Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Radiant Sky Immortal Realm.

It is a small, relatively isolated immortal realm located at the very fringe and outer edge of the vast, infinite expanse known across the cosmos as the Immortal Star Fields, the absolute celestial cluster where all the diverse Immortal Realms can be found drifting in the sea of stars.

Despite its minor ranking among the greater celestial spheres, within its own localized borders, it is still a place of immense power and ancient lineages.

At this exact moment, deep within the grand, sprawling ancestral territory of the Xiao Clan estate—an esteemed immortal clan that can be comfortably considered a feared local tyrant and one of the ruling authority in the Radiant Sky Immortal Realm—the peaceful atmosphere of the inner sanctuary was violently shattered.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

A powerful, middle-aged man clad in luxurious celestial robes suddenly coughed heavily, his entire body convulsing with a sudden, agonizing spiritual backlash.

The kinetic force of the internal trauma was so great that thick, glowing golden blood poured out of his mouth with every single heavy cough, splattering across the pristine white jade floorboards of his private meditation chamber.

His face immediately went deathly pale, the vibrant immortal glow draining from his skin in a matter of seconds, and his vast reservoir of immortal qi along with his cultivation actually visibly and rapidly fell, dropping several sub-stages as the severed karmic thread of his lower-plane soul fragment tore a gaping wound directly into his primary soul core.

The destruction of his projection by the Immortal Soul Suppression Array had caused permanent, agonizing damage to his true body.

He clenched his fist so tightly that his fingernails sliced into his palms, before fiercely clasping his burning chest as his breathing turned shallow and ragged.

His eyes burned with a wild, unquenchable hatred that threatened to ignite the very space inside the room as he spat out two venomous words through his bloody teeth.

"Shen... Clan!"

At that moment...

"Husband!"

A soft, gentle voice resounded, and in that instant, the door of the room slammed open a beautiful woman walked in, looking frantic.

"Husband, are you alright? How is our son?"

Xiao Zhan stared at the woman, his wife, and for a moment, he had thought that it would be better if he had just died so that he wouldn’t have to explain what happened.

But then, he shook his head, stared at his wife, and gulped nervously.

"Wife..."

*

*

*

Back in the heavily damaged but already rapidly repairing landscape of the Imperial Academy Dimension, the chaotic storms of energy were finally beginning to settle under the weight of the supreme seals, and the Shen Clan stabilizing the realm.

Feng Yuyan was actively crouching on the earth, her slender fingers slowly and lovingly caressing the smooth, dull grey surface of the sealed immortal soul statue with a completely manic, unhinged expression on her face.

Her chest heaved with excitement, and she looked exactly like a mad scientist who couldn’t contain herself for a single secondary moment from completely dissecting, peeling, and analyzing every single microscopic layer of the captured celestial soul.

"My precious... my beautiful, intact specimen..." she muttered, her eyes wide and bloodshot with an unhealthy, obsessive light.

The Seven Enshrined Elders of the Shen Clan, also gathered closely around the statue, their old faces filled with an equally intense, childlike curiosity as they hovered over her shoulder.

Just then, the First Elder poked his head a little too close.

"Move your wrinkly face out of the light, First Elder," Feng Yuyan growled, her tone snapping like a defensive viper as she tried to block their view with her body.

"Tsk, Feng Yuyan, respect your elders! We gracefully went with you three even though we are busy, the least you can do is let us see! Don’t be so terribly stingy!" the Elder One laughed boisterously, his long white beard wagging as he greedily extended a wrinkly, clawed hand toward the grey statue. "We haven’t seen a fresh Immortal soul fragment from the Immortal in all three thousand years of our life! Let this old man just lightly tap the crown of the statue to feel the qualitative density of the celestial shell!"

*SLAP!*

A sharp, echoing crack resounded as Feng Yuyan immediately slapped his hand away with absolute, merciless speed. "Don’t you dare touch it with your dirty, unwashed fingers, you old fossil! You’ll contaminate the baseline spiritual data loops!"

"Aiya! Feng Yuyan is far too cruel!" the Second Elder whined playfully, wringing his hands as he tried to subtly sneak his fingers around her left side to pinch the shoulder of the concrete-like statue. "Just a small scratch! We just want to see if the concrete material has successfully bonded with his primordial meridians!"

*SLAP! SLAP!*

Feng Yuyan didn’t even turn her head; her hands became a flawless, rapid blur as she simultaneously slapped Second Elder’s wrist and kicked Third Elder’s shin as he tried to crawl under her arm.

"Back off! Every single one of you back off right now! I am warning you all, if any of you old fools accidentally cause even a tiny fracture in my seal and it leaked even a single drop of his core immortal essence before I can hook him up to my laboratory extraction arrays back at my laboratory, I will personally dissolve your ancestral wine cellars into acid!"

The Seven Enshrined Elders immediately shrieked in playful terror, jumping backward in unison while clutching their bruised hands, muttering together about how the young girls of the clan were becoming increasingly violent and unmanageable over the generations, though their eyes still twinkled with curiosity as they stared at the statue.

At the quiet side of the clearing, completely insulated from the chaotic antics of the elders.

"Are you going back soon, mother?" asked Haoran, his voice smooth and entirely relaxed as he dusted a few stray particles of dust from his silk sleeve.

"Hmm," Chu Xueyu nodded slowly, her majestic silver and gold robes catching the dim reflection of the fading runic formations. "The ancestral borders require our immediate presence to maintain deterrence. But... Before that, I want to ask you one important question, Haoran."

Haoran looked directly into her deep, intelligent eyes and smiled with an elegant, perfectly composed knowingness.

"I already know exactly what it is you want to ask me, mother." He chuckled at her, "You want to know how I helped Qing’er awakened her physique, right?"

He took a slow step closer to her, his smile widening into a sharp, confident expression. "And it is because I have successfully created a completely independent world inside my soul, where I alone absolutely control, dictate, and rewrite every single foundational law of physical and spiritual reality."

Chu Xueyu’s majestic eyes widened by a fraction for a brief, breathless moment of profound shock—the revelation of an independent soul world shifting her understanding of his growth—before a beautiful, immensely proud smile graced her features once again.

"I see. I thoroughly understand now, my son. The reason why you are able to do that with Qing’er is because you have used your control over the laws to forcefully remove the biological restrictions and cultivation gap. Does that mean that even I..."

She suddenly paused, checking her own words and deliberately leaving her final sentence completely unfinished as she cast a complex, deeply affectionate gaze toward him.

Haoran walked directly towards her, closing the remaining fraction of space between them.

He leaned his head slightly forward, his lips brushing past the stray strands of her golden hair as he whispered gently and deeply into her ear, his voice carrying a teasing, magnetic warmth.

"Indeed, even you, mother. So, do you... perhaps want to step inside my world and try to test those laws right now, mother?"

Chu Xueyu seriously and deeply considered the tempting offer for a brief, silent second, her fingers lightly tracing the edge of his tattered collar, but in the end, she slowly shook her head with a soft, reluctant sigh.

"No. There is simply no time for such things today, Haoran. Trust me, I would love to be with you, but we genuinely need to return to the Shen Clan before the rival houses notice our absence."

Haoran nodded at that, not really disappointed.

Although, he promised to himself that he should find time to accelerate the time in his world, so that he can stay in his world for hours or even days while only seconds passed outside.

If that was the case, then his mother wouldn’t be in such a hurry.

Right now, he can’t do that yet. He probably needed Xu Xiansu’s help in this.

Just then, moving with a graceful, unhurried rhythm, Chu Xueyu leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deeply warm, comforting maternal hug, before planting a soft, lingering kiss right on his cheek.

"Stay safe, my dear boy. Do not hesitate to call us if you need something, or if you simply misses me."

Leng Shuang, who was standing at the side, stepped forward next, her usual icy, unyielding expression completely melting away into a soft, intensely passionate look as she pulled Haoran into a fierce, breathless embrace.

She held him tightly against her chest for several long seconds, then, just like Chu Xueyu, she planted a deeply affectionate kiss on his cheeks, caressing his hair gently.

"Be careful. Your mother already told you this, but because of the Supremes being held back, the clan’s protection is left entirely to us. We cannot leave the clan for long."

Haoran nodded, "I understand, aunt. Don’t worry, I can look after myself.

Just then, the chaotic Feng Yuyan finally abandoned her beloved statue for a brief moment, wiping the drool from her mouth as she rushed over to join the circle.

She wrapped her arms tightly around both Haoran and Leng Shuang, who were still hugging each other, before planting a loud, affectionate and sloppy kiss right on Haoran’s other cheek, her laughter rich and vibrant.

"Take care of your health, little nephew! Eat your food, especially vegetables, and remember to send me the spatial coordinates if you find any more weird system users hiding in the servant quarters!"

The Seven Enshrined Elders stood a few paces back in a neat line, their hands tucked comfortably inside their wide sleeves, casually watching the deeply affectionate, romantic, and chaotic family farewell solemnly, occasionally nodding their heads in approval at the young master’s absolute charm.

As for their relationship and bloodties, who cares? Everyone in the Shen Clan are marrying everybody. It is actually incredibly rare for a Shen Clan member to marry an outsider.

After all, they need to keep their bloodline pure.

With a final, lingering look of deep affection, Chu Xueyu and her sisters stepped backward, their hand raising to sharply cut through the air.

*CRACK!*

A colossal, vertical crack in the very fabric of space tore open behind them, revealing the blinding, swirling starlight of the high interdimensional pathways leading back to the outside world.

The three Shen Clan sisters and the Seven Enshrined Elders stepped through the glowing rift in perfect unison, the spatial tear snapping shut instantly behind them, leaving Haoran and Qing’er standing alone within the quiet, ruined silence of the academy grounds.

Haoran wayched as they disappeared, before taking a deep breath and sighing in relief that everything was done.

Now, although there are many twists and turns, he still succeeded in killing the chosen ones.

Now, only that sweeper guy remains.

Haoran actually finds him rather quite nice, so he if he wanted to join the Shen clan, Haoran can still spare him.

But if not...

His eyes narrowed, a small smile on his lips.