I am Villain Cultivator
Chapter 52: Seven Statues of the Sacred Temple

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Seven Statues of the Sacred Temple

Kaal studied the towering gate and the intricate walls of the secret chamber, his gaze sharp and inquisitive, taking in every rune, every faint pulse of lingering energy. After a moment of silent observation, he turned to Ashen, eyes narrowing with quiet intensity.

"Will you finally tell us where we are?" he asked, voice low but pressing. "What inheritance trial are we trapped in?"

Ashen met his gaze, the shadows in his eyes deep and unreadable. Then he spoke, his tone calm, yet heavy with meaning.

"This is no ordinary trial," he said. "We are inside the Kilvish Clan Founder’s Inheritance Trial."

The words dropped like thunder in the chamber.

Kaal’s expression froze. Across from him, Divya took a sharp breath. Jane and Mia exchanged stunned glances, their faces pale with shock.

"The... Founder’s Inheritance?" Divya whispered.

"That’s a myth," Jane muttered, almost to herself.

Kaal narrowed his eyes at Ashen, doubt etched into every line of his face.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, his tone flat but wary.

Ashen met his gaze calmly, a quiet confidence in his voice. "I’m a hundred per cent sure."

Divya turned to Ashen, her expression thoughtful.

"If you know the way, then lead us."

She glanced at Kaal for affirmation. He paused, then gave a silent nod, trusting her judgment for now.

With everyone in agreement, Ashen led them through the dim chamber toward a section of the stone wall, where an ancient symbol of a bull had been carved. The engraving was faded with time, yet it still exuded a faint, mystical presence.

Ashen halted before it and turned to Kaal.

"Drop your blood here. If the legacy accepts you... The path will reveal itself."

Kaal looked uncertain but didn’t argue. A blade of Qi gathered at his fingertip. He made a shallow cut across his palm, and a few drops of blood fell onto the bull mark.

The moment the blood touched the carving, the mark began to glow with a deep crimson light. The wall trembled, dust and pebbles falling from its surface. Then, with a deep grinding sound, the wall split apart, right through the bull’s mark, revealing a stone stairway that spiralled downward into darkness.

"Wow!" Mia gasped, eyes wide with wonder. "It opened a secret stairway!"

Ashen looked back at them, a rare smile on his face.

"Come on. Stay close."

They descended the steps, the light from above fading as they moved deeper into the earth. The air shifted, growing cooler, denser, and saturated with spiritual energy.

When they reached the bottom, what lay before them left them breathless.

A hidden sanctuary stretched out, filled with an ethereal forest. The trees shimmered faintly, their leaves glowing with life. Spiritual energy flowed like wind through the grass, and a crystal-clear river wove its way past a serene pond.

But what dominated the scene was the ancient temple nestled at the heart of the grove. Its walls were covered in golden moss, and carved into its structure stood seven towering statues, each distinct, each exuding a divine presence that stirred something ancient within their souls.

The entire temple radiated an aura of sacred power.

Seeing the sacred temple before them, surrounded by serene rivers and glowing statues, Kaal’s gaze instinctively drifted to Ashen. But this time, it was not admiration or curiosity that filled his eyes; it was wariness.

A storm of questions brewed in his mind.

’ How does he know about this place? Even I, the Patriarch’s son, had no idea it existed. And the wall... it responded to my blood. Not his. Yet Ashen led us straight here like he’d known about it for years. ’

Kaal’s brows furrowed. He had never truly considered Ashen a threat at best, a decent fighter, at worst, a shadow in the background. But recent events had shifted something. Too many things lined up. Too many secrets circled Ashen like a fog.

Without a word, Kaal closed his eyes and activated his Mind Eye. It allowed the user to peer into the Fate Light of others, an ethereal glow that revealed not just destiny, but a person’s innate potential, their origin, and their hidden truths.

As Kaal opened his spiritual vision, shimmering tendrils of fate unfurled before him. Over Ashen’s head, a golden number hovered in spectral light:

[250]

Kaal’s eyes widened.

He turned quickly to Divya.[280] The result of her Black Phoenix bloodline awakening. That made sense.

But when he looked at Jane and Mia...

[20/??][18/??]

Confusion tightened his jaw.

"Last time I used Fate Light, Jane and Mia had ordinary readings in golden light, not these strange numbers. This must be due to the mutation of the Origin core after devouring the Blood Queen Bee’s core. It changed the Fatelight abilities."

He knew that question mark in Jane and Mia’s heads indicated that both of them had a hidden bloodline that they had not awakened yet, that why I was giving them physical training; no matter what method was required to awaken their bloodline, they needed a strong body for that.

Still, the number that haunted his mind was Ashen’s.

"250... that’s nearly on par with Divya, even after her divine bloodline has awakened. What kind of secret are you hiding, Ashen?"

Kaal’s gaze sharpened, turning cold as frost.

Just a short distance away, Ashen felt that chill.

He didn’t need to look to know Kaal was watching him, judging him, perhaps even doubting him. But he didn’t flinch. His steps remained steady, his face unreadable.

Instead, his thoughts drifted back...

’ In the novel { Rise of the Demon Emperor }, it was Raven who stumbled upon this trial. He found a pendant buried under dust on the first floor of the Kilvish Clan’s weapon hall. A rusted pendant, marked with a bull symbol. ’

"That pendant was the key. With it, Raven opened the inheritance trial of the Kilvish Clan’s founder. He was the original inheritor."

Ashen’s expression darkened.

"But when I woke up in this world, trapped in a body that couldn’t even cultivate Qi, I took that opportunity for myself. I stole the pendant, unlocked the trial early, and gained the ’Absolute Shadow’, the founder’s forbidden talent. With it, I reshaped my body and gained the ability to cultivate. That pendant was a one-time key... and it self-destructed the moment I used it."

His cold eyes flicked toward Kaal for a brief second.

"To reopen this place... blood from the founder’s bloodline was needed. And that’s you, Kaal. That’s why you’re still alive."

Ashen’s steps slowed for a heartbeat, then resumed.

Kaal stepped cautiously into the temple, his footsteps echoing faintly beneath the towering archways of stone. Before him stood seven majestic statues carved from ancient jade, each exuding an aura of solemnity and reverence. His gaze lingered on their faces, each statue bore the same visage: serene, wise, and strangely familiar.

But one detail stood out.

"All seven have the same face..." Kaal murmured, narrowing his eyes. "Yet this one", he pointed to the far-left statue ", its face is cracked."

Divya stepped beside him, her brows furrowed in doubt."Could these be statues of the founder? Maybe the temple was built to honour him?"

Kaal shook his head firmly. "No," he said with certainty. "The founder had a built, warrior-like body. These statues depict a scholar, calm, lean, and refined. And the founder always carried a giant double-handed blade. Every painting in my father’s collection shows him like that."

He wasn’t guessing; he was raised to be the next clan leader, drilled in every nuance of the Kilvish Clan’s history.

Jane circled one of the intact statues, glancing between them with unease."Then... why is only one face cracked, and the other six untouched?"

Kaal’s eyes slowly shifted toward Ashen. A knowing smile curved on his lips."You must know the answer to that... don’t you?"

Ashen offered a weak, sheepish smile. He knew there was no room for lies now.

"I suppose I owe you the truth," he said. "Back when I served Sir Lauren, I was once punished for a mistake and sent to clean the clan’s graveyard. While cleaning the entrance statues with a mace, I accidentally struck and broke the pinky finger of one of them."

He paused, then continued, "The moment that happened... this entire inheritance ground opened beneath my feet. I passed the first trial and gained some... benefits. That’s when one of the statue’s faces cracked."

Mia’s eyes lit up with curiosity."What kind of benefit?" she asked eagerly.

But Ashen only smiled and said nothing.

The silence stretched a moment longer. Kaal, Divya, and Jane all understood that whatever the benefit was, it was deeply personal and powerful. Ashen had no intention of sharing.

Divya crossed her arms. "If you passed the first trial... that means there are more. Second, third... maybe many."

Ashen nodded. "Yes. At that time, I couldn’t even cultivate. I knew I wouldn’t survive the next trial, so I left it after the first."

Kaal’s gaze turned back to the six remaining intact statues."Then tell me, how do we begin the trial? And what was the fir..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

His expression froze, and his hand instinctively moved to his storage ring. From within, he retrieved a broken token.

The Lifelight Token of his father. It was cracked, its glow extinguished.

Kaal stood still, the blood draining from his face. His fingers tightened around the token as if he could will it to light again.

"Dad..." he whispered.

A single tear slid down his cheek and struck the temple floor.

Silence fell over the group.