I Truly Am The Villian

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"You really are a bunch of wastes. If you don’t have the ability to enter, then why are you loitering around here?"

Xu Zimei said indifferently.

Hearing Xu Zimei’s words, some people’s expressions changed slightly, but they refrained from lashing out.

"We may not have the ability to go in. How about the Saint Heir gives us a demonstration?" someone said, confronting Xu Zimei.

"That would convince us."

"If I wish to enter, I will, if I do not, then I won’t. I do not need to prove myself to anyone, nor do I need you to be convinced," Xu Zimei spoke dispassionately.

"Whatever I do is merely my own preference. Did you hear that, wastes?"

Embarrassed by Xu Zimei’s humiliation, the disciple struggled to contain himself, unwilling to meet Xu Zimei’s gaze.

"I’m talking to you, waste," Xu Zimei continued.

"I heard," the disciple finally said through gritted teeth after a silence.

Xu Zimei looked around and then said, "The rest of you, know your place.

If anyone has an issue with that, I am in the sect. You can challenge me anytime.

Defeat me, and I’ll hand over the position of Saint Heir to you. Don’t be discontented."

Seeing that the other core disciples no longer spoke, Xu Zimei scoffed in disdain.

"Cowards!"

He walked up to the entrance of the Life-and-Death Cave, one side life, the other death.

After considering for a bit, Xu Zimei eventually entered the cave of death.

Beautiful things cannot last forever.

As soon as he stepped inside the cave, he found himself stepping into emptiness, as if it was a bottomless abyss.

He felt his body fall through space, plummeting from within.

The inside was pitch black, and Xu Zimei did not know how long he fell.

Finally, his body landed, arriving on a desolate wilderness.

Xu Zimei felt as though his body was suppressed by some mysterious force that descended upon him, leaving him unable to move from where he stood.

Before him, a child carrying a hoe walked leisurely from far away.

The child seemed not to see Xu Zimei as he came up right to him.

He took the hoe from his shoulder and dug a deep hole in the ground.

Afterward, he took out a seed from his pocket and buried it in the hole.

The moment the hole was covered, the child stood motionless before it.

Xu Zimei felt as if time around him had accelerated, scene after scene unfolding before his eyes.

Suddenly, a storm arrived, the rain nourishing the land.

After the storm, the seed on the land broke through the soil, revealing a tender sprout.

This scene, due to the acceleration of time, changed bit by bit in just a few seconds before Xu Zimei’s eyes.

And the child grew visibly older at a rate visible to the naked eye.

He became a teenager.

Time continued to accelerate, and after the seed sprouted from the soil, the sun in the sky shone brightly.

Under the sunlight, the seed gradually grew into the shape of a sapling.

The teenager grew into a young man.

The sapling became a small tree, which then turned into a large tree.

The young man became middle-aged.

The Sky-reaching Great Tree began to age; branches started to rot and leaves withered.

Many branches were decayed beyond recovery.

And that middle-aged man had turned into an old man. Because of age, he slowly sat down on the ground.

Looking at the ancient tree in that manner.

Battered by wind and rain, scorched by the searing sun.

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One day, the old man slowly closed his eyes, and the ancient tree completely rotted away.

When spring arrived, it no longer sprouted new leaves, accompanying the old man on his journey to the Hell of death.

Time passed, and another little boy came, carrying a hoe on his shoulder, digging holes, planting seeds.

The child was the old man’s descendant; the seeds were dropped from the ancient tree.

"This is death, and also rebirth," an elderly voice suddenly rose from nearby.

Xu Zimei felt his body gradually becoming able to move again.

He turned his head and saw that the old man who had just died was standing beside him, smiling at him.

"Since the beginning of the world, the continuation of life has been just so, death to rebirth, rebirth to death, the cycle never ends," the old man spoke.

"But for those who have died, death is the end, no matter how many are born after.

Those are others, their lives have already concluded, wouldn’t you say so?"

"What are you trying to say?" Xu Zimei inquired.

"Passing through this Life-and-Death Cave is simple, debate with me, win, and I’ll show you the exit," the old man sat cross-legged.

He laughed, "Lose, and you return."

"What do you want to debate about?" Xu Zimei asked.

"The meaning of life and death," the old man said.

"Though the world continues on because of new life, for you as an individual, your world ends completely after death.

I would like you to tell me, to resolve my perplexity, why all things come into being only to one day face death?"

"I don’t really care much for the issue of life and death.

What I live is not life, nor death, but the life between them; isn’t living splendidly enough?

Moreover, when you come to this world, you’re never an independent entity, there’s kinship, love, friendship, sometimes you’re not living just for yourself."

Xu Zimei shook his head, "Besides, this world has such beautiful landscapes, throngs of beauties, power, wealth, pleasures of life—there’s so much to desire.

You, however, are obsessing like a fool over the purpose of existence.

If you don’t understand life, then you might as well end yours here, I don’t mind either way."

Hearing Xu Zimei’s words, the old man laughed heartily.

His voice was hearty and thunderous, stirring ripples through the surrounding space.

After a little bit, he waved his hands, and a doorway appeared in front of him.

Laughing loudly, he said, "Although you didn’t directly answer my question, it was rather amusing, I shall deem you to have passed."

"How should I address you, senior?" Xu Zimei inquired.

"I am the spirit of this Life-and-Death Cave, the rules here are made by me.

You are to my liking, young one, I will let you through," the old man said.

"Is that it?" Xu Zimei was taken aback for a moment, not expecting it to be so simple.

"Your elders sent word in advance, just go in," the Cave Spirit waved his hand, smiling.

Shrugging his shoulders, Xu Zimei walked indifferently through the Spatial Gate.

After Xu Zimei had left, the old man then muttered to himself.

"Great landscapes, haha, with such wonderful landscapes in this world, how could I confine myself here?"

...

After Xu Zimei passed through the Spatial Gate, he soon arrived in another small world.

Endless Mountain, this place was the rumored abode of the War Generals left behind by the True Martial Holy Sect.

In front of him, it was as if he was in the deep mountains and ancient forests, every tree reaching to the sky, hundreds of meters tall.

The branches were thick, and the trunks were several tens of meters in diameter.

Walking in this area, Xu Zimei felt incredibly small.

Green elves fluttered through the woods.

They drifted in front of Xu Zimei, as if leading him on his way.

Following these elves, Xu Zimei walked deeper into the forest.