“I transmigrated…”
The great hall was a vision of gold and splendor, decked with lanterns and festive streamers, all of it trimmed in celebratory red.
Outside, guests milled about in droves, their clamor swelling with what sounded like congratulations.
Only Jiang Wuhen stood alone inside the hall, staring blankly at it all while trying to digest the memories flooding his mind.
A moment later, clarity flickered through his eyes.
“I actually transmigrated into the Imperial Son of the Heavenly One Immortal Sect!”
The Heavenly One Immortal Sect was one of the oldest and most powerful powers in the Eastern Divine Immortal Domain. Though it bore the name ‘Immortal Sect’, it ruled over more than half the domain like an imperial dynasty.
Every generation’s sect master was honored as ‘Emperor Lord’ or ‘Empress’.
And Jiang Wuhen was the sole personal disciple of the current Empress, honored by the world as the ‘Imperial Son’ — the designated heir to the title of Emperor Lord!
He had been blessed with extraordinary talent since childhood. He began body tempering at three, stepped onto the martial path at four, broke through to the spirit martial realm at six, and by ten had reached the great accomplishment stage of the qi sea realm.
On top of all that, he possessed a fortune that came once in ten thousand years: a supreme bone.
Luck this good? Peaked right from the start?
Just as Jiang Wuhen was silently congratulating himself, a voice rang in his ear, crisp and melodious yet tinged with unmistakable coldness:
“Imperial son, a forced melon is never sweet. I will not marry you.”
“I’ve come today to break our engagement. And I’m asking you to please… stop pestering me!”
The words caught Jiang Wuhen off guard.
Break the engagement?
A broken-engagement arc!
Invincible from the start and a broken engagement arc? Good heavens, are you stacking buffs on me?
He had already begun daydreaming about the beautiful life that lay ahead.
But somewhere beneath it all, something felt off.
At the same time, another wave of memories surged into his mind.
His face went dark on the spot.
“When I was four and first stepped onto the martial path, Shizun used the ‘Heavenly One Secret Method’ to steal the fortune of an entire dynasty, cleansing my marrow and rebuilding my body from the inside out. That dynasty has been declining ever since.”
“When I was twelve, so that I could break through my bottlenecks and one day attain the rank of Supreme, Shizun personally carved out a fellow sect disciple’s supreme bone. Once robbed of his bone, that boy was dumped in the desolate wilderness. Alive or dead, no one knows.”
“When I was eighteen, I fell in love at first sight with Mu Yunxi, daughter of the head of a first-rate clan in the Eastern Divine Immortal Domain. I pestered her relentlessly, wore her down, and even leveraged the Heavenly One Immortal Sect’s power to pressure the Mu Clan. I hear that a few years ago Mu Yunxi spent some time training in some unremarkable wasteland. When she came back, she was like a different person, cultivating hard every single day. And today is our wedding ceremony…”
“…”
Jiang Wuhen: Wait, this isn’t right. Who’s setting me up today?
What kind of protagonist was this? No matter how you looked at it, this was the villain boss who gets trampled to death on the protagonist’s path to power, hands over experience and loot, and throws in a reputation boost on the way out!
And Mu Yunxi, who had just asked to break the engagement, was obviously the female lead!
A sudden sense of urgency gripped Jiang Wuhen.
Sure, he had strength, status, and a powerful backer. But the thing about protagonists was that they played by absolutely no rules.
Once the protagonist halo switched on—
Talent +99999…
IQ +99999…
Charisma +99999…
Fortune +99999…
Villain IQ -99999…
And in special situations, there were bonus abilities on top of that.
For example: sacrifice a loved one to the heavens, gain boundless power. Survive a fatal disaster, stumble onto another fortuitous encounter. Hang on the brink of death, guaranteed breakthrough…
Once those protagonists grew up, forget his measly title of Imperial Son. The entire Heavenly One Immortal Sect would probably be packed up and shipped off.
“It probably won’t be long now…”
As the words left his lips, Jiang Wuhen’s gaze drifted to Mu Yunxi out of the corner of his eye, and a shudder ran through him.
Female lead? A wedding?
Could a sweet deal like that ever fall into the lap of a villain?
Having devoured every trope-ridden power fantasy in his past life, Jiang Wuhen realized at once: this forced wedding ceremony was the perfect chance for a Son of Fortune to trample a villain and capture the female lead’s heart.
Maybe a Son of Fortune was already on his way over here, blade in hand.
“For fuck’s sake, is there any justice in this world? Any law at all?”
“How come everyone else who transmigrates gets to be a Son of Fortune, while I get stuck as a great villain who won’t survive three chapters?”
“In my last life I was diligent and dutiful. Greedy for money? Never. Lustful? Please. I worked every day to give every young lady a warm home. Whenever a neighbor’s pretty wife was left alone, I’d go pay her a kindly visit. My friends all praised me for the refined spirit of a Jian’an poet and the gallant legacy of the great Wei lords…”
“At worst, last month when I visited Mount Tai, I drove off an abandoned Mercedes at the foot of the mountain, ran over a sheep on the way back, chopped down an old willow by the roadside to roast it, and, purely in passing, snatched some beast milk out of a kid’s hands…”
Just as Jiang Wuhen was drowning in helplessness, a cold, mechanical electronic voice sounded in his mind:
【Ding dong. Host transmigration successful. The Destined Great Villain System is now binding…】
Jiang Wuhen froze.
A system?
But why a villain system? Did he look like a villain?
Would I ever be a villain? I’m a man who reads the Spring and Autumn Annals!
Jiang Wuhen cursed inwardly.
The next moment—
【Ding dong. The Destined Great Villain System has bound successfully!】
【Villain Starter Gift Pack distributed!】
【Ding dong. Congratulations to the host for obtaining a divine-grade halo: the Destined Great Villain Halo!】
【Ding dong. Congratulations to the host for obtaining a divine-grade physique: the Emperor Devil Tyrant Body!】
【Ding dong. Congratulations to the host for obtaining a divine-grade cultivation art: the Nine Yin Nine Yang No Life No Annihilation Heavenly Devil Art (abbreviated: the Nine Revolutions Emperor Devil Art)!】
【Destined Great Villain Halo: Unique across all the myriad heavens and daos, an item exclusive to the host. With this upon him, the host is immune to the effects of the protagonist halo!】
【Emperor Devil Tyrant Body: The emperor descends upon the world, his dominance unrivaled. Ranked among the top three divine physiques since primordial times. Walk the righteous path and become an emperor; walk the crooked path and become a devil!】
【Nine Yin Nine Yang No Life No Annihilation Emperor Devil Art (Nine Revolutions Emperor Devil Art): The companion art of the Emperor Devil Tyrant Body. Nine revolutions in total. Each completed revolution awakens the Emperor Devil Tyrant Body once. Cultivated to great accomplishment, heaven and earth bow their heads; there is neither life nor annihilation!】
At the same time, Jiang Wuhen saw his information panel.
【Jiang Wuhen】
【Status: Imperial Son of the Heavenly One Immortal Sect!】
【Realm: Transcendent Realm, Seventh Stage!】
【Physique: Emperor Devil Tyrant Body (not yet awakened; awakens automatically upon advancing the Nine Revolutions Emperor Devil Art to the first revolution)!】
【Cultivation Art: Nine Revolutions Emperor Devil Art (not yet cultivated; advancing to the first revolution requires 1,000 Villain Points)!】
【Fortunes: Supreme Bone (Damaged), Dragon Fortune Bestowal…】
【Divine Abilities & Martial Skills: Heavenly One Sword Finger, Emperor Arrival Fist, Furious Dragon Thirteen Stances…】
【Villain Points: 0】
【Note: Completing system-issued missions and acting in ways befitting a villain will both earn Villain Points. Villain Points can be spent on cultivation and redeemed for shop items…】
Jiang Wuhen took it all in slowly, a strange look gradually settling over his face.
Maybe being a villain wasn’t so bad after all.
Jiang Wuhen: I’ll be waiting for you at the Heavenly One Immortal Sect. If you’re my brother, come slash me!
Just then—
“Imperial son, did you hear a word I said?”
“I… I want to…”
That clear, melodious voice dragged Jiang Wuhen’s thoughts back to reality.
Before him, Mu Yunxi was biting her red lip. On that exquisite little face, beneath the ice, there was also a trace of grievance.
To be honest, she understood the situation perfectly well.
The higher-ups of both the Heavenly One Immortal Sect and the Mu Clan had already agreed to this marriage.
Right now, her parents and several of the Mu Clan’s ancestors were in the ‘Heavenly One Divine Hall’, discussing the wedding arrangements with the sect’s senior leadership.
The guests had already arrived at the sect.
At a time like this, the odds of calling off the engagement were next to zero.
But before she could finish her sentence, Jiang Wuhen waved his hand.
“Breaking the engagement, right? I agree.”
He said it lightly, as though he were recounting the most ordinary thing in the world.
To Mu Yunxi’s ears, however, those words set off a tidal wave inside her.
What?
He agreed?
For a moment, bewilderment swam in Mu Yunxi’s beautiful eyes.
Jiang Wuhen might be an arrogant, domineering sort, but the effort he’d poured into pursuing her had been anything but small.
The gifts he’d sent alone could have founded an impressive clan stronghold in the Eastern Divine Immortal Domain!
Call it being determined to win. Call it what it really was: the behavior of a total simp.
Since when does a simp throw away the goddess he’s about to get his hands on?
Seeing Mu Yunxi’s blank expression, Jiang Wuhen rose to his feet, grabbed her small hand, and strode toward the exit.
“Didn’t you want to break the engagement? Let’s go to the Heavenly One Divine Hall right now and make it clear to both our families’ elders.”
“I’m not the type to force anyone into anything.”
Jiang Wuhen was even a little impatient to get there.
What he failed to notice was that behind him, Mu Yunxi’s pretty face had turned faintly red, and the look in her eyes as she watched him had shifted ever so slightly.
Is he… serious?
Why do I suddenly feel like he’s a little different from before…?
Mu Yunxi murmured to herself.
And at the same time—
【Ding dong. The Daughter of Fortune has been taken advantage of by the host. Villain Points +100!】
Jiang Wuhen: ???
