Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist

Three full weeks had passed since the complete eradication of the Silver Gale Sect upon the Azure Peak. The sprawling, neon-lit streets of Abyssal Pearl City had fallen into a state of absolute, terrified compliance under the heavy hand of City Lord Lin Wanyue, allowing the Fragrance Melody Sect to consolidate their newly acquired territories in complete silence.

Just beyond the primary defensive perimeter of the island city, the heavy, salt-laden ocean breeze whipped across the jagged, towering cliffs of the four premium outer islands. These massive landmasses were profound geological treasures, possessing Fourth Grade Spiritual Veins that radiated a thick, visible fog of pure Spiritual Qi. Such rich earth veins were the absolute foundation of any faction aspiring to greatness, providing the raw environmental fuel required to sustain an army of high-tier cultivators.

However, Wang Jian was not satisfied with merely absorbing the ambient Spiritual Qi that naturally vented to the surface. He intended to drain the very marrow of the earth.

Near the center of the largest eastern island, a massive, highly complex spiritual array was undergoing its final stages of construction. The ground had been carved with thousands of deep, intricate formation lines, creating a sprawling, circular matrix that spanned over two hundred paces in diameter.

Yue Lingshan stood near the northern edge of the grand formation, her pristine white robes clinging to her skin, darkened by sweat and the damp coastal air. Her beautiful face was pale, her breathing shallow and measured as she expertly channeled her Dual Wood and Water Spiritual Roots. She held a heavy, intricately carved formation plate forged from deep-sea coral. With a forceful, deliberate thrust of her arms, she embedded the formation plate directly into the solid bedrock, her Spiritual Qi binding the artifact to the natural earth lines below.

”The northern anchoring node is secure, Husband,” Yue Lingshan called out, wiping a trace of exhaustion from her brow. She looked toward the center of the matrix. ”The flow of the Fourth Grade Spiritual Vein is incredibly dense. The sheer physical pressure pushing back against the formation lines is causing the jade markers to crack.”

Standing at the southern edge, Hua Yimei knelt upon the stone, her voluptuous figure clad in a practical, tight-fitting crimson martial dress. The former Sect Leader held her Crimson Phoenix Zither across her lap. She was not playing a song of destruction; she was plucking the heavy, star-silk strings with extreme precision, sending low-frequency sonic vibrations deep into the earth.

”The structural integrity of the bedrock is holding, but the lower crust is heavily unstable,” Hua Yimei reported, her mature voice carrying clearly over the howling sea wind. ”My sound-wave arts are mapping a massive, hollow cavern situated directly beneath the primary Spiritual Vein. The depth is staggering. If we drill the array extraction tether too quickly, the sudden vacuum could collapse the entire island into the oceanic trench.”

Wang Jian stood in the exact center of the massive array, his arms crossed over his chest. His immaculate white scholarly robes fluttered violently in the swirling Spiritual Qi. His starlit, abyssal eyes calmly assessed the glowing formation lines, his mind rapidly processing the environmental feedback provided by his two elite women.

”The risk of geological collapse is acceptable,” Wang Jian declared, his voice a low, heavy rumble that effortlessly pierced the chaotic wind. ”The ambient Spiritual Qi on the surface is sufficient for the foundation disciples, but to push our core retinue toward the Nascent Soul Realm, we require the absolute, purest essence hidden within the deep-earth trench. We will utilize the Abyssal Earth-Piercing Extraction Matrix to forcibly drill through the tectonic plates and siphon the liquid Spiritual Qi directly into our localized gathering arrays.”

He uncrossed his arms, his large hands dropping to his sides. ”Lingshan, Yimei. Fall back to the outer perimeter markers. Prepare to channel your Spiritual Qi to stabilize the border walls. I will personally initiate the central drill.”

Yue Lingshan and Hua Yimei immediately ceased their tasks, retreating swiftly to the heavy, iron-wood pillars situated at the extreme edges of the formation. They seated themselves in meditative postures, pressing their palms against the pillars, their respective blue and crimson auras flaring to life to reinforce the boundaries.

Wang Jian reached into his spatial ring. He retrieved nine High-Grade Spirit Stones, each one the size of a human fist, radiating a blinding, pure white light. With a flick of his wrists, he launched the heavy stones into the air, perfectly positioning them into the nine empty circular slots carved into the central stone dais.

”Activate,” Wang Jian commanded.

He drove his right foot heavily into the stone dais. A massive, overwhelming surge of his Peak Late-Stage Core Formation power, fueled by his dark, heavy Stellar Demonic Qi, flooded directly into the matrix.

The Abyssal Earth-Piercing Extraction Matrix roared to life.

The thousands of carved formation lines ignited with a blinding, violent silver radiance. The nine High-Grade Spirit Stones rapidly drained of their power, their pure energy funneling into the exact center of the array. The sheer concentration of Spiritual Qi violently displaced the heavy air, creating a howling, localized cyclone that tore the surrounding vegetation from its roots.

Beneath Wang Jian’s boots, the earth groaned with a deafening, terrifying sound of tearing stone. A massive, invisible drill forged entirely from highly compressed, rotating Spiritual Qi manifested deep underground. Driven by the unyielding power of the array, the spiritual drill plunged violently downward, tearing through the solid bedrock, shattering layers of dense limestone and deep-sea iron ore.

The entire island began to shake violently. Massive fissures spider-webbed across the rocky surface, the heavy tremors causing the surrounding ocean waves to churn and crash against the cliffs with increased fury.

”The drill has breached the second tectonic layer!” Yue Lingshan shouted, her hands trembling as she poured her Wood and Water Qi into the perimeter pillar to keep the island from splitting apart. ”We are approaching the hollow trench!”

Wang Jian narrowed his eyes, increasing the downward physical pressure of his Demonic Qi. He could feel the heavy, dense resistance of the deep earth through the array’s feedback loop. The drill was descending flawlessly, cutting through the ancient stone to reach the buried heart of the Fourth Grade Spiritual Vein.

Suddenly, the array feedback violently spiked.

Wang Jian’s eyes widened slightly as an immense, completely unexpected force violently pushed back against the spiritual drill. The resistance was not the static, unyielding density of stone or compressed earth. It was heavy, dynamic, and pulsating with a terrifying, ancient vitality.

Before Wang Jian could sever the connection to the array, a colossal, ear-splitting roar echoed from the deep earth. The sound did not travel through the air; it traveled directly through the solid bedrock, a massive, low-frequency vibration that shattered the jade formation markers across the courtyard and sent sharp spikes of physical pain directly into their eardrums.

The ground directly beneath the central dais exploded upward.

Wang Jian utilized his Stellar Demonic Shadow Arts, his physical form instantly dissolving into black mist as he swapped positions with a shadow clone he had preemptively placed near the edge of the array.

The spot where he had been standing a fraction of a second prior was completely obliterated. A massive, geyser-like eruption of shattered rock, boiling mud, and dark, heavy water blasted hundreds of feet into the sky. The central dais and the nine High-Grade Spirit Stones were pulverized into dust.

From the gaping, violently expanding crater in the center of the island, a terrifying entity dragged itself onto the surface.

It was an Ancient Earth-Core Dragon-Turtle.

The Spirit Beast was absolutely colossal, its massive, dome-shaped shell easily spanning eighty feet in diameter. The shell was forged from ancient, compressed deep-sea rock and thick, dark iron deposits, covered in jagged, terrifying spikes that gleamed with heavy moisture. Its thick, scale-covered limbs ended in massive, razor-sharp claws capable of effortlessly tearing through solid steel. Its head, a grotesque combination of a snapping turtle and a deep-sea serpent, swung heavily from side to side, its jaws dripping with highly corrosive, boiling mud.

The ancient creature radiated an aura that caused the surrounding air to warp and distort heavily. It was a Peak Seventh-Grade Spirit Beast, an ancient apex predator that had slumbered within the deep tectonic trench for centuries, absorbing the raw, unfiltered essence of the Fourth Grade Spiritual Vein. Its power was absolutely equivalent to the absolute limit of the Late-Stage Core Formation Realm, its physical body tempered by the crushing weight of the ocean floor.

”An Ancient Earth-Core Dragon-Turtle,” Wang Jian identified the beast instantly, his starlit eyes gleaming with a mixture of cold calculation and profound, predatory hunger.

The massive beast roared again, its heavy, golden eyes locking onto the three human cultivators who had violently disturbed its centuries-long slumber with their spiritual drill.

”Lingshan! Yimei! Retreat to the absolute edge of the island!” Wang Jian commanded, his voice slicing through the chaotic rumble of the beast. ”Do not engage! Its physical weight and heavy earth Qi will shatter your defensive Magical Tools instantly!”

Yue Lingshan and Hua Yimei did not hesitate. They understood the terrifying disparity in raw physical strength. They immediately abandoned the perimeter pillars, utilizing their highest-tier movement techniques to fall back toward the jagged cliffs, putting immense distance between themselves and the towering behemoth.

Wang Jian stood alone, roughly fifty paces from the massive creature. He did not draw a weapon immediately. He allowed his immaculate white robes to flutter in the heavy, miasma-choked wind generated by the beast’s breathing.

The Dragon-Turtle did not wait. It raised its massive right foreleg, the thick, scaly limb radiating a dense, suffocating yellow light.

It slammed its clawed foot directly into the shattered earth.

”Earth-Shattering Tremor Stomp!”

The physical impact was devastating. A massive, localized earthquake rippled outward from the beast’s claw, tearing the ground apart. Instantly, dozens of massive, jagged stalagmites composed of highly compressed, dark iron-stone erupted violently from the earth, shooting upward like a forest of lethal spears aimed directly at Wang Jian.

Wang Jian’s eyes narrowed. He did not attempt to block the massive stone spears; the raw physical momentum behind them would shatter normal defensive barriers and transfer lethal kinetic feedback directly into his internal organs.

He executed the Void-Shattering Step. His boots blurred, his body moving with impossible, physics-defying speed. He weaved flawlessly through the erupting forest of stone, his shoulders twisting and his hips rotating to avoid the razor-sharp tips by mere fractions of an inch. The displaced air from the rising spikes tore at his robes, but his flesh remained untouched.

As he cleared the field of stone, Wang Jian raised his right hand, extending his index and middle fingers. He channeled his True Spiritual Root, drawing deeply upon his innate Water attribute.

”Azure Serpent Strike!”

A massive, highly pressurized tendril of dark blue water Qi whipped through the air, completely bypassing the stone spikes. The watery appendage wrapped violently around the Dragon-Turtle’s massive front right ankle, the high-pressure fluid acting like a tightening steel cable.

The beast grunted, pulling its leg backward. The sheer physical strength of the Seventh-Grade Spirit Beast was astronomical. The Azure Serpent Strike, capable of crushing the bones of a Mid-Stage Core Formation expert, simply shattered into a shower of harmless rain under the overwhelming physical tension of the beast’s muscles.

However, the slight delay was exactly what Wang Jian required.

He reached to his waist and drew Glacial Bite. The longsword, forged from profound ice-iron, hummed with a freezing, deadly aura. Wang Jian did not rely solely on the sword’s innate cold. He flooded the blade with his heavy, pitch-black Stellar Demonic Qi. The dark energy clung to the icy steel, drastically increasing the physical mass and density of the weapon until it possessed the raw bludgeoning weight of a falling boulder.

Wang Jian kicked off the ground, the solid stone beneath his boots cracking under the explosive force of his launch. He soared through the air, closing the fifty-pace distance in a heartbeat. He brought the heavy, demonically-enhanced longsword over his shoulder, aiming a devastating downward slash directly at the thick, scaly joint between the beast’s neck and its massive shell.

”Flowing Metal Slash!”

The heavy blade tore through the air, generating intense spatial friction. It struck the thick scales of the Dragon-Turtle with an absolutely deafening, ringing crash that echoed across the island.

The impact did not slice through the beast. The ancient, sediment-covered scales were impossibly dense, fortified by centuries of absorbing heavy earth Qi. Glacial Bite bounced violently off the neck joint, failing to penetrate the flesh.

The physical recoil was immense. A massive shockwave traveled straight down the blade of the sword, slamming into Wang Jian’s wrists and forearms. The bones in his arms groaned under the extreme stress, the muscle fibers tearing slightly from the sheer, unyielding resistance of the beast’s hide.

Wang Jian was thrown backward through the air by the kinetic feedback. He flipped gracefully, landing heavily on his feet thirty paces away. His boots skidded backward across the broken stone, carving two deep, long trenches into the earth before he finally arrested his momentum.

He shook his numb arms, a dark, thrilled smile curving his lips. The Verdant Eternal Spring Essence within his Dantian pulsed immediately, sending a rush of pure, miraculous life-force into his torn muscle fibers, instantly knitting the micro-tears back together and completely eliminating the fatigue in his arms.

”Your shell is exceptionally hard,” Wang Jian noted aloud, his voice entirely calm despite the violent clash. ”A perfect material for forging heavy armor.”

The Ancient Earth-Core Dragon-Turtle roared in profound fury, deeply insulted by the insignificant human who had dared to strike its neck.

The beast opened its massive, serpent-like jaws. Deep within its throat, a terrifying concentration of heavy water and corrosive earth Qi began to gather, swirling into a dense, rapidly spinning sphere of absolute destruction.

”Deep-Trench Compression Sphere!”

The beast lurched forward, exhaling violently. A massive, high-speed orb of pitch-black, highly pressurized water and corrosive mud shot through the air. The sheer physical density of the sphere displaced the surrounding atmosphere, creating a howling vacuum tunnel as it hurtled directly toward Wang Jian.

Wang Jian did not attempt to dodge. The area of effect was too massive, and the gravitational pull of the heavy earth Qi surrounding the sphere was already dragging at his robes, restricting his footwork.

He quickly stored Glacial Bite back into his spatial ring. In a singular, fluid motion, he withdrew his primary master defensive artifact.

The Nine-Heavens Iron Severing Bulwark materialized in his grasp. The seven-foot-tall, four-foot-wide shield, forged from pitch-black abyssal metal, slammed heavily into the ground before him, its jagged runic arrays pulsing with a heavy grey light.

Wang Jian planted his left foot firmly behind the shield, dropping his shoulder and bracing his entire physical frame against the heavy metal, rooting himself to the bedrock.

The Deep-Trench Compression Sphere slammed into the center of the Bulwark.

The collision was catastrophic.

The deafening boom of the impact ruptured the air itself. The heavy, dark grey barrier projected by the shield flared violently, absorbing the brunt of the crushing fluid pressure. However, the sheer, staggering physical momentum of the Seventh-Grade beast’s attack was completely overwhelming.

The solid bedrock beneath Wang Jian’s boots instantly shattered into powder. The raw kinetic force pushed the massive shield, and Wang Jian behind it, violently backward. He was forced back ten paces, then twenty, then thirty. His heavy boots carved a massive, deep trench through the island, the intense friction superheating the stone beneath him until it glowed bright orange.

The muscles in Wang Jian’s legs and back bulged to their absolute physical limits, his Stellar Flesh Reinforcement working frantically to prevent his bones from snapping under the crushing weight of the sustained impact.

Finally, the dark sphere of pressurized water lost its momentum, bursting outward in a massive, chaotic wave of corrosive mud that washed harmlessly over the impenetrable surface of the Bulwark.

Wang Jian stood up slowly from behind the heavy shield, his breathing entirely steady. The Verdant Eternal Spring Essence continuously washed through his strained meridians, completely erasing the physical toll of the defensive maneuver.

”Your heavy water is impressive, but it lacks refined heat,” Wang Jian critiqued coldly.

He did not wait for the beast to launch another ranged assault. He stepped out from behind the heavy shield, leaving it planted in the earth.

He raised his right hand, his palm open. He did not draw upon his demonic arts; he tapped directly into the holy, terrifying power he had acquired from the Golden-Flame Essence Fruit.

A single, brilliant spark of molten-gold fire ignited in the center of his palm. Within a fraction of a second, the spark erupted into a roaring, blinding pillar of pure, consuming heat.

”Golden Phoenix Flame!”

Wang Jian fully unleashed the Heavenly Flame. He combined it seamlessly with his True Fire Spiritual Root and the overwhelming, dense Yang aura of his Heavenly Yang Divine Physique. The resulting fire was not merely hot; it was a divine, incinerating force that burned Spiritual Qi itself as combustible fuel.

He swept his arm forward, launching a massive, rolling wave of Golden Phoenix Flame directly across the shattered courtyard.

The intense, terrifying thermal heat dispersion instantly altered the environment. The damp coastal air was completely vaporized, the heavy, salty moisture turning into a blinding cloud of superheated steam. The broken stones on the ground began to melt, pooling into viscous, glowing slag.

The wave of holy fire slammed directly into the massive form of the Dragon-Turtle.

The beast shrieked, a horrific, grating sound of absolute agony. The Golden Phoenix Flame aggressively burned away the heavy, corrosive water Qi protecting the beast’s outer shell. The intense, searing heat bypassed the dense iron deposits on its back, beginning to roast the sensitive, ancient flesh beneath the scales.

In a desperate bid for survival, the Dragon-Turtle slammed its heavy limbs into the ground, violently retracting its massive head and legs completely inside its colossal shell.

”Absolute Earth-Core Bastion!”

The beast pulled the surrounding heavy earth Qi inward, wrapping its massive shell in a dense, glowing yellow barrier of solid, unyielding stone. The Golden Phoenix Flame washed over the bastion, the molten-gold fire violently clashing with the heavy earth Qi. The intense thermal friction caused the outer layer of the rocky barrier to crack and pop, but the sheer thickness of the beast’s absolute defense held firm, preventing the fire from incinerating the creature entirely.

Wang Jian ceased the flow of his flames, lowering his hand. The massive cloud of superheated steam slowly began to dissipate, revealing the massive, glowing yellow dome of the beast’s shell resting in the center of the molten crater.

The creature was heavily entrenched, utilizing its ultimate defensive state to outlast the assault. Any normal Late-Stage Core Formation cultivator would find themselves completely exhausted, their Spiritual Sea drained dry attempting to burn through such a monstrous physical barrier.

Wang Jian, however, was not a normal cultivator. His True Spiritual Root and his tripartite foundation provided him with a vast, terrifyingly diverse arsenal.

”You believe retreating into the earth will save you from the forest?” Wang Jian mocked softly, a dark, calculating light shining in his eyes.

He took a slow step forward, his white robes completely untouched by the molten slag. He raised both of his hands, his fingers curling slightly. He abandoned the destructive path of fire, tapping instead into the profound, miraculous power of his Wood attribute.

He fully opened the floodgates of his Verdant Eternal Spring Essence.

”Rise,” Wang Jian commanded softly.

He drove his hands downward, aiming his pure, concentrated life-force directly into the deep, steaming fissures of the shattered earth surrounding the beast.

The response was immediate and terrifying.

The Verdant Eternal Spring Essence did not merely accelerate plant growth; it forcefully manipulated the latent, dormant seeds and roots buried deep within the island’s bedrock. Fueled by Wang Jian’s overwhelming vitality, massive, thick vines forged entirely from dense, iron-like spiritual wood violently erupted from the ground.

Dozens of colossal, thorny vines, each as thick as a massive tree trunk, shot out of the earth, whipping through the air like angry serpents. They converged entirely upon the glowing, entrenched shell of the Dragon-Turtle.

The thick vines wrapped aggressively around the massive shell, the razor-sharp, iron-like thorns digging deeply into the cracks and crevices of the beast’s rocky barrier.

”Constrict and breach,” Wang Jian ordered, clenching his fists.

The massive vines pulled taut, their thick fibers groaning with immense physical tension. They did not attempt to crush the shell; they sought leverage. The thorny vines wormed their way directly into the small, heavily armored openings where the beast had retracted its limbs and head.

The Ancient Earth-Core Dragon-Turtle felt the invasive, unyielding pressure of the spiritual wood attempting to pry its shell apart from the inside. The beast panicked. It could not remain in its defensive bastion while the heavy vines tore at its internal flesh.

With a deafening, furious roar, the beast violently thrust its massive, scaly head and its thick, clawed limbs back out of its shell, shattering the encroaching vines with pure, brute physical force.

It was exactly the opening Wang Jian had meticulously calculated.

The instant the massive head emerged from the safety of the shell, Wang Jian utilized the Void-Shattering Step. He crossed the distance in a fraction of a millisecond, completely bypassing the thrashing, heavy limbs of the beast.

He appeared directly in the air above the Dragon-Turtle’s massive, serpent-like head.

He did not draw his sword. He did not summon his flames. He relied entirely on his dark, terrifying specialty.

He raised his right hand, his index finger extended, pointing directly at the beast’s glowing golden eye. He gathered a highly concentrated, impossibly dense needle of pitch-black Stellar Demonic Qi at the tip of his finger.

”Soul-Sealing Demonic Needle!” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Wang Jian thrust his finger forward.

The invisible, silent needle of absolute dark energy shot through the air. It bypassed the heavy physical scales and the dense earth Qi completely. The Demonic Needle plunged directly into the beast’s massive golden eye, passing through the soft tissue and injecting itself straight into the creature’s massive, chaotic Spiritual Sea.

The Ancient Earth-Core Dragon-Turtle froze instantly.

The massive, terrifying beast, capable of crushing islands and outlasting Nascent Soul strikes, went completely, utterly rigid. The heavy, dark Steller Demonic Qi exploded within its brain, violently paralyzing its spiritual circulation and completely severing its mind from its physical body without causing a single drop of external physical trauma.

The colossal beast slumped heavily into the molten crater, its jaw hanging open, its golden eyes vacant and unblinking. It was entirely alive, its heart beating slowly, but it was absolutely, completely paralyzed.

Wang Jian drifted gracefully downward, his white boots landing softly upon the massive, spiked shell of the defeated apex predator.

He stood there for a long moment, feeling the immense, untamed, primal vitality radiating from the trapped creature beneath him. The beast had absorbed the pure essence of the Fourth Grade Spiritual Vein for centuries. Its flesh, its blood, and its massive core were a treasure trove of unparalleled, raw physical energy.

Wang Jian looked toward the distant cliffs, where Yue Lingshan and Hua Yimei were watching in profound awe. He raised a hand, gesturing for them to remain exactly where they were.

He sat down slowly upon the broad, rough surface of the ancient shell, crossing his legs into a meditative lotus position.

He was currently at the absolute Peak of the Mid-Level Core Formation Realm in terms of his Spiritual Qi. However, his physical body, despite the incredible resilience of the Stellar Flesh Reinforcement, was still slightly lagging behind his monstrous, ever-expanding Spiritual Sea. To prepare for the eventual, catastrophic transition into the Nascent Soul Realm, he required a physical vessel capable of containing the power of the heavens.

He needed to push his flesh to the Late-Stage Core Formation equivalent.

”Your centuries of slumber end today,” Wang Jian murmured to the paralyzed beast beneath him. ”Your vitality will serve as the mortar for my foundation.”

He closed his eyes and fiercely, aggressively activated the primary devouring technique of the Stellar Demonic Meridian Scripture.

A massive, terrifying vortex of pitch-black Demonic Qi manifested directly beneath Wang Jian, sinking through the heavy, spiked shell and plunging directly into the massive, beating heart of the paralyzed Dragon-Turtle.

The grueling, excruciating process of forced extraction began.

The raw, untamed, highly dense earth and water vitality of the Seventh-Grade Spirit Beast violently rushed up through the demonic tether, flooding directly into Wang Jian’s meridians.

The sheer physical pressure of the ancient essence was catastrophic. The moment the raw vitality hit his system, Wang Jian’s physical body convulsed violently. The heavy, sediment-rich earth Qi felt like crushed glass tearing through his veins, ripping his muscle fibers apart from the inside out.

Wang Jian gritted his teeth, refusing to sever the connection. He forced his Verdant Eternal Spring Essence to meet the invading energy. The pure, miraculous life-force went to work instantly, rapidly knitting the torn muscle fibers back together, fortifying the cell walls, and increasing the absolute density of his flesh.

Simultaneously, the intense, freezing water Qi of the beast clashed violently with his innate Heavenly Yang Divine Physique. The massive influx of conflicting elemental energies generated terrifying, extreme thermal heat dispersion within his own body.

Wang Jian’s skin flushed a deep, alarming red. The intense heat radiating from his physical form began to superheat the air around him. The massive, ancient shell of the Dragon-Turtle beneath him, capable of resisting molten fire, actually began to slowly melt and deform under the sheer, localized thermal pressure radiating from Wang Jian’s meditating body.

For two unbroken months, Wang Jian remained seated upon the beast’s shell, entirely isolated on the central island.

The weather shifted violently around him. Heavy, salty coastal storms rolled in, battering the island with torrential rain and freezing gales, but the water evaporated instantly into steam the moment it came within thirty paces of his radiating, superheated aura.

He endured the agonizing, continuous cycle of physical destruction and rapid rebirth. His bones cracked and condensed, becoming heavier and denser than Abyssal Star-Iron. His blood boiled, shedding its mortal impurities to become a thick, potent river of starlit, demonic vitality. His muscle fibers tore and re-knitted thousands of times, becoming as resilient as the ancient dragon-scales of the beast he was consuming.

As the second month drew to a close, the massive, towering form of the Ancient Earth-Core Dragon-Turtle had been completely, utterly hollowed out. The colossal, eighty-foot shell remained, but the flesh, the blood, and the massive inner core had been entirely devoured, leaving nothing but a dry, brittle husk.

Wang Jian slowly opened his starlit, abyssal eyes.

The terrifying thermal heat dispersion vanished instantly, drawn back entirely into his perfectly controlled Dantian.

He stood up from the ruined shell, his physical movements perfectly fluid, yet possessing an undeniable, heavy, crushing momentum.

He looked down at his own hands, clenching them slowly into fists. He did not need to test his strength against stone or steel; he could feel the terrifying, absolute density of his new foundation.

His Stellar Flesh Reinforcement had successfully, flawlessly broken through the bottleneck. His physical body was now firmly established at the Late-Stage Core Formation equivalent, perfectly mirroring the immense capacity of his Spiritual Sea.

His Dantian was filled to the absolute, overflowing brim. The spiritual pressure inside him was immense, pressing heavily against the newly fortified, iron-like walls of his meridians. He was a brimming cup, entirely prepared for the final, catastrophic leap into the Nascent Soul Realm.

However, his brilliant, calculating mind remained cold and patient.

’The foundation is flawless. The physical vessel is ready,’ Wang Jian analyzed internally, stepping off the dry husk of the beast. ’But the Heavenly Yang Divine Physique is too dominant. A solitary, forceful breakthrough now would risk severe Yang-fire deviation during the Heart Demon Tribulation.’

He looked toward the distant, neon-lit skyline of Abyssal Pearl City, his thoughts turning to a specific, beautiful woman currently cultivating deep within his subterranean suites.

’I must wait,’ Wang Jian decided calmly. ’I must wait for Shen Mengqi to completely master the adapted Demonic Yin Attribute technique I provided her. Only when she possesses sufficient, profound Yin energy to perfectly balance my Yang during the final dual cultivation cycle will I shatter this core and ascend.’

The deep-earth threat had been completely neutralized, its ancient vitality entirely harvested to forge his unbreakable foundation. The four premium islands were now entirely safe, their Fourth Grade Spiritual Veins primed and ready to drill without resistance, setting the perfect, resource-rich stage for the Fragrance Melody Sect to finally, officially rise as the true, hidden hegemon of the Myriad Reefs Sea Region.