I Am the Fated Villain Chapter 1297: Tai Xuan Ancestor God, Let the Great Calamity Ceremony Arrive Early

“So, what do you intend to do next?”

A soft wind drifted across the yard, making several bamboo stems sway lightly under the glow of the dying sun, creating a soft whispering noise.

Mu Yan brushed away a few loose hairs from her face and turned her focus once more to the chess game. As the successor to the Xianling Civilization, she held little passion for cultivation. Over these years, her life in the Faitian Alliance had been rather relaxed. Meanwhile, figures like Mo Tong and Ling Huang had shouldered the heavy burden of handling the alliance's operations.

Yet, as the destined “Empress of the Heavens,” Mu Yan possessed exceptional talent in cultivation. Despite her lack of dedication to it, her advancement outpaced that of most others. Back when she first encountered Gu Changge, her power stood at the Xianwang stage, but now she teetered on the edge of the Xian Emperor level, close to fully achieving it. In another ten thousand years, stepping into the Dao Realm would surely come to pass.

“Anyone who dares to plot against me must face the consequences.”

Gu Changge gave a faint shake of his head, pulling his mind from deeper thoughts as his eyes cut through the layers of faith energy, fixing on the Kunxu True Realm.

The system of the divine path civilization differed greatly from that of the immortal path civilization, lacking organized sects or lineages. Every god operated as a solitary force, each with their devoted followers and sacred realms. The divine abilities and domains controlled by each deity varied widely as well.

Beyond the many gods born from innate origins, the majority of those who rose later proved weaker than certain Immortal Kings or even Immortal Emperors. Gods required massive throngs of worshippers to sustain them and forge their exalted positions. Be it crafting their personal realms or extending their influence across countless universes, all relied on outside support. Lacking a strong base, such structures could crumble without warning.

In contrast, cultivators drew power from within themselves. A single Immortal King could obliterate a whole world with ease, while Immortal Emperors needed only a fleeting notion to shatter entire universes. Therefore, only deities who truly held divine ranks and commanded portions of heavenly authority could stand against the Dao Realm experts of the Immortal Path Civilization. These supreme beings, akin to Dao Realm cultivators, bore titles like (Xushen), (Zhen Shen), and (Zushen), mirroring the virtual, true, and ancestral stages of the Dao.

Xushen, Zhenshen, and Zushen do not denote cultivation levels in the divine path civilization; instead, they describe a god’s exalted position and the scope of heavenly authority under their grasp.

Across endless ages, the divine path civilization had withered away into obscurity across the boundless cosmos, with Xushen growing ever scarcer. Still, a fair number of innate gods lingered, concealed in the depths of time and space, each ruling over their hidden divine realms.

In bygone eras, the divine path civilization had thrived in splendor, featuring diverse innate divine hierarchies and myriad gods who dominated, dividing heavenly authority, forging divine ranks, and setting up sacred roles. Mighty ancestral gods reigned supreme from the heavens, watching over all existence, as lesser deities propagated their faith through myriad worlds and universes, amassing devotees. During that time, the Immortal Path Civilization suffered suppression, pushed to the fringes.

But in the infinite universe, with its layered and mysterious chronicles, even the divine path civilization resembled a shooting star—flaring brightly for a moment before fading into nothingness.

The emergence of the Faitian Alliance, which dispatched believers far and wide to gather faith, stirred jealousy and greed among certain secluded gods. Gu Changge found this hardly surprising. Such deities were mere echoes of a bygone age.

In the present day, the Immortal Path Civilization had risen to prominence, eclipsing the former splendor of the divine path civilization. Even the mightiest ancestral gods hesitated to reveal themselves openly, dreading the exposure of their divine realms to the predatory eyes of Dao Realm powerhouses.

High in the skies over the Taixu Realm within the Kunxu True Realm, a godly gaze observed as fissures spread across the statues in the Faitian Shrines, a trace of approval gleaming in its depths.

Though she had seized control of Chen Jinhai’s form for a brief moment earlier, compelling him to perform those blasphemous deeds, the acts remained his own choice in the end. His devotion lacked purity, his soul riddled with selfish cravings.

The notion of defiling the divine had simmered in his thoughts for ages, merely awaiting the right spark to ignite. She had simply hastened its arrival. Typically, such desecration by followers would enrage a god. The corrupted faith energy not only defiled the core source of worship but also triggered a backlash against the divine form. While it wouldn’t lead to total ruin, some damage was inevitable.

“This segment of the time-space territory shall serve as your recompense. If impure thoughts of blasphemy linger in your heart, you were never fated to remain a simple devotee.”

Her actual essence hovered in the emptiness beyond layered dimensions, a realm imperceptible to common mortals or even seasoned cultivators. To her, this deed acted as both a caution to the Faitian Lord and a probe of his prowess. She trusted that the Faitian Lord’s keen senses would detect it without fail.

In the Taixu Realm, Chen Jinhai remained rooted in place, his eyes locked on the fractured god statue ahead, as though stunned into silence for what felt like an eternity. Unseen by him, a diamond-like glow pulsed on his brow, releasing an enigmatic energy that cloaked his being.

Over the sprawling continents, the grand Faitian Shrines rose imposingly, but an overwhelming wave of dread and chaos gripped the atmosphere. This day marked the grand ritual when Taixu Realm inhabitants gathered to honor the shrines. Yet, the statues within abruptly split with wide cracks.

After millennia, the overwhelming divine might of the Faitian Lord had etched itself into the spirit of every creature in the Taixu Realm, inspiring both terror and awe.

“Who has provoked the god’s wrath? The god is furious…”

“We’re all guilty. Divine retribution awaits us…”

Inside the Faitian Shrines, the shrine keepers tasked with collecting offerings and prayers bore expressions of terror and fury. Numerous others brimmed with worry, their words quivering, “The Lord of Faitian’s essence eludes me now. The god’s bestowed power fades, the god has forsaken us…”

Terror and disorder rippled outward across the realms.

“Your divine energy stands corrupted, your faith unclean. Of course, your god would pull away from you…”

Witnessing this turmoil, the concealed gaze in the emptiness finally pulled back, content with the result. Though the divine path civilization had dimmed with time, it refused to yield heavenly authority to rival systems.

Heavenly authority formed a colossal and vital element of the cosmic order. The Immortal Path Civilization leeched upon it like a parasite, using it to grasp the Great Dao, dominate laws, and ascend beyond.

Conversely, the divine path civilization aimed to seize and monopolize heavenly authority. The downfall of gods through the ages often stemmed from battles over this power, as each deity hungered for the exalted ranks of others.

For the divine path framework, heavenly authority endured eternally, untouched by the waxing or waning of civilizations. It persisted unchanging, akin to the origin and conclusion of existence, the wheel of life and demise, the endless cycle of realms. It defined the principles and harmony of worlds, the essence of physical being, and the cycles of emergence, end, and rebirth. Destiny, chronology, expanse, causality, consequence—all fell under its unyielding dominion.

The core might of the divine path civilization rested in parceling out heavenly authority and building its sacred hierarchy. Unsurprisingly, the Immortal Path Civilization, or any alternate system, viewed heavenly authority through an entirely opposing lens.

“Are you interfering a bit too deeply?”

A steady voice suddenly rang out in the layered voids. The form, poised to draw back its sight, sensed a massive shadowy palm lunging toward her without delay.

This colossal grip, shrouded in swirling chaos and stellar lights, with orbiting worlds in tow, sent the nearby time-space quaking, on the brink of utter ruin.

“You’ve pinpointed this location? Fine, then show me what you can do.”

She uttered a light exclamation, betraying no real alarm. Her once indistinct and shifting visage sharpened into a subtle divine feminine outline, marked by a golden slit on her brow where a sealed eye rested. A radiant halo bloomed behind her, layers folding in purple brilliance, accompanied by the booming clash of innumerable cosmic domains. Surging divine force flooded every corner of time, space, and reality. The chants, rites, and echoes from myriad lives blended in symphony. A mighty stream of collective will emerged, roiling and foaming, from which gods manifested, seated in timeless poise, exuding profound majesty.

The awesome divine surge amassed like an ocean, surging forth to clash with the descending giant hand. This dimensional expanse boiled over instantly, energies bursting free and scouring all in their wake.

The gods intoning holy verses fractured and fell apart repeatedly, only to reform from the will stream, appearing infinite and indestructible.

“As long as the divine kingdom endures, my divine essence remains immortal. You cannot touch me.”

A commanding and grand proclamation thundered across the boundless layers, echoed by every god in chorus. Dazzling holy radiance swathed them, as though bathed in an inexhaustible well of divine might, eternal and unyielding.

“Gods I’ve slain before uttered those very words. Do you seek the same end?”

Gu Changge’s indistinct silhouette materialized in remote stretches of time and space. His face stayed serene as he regarded the innate god’s form, instantly piercing the veiled folds of chronology and expanse.

“Hehehe, I merely sought to warn you against crossing lines. It was only a playful nudge—why take it so seriously?”

The hazy divine feminine features abruptly softened into a bewitching smile, like the harmonious giggle of a thousand enchantresses, each a vision of flawless allure. The melody ensnared the senses, capable of softening the resolve even of Dao Realm masters.

Gu Changge offered no reply, merely lifting his hand in replication of the earlier motion. Before him, torrents of time and destiny unfurled, myriad Dao principles coiling and snapping. The cataclysmic force it unleashed threatened to upend the roots of reality itself, cowed by its sheer menace.

This strike blazed with brilliance, sweeping through immense swaths of time and space as it slammed down, engulfing countless dimensions. The very fabric of emptiness shuddered, poised to warp and shatter.

It wasn’t simple might—this was the devastating clash of Dao, laws, and cosmic order.

Undeniably, the summoned gods crumbled under Gu Changge’s strike. The roiling will stream itself fractured, dissolving into scattered motes.

The entire dimension burst apart, while nearby cosmic realms quietly met their end.

In the fractured void, an immense and timeless divine kingdom unveiled itself, yet as Gu Changge’s palm closed in, its edges faded soundlessly into a shower of luminescence. Its teeming millions evaporated in a heartbeat.

These inhabitants grasped nothing of the catastrophe. They beheld only a horrifying hand sweeping the firmament, before their world fractured and dissolved.

“You’ve truly razed my divine kingdom?”

The formerly regal and eternal tone twisted into agitation and grief. Even a genuine ancestral god would struggle to cultivate a realm of such magnitude. Its swift annihilation by Gu Changge plunged her into profound despair.

A divine kingdom’s being transcended mere follower counts or faith’s clarity; it intertwined with the reservoir of divine force. Greater the number and vastness of such kingdoms, stronger the divine power one could wield.

Faced with Gu Changge’s unrelenting advance, she yielded ground. Revealing her other hidden kingdoms would invite their doom at his hands. The cost outweighed any gain.

Her rash probe of Gu Changge had been a grave misstep, letting him trace her concealed domain with ease. With his full presence absent, she seized the chance to flee.

Prolonging the battle with Gu Changge promised no advantage. Should fellow innate gods uncover her position, they might descend upon her, lusting after her rank and strength. Thus, the immense divine surge in this layer began ebbing like a withdrawing sea, signaling withdrawal from the fray.

“Think you can simply depart? Have you sought my consent?” Gu Changge’s voice held cool detachment. He saw through her scheme clearly.

After her ploy against him, she imagined escaping without repercussion—such delusion. Though her might surpassed typical ancestral gods, granting her freedom to act boldly, it fell short of challenging him with impunity.

Gu Changge lifted his palm and pointed a finger. A piercing radiance erupted, like a heavenly blade keening through the ether, and in a flash, the whole expanse hummed with a fearsome, shrieking sword wail.

This blade rent the void, slicing through time and space, while grand Dao laws tore and evened out. The innate deity, fleeing in haste, lifted her graceful limb, directing a finger at the advancing sword gleam. The thunderous blade light barreled onward, dividing all before it. Yet her makeshift defense faltered evidently. With a stifled groan, her arm severed clean, the cut as polished as glass, devoid of any blood. Simultaneously, the halo at her back let out a brittle snap, nearly disintegrating.

“I’ll return to settle this with you…” she snarled, casting a venomous glare back at Gu Changge.

Gu Changge observed her retreat with steady indifference, opting not to give chase. Seizing the moment, distortions rippled in the space ahead of her. Overlapping dimensional folds, warped like a funhouse mirror, wove into a maze of passages. She plunged into it forthwith, gone in the blink of an eye.

“Tai Xuan?”

“That must be her sacred title.”

Gu Changge beckoned with a wave, pulling the detached arm to him. Slender and pale as frost-kissed lotus roots, it pulsed with life and divine essence. The flesh gleamed sheer and impeccable, unmarked by blood, releasing a strange, alluring scent.

From the leaking divine force, Gu Changge discerned the authentic identity of this innate god—Tai Xuan Ancestor God. That was surely her moniker. Then, he departed the ruined and turbulent void. This spot lay too distant from the Xianling Civilization. What had arrived was merely a mental projection, not his authentic self. Had his true form come, even her desperate severance wouldn’t have granted escape. The meddling of this ancestral god from the divine path in Faitian Alliance matters served as an early alert. Numerous plans now demanded acceleration.

Gu Changge had meant to let the Xiyuan Civilization tensions brew longer, but the divine path’s stirring heralded the awakening of other civilizations. His tampering with Chu Gucheng’s Heavenly Decline Tribulation had already drawn the gaze of hidden powers in the True Realm. They would awaken to his presence soon enough.

“To heighten the pressure on all existence, it’s time to hasten the Great Calamity Ceremony…”

Gu Changge’s eyes grew profound. With a mere flicker of intent, his form manifested overhead in the Taixu Realm. Within the Faitian Shrines, the fissures mending his statue as he materialized. Once more, veils of white mist and vapors enshrouded it. Through the rising incense, the divine essence in the shrines regained its holy purity.

Gu Changge eyed Chen Jinhai, a slight crease forming on his brow. In the fated tale, the child of destiny was set to defy her doom using that strand of void fate energy, altering the destined path. But after he intervened an