Great Villain: Starting by Humiliating the Son of the Heavenly Fate - Chapter 478

Chapter 478: Waiting for Orders

In distant Roaring River Martial City, Yang Ying and the others were overjoyed. Without wasting a second, they started organizing the evacuation.

“Move the civilians—quickly!” Yang Ying barked, waving his hand as spiritual energy rippled through the streets.

By now, no one doubted Jiang Chen’s identity as a prodigy of the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace. After all, he’d deliberately shifted the battlefield away from the city to spare it from destruction. That alone said everything.

Then—boom!

A pillar of light shot up from the city’s Teleportation Hall, tearing through the clouds. Five figures stepped out from within, their outlines sharp against the glow.

As the radiance faded, their faces came into view—three men and two women, old and withered, yet their spines were straight as blades. Their presence carried the oppressive might of cultivators standing at the brink of the Nirvana Cleansing realm.

They looked like corpses revived by sheer willpower, but the power rolling off them was anything but dead.

These were the five Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm experts under the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace’s command—veterans who had long since reached their limits, drawn either from the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace itself or from its subordinate sects.

Normally, these five were kept sealed inside special formation chambers, their lifespans stretched far beyond their limits. They were only released when something truly serious happened.

In a sense, they were one of the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace’s hidden trump cards.

Now that Liang Youwen and his team had failed to find Jiang Chen and were too far to reach Lu Yi, the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace sent these five instead—to eliminate Lu Yi and, along the way, take care of the so-called evil cultivator.

Each of the five carried countless years of experience, powerful attack treasures, defensive artifacts, and rare pills. In a short burst, any one of them could even fight at the level of a true Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivator.

To the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace, this force was more than enough to crush Lu Yi, whose power was said to be only at the Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm, and the evil cultivator beside him.

The moment the five appeared, their overwhelming auras burst outward, sweeping across the land like a storm and claiming the surrounding skies as their own.

Without hesitation, they spread out their divine senses.

In an instant, they locked onto Jiang Chen—still in disguise—and Lu Yi, who were clashing furiously in the distance.

What they sensed left them stunned.

Both of them radiated the strength of Nirvana Cleansing realm powerhouses.

“What? Both of them have the power of Early-stage Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators?”

“Weren’t they supposed to be Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm at best? How did they suddenly become real Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators?”

“Damn it… we’re just a bunch of relics barely clinging to life. How are we supposed to fight monsters like that?”

The five elders stared into the distance, disbelief written across their wrinkled faces as they watched the sky split apart under the clash between Jiang Chen and Lu Yi.

A faint sense of regret began to creep into their hearts.

Then, one of them—a frail old woman with sagging skin and deep lines etched into her face—narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think they’re true Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators,” she said, a sharp glint flashing in her gaze.

“Look closely. The techniques and weapons they’re using are still at the Nirvana Peering level. They’ve probably just forced a temporary surge in strength to reach that stage.”

She straightened her back slightly. “That kind of burst is something any of us can manage for a short while. There’s no need to panic—or to back off.”

“That makes sense,” said an old man with thick gray brows, nodding slowly.

He took a deep breath. “Still, we shouldn’t act recklessly. Let them wear each other down first. We’ll check with Palace Master Liang Youwen before making a move.”

“Hm,” grunted a short elder in a red robe. “Better to wait for the Palace Master’s orders.”

Keeping their divine senses locked on the raging battle in the distance, the five Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm experts exchanged quick glances, then sent a message to Liang Youwen.

…

At that moment, Lu Yi noticed the five figures that had just arrived.

Reinforcements from the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace? he thought, his gaze sharpening. All of them are Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators—old and clinging to their last breaths.

A flicker of pressure weighed on him, but it was quickly replaced by excitement. If I kill them and take everything they own, my strength will skyrocket. I’ll rule the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star before long.

Even the thought of slaying just one of them sent a rush of ambition through his chest. If I can take one down, the tide of this battle will turn completely in my favor.

At his current level, fighting Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators wasn’t much of a problem. And these five—aged and past their peak—wouldn’t last long in a drawn-out fight. Their endurance was already fading with time.

Lu Yi quickly made up his mind. He would stop wasting effort on the prodigy from the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace and go straight for one of the elders instead. Even if he got hurt in the process, it would be worth it.

He was certain that once he took one of them down, that victory would snowball—each kill feeding his momentum until no enemy was left standing.

But something didn’t sit right. The five Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators who had just arrived weren’t joining the fight at all. They simply hovered in the distance, watching like spectators waiting for the show to end.

Strange… Reinforcements just standing there? he thought, frowning. Why bother coming if they’re not going to help?

What he didn’t realize was that the so-called prodigy of the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace was a fake—and the elders knew it.

As they waited for Liang Youwen’s orders, they had no intention of rushing in. Instead, they chose to hang back, watching from afar, ready to swoop in and take advantage once both sides had worn each other down.

At the same time, Jiang Chen’s eyes flickered with a cold sneer when the five Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm elders appeared.

If Lu Yi gets his hands on their possessions, he’ll skyrocket in strength and crush everything in his way, he thought, the corner of his mouth twitching with sarcasm.

Heavenly Fate really is something, huh? Since I set foot in Roaring River Martial City, it’s been one absurd event after another—first the Zhang Clan, then Ju Jingyan, and now five old monsters showing up out of nowhere.

Good thing I’ve been keeping tabs on Lu Yi. If I hadn’t, he’d already be soaring to new heights… and I’d be the one lying dead right now.

A glint of icy intent flashed in his eyes. Their possessions, cultivation, even their qi and blood—they’ll all be mine.

Activating his Villain Eye, Jiang Chen studied the five elders carefully, analyzing every detail about their strength and condition.

The grey-haired elder at the front was Su Xiangcai.

Beside him stood an old woman with deep-set wrinkles—Sang Shenzhen.

The two of them were the strongest of the five, though their strength only brushed the edge of the Half-step Nirvana Cleansing realm.

If they tried to push their power any further—to truly reach the Early-stage Nirvana Cleansing level—the cost would be steep, maybe even fatal.