Moonlight spilled across the clan's gardens, turning the white blossoms silver. The scent of spirit herbs drifted through the night, mingling with the faint crackle of qi still lingering in the air after the day's tribulation.
Feng Xuanlong walked slowly along the path of jade tiles, his steps measured, his eyes distant. He could still feel it—the taste of lightning in his blood, the warmth of flames in his marrow, the abyssal hunger of the Heaven-Devouring Scripture whispering for more.
But more than that, he felt the weight of eyes. The clan's disciples avoided him now, bowing with forced respect, whispering as soon as his back turned. Some gazes held awe, others fear. None dared come close.
All except one.
"Senior Brother."
The voice was soft, like a bell beneath the night wind.
He turned. Yan Ruyan approached slowly, her robes shimmering in the moonlight. Her face was beautiful in a delicate, unearthly way, her aura pure and untouched. In the old plot, this purity would one day be captured by Ye Tianxing's light.
But now…
The Villain System stirred.
[Side Quest Reminder: Steal Yan Ruyan's loyalty before it shifts to Ye Tianxing. Reward: 500 VP + Fate Fragment.]
A thin thread of golden light shimmered faintly above her, visible only to him—her fate line, tethered toward the distance, toward the absent figure of Ye Tianxing. But it trembled now, unstable, after the humiliation he had inflicted upon the so-called Chosen One.
Xuanlong's lips curved.
Yan Ruyan stopped a few paces away, her hands tightening on her sleeves. "Today… you terrified everyone."
He raised a brow. "Are you afraid as well?"
Her lips parted, then closed. She shook her head lightly. "I should be. That… power you used… it felt unnatural. As though the heavens themselves hated it. But…"
She bit her lip, looking down. "When the tribulation descended, I thought you would die. Yet you stood there as if it was nothing. Even when everyone else doubted, you didn't waver. How could I be afraid of someone who faces Heaven with such pride?"
Xuanlong studied her carefully. In the old story, these words of admiration would soon turn to pity, then disappointment, then betrayal. But tonight, her voice trembled with something else. Awe. Curiosity. The fragile beginning of loyalty.
The system's voice whispered:
[Condition met: +100 VP. Yan Ruyan's fate thread begins to shift.]
He stepped closer. She looked up at him, startled by his sudden nearness. In her eyes, he saw innocence, but also hesitation—the hesitation of a girl bound by Heaven's script, struggling between the villain she should fear and the man she could not ignore.
"Ruyan," he said softly, his voice a low flame in the dark. "Do you know what fate decreed for me?"
She blinked. "Fate?"
He smiled faintly. "That I would shine briefly, only to be trampled by others. That all I have—talent, bloodline, pride—was only a stage for someone else's glory. And you…" His gaze lingered on her face. "…were meant to leave me for him."
Her breath caught. "I—what are you—"
He raised a hand, brushing aside a loose strand of her hair. She froze, unable to move. His touch was gentle, yet beneath it lingered a dangerous confidence, as though he held not her hair, but her destiny itself.
"But I do not bow to fate," he murmured. "Not Heaven's, not anyone's. If destiny thinks to take you from me, then I will shatter destiny itself."
Her heart pounded so loudly she thought he could hear it.
The system chimed.
[Yan Ruyan's loyalty has shifted. Fate Fragment obtained. +500 VP.]
A pulse of warmth flowed into his core. Above, the golden thread connecting Yan Ruyan to Ye Tianxing trembled violently, then snapped. The broken fragment coiled toward Xuanlong, fusing into his abyssal vortex. For a moment, he felt the faint brush of Heaven's anger once more—but also the surge of luck bending in his favor.
Yan Ruyan swayed, as though something within her soul had changed. She lowered her eyes, cheeks burning. "…Senior Brother, you speak as though you are no longer the same person I knew."
"I am not," he said simply.
For a time, silence stretched between them. Then, faint shouts echoed from the distance—disciples whispering of tomorrow's events.
"The clan is restless," she said softly. "Many fear you will bring calamity upon us."
He chuckled. "Calamity? Perhaps. But tell me, Ruyan… do you think calamity fears Heaven, or does Heaven fear calamity?"
She had no answer. Yet her eyes lingered on him longer than before, filled with a light that Heaven had not scripted.
That night, as he returned to his courtyard, the Villain System spoke again.
[New Quest: Consolidate Core Formation by devouring three elite geniuses within the clan. Reward: 3,000 VP + Dao-Plundering Chains.]
[Warning: Heaven's Chosen Ye Tianxing has survived. His fate has been weakened, but Heaven is moving to restore him.]
Xuanlong's smile curved into a blade.
"So he still lives… Good."
After all, a meal was best enjoyed when it struggled.
High above, in realms unseen, the threads of fate writhed. For the first time in countless cycles, a villain had bitten into Heaven's script.
The heavens trembled.
The game of fate had begun.