I Am the Fated Villain Chapter 1288:

In the pivotal instant between life and death, they sought out the head of the Alliance of Heavenly Attack.

The tense rivalry between the God General faction and the Champion Marquis was no secret across the imperial capital of the Heavenly Chu Haotu. Yet, nobody foresaw that on the very day the Champion Marquis departed, the God General faction would commit such an outrageous and disgraceful act. To keep things from boiling over, even Emperor Chu Gucheng intervened on their behalf, dispatching reliable agents to eliminate the Champion Marquis Chu Heng’s close ally, Han Feng.

The event sparked massive outrage throughout the imperial capital, stunning innumerable cultivators and creatures who could scarcely accept it. That very day, the Martial God General stationed in the capital stepped forward, firmly declaring that the God General faction bore no responsibility for it. Though disputes existed with the Champion Marquis, they wouldn’t stoop to such vile tactics by targeting his kin during his absence from the capital.

Still, the Martial God General’s denial and their pledge of non-involvement failed to sway the doubters. If the faction wasn’t at fault, then why dispatch Emperor Chu Gucheng’s loyal agents to slay the Champion Marquis Chu Heng’s trusted aide?

The ex-Grand Tutor stayed silent on the issue and continued guiding the officials alongside Han Feng, Chu Bai, and the rest in demanding answers from Chu Gucheng. Tensions mounted rapidly, threatening to spiral beyond restraint. In the end, Chu Gucheng had no choice but to show himself.

Within the imperial palace, he faced the officials and claimed ignorance of the affair, puzzled over why his own people would strike at the Champion Marquis Chu Heng’s confidant. Chu Gucheng theorized that his underlings had plotted with external forces and turned traitor against him. After all, Gu Changge’s formidable power was common knowledge, and manipulating Chu Gucheng’s subordinates wouldn’t prove beyond his reach.

Right then, Chu Gucheng openly pointed the finger at Gu Changge, viewing it as another move in his scheme against the Heavenly Chu Haotu. But his rationale and guesses fell flat for many, who argued that given the awe-inspiring might Gu Changge unveiled that day, he’d have no cause to employ such roundabout ploys if intent on damaging the Heavenly Chu Haotu.

Han Feng, Chu Bai, and their group burned with even greater rage, since Gu Changge was the one who rescued them that fateful night. Yet now Chu Gucheng flipped the narrative, charging Gu Changge with puppeteering his men into betrayal.

Yet in truth, their push wasn’t solely to extract an accounting from Chu Gucheng, but to compel him to surrender the remains of the Champion Marquis’ spouse. Grasping the weight of the crisis, the former Grand Tutor refrained from publicly dismantling Chu Gucheng’s falsehoods, instead voicing his wish to inter his daughter and seeking permission to claim her from the imperial tomb.

To this moment, Chu Gucheng remained clueless about the slayer of the assassin he’d dispatched against Han Feng, or the savior of Han Feng and his companions. That uncertainty gnawed at him most deeply. Regarding the former Grand Tutor’s plea to reclaim his daughter’s corpse from the imperial tomb, Chu Gucheng offered no opposition, having foreseen such a demand. Thus, he’d already stripped the Champion Marquis’ wife’s form of every possession, leaving behind not a single hint or remnant.

The Heavenly Chu Haotu’s essence lay in ruins, with numerous twists slipping from his grasp. For now, he yearned for the chaos to subside, counting on securing the Reincarnation Mirror to restore order once more.

“Father…” Deep inside the imperial capital, Crown Prince Chu Wushang gazed at Chu Gucheng, his face etched with anxiety, words catching in his throat.

Chu Gucheng massaged his aching temples irritably, then at last met his son’s eyes and inquired, “We’ve settled this issue, but what of that jade pendant you brought up? Its whereabouts now?”

“I’m not sure. Back then, I overlooked it, and later searches through Qing Lan’s possessions turned up nothing. It must have gone missing. Had the former Grand Tutor possessed the jade pendant, they wouldn’t rush so desperately to retrieve Qing Lan’s remains,” Chu Wushang replied, his features somber.

Chu Gucheng gave a nod and responded, “If it’s truly lost, so be it, though I fear it was pilfered and now rests with the Champion Marquis Chu Heng. Probe further, check everyone who handled Qing Lan’s body. Once my cultivation rebounds, I’ll try divining the details. The Champion Marquis Chu Heng hasn’t come back yet, so we can still manage the crisis. But my concern is…”

His words trailed off, yet Chu Wushang grasped the unspoken dread. The Heavenly Chu Haotu’s life force dwindled perilously, its inner workings shaky, beset by twin foes from without. On top of that, Gu Changge loomed as an inscrutable adversary, poised in the darkness to pounce whenever the moment struck.

The Heavenly Chu Haotu teetered on the brink of doom.

“Father, rest easy. Should the jade pendant’s secret surface, I’ll manage it properly and shield the Heavenly Chu Haotu from fallout,” Chu Wushang assured with grave intensity, a brief glint of determination flashing in his gaze.

Chu Gucheng let out a weary sigh, resting his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Let’s pray it never reaches that pass. We’re not there yet by a long shot. My priority is securing swift aid from the Xiyuan Sacred Hall to revive my master. The Yinxu Cave proves untrustworthy, and the Xingying old matriarch observes from afar, shunning any peril—that speaks volumes. The Heavenly Chu Haotu has probably become a mere token in another’s grand design…”

Meanwhile, as Chu Gucheng and Chu Wushang exchanged words. Far off at the Heavenly Chu Haotu’s frontier, aboard an archaic hovering battleship, Champion Marquis Chu Heng, clad in a radiant golden mantle, fixed his stare on a silhouette enveloped in dark robes positioned ahead. His devoted followers stood vigilant, coiled like springs, primed to spring into motion.

“Who might you be, and what prompts your intrusion into the core of our Heavenly Chu Haotu troops?” Chu Heng demanded in a low, resonant tone.

Despite his profound cultivation, he’d nearly missed the intruder’s approach until they loomed directly before the ancient vessel. This stranger evidently wielded power nearing the ancestral Dao realm.

Lately, Chu Heng had commanded his legions along the border, clashing with the Demon Court and Zi Xiao Mountain. Word of the imperial capital’s upheavals in the Heavenly Chu Haotu had reached him. He itched to offer support, but the Demon Court and Zi Xiao Mountain’s assaults intensified. Zi Xiao Mountain’s chief held back from direct strikes yet cast a suffocating shadow from a distance. Moreover, the Demon Court’s Demon Ancestor, Di Huo, showed signs of awakening, poised perhaps to descend personally and bolster the fray.

Matching the Zi Xiao Mountain leader in might, Demon Ancestor Di Huo had endured eight heavenly tribulations. The burdens weighing on Chu Heng rivaled those crushing the Heavenly Chu Haotu’s heartland. He couldn’t afford rash steps.

“My master dispatched me here to present an item to the Champion Marquis, harboring no malice,” the black-robed form uttered in a raspy, detached voice. Its features hid in shadow, eyes abyssal and inscrutable.

“Your master’s identity, and the nature of this delivery?” Chu Heng pressed, his wariness unyielding to the assurances, eyes narrowing as he posed the query.

“Clarity will come upon inspection.” The black-robed entity sidestepped the question. A sweep of its flowing sleeve unleashed a subtle luminescence that dropped before Chu Heng.

Stunned for a beat, Chu Heng peered closely at the light, his pupils dilating in shock.

“This… This is Qing Lan’s jade pendant. How did it reach here?” His tone quivered faintly with incredulity. The hand extending to claim it trembled uncontrollably.

He’d dispatched his reliable aide, Han Feng, to the Heavenly Chu Haotu’s imperial capital bearing the jade pendant, tasked with unearthing the reality of his wife Qing Lan’s demise. How then did it appear in this place? Had unseen turmoil gripped the capital?

“Delivery complete; my departure awaits,” the black-robed presence stated icily. “For the Champion Marquis to grasp the verity inside Heavenly Chu Haotu, a personal return is advisable. Else, you risk manipulation as a mere tool, cast aside upon depletion, oblivious to the strings.”

Its delivery stayed flat, untouched by Chu Heng’s agitation. With that, it pivoted and strode toward the warship’s edge, intent on vanishing.

At this sight, Chu Heng’s men jolted, moving to intercept, but he lifted a hand to halt them, permitting the black-robed one’s exit.

“Master, this abrupt arrival of Madam’s jade pendant—could it signal a trap?” a subordinate ventured anxiously. “Perhaps a foe’s ploy to draw us from the lines, shatter our spirit, and compel withdrawal?”

Witnessing Chu Heng’s tormented and torn visage, others among his followers couldn’t suppress their apprehensions, adding their voices.

“A foreboding grips me. Undeniably, turmoil brews in the capital. Lately, many of my informants there have gone silent.” Chu Heng shook his head, securing the jade pendant with care, then drew a steadying breath before continuing.

His eyes turned toward the imperial capital’s direction, laden with contemplation.

The black-robed figure’s alluded “master” stirred vague suspicions in Chu Heng, though certainty eluded him. He couldn’t fathom the sharp pivot in events.

Irrefutably, disaster had struck the capital. Else, his embedded agents wouldn’t evaporate tracelessly. Furthermore, absent any mishap to Han Feng, he ought to have circled back by now. Why the utter lack of word? As an Ancestral Dao realm powerhouse, Chu Heng could pierce veils of time, scanning bygone eras and forthcoming paths. Yet the future, fluid and vast, brimmed with variables. Typically, peering ahead altered potentials even as observed, rendering visions obsolete to the true trajectory. But when he divined the Heavenly Chu Haotu’s destiny, myriad shifts appeared, all funneling toward one inescapable end. This suggested that endpoint as the realm’s ordained fate.

“Station a contingent to hold the front, the remainder accompany me back to the capital,” Chu Heng commanded after brief reflection, his voice steely and unyielding. “I’ll uncover who dares this audacity against me. If forces seek to bury the truth of Qing Lan’s passing, let’s see their means to thwart me.”

Though his followers wavered, none challenged the decree. Swiftly, directives emanated from the ancient warship, and the Heavenly Chu Haotu’s ranks, locked in standoff with the Demon Court, commenced a phased withdrawal, receding like an ebbing sea.

Amid starlit voids strewn with skeletal mounds and crimson streams, Di Kun, seventh prince of the Demon Court, watched the pullback with icy detachment, withholding pursuit orders. Nearby, a distortion rippled, birthing the Bone Ancestor King in ebony garb, who likewise surveyed the tableau.

“Senior, what path lies ahead?” Di Kun inquired deferentially, inclining in salute to the Bone Ancestor King. He recognized the latter as serving under Gu Changge’s banner.

In the midst of Demon Court clashes with Heavenly Chu Haotu’s arrays, the Bone Ancestor King had conferred with Di Kun, passing along select directives from Gu Changge.

“Bide in stillness. When Heavenly Chu Haotu descends into disorder, the Demon Court strikes with full force,” the Bone Ancestor King intoned impassively.

“As you say, senior,” Di Kun acknowledged with respect.

The motive behind Heavenly Chu Haotu’s forces’ retreat eluded him. Beyond a mere tactical shift, key commanders and Dao realm masters withdrew too, hinting at a deep retreat into the realm’s vitals.

“The master might confer with the Demon Ancestor in due course. Demon Court matters demand prompt resolution,” the Bone Ancestor King noted, eyeing Di Kun as if plumbing his mind.

These words ignited fervor in Di Kun’s chest. He’d anticipated this juncture endlessly.

“Affirmative, I’ll confer with the Demon Ancestor and apprise him. The Demon Court stands ready to host the master’s advent,” Di Kun affirmed, voice brimming with awe.

The Bone Ancestor King inclined his head, then dissolved into ether, stranding Di Kun solitary.

The Demon Court legions refrained from hounding the receding Heavenly Chu Haotu troops. Yet elders of Zi Xiao Mountain, noting the motion, roused to action. They hastened reports to Zi Xiao Mountain’s sovereign, Zi Wanhe, ensconced in remote void, steeped in contemplation.

Adorned in violet robes and a celestial crown, Zi Wanhe radiated crushing dominion. Perched in boundless expanse, Dao forces swirled about him, his form akin to an immutable peak—steadfast, yet dread-inducing.

“This deal’s yield leaves you wanting?” Zi Wanhe queried evenly, lids parting to pierce the abyss ahead.

From the emptiness came replies blending masculine and feminine timbres, laced with scornful mockery yet whimsically light.

“Full contentment eludes us still. The pact nears closure, yet demands one final aid from you, Lord of Zi Xiao Mountain,” the echoes declared.

In the facing void, dark vapors churned and coiled.

“The black coffin stands dispatched as tribute. Factions in the Xiyuan civilization now whisper of my ties to Black Calamity survivors. Will you not clarify this for me?” Zi Wanhe’s timbre chilled, visions of crumbling galaxies and shattering cosmos flickering in his stare.

The void’s dark haze countered, tones haughty with chuckles: “Our prior accord held you accountable for repercussions. The black coffin came to us fortuitously; its secrets escaped us. As a boon to Heavenly Chu Haotu, you gain too. A win for both sides, no?”

“Where lies the grievance in that?” the responses jeered, nonchalant to the core.

Zi Wanhe huffed disdainfully, quaking the realm as he retorted: “You concealed the black coffin’s link to Black Calamity remnants from the outset. I doubt your ignorance of its freight.”

The mist’s utterances sharpened, chill deepening, a profound, asphyxiating frost pervading the void. “Admit our foreknowledge—does it alter the debt you owe? Will you renege?” The inflection turned glacial and aloof, laden with looming peril. The sparse fog abruptly gleamed with eerie luster, as though epochs—eternal, ephemeral, momentary—sprang forth and withered inside it.

Zi Wanhe’s countenance flickered. Though a pinnacle entity in the Xiyuan civilization, he shrank from antagonizing these voices’ origins. This bargain stemmed from a prior karmic bond he’d forged with them. Their arrival bound him; even forewarned of the black coffin’s ties to Black Calamity holdouts, refusal lay beyond him.

“What task falls to me now?” Zi Wanhe’s visage soured. Defiance impossible, he growled the question.

Given the unfolding, he’d adhered to Gu Changge’s mandate, bestowing a lavish offering on Heavenly Chu Haotu via Zi Xiao Mountain agents. Should Gu Changge unearth the facts, blame seemed unlikely for Zi Wanhe. But these voices’ backers proved untouchable.

Zi Wanhe harbored notions that they embodied Black Calamity’s dregs. Capable of weaving karma with him previously, they likely ensnared myriad others. Across the boundless expanse, uncounted realms and empires already harbored their tendrils.

“Elementary. Aid our approach to the Heavenly Attack Alliance’s chief and verify his origins and lineage,” the voices answered.