Chapter 1: The First Step Into Darkness
> "To the world, I am but a speck of dust.
To myself, I am the storm that will drown the stars."
---
The cold wind whistled through the broken outer halls of the Azure Sky Sect, carrying with it the thick scent of damp earth and decaying leaves.
Among the scattered figures of young disciples training diligently under the morning sun, one boy sat alone beneath a half-ruined pavilion.
His name was Lin Xian.
His robe was simple and patched in places, the blue embroidery of the sect faded nearly to gray.
No one paid him any mind.
He was a mere outer disciple, destined to be a stepping stone for others, invisible in the grand hierarchy of the sect.
Yet beneath his quiet, unreadable gaze, something stirred.
Lin Xian clutched his hands tightly beneath his sleeves, feeling the faint burning sensation on the back of his right hand — a mark that hadn't been there yesterday.
A black sigil, shaped like an ancient broken scale, hidden from all but him.
It pulsed with a dark, subtle power.
---
"Today… is the start," he thought, lowering his head to hide the cold gleam in his eyes.
For as long as he could remember, Lin Xian had known what kind of world he lived in.
The strong ruled.
The weak kneeled.
Destiny was a sword, and he was its fodder.
No matter how hard he cultivated, how he fought, his position never changed.
Why?
Because the sect had already chosen their future.
Shen Tian, the so-called "Child of the Azure Heavens," was the pride of the Azure Sky Sect.
Born with a rare spiritual body, a genius in cultivation, loved by heaven and earth.
Resources flowed toward him like rivers to the sea.
Elders fought over the right to teach him.
Inner sect maidens fought to smile at him.
Lin Xian?
At best, a faceless shadow that would one day be used as a stepping stone to highlight Shen Tian's greatness.
He had long grown numb to it.
But that did not mean he had accepted it.
Far from it.
In the endless quiet of night, in the bitter humiliation after being beaten by Shen Tian's followers, Lin Xian's will had not broken.
It had sharpened.
---
Today, the heavens had answered his silent hatred.
Or perhaps... something other than heaven had answered.
The Villain System had awakened.
---
[Villain System: Activated.]
[Mission Path: Overthrow the False Children of Destiny.]
[Starter Reward: Villain's Insight Skill.]
A cold, mechanical voice echoed quietly within Lin Xian's mind — emotionless, detached, filled only with infinite malice.
Along with the voice, an invisible panel appeared before his eyes.
> Name: Lin Xian
Age: 16
Cultivation: Qi Condensation 5th Layer
Luck Value: -37
Fate Status: Suppressed Pawn
Relationship with Sect: Disposable
Underneath his own status, he saw a second list appear.
Notable Entities Nearby:
Lin Xian's lips curled into a tiny, almost imperceptible smile.
---
Luck. Fate. Destiny.
These invisible forces ruled this world.
And now, he could see them.
More importantly... he could target them.
"Let them have heaven's favor," Lin Xian thought coldly, "I will have their throats."
---
———
That night, beneath the shadow of the broken pavilion, Lin Xian sat cross-legged, slowly digesting the new knowledge granted by the system.
> [Skill Gained: Villain's Insight]
Passive skill.
Grants enhanced observation of human desires, weaknesses, and hidden relationships.
Increased chance to detect betrayal, treachery, and falsehoods.
"Perfect."
In the darkness, his mind worked like a blade against stone, sharpening plans.
He could not confront Shen Tian head-on — not yet.
The child of destiny was already at the Core Formation realm, several stages beyond Lin Xian.
To fight strength with strength would be suicide.
No, Lin Xian would not play by their rules.
He would play beneath them, where the light of destiny could not see.
---
The Azure Sky Sect was not without its cracks.
Greedy elders.
Jealous inner sect disciples.
Arrogant outer disciples hungry for status.
Human nature was an endless battlefield — and Lin Xian's new weapon was perfect for navigating it.
---
That night, he approached his first target.
Senior Brother Fan, a corrupt logistics officer who secretly embezzled spirit stones from the sect's treasury.
Using Villain's Insight, Lin Xian watched as Fan met a shadowy figure in the back alleys behind the spirit herb garden, exchanging stolen items for forbidden pills.
A cold smile touched Lin Xian's lips.
He waited until Fan was drunk later that night, slipping a thin, colorless powder into the man's wine — a slow-acting, maddening poison he had prepared secretly for months.
By morning, Fan was found raving mad, his crimes exposed when his room was searched.
His position — and access to spirit stones, cultivation manuals, and black market contacts — became open.
And Lin Xian, the quiet, easily-overlooked disciple, was there to pick up the pieces.
---
First blood.
First step.
The Sect would never even notice the ant slowly eating its foundations until it was far, far too late.
---
———
Weeks passed.
Lin Xian moved carefully, slowly weaving a web among the outer sect.
A bribe here.
A favor there.
A whispered rumor in the right ear.
He built invisible alliances among the desperate, the discarded, the greedy.
And all the while, he continued cultivating in secret, using stolen spirit stones and forbidden techniques bought from the black market to push his strength.
Slowly, silently, he crept toward the Foundation Establishment Realm — the first step needed to be considered a real force.
All the while, he kept an eye on Shen Tian, watching from the shadows.
He learned the Child of Destiny's movements, his weaknesses, his arrogance.
Lin Xian was patient.
The spider does not rush its prey.
---
———
One month after awakening the Villain System, a secret meeting was held deep beneath the sect, in the abandoned Moon Burial Grounds.
Lin Xian knelt before a cracked, ancient altar, the black sigil on his hand glowing faintly.
Before him, on the dusty stone floor, floated a new mission prompt.
> [Major Mission Unlocked: Destroy the Azure Sky Sect.]
Objective 1: Undermine internal support structures.
Objective 2: Seize critical resources.
Objective 3: Expose the Child of Destiny's darkest secrets.
Objective 4: Orchestrate the sect's collapse from within.
Reward: ??? (Sealed)
Lin Xian raised his head, a rare fire lighting his usually calm black eyes.
"The Azure Sky Sect once chose to be the dog of destiny."
"Let them be the first to feel despair."
The darkness embraced his vow.
And in that moment, a villain was truly born.