Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

"Shit."

Chu Yan cursed under his breath, the word slipping past his gritted teeth as he ran as fast as he could towards the main academy building.

His boots pounded violently against the cobblestone path, his breathing already turning shallow and ragged from the sheer desperation driving his movements.

He had seen the video. The moment that thing had flashed across the academy forums, he had watched the entire horrifying recording in absolute, mind-numbing disbelief.

He didn’t need to guess who was behind it; he knew with total, unyielding certainty that it was all Shen Haoran’s fault.

That calculating monster of a transmigrator had surely planned the entire scenario from the very beginning, pushing Elder Mu until he snapped, only to record the fallout and weaponize it against him.

With this catastrophic leak, Elder Mu’s pristine reputation within the Imperial Academy would certainly plummet to the absolute depths of the abyss.

He would be branded a lunatic, a violent tyrant who use his own cultivation against helpless juniors.

And even worse, Ye Hongyan would probably think terribly of him now, her heart completely closing off after hearing him publicly question her thousand-year virtue and label her a whore.

The structural damage to their relationship was completely irreversible.

He was entirely sure that Elder Mu, right now, would go completely insane under the crushing weight of this public humiliation.

Driven by raw, unadulterated desperation and broken pride, the old man would undoubtedly seek out the source of his misery and try to kill Haoran for this, throwing away all institutional rules and personal safety just to exact bloody vengeance.

However, Chu Yan knew just how incredibly stacked Shen Haoran was.

From the novels alone, Haoran possessed countless trumpcards that would allow him to even survive against a Heavenly Saint Realm expert.

If Elder Mu tried to kill him in a public space, not to mention actually touching a single hair on the boy’s head, it wouldn’t be strange if Elder Mu didn’t die instead.

Haoran would simply use the old man’s aggression as a legal, justified excuse to execute him on the spot.

He still cannot allow Elder Mu to die just yet, even though he really wanted to kill after he had almost choked the life out of him.

But the piece was too valuable to be swept off the board so early.

He needed to stop him before he threw his life away.

Just then, the air directly in front of him warped with a faint, shimmering light, and Xiao Long appeared in front of him, his ethereal form floating a few inches above the ground.

"Master!" Chu Yan stopped abruptly, his boots skidding slightly across the smooth stone as he greeted him, his chest heaving as he tried to regain his balance.

Xiao Long nodded slowly, his face looking incredibly grave under the morning sun. "I have seen the video, Chu Yan. The entire academy is in an uproar. And listen to me carefully: don’t get involved in this mess. Do not go to the academy building right now. It is a whirlpool of lethal intent that you are not prepared to handle."

"We can’t let him die yet!" Chu Yan spoke out, his voice rising in panic as he gestured wildly toward the distant towers. "Not to mention he is the only one we can currently use to get Ye Hongyan over to our side, since she still carries lingering feelings for him, no matter how small, but he is also the only reason why Shen Haoran wasn’t actively attacking us yet!"

Indeed. Chu Yan’s thoughts were entirely transactional and survival-oriented.

With Elder Mu around, acting as a far more dangerous target, Chu Yan could still use him as a perfect meat shield to attract Haoran’s agro.

No matter how much Elder Mu was throwing tantrums and causing scenes, he was still an Earthly Saint and deeply connected to a powerful Sage like Ye Hongyan, meaning Haoran still had to be wary of him and calculate his moves carefully.

In other words, by keeping Elder Mu alive and functional, Haoran’s lethal attention would remain focused entirely on the formidable elder and not on a small fry like him who was still silently building his strength in the shadows.

If Elder Mu fell today, the shield would vanish, leaving Chu Yan completely exposed to Haoran’s predatory gaze.

Xiao Long frowned deeply upon hearing his disciple’s desperate reasoning, his spectral eyes narrowing into sharp, questioning slits.

"You know, Chu Yan... I have always wanted to ask you this. Have you somehow offended Shen Haoran prior to entering this academy? Why are you always so terrifyingly wary of him attacking you? You act as if he is a predestined executioner standing over your neck."

If that was truly the case, if Chu Yan carried some hidden, catastrophic enmity with the direct heir of the supreme Shen Clan, then Xiao Long would seriously have to reconsider his entire relationship and alliance with Chu Yan.

After all, even his own system had repeatedly flashed severe warning regarding Haoran’s presence, labeling him an absolute anomaly.

"This..." Chu Yan hesitated, the words dying in his throat as a cold sweat broke out across his back.

He stuttered, his mind frantically scrambling to construct a plausible lie.

He couldn’t really say that he had read a web novel in his past life and knew the entire future plot, right?

He couldn’t just casually blurt out that Shen Haoran was a fellow transmigrator who possessed prior knowledge of the world’s mechanics!

He couldn’t explain those otherworldly things without completely exposing his own deepest secrets and identity!

Seeing his hesitation and defensive silence, Xiao Long shook his head with a deep, disappointed sigh, assuming the boy was simply letting his paranoia dictate his actions.

No... Wait. Didn’t his disciple have some knowledge about the future?

Then, could his wariness with Haoran stem from that? But they haven’t offended Haoran yet, so he shouldn’t have any reason to retaliate against them, right?

"It matters not. The Sages have just sent all teachers and staff a high-priority spiritual message. They have explicitly ordered us to stand down and not interfere with Elder Mu’s current affairs. The academy has abandoned him. Give it up, Chu Yan. Elder Mu is a lost cause."

Chu Yan clenched his fist tightly upon hearing that definitive declaration, his fingernails digging so hard into his palms that they nearly drew blood.

"Shit!"

*

*

*

At this exact moment, inside the grand classroom of Nascent Class Grade A.

The morning atmosphere was thick with an uneasy silence, some students were whispering about the video that spread in the forums this morning.

Haoran was seated comfortably in his usual seat near the window, his posture relaxed and entirely unbothered by the global scandal unfolding outside.

Beside him, Huo Yue was laying her head flat on her crossed arms, sleeping peacefully on her wooden desk, her breathing steady as she drifted in a state of exhaustion from her late night alchemy research.

Haoran’s right elbow was resting casually on the wooden backrest of her chair, his long fingers gently draped over her shoulder, his arms lightly resting on her back as his fingers slowly, mindfully played with the soft strands of her red hair.

He looked exactly like a young master relaxing in his private garden.

Shen Xinye, who was seated a few rows at the back, stared blankly at the two of them, her eyes completely vacant and hollow.

A heavy, complex knot of insecurity and unexpressed envy tightened within her chest as she watched his casual display of intimacy, remembering her own self-deprecating thoughts about being an unworthy widow.

Just then...

"SHEN HAORAN!"

A guttural, earth-shattering roar tore through the classroom walls.

The entire physical structure of the room shook violently, dust and small pieces of plaster raining down from the vaulted ceiling.

The sudden acoustic shockwave caused Huo Yue to be instantly startled awake, her eyes snapping open as she bolted upright, her qi flaring instinctively.

*BANG!*

The reinforced wooden door was violently flung open, splintering against the stone wall as Elder Mu walked in.

His face was completely distorted by an unhinged, murderous rage, his eyes bloodshot, and his clothes disheveled.

The ambient air around him tore like paper; the seal on his powers had been completely shattered by his madness, bringing his true physical and spiritual strength roaring back to the absolute peak of the Earthly Saint Realm.

Without a single second of hesitation, the moment his terrifying aura flooded the room, the upper five of the Shen Clan’s Ten Crowns reacted with flawless, preternatural synchronization.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

Shen Tao, Shen Fei, Shen Xinye, Shen Jian, and Shen Ji instantly flashed across the room, materializing in a solid, unyielding human wall directly in front of Haoran’s desk.

Their combined, massive auras erupted in tandem, interlocking to create an impenetrable spiritual shield that seemed to perfectly neutralized the crushing gravity of Elder Mu’s Earthly Saint pressure.

The remaining ordinary students in the room immediately scrambled out of their seats, moving frantically to the far side of the room to avoid being caught in the crossfire, watching the unfolding show with wide, terrified yet excited eyes.

Among them, Hei Xuan looked especially pleased with this sudden escalation as a dark, vicious smirk spread across his lips as he crossed his arms, his eyes gleaming with malicious anticipation.

He couldn’t wait to watch Shen Haoran get thoroughly crushed and suffer at the hands of a maddened elder.

Haoran slowly stood up from his seat, entirely unfazed by the display of power before him, as did Huo Yue, her brow furrowing into a sharp, lethal frown as she glared at the intruder who had dare to interrupt her rest.

Haoran stepped around his desk, looking past the protective barrier of his Crowns to lock eyes with the trembling old man.

"Do you need something specific from me, Elder Mu?"

"You did it, didn’t you!?" Elder Mu demanded, his voice a ragged, breathless shriek as he pointed a trembling, clawed finger at the young man. "You were the one who made that recording! You released those videos to the public just to ruin my name and destroy my life!"

"I have absolutely no idea what Elder Mu is talking about," Haoran smiled beautifully, his expression a perfect picture of innocent, casual confusion.

He tilted his head slightly, his tone dripping with an incredibly mocking politeness.

"Can you please elaborate on these videos you speak of? I’ve been sitting in class all morning."

Elder Mu’s jaw tightened, the sheer, insolent denial pushing his mind over the edge.

He just glared at him, his teeth grinding together with a sound like crushing stones. "I will kill you. I will wipe your very existence from this world!"

Haoran chuckled softly, the sound low, rich, and thoroughly amused as he stepped forward, completely ignoring the danger. "Elder Mu, please don’t speak such big, grandiose words, do you know that it only makes you look incredibly small and pathetic."

With that sharp, deliberate provocation, Elder Mu’s eyes flashed with a blinding, lethal light.

The residual sanity within his mind dissolved completely, and in that instant, the space around his physical body began to twist, warp, and turn as his Earthly Saint cultivation fully manifested, ready to tear the world apart.

"You will regret ever crossing me, brat!" he roared, lunged forward.

Haoran simply smiled, his golden eyes flashing with a cold, triumphant light as he stood his ground, completely welcoming the attack.

"Go on then, Elder. Try your best. As I said before... I would also like to know what it truly feels like to regret something."