The Villain Took Down the Female Lead from the Very Start - Chapter 12:

Chapter 12: Early Stage Dark Strength Realm, Shadow Guards, Disguise Talisman

[Leng Qingqiu feels grateful toward you, Emotional Points +999…]
[Li Yanran feels curious about you, Emotional Points +999…]
[Xiao Chen is furiously incompetent, Emotional Points +999…]
[Xiao Chen is so angry he’s splitting at the cellular level, Emotional Points +3399…]

…

After finishing the stack of documents at Lingxiao Capital, Jiang Che immediately drove back to Qingteng Villa.

As soon as he returned, the System’s prompt sounded in his mind.

Having received the full storyline of The Cold CEO’s Personal Bodyguard, Jiang Che fully understood Xiao Chen’s schemes and naturally knew why that guy was so furious.

Chuckling to himself, Jiang Che gave a command to the System, “System, give me five Lottery Draws!”

Over the past two days, he had already accumulated over 50,000 Emotional Points. While still within the newbie protection period, the chances of drawing epic-level rewards were significantly higher—Jiang Che wasn’t about to let that go to waste.

[50,000 Emotional Points deducted. Beginning Lottery Draw…]

[Congratulations, Host, you’ve obtained: Divine-Level Hacking Skill…]

[Congratulations, Host, you’ve obtained: Disguise Talisman ×10 (Allows alteration of physical features to appear as anyone. Lasts 12 hours. Can be deactivated at any time…)
(Note: The disguise is meant to trap protagonists. No mask poison effects. Safe for use.)]

[Congratulations, Host, you’ve obtained: Cultivation Boost Card ×1 (Increases martial cultivation by one minor realm. Usable by host only)…]

[Congratulations, Host, you’ve obtained: Shadow Guards ×10 (Death guards of the night. Absolute loyalty to host. Their cultivation will always be one minor realm below host’s level)…]

[Congratulations, Host, you’ve obtained: Golden Desert Eagle ×1 (Unlimited ammo. For host use only)…]

Looking through the list of rewards from the draw, Jiang Che couldn’t hide the smile on his face.

These were all highly practical and powerful rewards. Amazing!

“System, summon Shadow Guards. Use the Cultivation Boost Card.”

[Ding! Cultivation Boost Card used successfully…]

As the System’s tone fell, Jiang Che felt a sudden warm current surge up from his lower abdomen—his dantian—flowing through all his meridians and limbs.

Under this flow of power, the barrier between the peak of Bright Strength Realm and the Dark Strength Realm was instantly shattered.

With the energy returning to his dantian, his martial cultivation broke through directly into the early stage of the Dark Strength Realm.

Jiang Che casually waved his hand, and a piercing sonic boom echoed through the air like thunder.

There was a stark difference between Bright Strength and Dark Strength cultivators.

Bright Strength focused on refining the physical body and condensing inner force. Once inner force fully formed, the breakthrough to Dark Strength happened naturally.

Dark Strength cultivators could channel inner force from their dantian to their hands and feet, making each strike incredibly powerful.

Paired with the Nine Yang Divine Art, even the most basic move became ferocious and overwhelming. Crushing stone with bare hands or slicing metal like tofu was effortless.

Once he reached the Transforming Strength Realm, he could release inner force outward—pluck flowers, throw leaves, and kill without a trace.

With the System by his side, as long as he kept harvesting Emotional Points from protagonists and female leads, it was only a matter of time before he reached the Transforming Strength Realm.

And that time wouldn’t be long.

“System, display my status panel.”

Host: Jiang Che
Identity: Fated Ultimate Villain, Number One Young Master of Linjiang
Age: 21
Charm: 99
Cultivation: Early stage Dark Strength Realm
Cultivation Techniques: Nine Yang Divine Art, Treading Snow Without a Trace
Skills: Fluent in 18 languages, Divine-Level Piano Skills, Divine-Level Hacking Skills, Advanced Tea Art, Advanced Investment Skills, Advanced Management Skills…
Items: Disguise Talisman ×10, Golden Desert Eagle
Personal Wealth: 13.66 billion
Emotional Points: 3366

…

“Greetings, Young Master!” came a chorus of voices.

After reviewing his status, Jiang Che looked toward the ten figures kneeling before him.

“Raise your heads,” Jiang Che said calmly.

Swish—

At his command, the ten women raised their heads in unison, gazing at him with eyes full of undisguised reverence and fanaticism.

“From now on, you’ll reside in Qingteng Villa. I’ll assign tasks to you as needed,” Jiang Che said with satisfaction after scanning their faces.

He had to admit, this damn System was quite considerate. All ten Shadow Guards were women—no men—and each scored at least seventy points in appearance.

They were absolutely loyal to him, and their cultivation would grow along with his. Wasn’t this the perfect team to eventually control all of Linjiang?

Any shady or dirty work that he didn’t want to do personally could be handed over to them.

“We shall obey the Young Master’s will!” the women shouted in unison, perfectly synchronized.

Jiang Che: …

Young Master’s will?

Why does that sound so… cringey and melodramatic?

“Go now. Have the maids arrange your quarters,” Jiang Che waved his hand dismissively. “From now on, just call me ‘Young Master’ or ‘Sir’—no need to use ‘Master.'”

A whole group of women seriously calling him ‘Master’ just didn’t sit right with him.

If it were roleplay with Liu Mengxi or Xiao Yi, sure—it could be kind of fun.

But being seriously addressed like that by ten elite female guards felt weird.

“Yes, Young Master,” they replied, bowed respectfully, and left.

Jiang Che summoned a maid and instructed her to handle housing arrangements for the ten Shadow Guards, along with distributing weapons and living supplies.

Qingteng Villa was enormous—hosting ten Shadow Guards, or even a thousand, would be no problem at all.

Once they were settled, Jiang Che continued walking toward his own villa.

Crossing the lawn, before he even entered, he saw a small figure in purple standing silently at the door—Xiao Yi.

Seeing Jiang Che return, Xiao Yi quickly walked over to his side in small, silent steps without saying a word.

“How long have you been waiting here today?” Jiang Che raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

Xiao Yi held up eight fingers in response.

“From now on, if I’m not home, you don’t need to wait for me at the door. Just go about your day as usual.”

“Here, take this cultivation technique and train with it.”

As he spoke, Jiang Che handed over a transcribed copy of Treading Snow Without a Trace from the System.

Since he was destined to face multiple Sons of Destiny in the future, he couldn’t have Xiao Yi by his side all the time. He had to find something meaningful for this cold, expressionless girl to do.

According to the System’s classification, martial techniques in this world were divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.

Treading Snow Without a Trace was a Heaven-grade low-rank technique—an extremely rare light movement skill.

Once her cultivation reached the Internal Strength Realm and she mastered this technique, Xiao Yi could leave no footprints in snow, move without a sound, and cover 3,000 kilometers a day without pause.

No ordinary Internal Strength cultivator could achieve such feats without light movement techniques.

Xiao Yi took the scroll in both hands, then knelt on one knee and cupped her fists in silent gratitude.

She was cold and mute, unable to express herself with words, so she showed her appreciation this way.

“Get up. Let’s go eat,” Jiang Che said as he reached out to help the little loli to her feet, and together they stepped into the villa’s grand hall.