Chapter 1897: I Actually Am the Villain

Inside his cave dwelling, Lu Ye held his Asura Token, checking his ranking in the Battle Arena.

He was ranked seventh: Lu Ye, from the Nine Heavens Realm, with 232 wins and zero losses.

According to the rules, challenges within the top ten could only be made sequentially. This meant Lu Ye could currently only challenge one opponent: the one ranked sixth.

Only if that opponent was not currently in the Heavenly Asura Domain could Lu Ye skip them and challenge the fifth-ranked player.

After a short rest and some recovery, Lu Ye continued his challenge.

This time, however, he was unsuccessful, which undoubtedly indicated that the sixth-ranked opponent was not present in the Heavenly Asura Domain.

Lu Ye had encountered this situation many times, so it was not unfamiliar. He felt a slight regret, as it meant he had missed an opportunity to spar with a top-tier Moon Glimmer.

He re-selected his target and challenged the fifth-ranked player.

Still unsuccessful, Lu Ye remained unfazed and proceeded to challenge the fourth, then third, second… and finally, the first-ranked player.

A moment later, Lu Ye frowned, lost in thought.

It seemed that the top-ranked players were all quite busy, none of them currently in the Heavenly Asura Domain. They were likely engaged in trials.

This left him feeling somewhat unfulfilled, as his plan to reach the top of the leaderboard in one go had fallen through.

However, this was not a major issue. According to Chen Xuanhai’s guidance, Lu Ye knew that three days before each Battle Arena settlement, nearly all cultivators aiming to maintain their rankings would return to the Heavenly Asura Domain. Top-ranked players, in particular, would never miss that deadline.

If they failed to return in time and were challenged, they would automatically be counted as defeated.

This was unlike now, where Lu Ye's unsuccessful challenges had no impact on their rankings.

Unable to challenge anyone for the time being, Lu Ye had to give up. He checked the time for the next Battle Arena settlement and saw that it was still about a month away.

After some thought, he sent a message to Walnut, informing her of the situation.

Walnut quickly messaged back, "Then please come to the Treasure Vault Plaza, my friend. I can exchange the Asura Marks I've allocated to you for the resources you need."

"No need. Keep them for now. Let’s discuss it after this Battle Arena settlement."

On the other side, Walnut was momentarily stunned. When she tried to message back, she received no response.

Nearby, on a jade bed, the woman lay sprawled out, clutching her Asura Token as if it were the world's most precious treasure, a foolishly happy smile on her face.

Suddenly, she sat up and looked at Walnut. "Which Battle Arena should we enter?"

Walnut stared blankly at her master. "The top six are all out of the Heavenly Asura Domain, so he can't challenge them right now."

The woman's face fell with disappointment. "That’s a shame. With his streak of two hundred undefeated battles, he’s currently in peak form. Even if he continued to challenge, he’d have a very good chance of winning." She sighed. "If he can't challenge, then there’s nothing for it. Let's just split the profits with him."

"He said not to worry about it for now," Walnut replied. "He wants to wait until after this Battle Arena settlement."

The woman blinked, then immediately understood. "Interesting… This boy clearly intends to continue challenging three days before the settlement! Does he have that much confidence in himself? Why else would he specifically wait until after the settlement to split the profits if he wasn't planning more challenges?"

To be honest, she had watched many of Lu Ye’s battles, but even now, she couldn’t quite gauge his full depth. After all, the Battle Arena isolated its interior from the outside, and watching from the stands presented many inconveniences, preventing her from perceiving things too clearly. So, even as a Sun Glimmer, she sometimes misjudged.

"Master, what should we do?" Walnut asked.

The woman thought for a moment, then, her gambling spirit ignited, said with great anticipation, "If he wants to keep challenging, then we'll keep betting on him!"

Walnut couldn't help but feel uneasy. "But Master, the upcoming challenges are sure to be much harder. What if he loses a single battle…"

After winning for so long, a single loss would mean all their current winnings would vanish like smoke.

The woman winked at her, a deep excitement in her eyes. "This is precisely the thrill of gambling, my dear apprentice. The unknown, with its immense risks, is truly what's most worth pursuing in this world."

"Sigh!" Walnut let out a deep sigh, feeling that her master was truly beyond saving. Whenever gambling was involved, she often became completely engrossed.

The woman, however, had a distant look in her eyes, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the three days before the settlement.

In his own cave dwelling, Lu Ye concluded his communication with Walnut and walked directly out.

With nearly a month until the settlement date, he naturally couldn't just wait there. While the Battle Arena was currently inaccessible, participating in the Asura Field trials posed no problem.

This was, after all, one of his original reasons for coming to the Asura Field. Only by earning enough Asura Marks could he exchange them for the resources he needed at the Treasure Vault.

Leaving his cave dwelling, Lu Ye soared into the sky and headed outward.

Looking around, he could clearly see many cultivators nearby also flying upwards, just as he had seen when he first entered the Heavenly Asura Realm with Gui Yi. These cultivators were clearly on their way to participate in trials.

His body ascended rapidly until, at one point, Lu Ye suddenly felt himself collide with a soft, invisible membrane.

His vision abruptly turned dark, and even his powerful senses vanished without a trace in that instant.

He felt no panic. Although it was his first time participating in a trial, he had already gathered sufficient information and knew this was a process every cultivator must experience.

His current state felt peculiar; he knew he still existed, but he couldn't sense himself, as if his entire being had transformed into a singular, disembodied thought.

In the vast darkness, an ancient, desolate voice echoed beside his ear.

"The Black Cloud Continent, with its profound heritage, vast territory, abundant resources, and flourishing cultivation world, thrived with countless talented individuals. Then, one day, a cultivator returned from the starry sky, bringing with him a treasure."

A light suddenly shone in the darkness, and then an object appeared before Lu Ye: a jade-green sphere, roughly the size of a human head, showing no distinctive features. Lu Ye knew this must be the treasure mentioned by the desolate voice.

The light faded, and his vision plunged back into darkness.

"News of the treasure leaked, drawing countless powerful entities to vie for it. A massive battle ensued, shattering the Black Cloud Continent. The surviving cultivators then escorted the successor of the Black Cloud Sect into the starry sky, aiming to reach a neighboring galaxy for refuge."

Another light appeared, and Lu Ye saw a damaged fleet navigating the glowing starry sky. The light flickered, illuminating the battered warships, making them seem to waver between bright and dim, as if on the verge of destruction.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, thinking this trial must involve escorting the so-called Black Cloud Sect successor. Therefore, he reasoned that successfully getting this battered fleet to a neighboring star system should count as completing the trial.

This didn't seem too difficult.

Based on his current knowledge, the difficulty of a cultivator's first trial in the Asura Field was never too high, generally within the scope of their own abilities. This was considered a benefit from the Asura Field, allowing cultivators to personally understand the trial process.

However, after the first trial, such leniency would no longer apply. Generally, every subsequent trial would involve life-threatening risks, as only then could the trials serve their true purpose.

The Heavenly Asura clan members were so powerful back then precisely because they were tempered in the Asura Field. Like sand sifted by waves, the weaker clan members were eliminated in those trials, and only the elites survived. This process laid the foundation for their unification of hundreds of galaxies.

As his thoughts shifted, the ancient, desolate voice spoke again: "You, the leader of the Nine Heavens Star Pirate Group, are on the pursuit, leading your star pirate group and allied with other pirate groups. You are determined to seize that treasure and utterly eradicate the Black Cloud cultivators!"

Lu Ye couldn't help but be shocked.

Based on what the voice had said earlier, he had assumed his trial this time was to protect the Black Cloud Sect’s successor and the spherical treasure, then escort them to a neighboring galaxy. He thought this would count as completing the trial, as he had always been benevolent and felt it his duty to protect the weak since he began cultivating.

But he never imagined that this trial would cast him as the villain!

Lu Ye couldn't help but frown. Committing evil utterly contradicted his principles, but this was an Asura Field trial. No one knew what identity or tempering the Asura Field would assign them before entry.

Moreover, the Heavenly Asura clan itself was not a benevolent race; otherwise, they wouldn’t have enslaved so many galaxies. These trials were originally designed for the Heavenly Asura clan, for whom the distinction between good and evil held little meaning.

Lu Ye sighed helplessly. Since things had come to this, he had no choice but to accept his fate. It wouldn't be too late to adapt to circumstances when the time came.

The settlement for Asura Field trials was not rigid but highly flexible. As long as one performed exceptionally well during the trial, they could still earn corresponding Asura Mark rewards, even if they didn't strictly follow the Asura Field's pre-arranged roles.

In essence, each trial was akin to a real world, where cultivators could make any choices according to their own will.

Another light appeared, and this time, Lu Ye’s vision revealed a moderately sized fleet: a dozen or so Tiger Shark warships surrounding a medium-sized vessel. On the surface of that central warship, two large characters were distinctly inscribed: "Nine Heavens"!

There was no doubt; this was his own Star Pirate Group, currently pursuing the Black Cloud fleet. However, in terms of sheer scale, his Nine Heavens Star Pirate Group was vastly smaller than the Black Cloud fleet.

His vision suddenly extended forward, then pierced through the warship's hull. Lu Ye was surprised to find a familiar figure seated on a chair inside the vessel, a long blade held horizontally by his side, gazing forward with an expression of natural authority.

Who else could it be but himself?

His vision abruptly merged with the figure seated on the chair. Lu Ye once again felt the presence of his own body and couldn't help but blink.

He found himself now inside the warship, sitting exactly as he had just witnessed.

(End of Chapter)