The Whispering Woods was a miserable place to spend the night. The damp, rotting leaves, the freezing midnight rain, and the constant threat of venomous beasts made it a living hell for the freshmen students.
But Victor Nightshade, the Ultimate Villain, did not do "miserable."
Deep within the inner zone, perfectly concealed behind a roaring waterfall, Victor had located a dry, spacious cavern.
While the "hero" Leon Bright was currently crawling through the freezing mud, embracing the demonic whispers of a forbidden book, Victor was experiencing a completely different reality.
With a casual wave of his hand, several items materialized from his high-tier spatial ring: a plush, dark red velvet armchair, a small mahogany table, a crystal goblet, and a magic lantern that bathed the cold stone walls in a warm, smokeless golden light.
Victor sat down comfortably, crossing his long legs. He reached into his coat and placed the glowing blue [Starbloom Herb] onto the mahogany table.
Even in the golden light of the lantern, the herb pulsed with an ethereal, starlight-like brilliance. It was a Supreme Tier-3 magical plant, an item that could fetch tens of thousands of gold coins in the imperial capital. It was destined to heal the protagonist's core.
Now, it was Victor's dessert.
However, Victor frowned slightly as he examined it. Faint traces of the Iron-Hide Bear's foul, metallic pheromones still lingered on the delicate blue petals. Furthermore, wild magical plants often contained chaotic impurities that could damage a mage's meridians if consumed raw.
"System," Victor commanded, his voice echoing softly in the quiet cave. "Can you purify the beast pheromones and wild impurities from this herb?"
[Ding!]
[Target Detected: Tier-3 Starbloom Herb.]
[Condition: Raw, unrefined. Contains 14% wild impurities and residual beast aura.]
[System Function: Perfect Purification Protocol.]
[Cost: 200 Villain Points. Proceed?]
Victor glanced at his balance, which had just skyrocketed to over ten thousand points after utterly shattering Leon's Dao Heart.
"Do it," Victor said smoothly.
A beam of pure, brilliant white light shot from Victor's eyes, enveloping the glowing blue flower. The faint metallic stench left behind by the bear completely evaporated, hissed into steam, and vanished. The tiny, chaotic specks of wild mana swirling around the petals stabilized, turning into a flawless, concentrated essence of magical energy.
[Purification Complete. Target is now 100% pure.]
Victor picked up the herb. He didn't bother with complex alchemy or brewing potions. With his S-Rank talent, his body was a perfect crucible.
He simply crushed the glowing blue petals in his palm, letting the thick, luminous blue sap drip directly into his crystal goblet. He swirled the glowing liquid like fine vintage wine, bringing it to his lips, and drank it in one smooth gulp.
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then, a massive, explosive surge of pure, violent mana detonated within his chest.
If an ordinary Novice-Rank mage had consumed such a potent herb directly, their mana core would have instantly ruptured from the pressure.
But Victor's core was different. His S-Rank Shadow Sovereign core, fortified by the Ancient Black Dragon's bloodline, greedily welcomed the violent energy. It acted like a massive black hole, aggressively devouring the luminous blue mana.
Victor closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the velvet chair.
He could feel the raw energy tearing through his meridians. It was a painful, burning sensation, but to Victor, it was intoxicating. The blue energy forcefully expanded his magical pathways, purging the last remnants of the original Victor's weak, pampered aristocratic physique.
Thick, pitch-black mist began to seep from Victor's pores, violently swirling around him. The golden light of the magic lantern flickered, struggling to push back the oppressive, abyssal aura that was rapidly filling the cavern.
Crack. Crack.
The sound of his bones shifting and densifying echoed in the quiet space. The draconic blood in his veins boiled, merging perfectly with the Starbloom Herb's purifying properties.
Twenty minutes later, the violent storm of mana finally subsided.
The black mist slowly retreated, sinking back into Victor's skin.
Victor slowly opened his eyes. In the dim light of the cavern, his pupils glowed with an incredibly deep, mesmerizing violet-black light. He let out a long, slow breath, which visibly froze the moisture in the air.
"System. Status Window."
A translucent, futuristic blue screen instantly materialized in front of him.
[Host: Victor Nightshade]
[Age: 18]
[Mana Rank: Novice (Tier 9 - PEAK)]
[Talent: S-Rank (Shadow Sovereign / Ancient Dragon Blood)]
[Physical Strength: Equivalent to Adept (Tier 3) Knight]
[Villain Points: 11,300]
"Tier 9. The absolute peak of the Novice Rank," Victor murmured, a satisfied, predatory smile gracing his lips.
He had jumped three entire tiers in a single night. Furthermore, thanks to the dragon blood and the herb's tempering, his physical body had completely surpassed his magical rank. He was essentially a dual-cultivator of magic and aura.
Victor slowly stood up from the velvet chair. He felt incredibly light, yet bursting with explosive, suppressed violence.
He walked over to the solid granite wall of the cavern. He didn't channel any shadow magic. He didn't use any spells. He simply pulled back his right fist and punched the stone.
BOOM!
The cavern shook violently. Dust and debris rained down from the ceiling.
When Victor pulled his hand back, there was a crater half a meter deep in the solid granite, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the entire wall. His knuckles weren't even scratched.
"If I encounter that Iron-Hide Bear now," Victor chuckled softly, dusting off his pristine uniform, "I wouldn't even need to use my shadow magic. I could punch straight through its skull with raw physical strength alone."
He had reached the absolute limit of what the freshmen trial was designed to handle. No one in his year—not even the arrogant nobles or the self-righteous commoners—could survive a single blow from him.
Victor walked back to his table, pulling out a bottle of expensive, vintage red wine from his spatial ring to celebrate his breakthrough. He elegantly uncorked it, the rich, earthy aroma of fermented grapes filling the cold cave air.
He poured the crimson liquid into a fresh goblet.
"To the 'hero'," Victor raised his glass in a mock toast to the empty cavern, "for being such an excellent delivery boy."
But just as the rim of the glass touched his lips...
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The System in his mind, which usually chimed with a pleasant, mechanical [Ding], suddenly erupted into a blaring, ear-piercing crimson alarm.
The holographic blue screen in front of him instantly turned blood-red.
[WARNING!]
[Extreme Danger Detected!]
[An entity with S-Rank killing intent has entered the Host's immediate vicinity!]
[Host is currently locked on. Lethal strike imminent!]
Simultaneously, the golden flame inside the magic lantern violently flickered and died, plunging the cavern into absolute, pitch-black darkness.
The temperature plummeted below freezing. The sound of the waterfall outside seemed to be completely muted, isolated by a specialized barrier of silence.
Victor didn't panic. He didn't drop his wine glass. He didn't even move a muscle.
His glowing violet eyes simply shifted toward the deepest, darkest corner of the cave ceiling.
Something incredibly fast, completely silent, and overwhelmingly deadly was dropping straight toward his neck.