I Thought My First Source Was Destined for Greatness, Never Imagined It Was a Terrifying Archvillain

At dusk in Subduing Dragon Village, the moon was half-veiled by layers of clouds and mist. An owl perched on the old withered locust tree at the village entrance hooted, making the village, usually quiet at this hour, seem extraordinarily eerie.

Yesterday, when Yang Yu brought Ming Wu home, his adoptive mother, Mu Dan, had warmly welcomed Ming Wu as though she were her daughter-in-law.

She had completely left Yang Yu to one side, while Ming Wu kept covering her mouth and giggling, thoroughly enjoying herself.

At dusk, unable to sleep, Yang Yu went up to the roof alone.

Looking at the half moon in the sky, he began to ponder.

After returning this time, he still had not seen his Father. When he asked Mother about him, she seemed to be avoiding something, her brows tightly furrowed.

"It's been over a year already. Father, where exactly did you go?"

For some reason, Yang Yu felt increasingly uneasy.

In the past, because he had sensed how powerful his Father was, he had never worried, carrying an inexplicable confidence.

"What is Mother hiding from me? Why won't she tell me? And why are so many Soul Controllers in this village willing to live ordinary lives here?"

All kinds of doubts filled Yang Yu's heart.

"Could it be that my Yang Clan has some powerful enemy? Are we hiding here to avoid disaster?"

Yang Yu's thoughts were not unreasonable. Wasn't that how novels from his previous life were always written?

"Brother Yu!"

Ming Wu climbed up and sat beside Yang Yu.

"Still not asleep? You can't sleep either?"

Ming Wu nodded.

"I... I miss my mother!"

Mother's warmth and tenderness during the day had made Ming Wu miss her own mother, who had long ago been killed, even more.

"Oh? Your mother? Didn't you say there was no one left in your family?"

Ming Wu shook her head, then nodded, looking at Yang Yu as though she were about to make an important decision.

"Brother Yu! Do you want to hear my story?"

Yang Yu froze!

Then he recalled the plot of a novel from his previous life.

"Could she be a soul beast too? Was her family killed for rings—no, for Life Souls?"

"No way? It can't be that, can it?"

Coming back to his senses, he nodded at Ming Wu.

"Brother Yu, actually, I'm not human!"

Yang Yu froze and instinctively shifted away from her.

Ming Wu burst out laughing!

"Actually, I'm not from the Human Clan. I'm from the Nether Race."

"Please, can't you just say everything at once? You scared the hell out of me."

Yang Yu looked at Ming Wu with a dark expression.

"Our Nether Race lived peacefully alongside humans ten thousand years ago. We were also one of the great races on this continent."

"Until those Otherworld Horrors descended."

Yang Yu froze!

"Otherworld? Horrors?"

Ming Wu nodded and continued.

"Those Horrors do not cultivate Life Souls, but devour souls."

"I will never forget the sight of my family being devoured. That's why I swore I would cultivate diligently and avenge the massacre of my people once I became a Ninth Rank Soul Controller!"

Thinking of this, Ming Wu shed tears filled with hatred and helplessness.

Yang Yu patted Ming Wu's back beside her.

"Don't worry! I'll help you."

Ming Wu froze, then raised her head to look at Yang Yu.

"Really? You'll really help me?"

Yang Yu nodded.

"Yeah, because we're friends!"

At the same time, Yang Yu kept considering the details Ming Wu had mentioned.

"Otherworld Horrors? They don't cultivate Life Souls and devour souls? When did such beings appear in my Chaos Profound Yellow World?"

"Could Father's disappearance be connected to this too?"

Every sign seemed to point toward those Otherworld Horrors.

It seemed that if he wanted to understand the whole matter, he would have to start with the Otherworld Horrors.

"Brother Yu, thank you!"

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Aren't we friends?"

~

The two remained seated on the roof until the sky began to brighten.

Yang Yu stood and stretched, then looked at Ming Wu beside him.

"It's almost dawn. Let's go down!"

"Mm."

Over the next few days, aside from comforting Ming Wu, Yang Yu kept asking around the village about the Otherworld Horrors.

But whenever the villagers heard the words "otherworld," their eyes widened in shock, and they avoided the subject.

Yang Yu had no choice but to give up!

~

"Young Mistress, Young Master has been asking about the Otherworld Horrors. I have no idea how he learned of this matter."

Elder Hai, who had been secretly following Yang Yu, came to report to Yang Yu's adoptive mother, Mu Dan.

Mu Dan thought for a moment, then shook her head helplessly.

"Some things become impossible to avoid the more you try to run from them."

"We have been in this world for over ten thousand years. Since we could not cultivate Life Souls, we turned to the Soul Devouring Path. Was that truly wrong?"

"Since ancient times, the strong have ruled. It is nature's law for the strong to devour the weak. If not to break through this world's barrier, free ourselves from our shackles, and return to the Upper Realm, who would choose the Soul Devouring Path?"

"Young Mistress, we have done no wrong! The ones at fault are the rules of the Upper Realm, this heavens, and this inherently turbulent world."

"Elder Hai, Husband...?"

"The leader is still in seclusion, devouring souls. There are still no signs of a breakthrough. His origin must have been severely damaged. The human souls in this world likely cannot sustain him, and with this world's guardians watching him, he has no choice but to..."

Mu Dan looked out the window and shook her head.

"What if Young Master learns the truth?"

"Forget it. Let fate take its course. No matter what, he carries the Yang Clan bloodline and is my son, Mu Dan's son. Even if one day he learns that we are the so-called Otherworld Horrors, so what?"

"War has never distinguished between good and evil. The victor becomes king; it is merely a matter of differing positions. If he learns the truth, he will surely understand us."

Suddenly!

Mu Dan froze!

She remembered that child, Ming Wu.

At first, she had sensed that Ming Wu was not human. After testing her and finding no major issue, she had relaxed.

But now that she thought about it, she recalled something from ten thousand years ago.

When they had first arrived in this world, unable to adapt to its rules or awaken Life Souls, they had used the Soul Devouring Path and devoured an entire race. That girl still faintly bore traces of that race.

"Hiss."

"If that is truly the case, then if those two children stay together, wouldn't that mean...?"

"No, no. I have to think of a way to separate them."

"Could Yu'er have learned of this because Ming Wu told him?"

Mu Dan continued thinking.

"Elder Hai!"

"You are to secretly..."

"Yes!"

Elder Hai turned and vanished from the room.

"I hope you won't blame Mother. Mother is doing this for your own good."

Mu Dan murmured as she looked toward Yang Yu's room.

~

The holiday quickly passed, and Yang Yu and Ming Wu were preparing to return to the academy.

Mu Dan stood nearby, packing bags upon bags of travel rations and other supplies for them, just as usual.

She was also unusually warm toward Ming Wu, making Yang Yu wonder more than once whether Ming Wu was actually her biological child.

The group arrived at the village entrance.

"Alright, Mother. Go back now! Stop seeing us off. We're leaving."

Mu Dan knocked Yang Yu on the head.

"You brat, what's wrong with Mother seeing you off? We won't see each other for a long time again. Aren't you afraid Mother will suffer from longing?"

Yang Yu winced in pain and gave his adoptive mother a big hug.

"Alright! It's not like I'm never coming back."

"We're leaving!"

Then he departed with Ming Wu!

Mu Dan watched Yang Yu disappear into the distance, sighed, and turned back toward the village.

Chaos Profound Yellow World, Three Ancestors Space.

Chi Yu opened his eyes.

"I hope this First Source can pass through this smoothly!"

Looking at the Three Ancestors waiting nearby, who were currently meditating, Chi Yu nodded in satisfaction.

Then, with a slap of his hand, the World Lord of the Great World containing Soul Control Continent stepped out.

"Greetings, Father God!"

"Mm, rise!"

"Go investigate which otherworldly beings descended upon the Soul Control Continent under your jurisdiction during the past ten thousand years."

"Yes."

A few breaths later~

The Great World Lord returned to Three Ancestors Space.

"Reporting to Father God, it has been confirmed!"

"Speak."

"It was a clan from the middle world, Profound Sky World. Forced by a clan dispute, they descended there!"

"Oh?"

"Is that clan surnamed Yang?"

The World Lord froze and looked up at Chi Yu.

"How did Father God know?"

"My First Source is currently undergoing trials within that Yang Clan and is now with those descendants."

The World Lord understood.

"Why do the creatures of Soul Control Continent call them Horrors?"

"Reporting to Father God! Because the Yang Clan's cultivation system differs from that of Soul Control Continent, they could not awaken Life Souls or cultivate the Life Soul path, so they turned to the Soul Devouring Path.

"Because they slaughtered so many and were incomparably terrifying, the continent's inhabitants called them Horrors."

Chi Yu froze!

"My First Source landed in the villain camp?"

Chi Yu, who had thought according to novel conventions that it would be a protagonist, smiled bitterly to himself.

"This..."

"Who would have thought? After all that investigation, I thought he was righteous and deeply connected to those Horrors, only to find that he himself was one of them."

"What could be done? The Three Thousand Source Methods were cultivated according to fate. He could not be refined anew just because he was a villain!"

After pondering for a moment, Chi Yu understood.

He rose and looked toward the starry sky, pausing in his steps.

"Then be a qualified villain!"

Coming back to his senses.

"You may leave."

"Yes."

The World Lord bowed and withdrew, then vanished from Three Ancestors Space.

Chi Yu once more sat cross-legged atop the World Creation Azure Lotus and closed his eyes.

Soul Control Continent.

Yang Yu, still on his way to the academy, opened his eyes.

The two had put their minds at ease this time and rented a carriage in Good Fortune Cloud Town to continue their journey.

Ming Wu was still resting in the carriage. Perhaps she was tired; her soft breathing drifted through the air, and her cherry lips were especially enticing.

Yang Yu, however, furrowed his brows tightly.

As a member of the Horrors, didn't that make him Ming Wu's enemy?

"What cursed fate!"

Yang Yu could only howl helplessly!

"What a mess. The plot had twisted and turned so many times—it was way too melodramatic."

If not for the need to avoid padding, this alone could have been written for several hundred chapters.

"Sigh! What should I do now?"

"Maybe I should try to keep my distance from her from now on?"

"No, no. That would be too unfair to her. She's such a pure girl—I can't bear to do that!"

Yang Yu glanced out the window.

"Come out, Village Chief!"

Elder Hai, who had been secretly following them, froze!

"Damn! He found me!"

Left with no choice, he could only reveal himself.

"Cough, cough! Well, Little Yu! What a coincidence!"

Elder Hai greeted him guiltily.

"Enough, Village Chief! I already know."

"Huh?"

"You brat, what do you know?"

Yang Yu glanced at the sleeping Ming Wu beside him.

Elder Hai understood. With a sweep of his hand, Ming Wu fell into a deep sleep.

"I already know about the Otherworld Horrors, and I know that I am one of them."

Elder Hai stared at Yang Yu in shock.

Then he bowed and knelt!

"This old servant, Yang Hai, pays his respects to Young Master!"

Yang Yu was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"Young Master! Please do not blame the leader and the young miss. We all have our difficulties!"

Yang Yu nodded without showing any resentment.

"It's fine!"

"I called you out because I wanted to ask whether you have any method to alter or erase memories?"

Elder Hai froze, then glanced at Ming Wu beside them.

Yang Yu nodded.

"To be honest, Young Master, the young miss had the same intention! She sent this old servant here precisely to secretly use such a method, allowing Young Master and Miss Ming Wu to sever this bond completely."

Yang Yu gave a bitter smile.

"How would it be done?"

Yang Hai looked at Yang Yu and let out a sigh.

"Young Master, have you truly made up your mind?"

Yang Yu had considered this before, but one flower held one world. He could simply treat it as a trial; in the end, it would be nothing more than passing smoke.

He nodded.

"Then this old servant will begin?"

"Mm."

Elder Hai began forming hand seals.

Half an hour later, a streak of black light shot into Ming Wu's soul.

Ming Wu's brows furrowed slightly, and she let out a faint murmur.

A few breaths later, she returned to normal.

Elder Hai exhaled and withdrew his hands, ending the technique.

Yang Yu nodded, then gave the coachman a few instructions before looking at Ming Wu one last time.

He shook his head and sighed, then vanished from the carriage with Elder Hai.

As evening drew near.

Ming Wu, still inside the carriage, began having a nightmare. In it, she kept calling for her Brother Yu.

Suddenly, she jolted awake!

"Brother Yu!"