I Am the Fated Villain
chapter-674

After leaving Mortal Palace, he did not return to Peach Village or the Gu Family. Instead, he headed to the Nephrite Breeze Pavilion to find Bai Lian’er, who had already reached the Sacred Emperor Realm, to brief her about several things.

Up to now, the Nephrite Breeze Pavilion hadn’t completely overwhelmed Neraka and Pagoda. In terms of assassination missions and accomplishments Nephrite Breeze Pavilion had not reached such a height yet, so he had to intervene. However, Neraka and Pagoda had a deep foundation, well concealed, and the contact methods among assassins were also unique. It would be hard to weed them out if their hideouts couldn’t be found.

Besides, their headquarters were said to be hidden in the Lower Realm, enabling them to avoid any enemies who desired to take revenge. Even Immortal Forces were wary of them since many True Daoists had died at their hands while still in their prime. Gu Changge felt that Remnant Immortals might be present in their quarters, so the Nephrite Bronze Pavilion would come off worse if it fought with them at its current strength.

In fact, the rapid rise of the Nephrite Bronze Pavilion had made it a thorn in the sides of these two, and they had tried numerous ways to find its headquarters in order to destroy it.

“The Alliance of Thousand Merchants have been providing information for the Nephrite Bronze Pavilion, which greatly increased the success rates of its assassination missions, but the strong heritage of Neraka and Pagoda cannot be underestimated. Many of our members have been killed by them while on missions. We already lost a lot of young members because of them.”

Bai Lian’er was wearing a black dress, with foxy features and pale flawless skin, which made her especially attractive. She was standing before Gu Changge at the moment, sounding slightly enraged.

“Once we find the hideouts of these two, destroying them won’t be difficult. However, the most difficult part lies in finding their headquarters.” Gu Changge put down his teacup with a thoughtful look since he was the true Master of the Nephrite Bronze Pavilion. If Neraka and Pagoda stood in his way, he would have to destroy them.

“I’ve already sent people to investigate the whereabouts of their headquarters, but I still don’t have any clues.” Bai Lian’er was troubled about this as well. Since her strength was still far inferior compared to the head of Neraka or Pagoda, she couldn’t do much even if she found them. She could only report this to Gu Changge so he could think of something.

“Pagoda and Neraka maintain their secrecy for this long for a reason, but I don’t think they can hide forever.” Gu Changge shook his head, planning to ask Yin Mei to pay attention to that matter. He had also sent out Ah Da and many other True Daoist Puppets to start looking into the contact points of these two guilds.

After that, he sent someone to get Bai Lian’er’s Junior Brother as well as her father, Bai Kun, to help divine the location of the Immortal Domain. In regards to the Immortal Domain, he still had no clues to its location and could only try his luck.

The Upper Realm was enormous and covered numerous skies, besides being the intersecting and overlapping point among a myriad of ancient worlds and Star Territories. Even True Daoist could only dream of going to the end of the Upper Realm since it would take more than a lifetime to cross the distance. Thus, no one knew what was present in the depths and the outskirts of the Upper Realm.

In fact, to the average cultivators, it would be hard to leave the Star Territory they were born in during their lifetimes unless there were grand teleportation arrays dating from ancient times between the different Star Territories. Crossing these territories physically would simply use up too much of their lifespans.

…

Within the Ashen Immortal Star Domain where the Immortal Dao Alliance was situated, an infinitely enormous ancient battleship, glowing blindingly with swirling runes around it, moved across the starry sky while carrying a great mass of cargo. It was a cargo ship belonging to the Immortal Dao Alliance which contained the cultivation resources sought after by different Forces.

It had been the dominating Force of the Ashen Immortal Star Domain as well as the surrounding Star Territories for numerous eras. An ancient being called the Ashen Immortal Star had founded the Immortal Dao Alliance, which controlled every area and ruled everything. This was a powerful Force which had given rise to True Immortals and thus had a strong heritage. It was so powerful Immortal Forces would usually never dare offend them. The Immortal Dao Alliance also had complex connections to many ancient Families and Sects, which would all be implicated once it was offended.

An imposing range of shiny glittering palaces, pavilions, pagodas, and mansions was situated to the northwest of the ship. A tall young man in blue walked out of the ship while surrounded by a group of male and female cultivators. He looked scholarly and refined, with a clear gaze which flashed with hints of gold from time to time, as well as glowing hair. His entire person radiated a calm otherworldly aura and he seemed to be at one with nature; even his steps and breathing had a strange charm that harmonised with the Great Dao.

The surrounding people from older generations were slightly taken aback after seeing him and quickly retreated. Lan Yifei was the Chosen One, chosen by the Immortal Dao Alliance. While he maintained a low profile, he was known to everyone in the Ashen Immortal Star Domain. He had rarely fought but each occasion held unusual meaning. Someone had even seen him going into an abandoned Star Territory to tame a Sacred King Realm beast into becoming his mount.

Besides Gu Changge, the strongest of the younger generation were only in the Sacred Lord Realm, and these were ancient monstrosities with special bloodlines which had been preserved since ancient times. It was hard to find many among the current generation of prodigies who had the ability to sight against those in the Sacred King Realm. However, Lan Yifei’s physique was so strange and mysterious that very few people knew about it; many only knew he could utilise the unlimited power of heaven and earth, which put him at a great advantage. He could find a way to emerge unscathed even against enemies who were hard to be defeated.

“Apparently this shipment is being overseen by the Chosen One. I don’t know what’s in there which warranted the close attention of the whole Sect,” murmured a cultivator of the Immortal Dao Alliance as he watched Lan Yifei pass with his Juniors following behind him.

The ship wasn’t just filled with members of the Immortal Dao Alliance but also cultivators from other Forces as well as lone cultivators. However, no one else dared to go near the area where the cargo was being stored aside from members of the Immortal Dao Alliance, choosing instead to make their own guesses.

“Without Brother Lan, we never would have found such a big mine. There was even a Profound Immortal Jade Marrow millions of years old hidden within it. If we managed to get this batch back to the Sect, it would be considered a great deed and allow us to be praised by the Elders and even the Sect Master.”

Lan Yifei and his entourage went deeper into the ancient battleship. Hearing the discussions from everyone else, one of his Juniors seemed excited and couldn’t help making the remark with a smile. The others were all surprised and delighted since the Profound Immortal Jade Marrow was a rare immortal treasure which could only be formed within a Profound Jade. Even one drop of it could cleanse the bones and marrow of cultivators and increase their cultivation level drastically, so even beings of the older generation would fight each other for just one drop of it.

“The responsibility doesn’t just belong to me. I would never have found the Marrow without your help.” Lan Yifei shook his head lightly with a humble smile. He looked very extraordinary and his every step carried a sort of indescribable aura which made him hard to miss.

“Brother Lan, you’re far too humble. How could we have gone deeper into the area if you hadn’t distracted the beast standing guard at the mine? Without you, we would all have perished from its attack.” The others didn’t agree with him and sounded admiring yet traumatised. Lan Yifei merely shook his head mildly, not taking the issue seriously.

After that, he separated from everyone else and went to the compound where he usually cultivated. It was filled with pavilions and mansions, thus resembling a small city. Even though he was the Chosen One of the Immortal Dao Alliance, his quarters looked plain and basic with only several bamboo trees for decoration.

“Who’s there?” Lan Yifei asked with a sudden frown when arriving at his quarters. A strange force moved within him while wisps of World Principles flowed into every corner. In an instant, infinite runes encompassed the space and Principles surged about with murderous intent.

“Truly worthy of the True Dao Source Physique. Since you naturally complement the Great Dao and are at one with heaven and earth, you have powerful senses. I nearly died when you were hunting me down. Did you ever consider the fact that I would survive that dangerous encounter?” A cold calm voice rang out. It was hard to discern the gender of the speaker or where the voice had come from.

“Is it you, the Successor of Demonic Arts?” Lan Yifei seemed surprised and raised his eyebrows briefly before shaking his head. “No. It’s you, but you’re not the Successor of Demonic Arts. You can’t be. Then, who exactly is the true Successor of Demonic Arts? Since he can’t possibly be as weak as you.”