Ariel Starborn lay unconscious in a crater of shattered earth, his once-bright robes torn and stained with blood. His glowing sword flickered weakly beside him like a dying star.
Lan Xinran approached cautiously.
"What… what are you planning to do with him?"
Li Feng crouched beside Ariel, examining the hero's limp form. His expression held no pity, only calculation.
"What do heroes fear the most?" he asked calmly.
Lan Xinran hesitated.
"Losing their power… their destiny… their pride…"
Li Feng nodded.
"Exactly. Killing him would make heaven choose another hero. But crushing his destiny? That breaks heaven's will."
The system pulsed violently as if excited by the cruelty of his plan.
(Villain Recommendation: Public Ruin)
Cripple the hero's fate.
Break his cultivation.
Turn him into a living warning.
Reward: Massive Villain Merit boost.
Li Feng placed his hand on Ariel's forehead.
A subtle golden glow flowed out Ariel's fate energy, the "heroic fortune" heaven had gifted him.
Lan Xinran's eyes widened. "That's… his destiny thread!"
Li Feng smirked.
"Not anymore."
He clenched his fist.
The golden glow cracked
Then shattered.
Ariel jolted violently, even unconscious, as if someone had torn out his soul's foundation.
(Hero's Destiny Severed)
Heroic Luck: Reduced to zero.
Cultivation Potential: Permanently crippled.
Future Growth: Impossible.
Villain Merit +230
Total Villain Merit: 510
Lan Xinran watched in stunned silence.
"You… you destroyed his future."
Li Feng rose slowly, brushing dust from his hands.
"Heaven made him its chosen."
He glanced at Ariel's broken body.
"I made him my example."
Ariel would never rise again. Never reclaim his glory. Never touch heaven's favor.
Li Feng had not just defeated a hero.
He had erased one.
Suddenly, Ariel stirred. His eyelids trembled open.
He blinked weakly, trying to focus, but his eyesight was blurred and dim. "W-What… what have you done…?"
Li Feng knelt beside him.
"I freed you."
Ariel coughed blood. "Freed…?"
"Yes." Li Feng smirked. "You're no longer heaven's puppet. Just a broken man."
Ariel's eyes widened in horror as he felt it
His cultivation core was dead.
His destiny was gone.
The world no longer bent in his favor.
"No… no… no…" Ariel whispered, voice cracking. "I… was chosen…"
"Not anymore."
Ariel tried to summon his sword, but the blade flickered and fell lifelessly to the ground.
Li Feng lifted the sword and, without hesitation, dropped it across Ariel's legs.
CRACK.
Ariel screamed, agony ripping through him.
Lan Xinran flinched but she didn't stop Li Feng.
Ariel gasped, "Why… why are you doing this…?"
Li Feng stood, looking down with cold amusement.
"Because heroes like you think destiny makes you untouchable."
He kicked Ariel's broken sword away.
"But I'm the Villain Emperor. I make my own destiny."
Ariel's breathing faltered as despair crushed him.
This was worse than death.
Exactly what Li Feng intended.
(System Notice)
Host's actions have established the first villainous milestone.
Villain Empire Foundation: Stage 1 Completed.
Reward unlocked:
Villain Core Seed
A black, pulsating orb materialized before Li Feng's hand dark, powerful, alive.
Lan Xinran felt the air grow heavier.
"That's… your cultivation core?"
"Not just a core," Li Feng said quietly.
"The beginning of my empire."
He placed the orb against his chest.
It sank into his body, merging with him in a flash of darkness.
A wave of raw, demonic power surged outward, making the cave tremble.
Lan Xinran clutched her chest, trembling.
"Li Feng… you're… awakening…"
He extended his hand.
Dark energy rippled from his fingers.
A new path had opened.
The path of the Villain Emperor.
As Li Feng absorbed the final strands of power, he turned back toward Ariel.
The hero lay numb, broken, and silent.
Li Feng smiled faintly.
"Lan Xinran," he said, "leave him. He's finished."
She nodded slowly.
"What now?" she whispered.
Li Feng stepped toward the cave entrance, the world feeling small beneath his rising aura.
"Now?"
He smirked.
"We take our first territory."