I Really Am A Villain
Ch. 58 - Capture

Strictly speaking, Xu Zimo’s true reason for coming to Ten-Mile Town was to capture this Nightmare Beast.

Dreams are considered a branch of the River of Time. In his previous life, after Xu Zimo had reached the Paragon Meridian Realm, he should have begun forging his own path in martial arts.

But back then, he was lost, uncertain about his path, unable to break through further.

That was, until he unintentionally arrived in Ten-Mile Town. In that previous life, the Nightmare Beast hadn’t been discovered so early, it had spent a long time growing and maturing, its dream powers covering several hundred miles.

It was under the pressure of life and death within the Nightmare Beast’s dreamscape that Xu Zimo first comprehended the profound mysteries of the River of Time.

Past, Present, Future!

He took his first step on the path of his own martial dao and ultimately created the technique he now cultivated: Grand Freedom Sovereign Codex.

The Nightmare Beast’s dream power was incredibly helpful to Xu Zimo’s cultivation. Whether he could break into the God Meridian Realm and elevate his dao even higher depended critically on this creature.

Dreams are a tributary of the River of Time. For instance, you might suddenly realize a moment in real life feels incredibly familiar, like you’ve experienced it long ago.

When you think carefully, you might remember that you once dreamed about this very event happening in the future. You just didn’t realize it at the time.

In his previous life, Xu Zimo had successfully captured this Nightmare Beast. It had played a vital role in helping him refine his martial dao.

Later on, however, the Nightmare Beast had died.

But now that life had given him another chance, the creature once again hadn’t escaped his grasp.

The Nightmare Beast feeds on dreams. Like Little Gui had asked earlier, why didn’t it kill everyone at once after trapping them in the dreamscape?

That’s because this Nightmare Beast was still in its juvenile stage. It only needed to consume one person’s dream each day to survive.

The others were merely being raised as livestock, ensuring a steady food supply.

The Nightmare Beast was extremely rare. As far as Xu Zimo knew, the only place in the entire Primordial Heartlands where one could find such a beast was in the Elden Lands.

The Elden Lands were one of the Ten Forbidden Grounds, long since occupied by an organization called Divine Gate.

In every era, the only people who could access the Elden Lands, aside from Grand Emperors, were a mere handful of chosen individuals.

“Seems like you know quite a bit,” Hu Yingying said, eyeing Xu Zimo in surprise.

She waved her right hand, white spiritforce rising from her body. The Nightmare Beast let out a sky-piercing roar.

Its sleek, floating form shot toward Xu Zimo.

From the side, Little Gui quickly pulled out his iron staff, unleashing his Demon Berserker Staff Technique. The shadows of the staff layered like mountains, slicing the air with sharp “whoosh” sounds.

Dark spiritforce gathered on the weapon as it came crashing down on the Nightmare Beast.

But strangely, the Nightmare Beast didn’t dodge, the iron staff passed right through its body, hitting nothing at all.

The Nightmare Beast opened its small mouth and let out a series of strange “bloop-bloop-bloop” sound waves.

Little Gui immediately began bleeding from all seven orifices. It felt like a massive boulder had slammed into him.

He was launched across the room and slammed into the door with a crash.

But he quickly leapt back to his feet, wiped the blood from his face, and looked at the Nightmare Beast with serious determination.

“You all step aside, normal attacks won’t work on it,” Xu Zimo said, waving his hand.

The Nightmare Beast didn’t truly exist in the physical world. It resided in a dimensional space, which is how it could consume the dreams of others so freely.

Xu Zimo’s spiritforce surged, activating all three of his opened Meridian Gates. This was the first time he was unleashing the true power of his own path.

The Grand Freedom Sovereign Codex its power from the River of Time. Ripples of temporal energy danced in his palms.

As the Nightmare Beast charged toward him, Xu Zimo’s hands formed a net of temporal power, engulfing the entire creature.

The Nightmare Beast roared in protest, releasing bursts of sound wave bubbles from its mouth.

Xu Zimo smiled calmly as the temporal net compressed around the creature.

The Nightmare Beast shrieked in alarm as its body shrunk smaller and smaller, until it was no larger than a fist.

Xu Zimo grabbed it and, without hesitation, swallowed it whole.

After reaching the True Meridian Realm, Xu Zimo had formed a spatial domain inside his body, similar to a cultivator’s dantian.

Within that space were countless glowing points of light, like stars in the night sky, dazzling and brilliant.

Once he unlocked one more Meridian Gate and reached the Desolate Meridian Realm, he would be able to forge his True-Fate Soul.

Those shining points were Dao resonance fragments, the raw material to forge that soul.

The Nightmare Beast now resided inside that internal space, thrashing and struggling in vain.

But the dimensional space of the beast had already been sealed by Xu Zimo’s internal world, it was trapped in another layer of reality.

In short: Xu Zimo’s inner world completely imprisoned the Nightmare Beast. It could float, rage, and scream, but it could no longer escape.

“What… did you do!?” Hu Yingying shouted in horror, trying to summon the Nightmare Beast, only to find the bond severed.

“How about we make a deal?” Xu Zimo said with a grin.

“What deal?” Hu Yingying backed away nervously, full of suspicion.

“Bring me another Nightmare Beast, and I’ll spare your life,” Xu Zimo replied.

“In your dreams,” she sneered, and leapt out the nearby window.

Xu Zimo calmly drew Shadow Tyrant from his back. A slash of dark blade light swept through the air, slicing space itself.

The blade aura, coated in the power of annihilation, struck Hu Yingying from behind.

Black mist burst from her body, and a demonic face, twisted and hideous, rose into the air.

The face locked eyes with Xu Zimo, then dissolved into a beam of light and vanished into the distance.

Little Gui raised his staff to give chase, but Xu Zimo held him back.

“Don’t bother. I’m counting on her to bring me another Nightmare Beast for revenge,” Xu Zimo chuckled.

He gazed at the fading black mist.

“They say the people of Divine Gate are filthy rich. They control one of the forbidden grounds after all. Dangerous, yes, but filled with hidden treasures.”

As the black mist vanished, Hu Yingying’s body collapsed to the floor.

Steward Hu rushed over and cradled her in his arms.

“There’s no saving her. She’s already dead,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head as he met the man’s pleading gaze.

He then retrieved the mouth harp from her body.

Because the Nightmare Beast was still in its juvenile stage, its dreamscapes were full of flaws.

That’s why it needed this instrument to play a lullaby, numbing the senses of those trapped in the dreams.