Villain Cultivator

Chapter 73: Aftermath

Blood, bones, and crushed heart of Xie Tian returned to his body. The wound caused by Wei Xiang was healed, and the assailant got pulled back to his VIP seat.

As soon as Xie Tian recovered and escaped the jaws of death, the skill ended. The greyscale world regained its colors, and the time resumed.

Only one or two seconds rewinded, but the result was shocking. Elders, disciples, and spectators couldn't believe the miracle that they had just seen.

Yet, Xie Tian collapsed on the ground, vomiting several mouthfuls of blood. The skill might be powerful, but the sacrifice was immense. His cultivation base dropped from level 7 to level 1. His heart was still beating, but it grew weak and slow. Blood circulation was rigid, while qi in his dantian was almost depleted.

Wei Xiang stood on the mountain goose's VIP stand in shock. He felt the sensation of his hand piercing through Xie Tian's back and ripped his heart out of his chest, but everything reverted back in time.

"HOW!?"

Wei Xiang circulated his qi and essence and attempted to kill Xie Tian again, but his legs became as soft as jelly. He couldn't move a muscle.

Elders and masters were different. Jia Shan and Luo Cheng regained their freedom first and rushed to Xie Tian's side. They fed him one of their strongest healing pills.

"THE EXAMINATION THIS YEAR IS OVER!! NEW MOUNTAIN GOOSE DISCIPLES HAVE ONE DAY TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR FAMILY AND RETURN TO THIS PLACE TOMORROW MORNING!! NEW SILVER PHOENIX DISCIPLES ARE TO REPORT TO XU XIUYING AT THE POSEIDON SPA HOUSE!! THAT'S ALL!!"

Jia Shan roared and took Xie Tian's weakened body back with him. Luo Cheng also followed the sect master, but he didn't forget to give Wei Huang and Wei Xiang a death glare.

Wei Huang, Wei Feng, Wei Yuan, and Wei Xiang didn't notice that. Their eyes fixated on the effect of Xie Tian's ultimate skill effect and their surroundings, including their rigid movement. That skill made their blood and qi stopped, which disrupted their movements and their qi circulation.

"What kind of technique is that!?" Wei Huang's face distorted in frustration and shock.

It was him that sent a text message to Wei Xiang, telling him to assassinate Xie Tian whenever the elders dispersed the barrier.

Wei Huang also wanted to kill Xie Tian, but too many masters were here. If he were to kill a junior, his clan's reputation would have been ruined, and it might affect the clan's businesses in the western district. Thus, he sent Wei Xiang, who was more competent than Wei Feng, to end Xie Tian's life.

Wei Xiang completed the assignment, but the shocking miracle happened. Their mission failed because of the protagonist's plot armor.

…

'Reversing time!? That's too OP, author! Your protagonist is impossible to kill! That ability is broken!'

Xu Miao couldn't believe what he had experienced. If he had to use a Jojo reference, he would have named Xie Tian's skill as Golden Experience Requiem.

Fortunately, Xie Tian's [Return to Zero] didn't have the same effect as Giorno Giovanna's ultimate stand. It couldn't create an alternate reality and loop the death of his opponents. Instead, it only canceled the damage done to the user and reversed the time back one or two seconds.

The backlash of using this technique also looked severe. Xie Tian couldn't continue fighting after using it, and he ran out of qi. Seeing how Xie Tian vomiting blood, Xu Miao was sure that he couldn't repeatedly use the technique like Giorno.

It was a piece of good news and bad news. If Xu Miao were to fight Xie Tian in a deathmatch, he had to go through this skill once. In other words, he had to kill Xie Tian twice.

'Perhaps I should name your story, Xie Tian, heroes die twice? Your OP plot armor is freaking annoying. You have Jia Shan and Luo Cheng protecting you, and you have that skill. How do I separate you from those two masters and kill you?'

As Xu Miao couldn't do anything in this situation, he could only look at Jia Shan and Luo Cheng taking Xie Tian away. Under these two's protection, Wei Huang wouldn't be able to harm Xie Tian for the time being.

It wasn't hard for Xu Miao to guess that once Xie Tian recovered, he would get many times stronger than now. It might even be possible that he would break through to the 3rd stage.

Time was running out for Xu Miao. If he couldn't do something now, Xie Tian would get too strong, and it would be impossible for all masters to defeat him. Xu Miao's initial preparation was good, but it wasn't enough. Unless Xie Tian's strength stopped growing now, all connections and networks with the villain clans would be meaningless.

'Do I have to infiltrate the mountain goose sect and sabotage his strength? Can Jiang Lan do the job? No, I can't count on her alone. If I leave it to these local mobs and villains, they will only send extra goons to give Xia Tian EXP. He will only get stronger!'

While Xu Miao was at his wit's end, Killer Queen receded her aura and sent a telepathic message to his mind.

[You know, if I weren't full, I could have eaten that juicy essence. I think I could have eaten like 50 to 100 dragon essence or so.]

'Hmm?'

KQ's words pique Xu Miao's interest.

First, it was the katana's ability. Since she hinted that she could eat Xie Tian's essence or skill, she might be able to nullify the time reversing effect.

Secondly, KQ mentioned dragon essence, which revealed another unique energy that Xu Miao wasn't aware of. It reminded him of Xie Tian's power, dragon fire.

'Do you know anything about dragons or dragon qi?'

[Ah, dragons. They're one of the elusive ancient dinosaurs. They are strong individually, but they suck at working together as one. Most of them were hunted down by demon tribes since their blood and flesh are nutritious. Their scales are perfect for making weapons and armors, too. Even their tendons can be manufactured into fibers for cloths. Do you know that my blade material is actually a vampire dragon core?]

That was a lot of information to digest. With just one question, KQ started flexing her knowledge.

He was glad, though. KQ was cooperative, and she was helpful in emergency situations like the previous battle.

'Tell me more about fire dragons or anything about dragons that excel in a similar skill as Xie Tian. I want to know if there is a connection between them. Is it possible that a human can inherit a dragon's skill or legacy?'

[Sure! I know a lot!]

While Xu Miao was returning to his VIP seat and regroup with the others, KQ explained the background of dragons that she had heard from her ex-master. As he was listening, his eyes gleamed in bright light.

Hope remained.

…

Meanwhile, Xu Xiuying gathered all disciples and elders, "This year's event is over. All of you can return to your dorm and rest. I'll stay here to handle the formalities and the aftermaths. Also…"

The succubus queen glanced at Xu Miao, whose left arm was in tattered, but it was healing at a visible speed.

"I have to talk to Wei Huang about the wedding between my stupid son and Wei Yuan. This will take a while."

"Oh, sure. By the way mother, I have a request."

"What?"

Xu Miao whispered to his mother, "I want to move Jiang Lan into the mountain goose sect."

"For what? Isn't she your toy?"

"It's complicated. Let's say, it relates to Xie Tian. Wasn't we forced to expel him because of the messes he made? I still want to keep him as my subordinate."

"Oh? I see. You want to use your toy to tame him?"

"Something like that."

"Fine. But Jia Shan will get suspicious if I only send Jiang Lan. I'll send my workers there as transfer disciples."

"Thank you, mother."

"In exchange, I want you to continue what you were doing. Keep fucking my disciples and make them stronger. Oh, if you want to, you can call me. I'll teach you how to please a girl myself."

"…"

At first, Xu Miao and Xu Xiuying were whispering. But somewhere along the way, Xu Xiuying intentionally spoke out loud and everyone could hear it.

All female disciples and elders also gazed at Xu Miao and Xu Xiuying with a complicated expression.

.

.

.

The annual examination ended in a rushed manner, but that was normal for the organizers and the participating crowd. Everyone returned in peace.

Some rejoiced that their family members became official disciples, but some families were sad from the loss of their promising members.

All silver phoenix disciples and elders returned without a casualty. New disciples would join them tomorrow, but all of them hadn't moved to the brothel yet.

Changes occurred while the disciples were returning to their sects. Per Xu Miao's request, Xu Xiuying transferred Jiang Lan and three JY disciples to the mountain goose sect as a token of apology. They would be replacements for the dead disciples that Xie Tian and Xu Miao had killed.

Wei Huang and Xu Xiuying also went out to talk in private as they wanted to discuss their alliance through a political marriage. They also needed to set a date for the wedding ceremony between Xu Miao and Wei Yuan, but they were not satisfied with the alliance terms just yet. They had to go into details first.

.

= Room 14001 =

Xu Miao returned to his room after he got his left arm bandaged. He stripped his clothes, tossing KQ to the side, and jumped onto his bed. He buried his face in his pillow as if he missed it so much.

A week of brutal tests exhausted him. He wanted to do nothing for a few hours to rest.

[[Ding]]

[[Congratulations! You have completed Tutorial Quest Number 5!]]

It had been a while since he heard anything about the quest. Xu Miao wanted to read the messages and get the reward right away, but he was too lazy to do so.

It took Xu Miao 30 minutes to recharge his mental strength and willpower before he could flip his body to look at the system screen.

[[You have unlocked the second stage of cultivation.]]

Xu Miao didn't know why the system stopped him from advancing to the second stage, but he guessed that it might have something to do with the protagonist's plot armor. Had he not had this limiter, Xu Miao might have been able to kill Xie Tian during the friendly duel.

'Xie Tian's strength dropped to level 1 bone refining realm, but I can advance to the same rank as him now.'

Knowing the system's cunning tricks and the existence of mysterious sponsors, who rigged all the quests, Xu Miao guessed that the previous development was intentional. He and Xie Tian had about the same strength right now. Thus, the race would truly begin from this day onward.

Xu Miao sat up and closed his eyes, controlling his qi in his dantian. It was time to advance to the next stage.