Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

"Qing’er..." Haoran called out, his voice smooth, echoing with a quiet but absolute commanding authority through the thick, dust-heavy atmosphere of the ruined crater.

Then, right on cue, Qing’er emerged seamlessly from his elongated shadows like an unholy spirit born from the dark abyss itself.

Her crimson eyes flashed with an icy, lethal precision as she raised her slender hands.

With a sharp flick of her fingers, thick, undulating tendrils of pitch-black shadow bindings shot out across the broken stones, tightly wrapping themselves around Elder Mu’s broken, bloody body.

The dark energy constructed an unbreakable, vice-like straightjacket, entirely preventing him from making even a single, desperate movement or channeling any residual internal energy.

At the exact same time, moving with an eerie, calculated speed, Haoran tossed a pristine, glowing crimson medicinal pill directly into the elder’s gaping mouth.

The moment the pill slid down his throat, a burst of vital energy surged through his shattered chest, instantly stabilizing his failing lifeforce and preventing him from dying on the spot.

Haoran had no intention of allowing this puppet to slip away into the peaceful quiet of death so easily.

He then slowly turned towards Hongyan, his eyes radiating a deep, completely manufactured look of profound sympathy and care.

"It seems his spine is severely damaged due to the sheer, immense power of your attacks. He is completely paralyzed from the neck down; he probably won’t be able to even move a single limb for the rest of his life."

Ye Hongyan nodded slowly, her shoulders dropping as she waved her hand, and the dark and pink scythe vanished, her gaze fixed on the utterly broken form of the man she had once worshiped.

"I know. It’s alright, Haoran. I can take care of him from now on. I can keep him confined safely away from the world. It’s truly the very least I can do for the sake of the man I once loved so deeply in my youth."

"No, I told you didn’t I, Hongyan?" Haoran said, his voice dropping into an incredibly tender, soft whisper as he gently tightened his grip around her slender waist, pulling her slightly closer to his chest. "You are no longer alone in this world. We can take care of him, together. I will help you carry this burden."

Elder Mu glared at him with a wild, bloodshot intensity that threatened to ignite the very air between them.

If looks could manifest into lethal reality, Haoran would have been reduced to ash a thousand times over.

He’d rather die right now!

He would a million times rather face the absolute oblivion of the soul than be forced to sit helplessly in a paralyzed body, completely mute and broken, forced to watch these two vile individuals act like a loving, devoted couple while pretending to charitably take care of him!

It was a psychological torture far more horrific than any physical execution.

Unfortunately for him, he was completely and absolutely bound by Qing’er’s shadow arts, and his cultivation had been thoroughly crippled by the brutal scythe of Ye Hongyan, which leaves the pathways of his qi completely in ruins.

He could no longer even try and kill himself by biting his own tongue or detonating his soul.

He was entirely trapped within the fleshy cage of his own broken flesh, completely at the mercy of this young man he hated with every fiber of her being.

"By the way... is she your personal Shadow Guard?" asked Ye Hongyan after a long moment of heavy silence, her analytical gaze shifting away from her broken former lover to lock onto the terrifyingly quiet woman standing beside Haoran.

"Yeah, her name is Qing’er," said Haoran, offering a casual, noncommittal nod as if introducing a simple house maid rather than a saint rank living weapon.

"Greetings, madam," Qing’er said, stepping forward with a fluid, silent grace.

She lowered her head and bowed with flawless, absolute deference toward Ye Hongyan, acknowledging her newfound status in her master’s life.

"3rd Stage Earthly Saint realm..." Ye Hongyan muttered in absolute, wide-eyed amazement, her spiritual senses scanning the dense, perfectly compressed aura radiating from the shadow guard as a profound shock rippled through her mind. "How old are you now, child?"

"I am currently more than 300 years old, madam," replied Qing’er, her voice entirely flat, devoid of any pride or emotion.

"So young?" Ye Hongyan was completely taken aback, her breath catching in her throat.

She was one of the Ten Sages who had studied the history of thousands of clans across the continent, yet even amongst the most monstrous, heaven-defying geniuses of the legendary Immortal Lineages, she had never once heard of someone achieving such a level of power within a mere three centuries of life.

Reaching the 1st Stage of the Profound Saint Realm at 300 years old was already considered a thoroughly heaven-defying, historical genius that would cause supreme sects to wage war over ownership.

Even the legendary matriarch Chu Xueyu and her famous sisters back then, who were celebrated across the generations as absolute anomalies of the martial paths, had only managed to reach the 3rd stage of the Profound Saint Realm when they were already 300 years old.

Yet this quiet shadow guard was already standing at the peak of the Earthly Saint realm.

She wondered silently, a deep sense of awe filling her heart, just how exactly did the Shen Clan keep attracting and cultivating this level of monstrous geniuses.

However, what she fundamentally did not know—and what Haoran would never reveal to her—was that the vast majority of the specialized Shadow Guards were actually genetically and spiritually modified from childhood by Shen Haoran’s brilliant, ruthless aunt, Feng Yuyan.

Utilizing forbidden ancient biotechnology and dark alchemical refinement, she had altered their core bloodlines, allowing them to quickly grow from common weaklings into absolute saints in a fraction of a normal human lifespan.

However, this dark process came with a catastrophic, hidden cost: it would drastically overdraw their natural life potential, creating an invisible, permanent bottleneck that made it almost entirely impossible for them to break through to the higher, divine realms later in life.

In other words, they will be turned into a manufactured weapons with a predetermined ceiling.

However, even Qing’er—who, due to her exceptionally rare and unique sacred physique, wasn’t physically modified or subjected to the genetic overdrive—was still able to achieve this terrifying level of power solely because she had received continuous, heavy cultivation assistance, rare resources, and direct soul guidance from Feng Yuyan herself.

At that exact moment...

The heavy sound of rushing footsteps broke the silence as Huo Yue and the rest of the Shen Clan’s internal Crowns finally arrived next to them, navigating through the smoking ruins of the crater.

The moment Shen Jian and Shen Ji ran over and saw the absolute, scandalous reality of Haoran firmly holding their beautiful, aloof master teacher right around the waist, they were completely, utterly stunned.

Their jaws dropped in unison. But a fraction of a second later, a brilliant, mischievous grin split their faces, and they immediately raised their hands to fist-bump each other in absolute, silent celebration.

Huo Yue, meanwhile, actually beamed with an unholy, completely ecstatic joy, her eyes sparkled like stars as she looked at the intimate posture of the two.

If Haoran can literally bring their beautiful homeroom teacher back to their private villa right now, before the month even concluded, then absolutely everyone who had placed a conservative bet on the blackboard last night will instantly lose!

All those thousands of hard-earned academy contribution points would belong entirely to her!

She was about to become filthy rich.

Shen Xinye, on the other hand, just stood at the back of the group, her hands tightly clenching the fabric of her skirt as she stared at them, her eyes incredibly complicated, filled with a deep, crushing wave of her usual old insecurities.

Seeing the elegant Sage Ye Hongyan leaning so pliant and vulnerable against Haoran’s side only reinforced her toxic belief that a broken, grief-stricken widow like herself could never be truly worthy of standing beside him.

Haoran stared at the group who were slowly approaching the edge of the pit, his golden eyes narrowing slightly as he took charge of the chaotic situation.

"Stop standing around wasting time. Go and immediately help those students and citizens who are caught in the destructive crossfire of the blast. Secure the perimeter and don’t worry about me."

Understanding the unspoken command, the stoic Shen Tao and the mature Shen Fei immediately nodded in unison.

They broke away from the main group without a single secondary word, rushing out into the burning ruins of the city, intending to help anyone who was severely injured.

Shen Xinye also reacted to the command, forcing her personal feelings down as she followed suit, sprinting after them to offer her aid, and both Shen Jian and Shen Ji quickly tagged along to help clear the heavy falling debris.

Huo Yue, however, didn’t leave.

She just rushed straight towards Haoran and stopped right beside his shoulder, her sharp, golden eyes immediately landing down on the bound, bloody form of Elder Mu Chen lying in the dirt.

She frowned deeply, a savage, predatory look crossing her face as she raised her right hand, then, a brilliant spark of her heavenly flame flickered to life across her fingers, radiating a dense heat.

"Should I just go ahead and burn this old trash into a pile of clean ash right now, Haoran? He’s caused a massive dip in our local property values anyway."

Haoran reached out and gently, mindfully patted her head, his fingers smoothing down her messy hair with an affectionate familiarity.

"Calm down, you idiot. If I truly wanted him dead, his soul wouldn’t even be lingering here inside this crater right now."

Huo Yue hummed softly under his touch, her aggressive demeanor instantly melting away as the dangerous flames in her hands completely disappeared into thin air.

She crossed her arms, pouting slightly. "Fine, fine. Have it your way."

"For now, let’s just go and help those who are severely injured across the academy grounds," Haoran commanded gently, turning his head to offer the blushing, silent Ye Hongyan a reassuring look as they prepared to clean up the absolute ruin of the city.

*

*

*

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Chu Yan cursed, groaning as he stumbled forward from the pile of rubbles.

Beside him, Xiao Long was gritting his teeth, angry at both Shen Haoran and Elder Mu for causing such destruction.

The two of them, master and disciples, found a hiding spot to heal their injuries.

They immediately took out some healing pills and toss them to their mouths, letting the cool energy dissolve into their dantian and heal them.

"Damn it, Elder Mu is surely dead." Chu Yan cursed again, lamenting the loss of his number two shield.

Xiao Long frowned, "Chu Yan, Shen Haoran isn’t going to come after us next, is he? After all, it’s easy to know that the three of us are part of a group."

Chu Yan gritted his teeth, "He definitely will."

"Then, what should we do?" Asked Xiao Long.

He decided to ask, after all, unlike him, his disciple has knowledge of the future, so it’s best for him to make the decision.

"Shen Haoran will definitely hunt us down next," Chu Yan stated, "So, let’s use this incident and leave the academy."

Anyways, there are other academies in the Empire.

Although the Imperial Academy is considered the best, that is only due to their flexible teachings and all round knowledge.

There are other academies that teach better than the Imperial Academy in certain aspects.

Besides, the only reason he even went to the academy was because of Qian Yunxi, but now, his life was in danger, he need to leave.

"... alright." Xiao Long nodded.

He’s not welcome here anyway, and Chu Yan was his only disciples.

Chu Yan stared at his teacher and nodded gratefully, "Thank you for trusting me, master."

With that, he stood up and stared at the distance, the source of the explosion.

’...one day, you’ll pay for this, Shen Haoran.’