After the Mad Villain Is Reborn - Chapter 1

High atop Ling Mountain, surrounded by lush vegetation and swirling mists, the scenery was akin to a fairyland. A brook trickled down, winding its way along the mountain path.

The spiritual energy here was abundant, attracting many demonic beasts that made this place their lair to cultivate. However, this also drew many cultivators from the Three Realms to Ling Mountain to hunt and slay them.

As the clouds parted, a group of figures in snow-white robes appeared, spiritual power circulating around them.

“Senior Brother, do not kill it! Every part of a demonic beast is a treasure,” someone urged, restraining the refined, gentle-looking man leading the group. They stared greedily at a silver-white peacock lying on the ground not far away, gasping for its last breath.

The little peacock’s feathers were iridescent and radiant, clearly of immense value. That was without even mentioning its pelt, blood, tendons, and bones, all of which could be put to use.

Mu Qingke had never intended to kill the beast. He had even withdrawn the spiritual power from his palm. Meeting the eyes of the little peacock, he felt that the blood-soaked creature was pitiful. It seemed to possess such profound sentience that he found it hard to bring himself to strike.

Seeing this, the disciple who had just restrained Mu Qingke darted forward, shouting, “Senior Brother, why are you dazed? Do not let it run!”

A chain formed of solid spiritual energy bound the white peacock. The more the beast struggled, the tighter the chain pulled, digging deeply into its flesh.

Jiang Youbai was jolted awake by the intense pain. Every inch of his body was screaming in agony.

It hurts.

So, falling off the cliff hurts this much? But I should be dead by now. It has been so long; why am I still alive? Shouldn’t a fall from that height be quick? Why does the pain right now feel like death by a thousand cuts?

Fragments of memories flashed before his eyes. He stood on the peak, watching a group of disciples in snow-white robes fluttering in the wind. The color of their robes seemed to swallow him whole. He saw the sky filled with spiritual power coalescing into talisman arrays, trapping him. He saw his gentle Senior Brother shielding the Junior Brother behind his back, sword pointed straight at him.

He had started hurting back then, covered in blood, his own clothes seemingly turning a deep, vivid crimson as if he had walked through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

The pain of having his demonic core forcefully gouged out almost drowned him. He had struggled to remain standing, bathed in blood, his long silver hair flowing like moonlight, fluttering alongside his sleeves. A few loose strands of hair covered his eyes, casting half his face in shadow.

A pool of blood had gathered at his feet, dripping from his robes to dampen the stone platform. He stood there, already at his wit’s end; his blood-stained robes appeared bright and alluring, making him look like a demon.

“No one is allowed to hurt Junior Brother!”

Back then, everyone looked at him as if he were a vicious beast they had never known—guarded, hostile, and even hateful.

One second they were calling him a fellow disciple, and the next, they dug out his demonic core and crushed it into pieces.

He had never intended to harm his Junior Brother, but because he was a demonic beast, everyone assumed that beasts would hurt people. Even if they had been disciples who lived and breathed together, they believed that those who were not of their kind must have a different heart.

And his Junior Brother just hid behind the crowd, silent.

Looking at the faces surrounding him, all waiting to end his life, Jiang Youbai suddenly threw his head back and laughed. He licked his dry lips with his tongue, his amber eyes stained with crimson, allowing his feral nature to consume him in that instant.

Fire touched the sky, a scene from a nightmare. Blood sprayed, dyeing Jiang Youbai’s eyes red and leaving a trail of “plum blossoms” on his snow-white face.

So much blood. Screams pierced the heavens.

The golden talismanic scripts turned into karmic fire, licking at Jiang Youbai’s robes. He heard nothing but people shouting, “The beast has gone mad!” and “Senior Brother’s spiritual core has been pierced!” He could hear nothing else.

He did not know how much time had passed, but suddenly, a familiar figure swept in from the horizon. Cold spiritual power swept away the flames. In an instant, the wind ceased and the fire died. The person carried the cold, crisp scent of pear blossoms, and the surrounding spiritual energy seemed to freeze, a testament to the newcomer’s immense power.

The disciples of the Shangqing Sect, who had been scrambling to escape or kill him, bowed respectfully the moment they saw the figure. The next second, Jiang Youbai felt a sharp pain in his heart, and his entire body was sent flying backward.

Blood sprayed into the air, tracing arcs as he was struck down from the cliff. The howling wind whistled in his ears, and he could no longer hear any other sounds.

He only remembered that he had been so close to killing that Junior Brother.

After that, endless karmic fire burned away all the blood around him. He seemed to exist in a void of darkness, where past events unfolded before him like scrolls. However, the main perspective of these scrolls did not seem to be his, but that of the Junior Brother he loathed so much.

It turned out this world was not just composed of humans, demons, immortals, and devils. Above them all was the Heavenly Dao. This so-called Junior Brother was the person chosen by the Heavenly Dao to experience the mortal realm. Everyone in the Shangqing Sect was merely a stepping stone in his path; those who submitted would prosper, and those who resisted would perish.

Jiang Youbai watched the scrolls, watching the Junior Brother act innocent while twisting the truth, and then showing a sinister gaze when no one was looking. He could not help but laugh. He laughed for a long time, starting from his shoulders shaking to finally roaring with laughter, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.

So this was his life? This was the meaning of his existence as a mere tool!

Is it?!

Jiang Youbai retracted his laughter, raising his hand to tear the scrolls to pieces. But the moment his fingertips touched them, they dissipated like smoke, and his vision plunged into total darkness.

His five senses slowly returned. Jiang Youbai’s eyelashes trembled, and he struggled to open his eyes. The scene before him was both familiar and strange, like memories from beyond the clouds that he had discarded long ago.

Just then, Mu Qingke frowned, looking at his junior brother with disapproval. “Liu Yingyuan! Why are you using the Binding Demon Rope? It is already on the verge of death!”

The junior brother argued, “I was afraid it might run away, Senior Brother. It is fine; the rope will prevent it from struggling.”

Liu Yingyuan…

Jiang Youbai looked at the greedy man before him. He remembered exactly where he was and recalled the memories of this specific moment.

Back then, he had not yet joined the Shangqing Sect and possessed no spiritual power. He was merely a demonic beast that had not even attained human form, cultivating on Ling Mountain.

The Immortal Alliance would frequently come to Ling Mountain to hunt and capture beasts. Initially, it was a way for new disciples to train, but as people discovered that every part of a demonic beast was a treasure, it devolved into pure hunting for spiritual loot. Liu Yingyuan was an exceptionally greedy man; he did not just hunt them, but also used cruel methods to torture them. For instance, the rabbit that Jiang Youbai had released earlier had nearly met its end at Liu Yingyuan’s hands.

But this had happened a long time ago. Was he dreaming before his death? Dreaming about the time before he entered the Shangqing Sect?

The Shangqing Sect…

Jiang Youbai’s gaze turned icy. He looked at the snow-white robes, the silver-woven waves, looking like mist and clouds—spotless and pure. To him, they were nothing but an eyesore.

In his past life, he had been afraid of his identity as a demon being exposed, so he carefully hid his aura and tried to get along with his fellow disciples, walking on eggshells. But in the end, what had that earned him?

His demonic core was gouged out, his body was covered in wounds, and every single person in the Shangqing Sect who held a sword pointed it at him.

He sneered in his heart. Just as the person before him reached out to touch his feathers, wanting to pluck them, Jiang Youbai leapt up and bit directly into the man’s eye.

The silver-white feathers blocked the man’s vision, and the next second, blood spurted out, staining Jiang Youbai’s face. The man let out a heartbreaking, lung-piercing scream. “Ahhhhhhh! My eye! You damn beast!”

He screamed, clutching his eye with one hand while trying to grab Jiang Youbai with the other.

Jiang Youbai wanted to blind the man’s other eye, but before he could move, the Binding Demon Rope tightened suddenly. He collapsed back to the ground, and blood began to flow from his wounds due to the tightening rope.

The crimson blood stained Jiang Youbai’s snow-white feathers, resembling a large cluster of plum blossoms blooming in the snow, which stunned Mu Qingke.

So beautiful. He had never seen such a beautiful demonic beast. Covered in blood, it did not feel gory; instead, it possessed a kind of vivid, tragic beauty.

“Let go! If you kill it, this whole trip will have been for nothing!” Mu Qingke shouted to stop him.

But Liu Yingyuan, blinded by the pain in his eye, no longer cared about the value of the beast. He just wanted the beast dead!

The Binding Demon Rope tightened further with Liu Yingyuan’s spiritual power. Jiang Youbai felt squeezed to the point of being unable to breathe. He even wondered: is it more painful to fall from a cliff and turn into meat paste, or to be choked to death by this rope?

Either way, it was just a dream; he was already dead.

He was already dead…

But how could he still feel pain if he was dead?

Jiang Youbai’s consciousness was blurred from the pain, but at that moment, he suddenly cleared up.

That is right. I am already dead. How could I still feel pain from a dream, or from being choked by this rope?

Could it be… I am not dead?!

Not only am I not dead, I have returned to the time before I entered the Shangqing Sect?!

He remembered last time, he was also trapped by the Binding Demon Rope and unable to move. Liu Yingyuan wanted to pluck all his feathers, peel his skin, remove his tendons, and refine his flesh and blood into pills.

Jiang Youbai calmed down. In his previous life, he had cultivated in the Shangqing Sect and never dared to use his demonic power to avoid exposing his identity. Only at the very end…

But now, he did not need to hold back at all.

Jiang Youbai’s demonic energy climbed steadily. Liu Yingyuan’s Binding Demon Rope snapped upon contact. A flash of silver-white light passed, and Liu Yingyuan felt his vision blur as a silver-white feather tail whipped across his face.

The tail strike carried heavy demonic force. Liu Yingyuan felt a burning, stinging pain across his entire face, but besides that, he did not feel anything special and assumed the creature was just bluffing.

However, Mu Qingke’s voice trembled from the side. “Junior Brother… your… your face…”

Liu Yingyuan turned his head and saw the terrified expressions of Mu Qingke and the other disciples. The other disciples were so frightened that they fell straight to the ground.

Liu Yingyuan felt that his vision was strange; it seemed much lower than before. He had clearly been able to see over Senior Sister Mu’s head just a moment ago.

“What is wrong?” He asked, but he could not hear his own voice, which caused fear to slowly crawl up from the depths of his heart.

Mu Qingke seemed to be terrified, unable to move for a long time. Liu Yingyuan asked again anxiously, and Jiang Youbai finally let out a short, sharp laugh, but when it echoed, it was just the soft cry of a peacock.

The next second, a mirror appeared in front of Liu Yingyuan, reflecting his face.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh! A monster!”

Liu Yingyuan swiped the mirror away and fainted on the spot.

The face in the mirror could no longer be called human. His features were completely gone, as if they had been crushed and haphazardly reassembled. It was twisted and terrifying. No one even knew if Liu Yingyuan was still alive.

Mu Qingke turned stiffly toward Jiang Youbai. He clearly understood that this demonic beast was not something they could ever hope to capture!

The surrounding disciples had also reacted, quickly saying to Mu Qingke, “Se-Senior Brother, let us, let us not catch it anymore. Let us go back…”

This beast was too terrifying!

Mu Qingke pressed his lips together, staring intently at Jiang Youbai, his palms soaked with sweat. “That depends on whether this little peacock will let us go.”

The beast was so beautiful, yet its methods were so vicious. Truly, the more beautiful things are, the more malicious they are.

“Should we send a message back to the sect? Call the Senior Brother over. I do not believe we cannot catch it then!”

Mu Qingke pondered. “That is the only way. This beast is wicked. Let us try to hold on and wait for the Senior Brother to arrive.”

“Did the Senior Brother not give us a token before we left? Send the message back. If we are lucky and he tells the Sect Leader, we will definitely be able to catch this beast. When that happens, we will make it taste the same pain Senior Brother Liu suffered!”

“That is right! If the Sect Leader comes, he will definitely put this beast in its place! Senior Brother, exaggerate the message when you send it back!”