Villain Cultivator (Web Novel)
chapter-460

Xu Chu glanced at the compound element crystal in Miaomiao's hands and figured what he was about to do. She shook her head and facepalmed.

"I know that you're an idiot, but you're about to be downgraded to a retard."

"Dafuq!? I just want to examine that maid robot!"

Xu Chu sighed and rolled her eyes, "Did you learn about this marionette's potential from someone?"

"Yeah, an angel warned me not to put this crystal inside that robot."

"And what the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm planning to put it in."

Xu Chu's face turned solemn. She punched Miaomiao to the face, detonating his head and killing him on the spot.

Miaomiao was respawned a few seconds later. He looked at his headless corpse and Xu Chu in confusion.

"XU CHU! WHY!?"

Xu Chu teleported behind Miaomiao and pressed his face to the ground with her left hand. Meanwhile, she reached out her right hand and pulled the compound element crystal to her palm.

"Have you read the description of this maid marionette carefully?"

"Ugh, yeah?"

Miaomiao still saved the log of the maid's label description when he first got it from Tilted Hongjun.

…

Prototype Battle Doll – MK. One

This doll was the outdated prototype battle doll, which had been researched and tested 3,000 years ago. It was designed by Teacher Hongjun, the Ancient Dao God of Great Balance. However, due to its physical limitation, it was useless against immortals. Thus, this prototype MK One was stored in the Battle Doll Museum, being enshrined as the mother of all famous battle marionette series in the Battle Droid Era.

…

Xu Chu waved her hands and sent the compound element crystal back to the pylon tower's available socket. It entered the hole and fed its energy to the tower.

She sat down and on Miaomiao's back and started lecturing him.

"Look, only seven Prototype War Marionettes exist in the Heaven Realms. All of them are personally created by the creator of our universe, the Supreme Entity."

Miaomiao had the urge to interrupt or get up, but he kept listening.

"One of the Prototypes is someone you know well. That bastard was the one who sent me here and has been toying with your fate."

"Devil!?"

"Yeah, him," Xu Chu's face distorted whenever she thought of the Devil's true appearance. She glanced at Miaomiao's confused expression while she had a wry smile on her face.

"That Devil is the strongest prototype. He evolved several times during the past million years, and no god can contest with his strength."

"Hmm?"

As soon as Xu Chu mentioned the number of years, Miaomiao finally noticed the inconsistencies.

He reread the label detail that Tilted Hongjun had described.

[This doll was the outdated prototype battle doll, which had been researched and tested 3,000 years ago.]

3,000 years ago?

But Xu Chu said Devil was a War Marionette Prototype, and he was over a million years old?

Of course, the Devil was there in Cernun's memory. He was definitely older than a million years!

Miaomiao slapped his forehead, punishing himself for being dumb.

"The other six prototype marionettes are also alive and kicking, though, all of them usually spent their time secluding themselves in their private planes."

Then, Xu Chu turned to the combat prototype, "You see, Miaomiao. The REAL Prototype War Marionette, created by the Great Entity, are perfect beings. They can't possibly be degraded or used as a tool like her!"

"I get it. But why are you stopping me from examining that android?"

"You said that you got this robot from Tilted Hongjun, right?"

"Yes."

"He fooled you. This robot is a fake!"

"W-What?"

"Never trust the gods, Miaomiao. There is no free gift in the universe. If that snake gave this thing to you, expect some sort of hidden agenda. Be paranoid when you're taking gifts from gods. Keep thinking in your mind. What will they gain from gifting you?"

"…"

Miaomiao's face turned solemn. Once again, he recalled Cernun's warning.

[Appreciate the help from dao gods, but don't trust them.]

Xu Chu waved her hands, and the maid robot stopped moving. It collapsed to the ground, face first.

"First off, the description isn't 100% the truth. He might have indeed created this Prototype Combat Marionette, but it's a defective product. It is also not the ORIGINAL War Marionette that can function by themselves."

The ancient succubus stood up and walked toward the android. She began dissembling it.

In a few seconds, Xu Chu took out a dark orb, which emitted Soul Qi to the air. Then, she pulled out a white stone, which contained Life Qi inside.

"Real marionettes don't operate with a Life Stone and a refined 4th-stage soul stone. They can't possibly handle compound element crystal's power. Had you put it inside this junk, it would have gone berserk and attacked everything that moves like what they did 3,000 years ago. Want me to teach you about the War Droid Purge Incident?"

"… I-I thought she would get stronger."

"Yes, it will get stronger, but it isn't designed to handle complicated and sophisticated power, such as Luck and Karma Energy within the compound element crystal."

"…"

Miaomiao's face turned pale as he realized his stupidity. He almost created a monster.

Moreover, he suspected that Tilted Hongjun had laid a trap for him!

Xu Chu calmly assembled the maid marionette back and restored it to life while she complained, "If you have a question about War Marionettes, be sure to consult with me first. Don't try to do anything stupid like this again."

"… I'm sorry."

"Did someone tell you about War Marionette's power? Has someone sensed my… I mean, this marionette's presence?"

"Yeah, you see. Someone from Heaven Realms came and warned me."

Miaomiao confessed everything that Azazel and Uriel had been doing, including their conversation, the Holy Land Tournament, and the Selection Tournament.

After hearing everything, Xu Chu nodded in satisfaction. She felt better as Miaomiao still had faith in her.

"I see what they are trying to do. Joshua and the Devil are probably playing around again. Well, try not to get yourself killed. Don't overestimate yourself and challenge any 9th-stage cultivator as you are now, okay?"

"M'Kay, mom."

"Now, move along. If you're horny, go to that dryad house. I'm busy collecting snacks."

"…"

Miaomiao was disappointed. He left the Isolation Training Space and woke up.

…

After Miaomiao had left the space, Xu Chu scoffed as she stared at the marionette in front of her.

She injected her Qi into the doll's core to refuel and reprogram it.

'Idiot Miaomiao. Many gods out there are trying to recreate those War Droids. Tilted Hongjun is using you to test his robots. You would have been punished in his stead had you inserted that crystal into it.'

Xu Chu sighed as she had already figured Tilted Hongjun's motive long ago. She stole the maid robot from Miaomiao because of this reason to protect him from the taboo items.

Still, Xu Chu thought of Azazel and Uriel, whom Miaomiao had told her.

'That Second-Gen sensed my mother's scent… what to do. Oh, well. Devil has probably prepared for it since Uriel doesn't proactively find trouble with Miaomiao. He probably knew.'

The aura that Azazel had detected didn't come from Tilted Hongjun's Prototype Combat Marionette.

It came from Xu Chu!

However, Xu Chu was not a War Marionette as she had reproductive organs that the War Droids never had. The aura that Azazel sensed was the leftover Providence Dao and remnant power of her foster mother, who had implanted her power inside her soul as protection.

After all, when Xu Chu was young, she was raised by one of the Seven Prototype War Droids, the same generation as the Devil!

'I wonder where mother is now. Is she still living on that sealed planet?'

She sighed.

'Can I even return home to see her again? Should I introduce Miaomiao to her after he ascends? Eh, that might be a bad idea. This bastard Miaomiao is going to fall for mother's charm. She is nicknamed "Goddess of Beauty" for a reason!'

…

= Holy Land Continent, Swan Goddess Shrine =

The Swan Goddess Shrine was located at the center of the Holy Land Continent, surrounded by the Seven Great Houses.

Liu Clan

Zhang Clan

Guan Clan

Wang Clan

Ji Clan

Yang Clan

Song Clan

These Seven Great Clans dominated the Holy Land Continent. Even the first-rated sects on the continent had to respect them due to their connections with the higher realms.

However, from the perspective of immortals and dao gods, these clans were insignificant in their eyes. They were merely children playing houses, and they had no value to them other than being their pets.

The immortals, backers of these clans, stood in rows, facing the carpet of the hallway as if they were waiting for the Goddess to arrive. Seven representatives of the Great Clans were also there, timidly standing at the corner of the room.

Uriel, Azazel, and many dao gods strode the shrine. All immortals and representatives of the Seven Great House knelt to pay respect to the deities.

Uriel and Azazel walked toward the side of the altar and stood there, standing tall as honored guests. Two other dao gods also did the same, waiting for the owner of this planet.

Soon, a 3-meter tall swan appeared on the altar. Yet, everyone didn't look down on her.

She was the "SWAN" Goddess.

The swan puffed her fat chest with pride and glanced at Uriel for a moment. Then, she looked around the room.

Fang Yanxu and Fang Meirong were also in the room, bowing their heads to the Swan. None of them raised their heads to look at her face, but Fang Meirong was on the verge of laughing out loud.

Swan Goddess?

She was just a big fat swan!

The Swan Goddess began announcing the rules of the upcoming tournament.

"The next Harvest Festival will be set in three months. Within a month, all of you must cooperate to draft 10 representatives from each rural continent. I expect one 9th-stage cultivator, three 8th-stage cultivators, and 7th-stage cultivators from each location."

A low murmur resounded in the shrine as immortals complained among themselves.

9th-stage cultivators were not cabbages! They couldn't simply grow from a desolated continent every decade!

One of the two gods in the shrine coughed and turned to the swan. He was an elderly woman, whose head was the same as a Rod Viler while her other body parts were the same as a human. Also, her dark brown skin stood out among the crowd. Combining with her black robes, she looked mysterious and intimidating.

She was an ancient god, who was also a knight vessel of another god.

Nuan from the Anubis Race protested against the Swan's order, "Lady Karen. Ninth-stage cultivators are rare on desolated continents. A decade isn't enough for weak mortals in a world with barely minimum Qi to emerge. It's impossible to "Harvest" one from each continent."

"Is this your planet or my planet, Nuan!? If I say I want them, they are obliged to get me one!"

"You are being unreasonable. What if there is no 9th-stage cultivator on the subsidiary continents?"

"We'll forcefully raise 8th-stage cultivators as 9th-stage cultivators for the Harvest, then."

"That's impossible! We need genuine geniuses, not artificial ones! What's the use for new immortals who can't even progress to the Immortal King Stage!?"

"That's your business, not mine. My job is to provide you leechers with promising mortals, and I'm filling the quota. You don't tell me what to do!"

"…"

Karen, the Swan Goddess, was furious. She honked and flapped her wings like a bird.

"Pfft!"

Meanwhile, Fang Meirong bit her arms to hold back her laughter. As she had been influenced by Miaomiao's culture, languages, slang, and odd sense of humor, she found the Swan Goddess' name and personality hilarious.

She was a Karen!

An alpha Karen, a Karen Goddess at that!

Fang Yanxu immediately shoved a handkerchief in her mouth to stop her from laughing. Fortunately, nobody paid attention to them but Uriel and Azazel, who already found them among the crowd.

…

While the shrine became noisy because Karen and Nuan began bickering about the tournament rules, Azazel sent a telepathic voice to her boss.

'Report, I detected an aura of a prototype-generation war marionette within Mao Miaomiao's dantian world. Should I investigate further?'

Uriel turned to his subordinate and slightly shook his head, 'Leave them alone. Treat it as a false alarm.'

'Sir, are you sure? The life signature clearly resembles Lilith.'

'False alarm. Lilith is still recuperating from the previous skirmish against Xie Qingtian on Lord Joshua's Seventeenth Constellation. The person you sensed is probably her foster daughter that has inherited Lilith's soul fragment. Devil sent her there to assist Mao Miaomiao. Nothing to worry about.'

'…Affirmative. Correcting the Life Signature.'

Uriel inwardly sighed, 'Anything else you want to report regarding him?'

Azazel paused for a moment. Then, she remembered, 'Yes. There is also another life signature of a defected marionette inside him.'

'I and Devil are already aware of that. We already talked with the maker of that marionette.'

'Then, what will be your order?'

'After we deal with this farce on this planet, you should return to our Constellations to bring some reinforcement here. Also, send someone to keep an eye on Hongjun.'

'Affirmative.'