Great Villain: Starting by Humiliating the Son of the Heavenly Fate-Chapter 405: Not a Demon After All

Inside the Jade Rain Golden House, where Jiang Chen had stayed not long ago, two cultivators sat sipping wine and chatting.

"Did you hear? A Nirvana Cleansing realm powerhouse from the Purple Crest Immortal Sect just died!"

"What? When did that happen? I thought it was two Nirvana Peering realm cultivators from the Sun Clan who got killed."

"That was earlier. This just happened. My uncle works directly under the City Lord—he told me right away."

"Seriously? So it's true. A Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivator's dead. Do we know who did it? Was it that demon everyone's been talking about?"

"Hard to say, but the word going around says it wasn't the demon. They're saying it was an inside job—some kind of power struggle between the Lu Clan and the Sun Clan. Supposedly, a Supreme Elder from the Sun Clan killed Lu Tingyun from the Lu Clan."

"You've got to be kidding. That actually happened?"

"Why not? Those high-level clans are always scheming in the dark. The Lu Clan and Sun Clan have hated each other for ages. This was bound to happen sooner or later. Who knows—maybe those two dead Sun Clan cultivators were taken out by the Lu Clan first."

"No way... Really? Tell me everything!"

The wine kept flowing, and so did the rumors. Their conversation was just one of many echoing across the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star as word of the Purple Crest Immortal Sect's internal chaos spread like wildfire.

More and more cultivators were starting to question the strength of the Purple Crest Immortal Sect. Doubts spread like cracks in glass—maybe the sect was falling behind, maybe it couldn't hold its own against the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace anymore.

Exactly the kind of outcome the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace had been hoping for.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen was using his vast divine sense to gather information—and what he found made him pause.

A Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivator from the Purple Crest Immortal Sect is dead? He frowned. The timing… it lines up with when I was marked. Could it be… that they died trying to mark me? Seriously? Someone that strong died just for that? Isn't that a little much?

A Nirvana Cleansing realm powerhouse was no small figure—one of the top cultivators on the entire Prosperous Stone Immortal Star.

No, that can't be it. Someone at that level wouldn't push so hard if it meant risking their life. They would've pulled back the moment things got dangerous. There's something else going on here, Jiang Chen thought, furrowing his brow.

He needed more answers.

To dig deeper, he tapped into the Sun Clan's cultivator army—still under his control thanks to the soul magatama.

Most of them were loyal Sun Clan members with deep ties to the sect. Their knowledge ran far deeper than what outsiders could piece together from rumors.

After wrapping up his investigation, Jiang Chen finally uncovered something important—Lu Tingyun, the one who'd died, was known as the best in divination and tracking across the entire Prosperous Stone Immortal Star.

Rumor had it, once she locked onto a target, she never failed. All she needed was the faintest trace.

So it was Lu Tingyun who was tracking me... Jiang Chen blinked, surprised. I really ended up getting a Nirvana Cleansing realm powerhouse killed from a distance? That's insane. But why would she go so far just to find and mark me? Was it really about protecting the star from some 'evil'? That doesn't sit right.

He rubbed his chin, deep in thought, then glanced down at the faint mark still on his left arm. freēwēbnovel.com

She managed to mark me before dying... but now that she's gone, the mark isn't working properly. If she's dead, she shouldn't be able to track me anymore. Right?

Still, he wasn't about to take that for granted.

Better to be sure.

He stopped moving and slipped into a hidden spot off the beaten path, quietly masking his presence. At the same time, he kept his divine sense stretched wide, monitoring Golden Cirrus City from afar.

If any major cultivator appeared, he'd know right away.

...

At the same time, inside the Purple Crest Immortal Sect, Sun Xiangyuan, Sun Anming, Sun Ancheng, Lu Tingze, Lu Tingguang, and Sect Master You Shaojun were all seated. The tension in the room had eased, and everyone looked a little more at ease.

Sun Xiangyuan had already explained everything he knew about the situation.

Lu Tingze and Lu Tingguang had examined Lu Tingyun's body and were nearly certain she'd died from burning up her own life force.

What shocked everyone just as much was the broken Square Inch True Expanse.

"Take a look at this—it's almost at the rank of a Void Tribulation-level artifact," Lu Tingguang said, clearly stunned.

"Lu Tingyun never told anyone she had something like this. She must've relied on it for her divination work," Lu Tingze added, just as surprised.

"It's a shame it's broken now, and beyond repair. If Lu Tingyun died during her divination and even a near-Void Tribulation-level artifact like this shattered… that says a lot about how strong that demon is," said You Shaojun, frowning.

"Could it have been a Void Tribulation realm Demon Lord?" Sun Xiangyuan asked, unease creeping in.

"No way. The demon's strong, but it's not on that level," Sun Anming said, shaking his head.

"Right. It's probably a Nirvana Cleansing realm demon with an artifact that's even stronger than this one—most likely something gifted by a Demon Lord," Sun Ancheng agreed.

"Now that Lu Tingyun's gone, she must've managed to lock onto the enemy right before the end. After we pieced the broken immortal tool back together, a red dot showed up. That has to be where the demon is hiding," You Shaojun said, face grim. "The problem is, none of us can make sense of it. We don't know where that place is."

"This is bad," Lu Tingguang muttered. "Leaving that demon free to roam around the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star… it's like sitting on a ticking bomb."

"So what now?" Lu Tingze asked. "Do we turn to the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance for help?"

"I say we reach out to the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace too," You Shaojun said. "They've been mocking us nonstop. Let's see how funny they find things once they realize what we're really dealing with."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They had no choice. Holding the line forever wasn't realistic—not when they didn't even know where the enemy was hiding. Outside help was the only way forward.

Just then, fresh intel came in—dug up through various methods from captured cultivators who'd once been part of a now-disbanded army under the Purple Crest Immortal Sect.

The moment they read through the details, all six Nirvana Cleansing realm powerhouses were floored.

The intel revealed something completely unexpected—the one behind Sun Tianlin's actions wasn't some powerful demon.

It was a human named Jiang Chen, apparently the Lord of the Immortal Martial Continent.

He had wiped out all the demons before forcing Sun Tianlin to bring him to the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star. Then he killed him. The report also claimed that Jiang Chen was the one who had taken out Sun Ji, making the two bitter enemies.

After reading through everything, the six Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators looked around at each other, stunned. None of them could believe what they'd just learned.

"The Lord of the Immortal Martial Continent... Jiang Chen!" Sun Xiangyuan broke the silence. "He's not a demon. He's human!"

"How? How could a remote place like the Immortal Martial Continent produce someone this powerful?" Sun Anming shook his head.

"Right? He killed a Nirvana Peering realm demon, controlled Sun Tianlin like it was nothing, then took out both Sun Tianlin and Sun Tianxin in an instant. It doesn't even sound real," Sun Ancheng said, still trying to wrap his head around it.

"I don't think he's really from the Immortal Martial Continent," You Shaojun said, thinking aloud. "It's more likely he came from somewhere else. Maybe he ended up there by accident—some kind of spatial rift, or he survived a chaotic spatial storm."

"You're saying he's someone who's mastered spatial powers?" Lu Tingze muttered, eyes narrowing. "Maybe even someone who's touched on the Dao of Space?"