Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist

The heavy mountain air rushed violently inward, filling the massive spatial void left by the catastrophic collapse of the Heavenly Wind-Lock Array. The swirling, razor-sharp gales that had protected the Azure Peak for centuries dissolved into a harmless, chaotic breeze. Fine dust from the shattered silver archway and the pulverized stone pillars rained down upon the expansive white jade courtyard, coating the terrified Silver Gale Sect disciples in a pale, ghostly ash.

Total devastation reigned across the summit. Hundreds of elite core disciples lay scattered across the fractured jade flagstones, their bodies paralyzed and twitching. The low-frequency acoustic shockwaves unleashed earlier by Hua Yimei had ruptured their eardrums and caused severe internal bleeding within their abdominal cavities, leaving them vomiting uncontrollably. Beside them, dozens more were pinned firmly to the earth by the localized, highly pressurized deep-sea water spheres conjured by Shangguan Wan’er, the sheer physical weight of the fluid cracking their collarbones and stealing their breath.

Standing on the ruined, flooded balcony of the main pavilion, Sect Leader Feng Yun and Grand Elder Zhao Ming stared down at the courtyard in absolute, unadulterated horror. Their luxurious grey robes were soaked and heavily torn, their chests heaving rapidly as they struggled to circulate their Core Formation Qi through severely bruised meridians.

Below them, standing amidst the groaning, incapacitated disciples, was Shen Mengqi. The Silver Gale Fairy held her slender Breeze Sword loosely at her side, her beautiful, flawless face devoid of any lingering attachment to the home she had guarded for decades.

”Junior Sister Shen... you...” Sect Leader Feng Yun gasped, his voice trembling as he pointed a shaking finger at her. His eyes darted wildly between the dark, heavy aura radiating from her blade and the terrifying, veiled women standing passively behind her. ”You have truly aligned yourself with these rogue invaders! You bring slaughter to your own Senior Brothers! Do you truly believe City Lord Lin Wanyue can shield you from the consequences of this massacre?”

Grand Elder Zhao Ming stepped forward, his face contorted into a mask of desperate, furious bravado. He gripped the hilt of his heavy Azure Gale Saber, his knuckles turning white. ”You arrogant traitor! The Myriad Ocean Palace envoys will arrive! They will investigate the fall of our Silver Gale Sect! When the supreme Nascent Soul overlords discover that you and your new City Lord faction orchestrated this unprovoked slaughter, your entire lineage will be executed! They will mount your head on the city gates!”

Shen Mengqi looked up at the two trembling men, her sapphire eyes perfectly calm. She did not raise her voice, but her elegant, melodious words carried easily across the ruined courtyard, cutting through the groans of the dying disciples.

”You place far too much faith in the supreme rulers, Grand Elder Zhao Ming,” Shen Mengqi replied casually, her tone devoid of any fear. ”The Myriad Ocean Palace cares absolutely nothing for a minor sect occupying a single mountain peak. They care only for the uninterrupted flow of wealth.”

She took a slow, deliberate step forward. The jade flagstones beneath her silk shoes groaned under a sudden, terrifying concentration of heavy physical weight.

”When the envoys finally arrive, City Lord Lin Wanyue will simply present them with a new ledger,” Shen Mengqi explained, tilting her head slightly. ”She will double the annual tribute. She will offer them massive shipments of Abyssal Star-Iron, thousands of ten-thousand-year spirit herbs, and crates of flawless high-grade Magical Tools. And alongside that unimaginable wealth, she will hand them a neatly written record scroll detailing how the Silver Gale Sect tragically destroyed itself during a violent internal civil war.”

Sect Leader Feng Yun’s face drained of all color. He understood the ruthless, pragmatic truth in her words. The supreme overlords would gladly ignore a slaughtered sect if the replacement faction offered double the taxes.

”There will be no one left to speak the truth,” Shen Mengqi continued, her voice dropping into a chilling, reverent register. ”You have thoroughly angered my Master. He has decreed that this mountain belongs to him. My body, my soul, and my blade exist solely to fulfill his desires. I will sweep this courtyard completely clean to ensure his absolute satisfaction.”

Grand Elder Zhao Ming roared in fury, unable to bear the psychological pressure any longer. He pushed off his back foot with explosive force, his heavy boots shattering the flooded balcony tiles. He launched himself through the air, gripping his Azure Gale Saber with both hands.

”Die, you shameless traitor!” Zhao Ming bellowed.

He channeled the entirety of his Mid-Stage Core Formation Qi into the heavy blade. The saber glowed with a blinding, pale blue light, drawing the surrounding atmospheric currents into a massive, swirling vortex. He swung the weapon downward in a devastating vertical arc, aiming to cleave Shen Mengqi perfectly in half.

Shen Mengqi did not attempt to evade. She rooted her feet firmly into the fractured jade courtyard, her stance widening slightly to lower her center of mass. She channeled the freezing, dense Yin energy from her Heavenly Yin Divine Physique, seamlessly merging it with the dark, crushing essence of the Imperial Star Devouring Steel forged into her internal pathways.

She raised her Breeze Sword horizontally above her head to block.

The two blades collided.

The resulting impact did not produce a sharp, ringing clash of metal. It produced a deafening, heavy acoustic boom that shook the very foundations of the Azure Peak. The localized atmospheric pressure displaced so violently that a visible ring of compressed air exploded outward, flipping the paralyzed disciples on the ground like discarded ragdolls.

Grand Elder Zhao Ming’s eyes bulged from their sockets. The moment his heavy Azure Gale Saber struck her slender sword, he felt as though he had swung his weapon directly into a falling mountain. The raw physical weight hidden within Shen Mengqi’s blade was entirely incomprehensible.

The terrifying physical momentum transferred directly down the shaft of his saber and into his arms. The thick bones in Zhao Ming’s forearms fractured instantly with a sickening, audible crack. The muscles in his shoulders tore under the immense strain. His downward trajectory was violently arrested, his entire body shuddering as the kinetic feedback destroyed his posture.

”Your wind is too light, Senior Brother Zhao,” Shen Mengqi stated coldly.

She shifted her hips, rotating her right shoulder forward to generate massive rotational torque. She pushed her Breeze Sword upward, breaking his guard completely, and then swung her blade in a brutal horizontal arc toward his ribcage.

She did not release a visible, cutting crescent of wind. Instead, the raw, crushing weight of the metal essence warped the space around her blade. The heavy air pressure slammed into Grand Elder Zhao Ming’s chest a fraction of a second before the actual metal touched him.

CRUNCH.

The entire left side of Zhao Ming’s ribcage caved inward. The heavy, bludgeoning force of the wind crushed his ribs into his lungs. He was thrown violently sideways, soaring through the air like a broken stone. He crashed heavily into the thick jade walls of the primary martial arena, leaving a deep, spiderweb crater in the indestructible stone. He slumped to the ground, coughing up thick mouthfuls of dark blood, his internal organs completely ruptured by the sheer physical weight of the impact.

Sect Leader Feng Yun screamed in terror and rage. He realized instantly that Shen Mengqi’s martial arts had fundamentally, terrifyingly mutated. She was no longer a swift, ethereal wind cultivator; she was wielding the crushing density of heavy earth and metal, disguised as air.

”Formation Core Guardians! Protect the Sect Leader!” Feng Yun shouted, scrambling backward on the balcony.

From the shadows of the main pavilion, four elderly men darted forward. They were the hidden guardians of the sect, all possessing Late-Stage Core Formation cultivation bases. They moved in perfect, synchronized unity, drawing identical, slender longswords. They surrounded Feng Yun, immediately weaving a complex, overlapping net of razor-sharp wind-qi designed to slice any approaching threat into ribbons.

Shen Mengqi simply adjusted her grip on her Breeze Sword.

Before she could step forward, a heavy, suffocating darkness descended upon the entire summit.

Wang Jian stood near the ruined silver archway, his hands clasped casually behind his back. He did not draw a weapon. He did not weave a single hand-seal. He simply opened the floodgates of his Steller Demonic Meridian Scripture.

A massive, overwhelming tide of pitch-black Stellar Demonic Qi erupted from his body. The demonic energy did not attack the disciples; it rushed outward in all directions, climbing rapidly into the sky and sinking deeply into the edges of the mountain plateau. Within three breaths, a colossal, impenetrable dome of solid, black demonic energy completely encased the Azure Peak, locking the entire summit away from the outside world.

The heavy, oppressive pressure of the demonic dome stole the breath from every living cultivator in the courtyard. The ambient spiritual energy within the sealed space became incredibly viscous, dragging against their movements like thick mud.

”No one leaves this mountain,” Wang Jian commanded, his voice a low, rumbling vibration that caused the jade flagstones to tremble. ”Proceed, Mengqi.”

Sect Leader Feng Yun stared at the black dome blocking the sky, absolute despair gripping his heart. They were completely caged.

The four Core Formation guardians roared, burning their vital Qi to fight through the oppressive demonic pressure. They lunged simultaneously from the balcony, soaring down toward Shen Mengqi. They unleashed their ultimate combined technique: the Four-Directions Gale Execution. Four massive, spinning tornadoes of concentrated wind-blades converged on Shen Mengqi from the cardinal directions, tearing deep trenches into the courtyard floor.

Shen Mengqi remained perfectly still until the tornadoes were mere feet away.

She channeled the supreme, freezing depths of her Heavenly Yin Divine Physique. Her body erupted with an aura of absolute zero, drastically dropping the temperature in the courtyard. She swung her Breeze Sword in a full, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circular sweep.

”Heavy Horizon: Glacial Crush.”

The heavy, metallic wind generated by her blade clashed violently with the incoming tornadoes. The spatial friction between the rapidly spinning wind blades and her impossibly dense air currents generated intense, immediate thermal heat dispersion. The air superheated for a fraction of a millisecond, expanding violently, before Shen Mengqi’s freezing Yin energy instantly snap-froze the expanding moisture.

The extreme, instantaneous temperature differential completely destabilized the guardians’ technique. The four tornadoes shattered like brittle glass, exploding into harmless gusts of freezing air.

The four guardians stumbled forward, their defensive stances broken by the violent backlash of their shattered technique.

Shen Mengqi did not hesitate. She utilized her Silver Gale Illusionary Step, her footwork blurring as she displaced the heavy air around her. She appeared directly in front of the first guardian. She thrust her heavy Breeze Sword forward. The blade did not pierce the man’s chest; the blunt, heavy force of the wind surrounding the sword slammed into his sternum, shattering his ribs and stopping his heart instantly.

She pivoted on her heel, dropping low to evade a desperate horizontal slash from the second guardian. She swept her right leg out, her silk shoe striking the man’s knee joint. The bone snapped with a loud crack, dropping the elder to the ground. Shen Mengqi brought the pommel of her heavy sword down atop his skull, crushing his cervical spine.

The remaining two guardians retreated frantically, attempting to summon defensive Magical Tools. One elder pulled a heavy, bronze Eight-Trigram Turtle Shield from his spatial ring, pouring his remaining Qi into the artifact. The shield expanded, projecting a thick, glowing green barrier of solid earth-qi.

Shen Mengqi rushed forward, her boots cracking the jade floor. She did not attempt to bypass the shield. She brought her Breeze Sword back over her shoulder, stepping heavily into her lead foot to generate maximum physical momentum.

She slammed the heavy blade directly into the center of the glowing green barrier.

The collision sent a massive, rippling shockwave across the courtyard. The raw physical weight of the Imperial Star Devouring Steel, combined with the freezing, dense Yin energy, overwhelmed the structural integrity of the Magical Tool. The glowing green barrier flickered violently, the runic formation lines across the bronze surface sparking and burning out.

With a deafening screech of tearing metal, the Eight-Trigram Turtle Shield cracked straight down the middle. The sheer physical momentum of Shen Mengqi’s swing carried the heavy blade through the shattered shield and directly into the guardian’s collarbone, cleaving deeply into his chest cavity and completely destroying his heart.

The final guardian dropped his sword, falling to his knees in absolute terror, his mind completely broken by the brutal, effortless slaughter of his peers.

”Silver Gale Fairy... please... have mercy,” the elder begged, tears streaming down his wrinkled face.

Shen Mengqi stepped past him without a single word. She flicked her wrist, the heavy wind-qi extending from her blade to cleanly sever the kneeling man’s cervical vertebrae, ending his life instantly.

She stood alone at the base of the ruined balcony. The four most powerful guardians of the Silver Gale Sect lay dead in the dust.

Sect Leader Feng Yun was the only remaining obstacle. He stood alone on the flooded veranda, his hands trembling violently. He realized there was no escape. The demonic dome above them was impenetrable. His grand elders were dead. His disciples were paralyzed.

Feng Yun gritted his teeth, his eyes turning bloodshot. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small, crimson pill. He swallowed it without hesitation.

Instantly, the blood vessels in his neck and face bulged outwards, pulsating rapidly. He was forcibly burning his remaining Core Formation vitality, sacrificing his future lifespan for a temporary, massive surge in raw physical power. His aura exploded, whipping the water on the balcony into a frenzied mist.

”I will not surrender my sect to a traitor!” Feng Yun roared, his voice distorted and ragged.

He drew his personal weapon, a long, slender rapier forged from incredibly light Sky-Cloud Steel. He lunged from the balcony, his speed doubled by the sacrificial pill. He moved so fast he left a trail of afterimages, aiming a flurry of microscopic, lethal thrusts directly at Shen Mengqi’s throat and major arteries.

Shen Mengqi narrowed her eyes. She did not attempt to match his frantic speed. She relied entirely on the overwhelming weight of her new foundation.

She stepped backward, shifting her stance to maintain perfect balance. As Feng Yun’s rapier darted toward her neck, she swung her heavy Breeze Sword in a short, brutal parry.

The heavy metal essence met the light Sky-Cloud Steel. The physical disparity was absolute.

CLANG.

Feng Yun’s rapier vibrated violently, the kinetic feedback tearing the skin from his palm. His weapon was knocked completely wide, his right arm overextended, leaving his entire torso exposed.

Shen Mengqi stepped directly inside his guard. She dropped her sword slightly, driving her left palm forward, targeting the exact center of his chest.

She released a concentrated blast of freezing, heavy Yin energy directly from her palm.

The heavy strike slammed into Sect Leader Feng Yun’s sternum. The sheer physical force lifted him entirely off his feet, sending him flying backward across the courtyard. He crashed heavily into the base of a massive bronze incense burner, the impact denting the solid metal.

Feng Yun slumped forward, blood pouring freely from his mouth and nose. The sacrificial pill’s effects vanished instantly, replaced by the catastrophic damage to his internal organs. His Dantian was completely shattered, his spiritual sea collapsing into a dark, empty void. He was crippled, dying, and utterly defeated.

Shen Mengqi walked slowly across the courtyard, stopping in front of the dying Sect Leader.

Feng Yun looked up at her, his vision blurring. ”The... the Silver Gale Sect... centuries of history... destroyed by a single whore...” he spat, coughing up another mouthful of blood.

Shen Mengqi’s expression remained perfectly cold. She did not bother to respond to the insult of a dead man. She raised her Breeze Sword, the heavy, dark wind gathering along the edge.

She brought the blade down, cleanly severing his head from his shoulders.

The body of Sect Leader Feng Yun slumped sideways, joining the hundreds of other corpses littering the Azure Peak. The legendary Silver Gale Sect, a dominant force in Abyssal Pearl City for centuries, had been completely and systematically dismantled in less than an hour by a single woman wielding the crushing weight of her Master’s power.

Behind her, the silent, veiled women of Wang Jian’s retinue stepped forward.

”The leadership is entirely eradicated,” Hua Yimei stated, her voice returning to its sultry, mature tone as she stored her Crimson Phoenix Zither. ”The remaining disciples are thoroughly paralyzed. What are your orders, Master?”

Wang Jian remained near the entrance, his dark eyes sweeping over the carnage. He lowered the massive dome of Stellar Demonic Qi, allowing the natural, salty sea breeze of the city to finally wash over the blood-soaked summit.

”The disciples are useless trash. They lack the foundation to be properly subjugated,” Wang Jian declared coldly. ”Execute every single one of them. Leave no survivors to spread rumors of our specific martial arts.”

Shangguan Wan’er stepped forward, her pale blue eyes gleaming with ruthless, mercantile efficiency. ”I will gladly handle the execution, Master. But before we dispose of the bodies, we must secure the primary objective.”

She turned her gaze toward the grand, heavily warded doors of the main pavilion.

”The Silver Gale Sect has occupied this premium spiritual vein for nearly four hundred years,” Shangguan Wan’er noted, her mind rapidly calculating the immense logistical value of their victory. ”Their central treasury will hold centuries of accumulated wealth. Wind-attribute high-grade Spirit Stones, rare aerodynamic ores, thousands of medicinal pills, and the entire catalog of their ancestral martial scriptures. All of it now belongs legally to the Fragrance Melody Sect.”

Wang Jian smiled, a dark, deeply satisfied expression crossing his handsome face. ”Excellent. Lingshan, begin mapping the natural array nodes of this mountain. We will establish this peak as our secondary, heavily fortified garrison within the city. Wan’er, lead the looting of the treasury. I want every single Spirit Stone, every single record scroll, and every single Magical Tool cataloged and prepared for transport.”

”It will be done immediately, Master,” Shangguan Wan’er bowed deeply.

As the women moved to execute their brutal, efficient tasks, Wang Jian walked slowly across the ruined courtyard, stepping over the shattered jade and the bodies of the fallen elders. He stopped at the very edge of the mountain plateau, looking out over the sprawling, neon-lit expanse of Abyssal Pearl City below.

The city was vast, wealthy, and utterly oblivious to the terrifying predator that had just hollowed out one of its primary pillars of power. With the Silver Gale Sect erased and their resources entirely absorbed, his hidden empire had grown significantly heavier, deeply rooting itself into the very bedrock of the Myriad Ocean Palace’s domain.