Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 83: Jiang Chen
The Saint Burial Realm.
For the people living in the new era, it is a prosperous world with countless races thriving, fighting for dominance.
But unknown to them, this was a graveyard of an era long dead, with countless inheritance buried by time, with no one being able to find them.
In the most secluded northeastern corner of this realm lay the Fragrant Flower City, a place known for its resilient flora that bloomed even in the presence of deathly Qi.
At the heart of this city sat the Jiang Clan manor, a sprawling complex of grey stone and weathered jade.
Inside the opulent, yet stiflingly quiet chambers of the young master, a body that had been motionless for hours suddenly convulsed.
Jiang Chen bolted upright in his bed, his lungs burning as he gasped for air like a drowning man breaking the surface of a dark lake.
His eyes, wild and bloodshot, darted around the room, taking in the silk hangings, the incense burner shaped like a coiled serpent, and the unfamiliar mahogany furniture.
He looked at his hands—they were thin, pale, and lacked the calluses of a swordmaster who had practiced for centuries.
"W-What... What happened?" he croaked, his voice cracking. "Didn’t that bitch Leng Shuang kill me? I felt her hand crush my heart... I felt my soul tearing..."
In that instant, a spike of agony lanced through his brain as memories that weren’t his own surged forward like a tidal wave, drowning his consciousness in the mundane life of a stranger.
Saint Burial Realm...
Fragrant Flower City...
The Jiang Clan, a second-rate power clinging to its past glory...
The young master, Jiang Chen... a known wastrel and a disappointment to his lineage...
The man gripped his head, his teeth bared in a snarl that slowly morphed into a manic, disbelieving grin.
"I... I actually transmigrated?! Ha, haha," Jiang Chen’s laughter started as a low, raspy chuckle before erupting into a full-throated roar that shook the dust from the rafters. "Hahaha! Heaven blessed me! I, Jiang Chen, am still alive! The cycle of reincarnation failed to claim me!"
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, his mind racing with a lethal clarity as the image of the three sisters—the indifferent Chu Xueyu, the morbid Feng Yuyan, and the tyrannical Leng Shuang—burned in his mind like a brand.
"Haha, you three bitches," he hissed, his eyes glowing with an unholy light. "You didn’t expect this, did you? You thought you could harvest me like a crop and discard me after you’re!? Just you wait and wash your necks, I will cut them off for you and offer them to the heavens so you can repent for your sins! Especially you, Chu Xueyu... my ’beloved’ wife."
In his past life, Jiang Chen had been the ultimate pride of the Tian Yuan Empire.
He was a once-in-a-millennium genius who had reached the Heavenly Saint Realm at the tender age of eight hundred.
His rise had been so meteoric that the Shen Clan, the undisputed hegemons of the Prime Origin Realm, had sought to bind him to them, with Chu Xueyu, the Matriarch herself, coming to him to propose a marriage.
He had walked into that union with pride, thinking he had reached the pinnacle of the world, but instead, he had walked into a slaughterhouse.
On his wedding night, before he could even touch the hem of her robe, he was paralyzed after he was hit by an attack, and found Feng Yuyan and Leng Shuang hiding in the shadows.
He remembered the cold gaze of Feng Yuyan as she smiled while tearing off parts of his flesh and blood, and even forcing him to watch.
He remembered the agonizing sensation of Chu Xueyu reaching into his chest to rip out his Heavenly Sword Dao Bone, the source of his martial supremacy.
And he remembered Leng Shuang’s indifferent face as she ended his life and even tear apart his soul.
He really thought he was going to die, but never did he expect that his soul can still survive and take over the body of this man!
"...Everything I had was stolen by those three sisters," he whispered, his fingers digging into the silk sheets until they tore. "My blood, my bone, my very dignity. One day, I will take it all back, with interest."
He tried to stand up, but his knees immediately buckled, forcing him to sit back down. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
He frowned, feeling the pathetic, sluggish flow of life force in his new body as he checked his body, "Twenty-two years old, and still stuck at the 7th Stage of the Body Refinement Realm? How pathetic."
This isn’t just a lack of talent, this is tragedy!
Scanning the memories of the original host, he realized this level had only been achieved through the forced consumption of countless expensive pills and rare herbs.
The original Jiang Chen was a "trash" master who had bloated his foundation with impurities just to keep up appearances.
But, it’s alright. With his knowledge, he can still turn this body into a genius, after all, he was at the peak of Heavenly Saint Realm before he died, just half a step away from reaching Supreme Emperor realm.
He crossed his legs in a meditative posture and decided to carefully observe his body to assess the damage.
He also intended to purge the dregs of the pills from his meridians and see if the body was even capable of holding the high-level techniques he remembered.
But as he cast his divine sense inward, he hit a wall.
Deep within the abyss of his dantian, hidden behind nine layers of ancient, subconscious seals, lay a dormant power so immense it made his previous Heavenly Saint cultivation feel like a guttering candle next to a sun.
It was a void—a bottomless, silent vacuum that seemed to eat the light of his internal vision.
"This... no, it can’t be!" Jiang Chen’s heart hammered against his ribs. "Formless Void Divine Physique!? This body actually possesses such a terrifying physique!?"
The Formless Void Divine Physique was a legend among legends, a Divine Physique born at the very dawn of the universe’s creation—it was a power on the same cosmic tier as the Infinity Dragon God Physique, the very physique that Chu Xueyu stole and implanted to Haoran.
According to the ancient records he had scoured in the Shen Clan’s restricted library, this physique, once mastered to the stage of Perfect Integration, granted the user Absolute Defense.
It was said that the user could stand in the heart of a Heavenly Tribulation and feel only a summer breeze, with no Dao, Qi, nor even Supreme Artifacts could pierce the void that surrounded them.
It also grants immunity to poisons, curses, petrifications, spiritual attacks, and mental interference!
Jiang Chen even remembered that there was a story of a previous owner who fought twelve Supreme Emperors simultaneously and walked away without a single scratch on his robes.
"This... ha, haha!" He threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing through the manor. "Ha... hahaha! I lost my Heavenly Sword Dao Bone, a mere sliver of terrestrial power, and in exchange, the Heavens have given me a power destined to supress this era! Truly, the heavens favor the righteous!"
Just then, the heavy oak door of his room creaked open and a middle-aged man with a weathered face and eyes full of weary concern walked in.
Jiang Chen immediately masked his aura, sliding back into the persona of the weak young master.
He stared at the man and sensed that his cultivation was only at 4th Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
In this lower realm, that was a respectable level, but to the soul of a Heavenly Saint, the man felt like a flickering ember.
According to his new memories, this was Jiang Hei, his father and the current head of the Jiang Clan.
At sixty-five years old, he had spent his life trying to protect his "trash" son from the wolves of the city, and even from those of the same clan.
"Dad," Jiang Chen said.
The word felt like lead on his tongue; after all, he was nearly a thousand years old, so to him, this sixty-five-year-old man was practically a newborn, a descendant many times removed.
Jiang Hei stared at his son, searching his face and let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief. "I... I thought you would be far more heartbroken, Chen’er. After Ling Luochen arrived with those elders yesterday and broke your engagement so publicly... I feared you would do something rash. But it seems you are fine."
’Engagement?’ Jiang Chen dug through his mind. ’Ah, yes. Ling Luochen, the "Golden Swan" of the Fragrant Flower City.’
She had been his fiancée since childhood, and they can be said to have good relationships, but two years ago, she had been accepted as a personal disciple by an elder of the Conferred Pagoda, and her cultivation had reached the peak of Qi Gathering Realm.
Then, just yesterday, she broke off her engagement with Jiang Chen.
This broke his heart and in anger, drowned himself with alcohol and drugs and eventually passing away, allowing Jiang Chen to possess his body.
Still, the Conferred Pagoda huh?
In this world, it was known as the undisputed hegemon of the Saint Burial Realm, a power that claimed to have direct links to the upper realms.
But Jiang Chen, being from the upper realm, knew that it is Leng Shuang’s primary tool for gathering faith and resources in this lower realm.
It is her hands and feet.
He looked at his father, his expression turning cold and determined. "Dad, there is no need to worry about a cheap, ungrateful girl like that. Thirty years East, thirty years West. One shouldn’t bully the young and poor just because they lack a head start. One day, I will trample her under my feet, and she will realize that the ’Conferred Pagoda’ she worships is nothing more than a tomb I have yet to close."
Jiang Hei stared at his son, stunned by the sudden, terrifying authority in the boy’s voice.
A moment later, he let out a boisterous laugh, his pride swelling. "Hahaha! Indeed! That is how my son should act! Let the swallow fly; the dragon will eventually claim the sky! What a good lad!"
Jiang Hei patted his shoulders, "Alright, your old man still has something to do, so just rest."
As Jiang Hei walked out, Jiang Chen remained seated on the bed, his eyes turned toward the window, looking past the city walls toward the distant, towering peaks outside the city.
"Chu Xueyu, Feng Yuyan, Leng Shuang..." he whispered, "... wait for me. I am coming back."
