The Reincarnated Villain Can Break the Fourth Wall!

Beneath the volcanic ridge, the land was an unnatural emerald oasis.

Great trees stretched toward the heavens, their trunks filled with time, leaves fluttering with faint burning embers to their veins. The nearby volcano stood like a sleeping god, its caldera aglow with distant molten light—but the fire here did not rage.

It was tamed.

All because of a peculiar, sacred flora.

Vines coiled lazily around boulders and roots, glowing faintly red and gold—the Blazing Yin Lotusvine, a parasitic plant that fed on Fire Qi like bees on nectar.

It was this plant that made the area livable, even tranquil.

And below this ridge, three figures searched the undergrowth in solemn focus.

"Still no sign of the Dusk Orchid," one of the women murmured, her voice like silver bells in a cold breeze.

She stood tall, her frame willowy yet firm, long legs draped in flowing white robes slit at the thighs. Her hair shinning obsidian under the moon, cascading like silk across her shoulders. Her eyes… a still, glimmering blue, like twin lakes reflecting a storm yet to come.

In her hand, she held a rune talisman, flickering faintly with tracking rune.

"Tch. We've been combing this ridge since sunrise. Are you sure the orchid blooms here?"

The second woman stepped forward, her boots crunching soft moss beneath. She wore ornate gold and light blue armor, etched with spirit beast motifs. Her light violet hair swayed behind her like a streamer in the wind, partially braided, partially wild. Her figure was fierce and lithe—another long-legged beauty, but colder in presence.

"Elder brother said it does. It's rare. But it weeps exactly once a day—one drop of Ashen Yin Qi. That's enough to suppress even dragonfire. That's what we came for."

She turned slightly, glancing behind her toward the man seated atop a nearby tree root, arms folded with the posture of a bored sovereign.

He was tall, though not imposing. His hair, a similar violet shade to the woman's, was tied in a loose topknot, with strands framing his face in a casual yet practiced elegance. His violet robes were battle-worn and half open at the chest, revealing faint, rune-like scars glowing just beneath the skin.

He exhaled slowly and finally spoke.

"You two are the ones seeking flowers. I'm just here to protect my fiancée from getting set on fire."

His gaze flicked toward the lake-eyed beauty in black.

"And to make sure she doesn't run off with any mysterious Yin sucker demon again."

The woman in black rolled her eyes, but her cheeks tinged the barest pink.

"You're not still sulking over that, are you?"

"She tried to dual cultivate with you in the middle of a battlefield."

"She offered to teach me Sword Intent."

"She offered to teach you with her tongue, Lianlian."

The man's voice was sharp, and perfectly dismissive.

The second beauty—Mu Qingshan—coughed softly into her hand, as if trying to swat the shit from the air.

"Ahem. Focus, fool. Don't forget whose blunder caused Sister Xi to fall into that cursed ditch and get pierced by 'Heaven-Scorching Qi'. If we don't find the Dusk Orchid soon, her meridians may begin to burn from within."

Her voice held firm clarity, but her gaze slid to the man beside her—her brother. He frowned in response.

"Tch. Just a flower?" Mu Tianlei scoffed. "Give me ten minutes."

He rose.

Whoosh!

With an arc, he drew forth his weapon—a titanic thunder hammer, wide as a boulder and etched with lightning runes. The moment it touched the air, the skies above began to twist—violet clouds surging across the heavens like a tide of wrath.

The flame-lit canopy, once glowing softly from volcanic embers like dragonflies, was now drowned beneath violet of the divine thunder.

BANG!

The hammer crashed into the earth.

Cracks burst open, webbing across the forest floor like serpents of storm. Dark violet lightning hissed from the fissures, tearing through stone and soil alike. The shockwaves shook the roots of the great trees, rippling leaves into a frenzied dance.

If the 'Dusk Orchid' lay hidden beneath, it would tremble. And when it trembled—Mu Tianlei would find it.

Mu Qingshan exhaled, her lips curling into a slight smirk.

'Good. He's finally serious. If anything happens to the Sun Dynasty heiress, there will be chaos across five regions.'

And yet, her brows soon furrowed.

This wasn't a display—it was overkill.

Thunder blazed across the night like a beacon, and the emerald sanctuary they'd been quietly scouring was now lit like a battle altar. The sparks, the flashes—it was impossible to miss.

"Tianlei, stop! You'll draw attention!" she hissed.

Too late.

"There's movement—!"

Trees rustled violently some tens of meters away. The forest stirred like a sleeping beast jolted awake. Branches trembled, leaves shattered.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Footsteps, fast, and dozens.

Mu Tianlei halted mid-swing.

And beside them, the lake-eyed woman in flowing black robes—his betrothed—slid her talisman back into her sleeve. Her expression was calm, but her fingers were already wrapping around the hilt of her sword.

She stepped forward, frost-steel shinning leathly in the moonlight.

Whatever approached had been drawn to the lightning.

And if it dared to interrupt their search—It would bleed.

Too bad.

Because the one bleeding… was her.

BANG!

The trees exploded outward as if a heavenly beast had been hurled from the skies. Something crashed through, ten meters tall, massive and divine, trampling the forest like paper.

A beast—coated in white and dark violet fur, every strand crackling with residual thunder. Its golden eyes burned with celestial arrogance, trained on the trio like they were mere ants beneath a god's gaze.

The ground trembled, leaves shivered.

The Divine Thunder Crane.

Its neck tilted ever so slightly—and all three cultivators froze.

"Shit!" Mu Tianlei cursed first, his heart leaping into his throat. 'How in the nine burning hells did I attract this thing?!'

Mu Qingshan stiffened beside him, her spiritual energy rippling unconsciously. Even the black-robed woman, usually, calm and quiet, had her blade half-drawn.

But the crane did not strike.

Its gaze, not just with hostility… but with familiarity.

And focus.

Its golden eyes settled squarely on the Mu siblings.

As if something inside them… called to it.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

More figures leapt from the trees like hawks drawn to thunder.

"The Blackstorm Siblings…" someone muttered.

The voice came from a man in dark blue robes—sharp, imperial, and drenched in battle Qi. His crystal-blue eyes burned coldly beneath storm-dark brows.

Long Yushen, the Skyfang Prodigy.

His gaze flicked past Mu Tianlei and Mu Qingshan with faint disapproval—rivals known throughout the cultivation world, heirs of the infamous 'Black Thunder Valley', whose father was said to have struck a heavenly tribulation thunder with one hand and laughed.

But then—his eyes caught the woman standing beside them.

And for a moment, his composure cracked.

"Lian…?"

Long Lian, the black haired woman in the group. She frowned, caught off guard. Her lake-like eyes flickered with unease, her breath shattered, just for a second, as if her soul recognized something before her mind did.

Mu Tianlei recovered quickly, scoffing as the forest around them shook from the arrival of more cultivators.

"Oh? Even you crawled out of the Skyfang Nest? How rare. What is this, a reunion?"

He laughed with a smirk that made birds flee.

Others stepped out, Wen Luli, radiant in lotus-patterned armor, and Zhou Ping, aloof and princely, his Burning Cinder Sect emblem flaring like wildfire on his shoulder.

"Wen Luli. Zhou Ping. Fourth Young Lord of the Cinders. Are we all on a field trip now?"

He scanned them all.

Then paused, eyes narrowing on the fourth woman, veiled in black.

"Who…?"

No name came to him, her presence was unfamiliar.

Mu Qingshan's eyes narrowed too, but Long Lian… her attention had already been stolen.

She was still staring—up.

The others followed her gaze, confused.

"What is she looking at?"

"Wait… Is something *on top of the crane?"

"Impossible... no one can ride that beast..."

But Long Lian saw it first.

A shadow, small, cloaked in the shape of night, perched atop the Divine Thunder Crane like it was a throne.

His eyes locked with hers.

And in that single heartbeat...everything stopped.

Hatred, contempt, and cold recognition.

'I've seen those eyes before…'

Before she could speak, before she could breathe, a crushing suppression* fell over her like a thousand sword points pressed to her throat.

She gasped, clutching her neck.

"Lianlian? What's wrong?!"

Mu Qingshan darted forward, catching her as her knees buckled. Blood trickled from Long Lian's lips as she pointed upwards, her body trembling.

"A-Above… above…"