I, the Reborn Villain, After Nine Lifetimes of Simping Over the Empress, Crushed the System and Escaped - Chapter 16:

Chapter 16: Fighting Violence with Violence

An hour earlier, inside the Fight Club.

Su Yunyīng was working hard, dragging things across the floor, while from time to time sneaking glances at Shen Zhao, who was lazily dozing off on a rocking chair. She quickly grabbed an almond pastry from the table and stuffed it into her mouth.

“Girl, what day is it today?” Shen Zhao suddenly asked.

The question almost choked Su Yunyīng. She hurriedly swallowed the pastry, wiped her mouth, and said, “Today is the ninth day of the ninth month, City Lord Lu’s birthday. Boss, do you want to go join the fun? Staying here is boring.”

“Do your work. Don’t meddle in things you shouldn’t.”

With a simple command, Shen Zhao closed his eyes again.

Su Yunyīng pouted, made a face at him, then turned back to the half-eaten almond pastries. She quickly snatched another piece and, with her back turned, popped it into her mouth.

Meanwhile, Shen Zhao’s mind was filled with the Lu family’s situation.

In his past life, on this very day, the Lu family of Qingyang City had been slaughtered during Lu Zhantian’s birthday banquet. Out of 282 members of the household, only Lu Chen narrowly escaped, while Lu Xuanji was abducted by the Nine Netherworlds and forced to become the Netherworld’s Saintess. Everyone else was killed.

Even more tragic was that tens of thousands of innocent citizens of Qingyang City were also massacred that day, the methods unimaginably cruel.

Toward the Nine Netherworlds, Shen Zhao—who had once been the God of War of the Immortal Martial Continent—always held only one attitude: kill!

This wasn’t because the system demanded it, but because deep in his heart, he wanted to eradicate this scourge for the sake of the Immortal Martial Continent.

How cruel were the nations and sects of the Nine Netherworlds? Only someone who had personally witnessed them, like Shen Zhao, had the right to speak.

The emergence of the Nine Netherworlds brought only endless slaughter and chaos. Across thousands of years, the innocents who perished at their hands numbered in the tens of billions.

Yet the great powers of the Immortal Martial Continent didn’t band together to resist their invasion. Instead, they schemed on how best to avoid provoking them, turning a blind eye to their atrocities. This chilling cowardice filled Shen Zhao with despair.

“If you won’t stop this catastrophe, then I will!”

At the Mouth of the Nine Nether Springs, Shen Zhao led the Army-Breaking Office’s 100,000 Iron Guards into battle, charging down the Yellow Springs Road against the Nine Nether Demon Army.

That war lasted three whole years, a battle so fierce that even gods and ghosts trembled, the heavens and earth overturned.

Finally, under the ferocious assault of the Army-Breaking Office, the Nine Netherworlds began to fear Shen Zhao.

They were cruel, but Shen Zhao was crueler.

For every one citizen of the Immortal Martial Continent they killed, he slaughtered ten of them in return!

The Netherworld Sacred Land, the Shura Empire, the City of Reincarnation, the Ten Halls of Yama, the Nation of the Other Shore, and the Nine Hellish Demon Paths—the strongest coalition of the Nine Netherworlds—were crushed under Shen Zhao’s iron-blooded campaign. Thousands of cultivators who had lived for millennia fell in this most brutal war in nearly a thousand years. The Shura Emperor himself was captured and reduced to a prisoner, tasting the bitter truth of blood for blood!

Even more terrifying, Shen Zhao executed 300,000 captured Netherworld soldiers one by one in front of their clans, stacking their corpses into a blood wall that shook the entire realm.

For the first time, those who once regarded humanity as ants were deeply shaken. This ruthless eye-for-an-eye vengeance forced them to reevaluate humanity, to the point that they begged for peace talks.

But Shen Zhao never considered negotiations. The envoy they sent returned only with the mutilated remains of the Shura Emperor. After that, Shen Zhao led the Army-Breaking Office even deeper into the Nine Netherworlds.

This time, even the Realm Lord of the Nine Netherworlds, ruler of the Yellow Springs Road, quaked in fear. With their forces nearly destroyed, despair swept their ranks. The mere mention of Shen Zhao’s name made them tremble.

In desperation, the various factions of the Nine Netherworlds united under their Realm Lord, sending a plea for peace to Empress Yu Xiyan of the Heavenly Dominion Empire. They offered unconditional surrender, willing to accept any term—so long as Shen Zhao withdrew immediately. They could no longer endure his devastation.

In the end, Yu Xiyan accepted their plea. She issued twelve golden decrees, even dispatching Supreme Realm shadow guards who traveled 8,000 kilometers a day, to urgently order Shen Zhao to cease his war.

For the first time, Shen Zhao defied the system’s will. He ignored the imperial edict, determined to continue advancing.

But the system’s backlash was excruciating. Every step forward brought heavenly thunder piercing his heart.

And when behind him, the battered survivors of the Army-Breaking Office and countless refugees shouted “General!” in unison, Shen Zhao faltered at the Sea of Reincarnation, forced to watch as the remnants of the Nine Netherworlds retreated safely behind their barrier.

It was then… he realized… he could do nothing.

Pulling himself from his memories, Shen Zhao turned to a new question: should he save the Lu family?

In his recollection, Lu Chen was arrogant and frivolous, often entangled with female cultivators in fleeting affairs, and once even tried to rebel against his master. But beyond those flaws, he wasn’t irredeemable.

He had a strong sense of the bigger picture, held firm principles, valued brotherhood, and repaid kindness with gratitude. In the end, at the peak of the Supreme Realm, he retired gracefully, traveling the Immortal Martial Continent with his three wives, living freely.

With that in mind, saving the Lu family seemed reasonable. After all, Lu Chen was a hundred times better than Lin Feng, who used double standards, abandoned morals, colluded with evil sects, and even harmed his own sect brothers to achieve his goals.

Shen Zhao never had the delusion that every beautiful woman in the world should belong to his harem. He let things happen naturally. And thanks to the cursed system that once forced him into servitude, he now felt deep fear and rejection toward romantic entanglements. Even without the system’s restraints, the mere thought of love made his chest ache.

In this life, he wanted to take control of his own fate, to mend every regret. To Shen Zhao, life should not revolve around unreliable love alone. Family, friendship, brotherhood, the bonds of war, and one’s career—these were equally important.

“Girl, get ready. Since it’s the City Lord’s birthday, we can’t show up empty-handed in his territory. Come with me!”

Stretching his limbs, Shen Zhao rose and walked out.

…

Back at the banquet, Shen Zhao blasted one of the Netherworld messengers into pieces with a single punch, leaving everyone stunned.

“You dare oppose the Nine Netherworlds, boy?” one shouted.

“Oppose? You think you’re worthy?” Shen Zhao sneered. He struck again, his fist carrying the power of Dao itself. The black-robed man’s head spun three hundred times before he collapsed, dead on the spot.

Two punches, two corpses. The brutal display left everyone trembling in fear. Xia Tounan even wet himself in terror.

“What kind of man is he?” Mo Xinchen’s beautiful eyes were wide with shock as she watched Shen Zhao. What stunned her most was that his punches showed no trace of spiritual energy.

“Boss, don’t kill them all. Leave one for me to practice on!” Su Yunyīng leapt forward with a light step, landing in front of Shen Zhao. The spear in her hands, Lone Goose, aimed directly at another enemy.

“Who is that girl…” Lu Chen, not far away, froze the moment he saw Su Yunyīng’s face. His eyes widened in awe. “How can such a beautiful woman exist in this world?” His heart raced uncontrollably.

The remaining messengers saw their comrades fall and grew wary. Their leader stepped forward and demanded, “Who are you? State your name if you dare!”

“I’m Shen Zhao, your Nine Nether ancestors’ father! Remember it before you die!”

Before the man could react, Shen Zhao vanished from sight. A clang rang out, and the messenger spun helplessly into the air. With a cracking punch, Shen Zhao split him in half at the waist.

“Spear like a dragon, one point of cold light!” Su Yunyīng’s spear thrust forward, piercing another enemy cleanly. Swift and ruthless, she showed no hesitation.

The crowd was shaken again. Though not as visually shocking as Shen Zhao’s fists, her strike was precise and deadly. “Such strength at her age… already at the Origin Absorption Realm?” gasps rang out.

Now only one messenger remained. Watching Shen Zhao approach, his thoughts screamed in panic, “Don’t come closer! If you do, I’ll wet myself!”

In the next moment, Shen Zhao grabbed his chin with one hand and lifted him high. “You truly dare oppose the Nine Netherworlds? Do you know—”

Crack! Shen Zhao crushed his neck and tossed the corpse aside with disdain. “Spouting nonsense even at death’s door. Pathetic.”

Dusting off his wrist, Shen Zhao put on a calm, pleasant smile and walked toward Lu Zhantian.

Just as he was about to speak, someone suddenly clung to his leg, wailing miserably, “Lord Shen, you’ve finally come! I missed you so much! If you’d been a step later, my old life would’ve ended here. Never in my life have I longed so much to cling to a thigh like yours!”

“Get lost!” Shen Zhao kicked Ding Buer, sending him flying dozens of meters.

Then he turned to Lu Zhantian. “Congratulations on your fortieth birthday, City Lord Lu. I was delayed by some matters, so please forgive me.”

Lu Zhantian was about to thank him for saving the day, but before he could speak, Gu Yunxiao suddenly asked, “May I ask, have we met before?”