read through it expressionlessly.
“A classic plot device.”
This plot had a massive plot hole. Yao Dai's clan had been wiped out when she was ten, yet the entire story only stressed how gorgeous and alluring she was, and how obsessed she was with the supposed male lead, that demonic monk. It didn't mention a single thing about her agency as an individual—such as avenging her family or cultivating to ascend.
It made it seem like Yao Dai's sole purpose as a villain was to harm the demonic monk's beloved, allowing him to play hero saving the damsel and take revenge on her, thereby highlighting how sweet and grand the leads' love was.
And in the end, her sect was eradicated too, reducing her back to a beggar.
This kind of villain characterization was utterly pathetic. What kind of proper villain was that?
Wen Li held her tanghulu.
“Since you've kneeled before me, let's count that as your apprenticeship rite.”
“If you don't agree, I'll accuse you of running a scam on me.”
“...”
The little girl Yao Dai's brow twitched, but a wary, vicious light gleamed in her eyes.
“Who... are you?”
“Wen Li. Wen as in warm, Li as in dawn.”
Thud.
The only response she received was the sound of a body collapsing to the ground.
Wen Li: ...If you don't speak, I'll take that as a yes.
She stared at the unfinished tanghulu in her hand, then looked at the person on the ground. After a few seconds of deliberation, she tucked the tanghulu into her waist sash, reached out, and hoisted the lump off the ground.
With a flick, she tossed her onto her back.
Carrying Yao Dai on her back, she walked out of the dim alley, stepping onto auspicious clouds and departing into the spring dawn.
...
When Yao Dai woke up and looked around, she found herself in a dilapidated temple. Dusty Buddha statues towered around her, covered in cobwebs, and there was... a long-lost aroma of food.
“If you're awake, come eat. I don't like waiting for people.”
This was the third sentence Wen Li had said to her.
Grumble~
Yao Dai swallowed hard and immediately lunged forward like a ravenous wolf, grabbing a ladle from the makeshift cooking pot and wolfing down the food.
“You want to take me as your disciple. What's the condition?”
“Provide for me in my old age.”
Only if these six villains lived well could she live well. For a ten-thousand-year-old senior like her, what else was it if not retirement support?
“...”
Yao Dai gave her an odd look tinged with slight pity. So young, yet already without heirs. How pitiful.
Her hesitant expression made Wen Li's brow twitch.
“I will teach you abilities. In the future, whether you commit murder and arson or bully men and terrorize women, as long as you don't rat me out, come back to visit me occasionally, and heed a word of advice from me, that's enough.”
Children always had a rebellious phase; one shouldn't be too strict.
“What skills do you have that make me want to take you as my master? What sect do you hail from?”
Wen Li lifted her head slightly, her cool and elegant face adopting an enigmatic look, resembling a worldly master.
“I sit at the top of the Aptitude Ranking. Everyone in the cultivation world has heard of my name. As for my sect, it is the Wuji Sect, possessing ten thousand years of heritage. Within its borders are uniquely gifted birds and beasts of all kinds, where none dare trespass.”
“If you enter my tutelage, you will be the eldest disciple of the Wuji Sect's hundred and eighth generation. Aside from me, all will follow your lead.”
Wen Li took out a magical artifact from her storage ring that she had already dusted off earlier. The artifact suddenly burst with dazzling spiritual light, looking exceptionally exquisite and extraordinary, but in reality, a spiritual light talisman plastered beneath it was simply burning away.
“This is a high-grade magical artifact for you. I left in a hurry and didn't pick out the best ones. If you agree, you can pick any three weapons from the treasure pavilion once we return.”
Only three, because there weren't any more.
Yao Dai's expression wavered. As a mortal, she naturally yearned for immortal cultivation, but three years of wandering and scraping by had fostered an extremely cautious, guarded temperament.
“I can take you as my master, but I have a condition as well.”
“What is it?”
“First, kill those who slaughtered my entire clan for me. Leave not a single one alive!”
Not even three seconds passed before Wen Li nodded. “Deal. Once they're dead, you must listen to me.”
“Disciple Yao Dai pays respects to Master.”
Her expression trembling, Yao Dai immediately dropped to her knees and kowtowed three times with resounding thuds.
“Good. From this day forward, you are my eldest disciple, the hundred and eighth generation successor of the Wuji Sect, Yao Dai.”
Outside the ruined temple, dark winds blew and lightning flashed as the master-disciple rite concluded.
Both moved swiftly and spoke as if on double speed, each terrified the other would back out.
Each with their own agenda, the two embarked on a journey of a rebellious disciple and an unhinged master.
The System reached out an invisible paw to scratch its head, feeling that everything was wrong. According to standard tropes, shouldn't the host persuade Yao Dai to drop the butcher's blade and let go of her grudges, or at least have her wait until she grew up to take revenge herself?
Why were they going to commit murder right off the bat?
Wasn't this instilling crooked values in Yao Dai at such a tender age?!
True to her word, Wen Li grabbed Yao Dai and headed straight for Lin'an City, right next to Yongdi City.
That was where Yao Dai had originally lived.
It was also where her mortal enemies, the Chen clan, currently resided.
Years ago, Yao Dai's mortal parents ran the major medicinal herb shops in Lin'an City and were competitors with the Chen family. Through years of maneuvering, they had coexisted peacefully. Gradually, however, because Yao Dai's parents had an excellent reputation and were kind-hearted, their business slowly surpassed the Chen family's.
Because of this, the Chen family caused all kinds of trouble, and all pretenses of civility were eventually dropped.
Then, a young master emerged from the Chen family who was accepted as a core disciple by the Taixuan Sect of the Heavenly Yuan Kingdom, causing the Chen family's status to rise rapidly. Yao Dai's parents had originally planned to show weakness and sue for peace, but five years later, when the young master of the Chen family returned home to visit his kin, he was already an early stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Between a cultivator and a mortal, there was now a difference as vast as clouds and mud.
In a single night, the young master of the Chen family led men to slaughter Yao Dai's entire clan.
Had Yao Dai not slipped out to play that night, she too would have perished beneath their blades.
On another such dark night, Wen Li landed before the Chen clan's residence, carrying Yao Dai.
“Are you sure you want to strike now?”
“Yes.”
Young Yao Dai nodded, her eyes resolute and ruthless. “If I don't kill them now, once he grows even stronger in the future, I'm afraid I won't have another chance.”
Just like her current situation: she had stumbled upon an opportunity to turn the tables and seek revenge. A long delay brings many problems.
“These people have no karmic ties with me. If you want them dead, do it yourself. I can immobilize them for you.”
Appreciation flashed in Wen Li's eyes.
Yao Dai's expression hardened.
“All right!”
“Y-You're an immortal? May I ask what business the immortal has with our Chen family?”
Wen Li flew into the Chen residence with Yao Dai. Looking down at the mortals panicking before her, she expressionlessly cast a spell to freeze them all in place.
Yao Dai drew the sword of one of the guards and charged forward with a vicious slash.
“Ahhh!”
“Who are you?!”
“Go to the Taixuan Sect and find Young Master Chen Feng!!”
Screams rose and fell as blood stained the stone steps.
Clatter.
The long sword slipped from Yao Dai's grasp. Her bloodshot eyes trembled violently, and in a daze of surging emotion, she burst into laughter. The tears at the corners of her eyes held both the thrill of vengeance and lingering hatred.
The blood everywhere mirrored the sight of her parents and clan members lying in pools of blood when she had returned home at the age of ten.
“Father, Mother, look. They've gone to join you.”
Yao Dai laughed derisively. Though it was her first time taking a life, the thirteen-year-old's tender face was terrifyingly calm.
[Ding! +3. Progress bar for saving the villain Yao Dai: 3%.]
“The young master of the Chen family isn't here. He's likely still at the Taixuan Sect. Let's leave first. The commotion here might draw the attention of other cultivators,” Wen Li, who had been watching from the side, stepped forward to warn her.
By standard procedure, this was when she should scatter some belongings from an enemy to frame someone else. Alas, her disciple had only just killed for the first time and wasn't yet used to playing the villain. One had to take things step by step.
...
Rate on N.U.
