Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

A few days has passed and the academy city was now completely fixed, and classes finally resumed.

The scars of the catastrophic event that had recently threatened to tear the very foundations of the institution apart had been meticulously erased.

Where shattered towers once lay in piles of smoking rubble, grand new structures of polished stone, reinforced with intricate defensive arrays, now reached toward the heavens.

The powerful, shimmering barriers of the city’s defense network had been completely overhauled, humming with a deep, reassuring resonance that vibrated through the air.

The heavy, suffocating scent of smoke and conflict had been replaced by the crisp, clean aroma of freshly carved spiritual wood and newly laid defensive runes.

At this moment, Shen Haoran, Huo Yue, Gu Xunyi, Shen Tao, Shen Fei, Shen Xinye, Shen Jian, and Shen Ji were walking towards their classroom.

The group walked in a loose formation, their footsteps echoing against the pristine, gleaming floorboards of the main academic corridor.

The atmosphere around them was a mixture of relief and lingering tension.

The bustling crowds of other students parted naturally as they approached, recognizing the immense power and status of the Shen Clan members and their associates.

"Man, this new hallway is way wider than before," said Shen Jian. He ran his hand along the smooth, cool surface of the wall, looking up at the high, vaulted ceiling where glowing formation stones replaced the old, dusty lamps. "Look so brand-new."

"Obviously," Shen Ji smirked, his hands folded behind his head as he walked with an effortless, arrogant grace. "This place is three thousand years old, what do you expect? Now, it was just modernized. It was about time they cleared out the ancient dust and gave us something fit for the current era."

"I still prefer the old architecture. It actually has a soul, you know," said Shen Fei. He sighed softly, looking at the sharp, clean lines of the new walls with a touch of melancholy. "The old carvings had history. Every scratch and weathered edge told a story of a pioneer who once walked these halls before embarking on the path of immortality."

"I’m pretty sure that’s what those people from three thousand years ago felt too," said Shen Xinye. She offered a small, gentle smile, her eyes sparkling with quiet wisdom. "And three thousand years from now, people would walk this place and think of it as something historically significant. What feels sterile to us now will be the ancient heritage of the future."

"I don’t see the problem," said Shen Tao, still as serious as ever.

His posture was perfectly upright, and his hands were folded neatly inside his wide sleeves.

His voice carried the practical, unyielding weight of a true strategist. "The Shen Clan is always innovating, and aside from historically significant buildings, most buildings get replaced every few hundred years. Adaptation and evolution are the only ways to ensure survival under the heavens."

"Well, there are always those architecture fanatics who want to create even more absurd buildings," said Shen Jian, chuckling softly as he shook his head, recalling some of the ridiculously extravagant estates owned by eccentric elders back in the main clan territory.

Just then, the group finally arrived at the room and took their seats.

The new classroom was spacious, designed like a small amphitheater with rows of mahogany desks cascading down toward a central podium.

However, as they settled into their usual places, a heavy, somber mood settled over them.

Huo Yue looked around, noticing that at least a quarter of the students were missing.

The empty desks sat like silent, hollow monuments in the dimly lit room.

They probably died from that incident; after all, this classroom was the ground zero of the disaster.

Many of their classmates—talented youth who had possessed bright futures—had been reduced to ashes in a fraction of a second.

It was already a miracle that so many people still survived.

Shaking her head to dispel the grim thoughts, she decided to just lay her head on her desk and sleep.

She closed her eyes, pulling her long hair over her shoulders to block out the sterile glare of the room.

Gu Xunyi took out a book and started reading, her expression calm and unbothered, though her fingers turned the pages with a slightly more deliberate slowness than usual.

Shen Haoran just leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, his gaze drifting lazily toward the front of the room.

His presence was a steadying anchor for the group—unshakable, calm, and entirely unbothered by the lingering shadows of death, like he wasn’t the main caused of the incident.

They all waited for the start of the class.

And a few minutes later, Ye Hongyan finally entered the classroom.

The heavy wooden doors creaked open, and her presence immediately commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

The quiet murmurs of the students died down instantly.

This time, she looked solemn. Her usual fiery energy was tightly contained, replaced by a cold, professional dignity.

Even when her eyes met Haoran, she kept a straight face, showing no outward sign of the intimate relationship they had so recently established.

She was a Sage first and foremost, and the weight of her duty lay heavily upon her shoulders.

Although, her ears turned red for a split second, and she promised to herself that she will spoil Haoran a lot later for this.

She walked with measured, elegant steps to the front of the room, her long red robes sweeping gracefully over the floor.

Standing at the podium, she surveyed the surviving youth before her.

"Students," Ye Hongyan began, her voice clear, resonant, and carrying a sharp authority that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. "The first of the four trials is about to begin."

Hearing this, Gu Xunyi nudged Huo Yue.

The sleeping girl let out a soft groan but sat up straight, rubbing her eyes and shaking off her drowsiness as she focused her attention on the teacher.

Most of the students listened intently, their bodies freezing in anticipation.

However, those who were quite slow looked confused, whispering to one another in hushed, anxious tones.

"Teacher," one student raised a hand, his voice trembling slightly under her intense gaze. "Wasn’t the first test supposed to be a year from now?"

Ye Hongyan stared at him, her sharp eyes narrowing behind her glasses. "It seems some of you weren’t listening. When I mentioned four trials during our first lecture, I only told you three of them. Did none of you catch that?"

The students thought for a moment, their minds racing back to that first day, and instantly, a wave of realization washed over the room as they recalled her words.

Indeed, she had only detailed the faction wars, the lower realm conquests, and the inter-academy competition.

She had completely left out the fourth.

She shook her head, a trace of disappointment flickering across her beautiful features. "This was meant to be a surprise to test your preparedness in the face of sudden crisis, but now, we have no such luxury. The circumstances of the empire require us to demonstrate our strength to the world immediately."

She snapped her fingers, and with a soft ripple of spatial energy, a beautifully carved wooden box appeared on her desk.

It was adorned with glowing silver runes that shifted and turned like clockwork.

"In this trial, you will be paired together randomly and take this test together."

As soon as the words left her mouth, a collective gasp echoed through the room, followed quickly by a wave of frantic whispers.

Some weaker students complained, their faces turning pale with anxiety. "But teacher, isn’t this unfair?"

"That’s right!" another student chimed in, gathering courage from the shared panic of his peers. "What if two Peak Nascent Soul cultivators are paired together? Or if two first-stage Nascent Soul cultivators are forced to team up? It would be far better for the teacher to pair us up based on our strength to ensure a balanced competition!"

Ye Hongyan fixed her glasses, the cold light reflecting off the lenses as she glared at the protesting students.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees, her aura flaring slightly, instantly crushing the rising murmurs into a dead, terrified silence.

"Unfair?" Ye Hongyan scoffed, her voice dripping with absolute disdain. "What are you, a kid? There is no fairness in this world, boy. There is only cold, hard reality."

She stepped out from behind the podium, her piercing gaze sweeping over every single student in the room, lingering for a fraction of a second on the complainers.

"You think this is unfair? How laughable. This school simulates the real cultivation world. Once you are out there in the vast, unforgiving cosmos, would you also cry out like this when a powerful expert beats you up and steals your opportunity? Will you beg the heavens to balance the scales of fate because your opponent had a higher cultivation realm or a better bloodline?"

She crossed her arms, her expression hardening into an expression of unyielding stone.

"Fairness is a beautiful lie whispered by the weak to comfort themselves in the dark. The heavens do not balance their scales to match your fragile expectations. Your only duty, your only path of survival, is to take whatever hand you are dealt and squeeze it until it bleeds gold. Do the absolute best with what you have, or let the dust of this world sweep your name into nothingness."

"In the wild, a random encounter can mean the difference between finding an ancient legacy or ending up in the stomach of a beast," she continued, her voice echoing off the walls. "If you are paired with a weakling, it is your duty to carry them or use them to your advantage. If you are paired with a genius, it is your responsibility to keep up or stay out of their way. No more complaints. Draw your lots, accept your fate, and prove to the Tian Yuan Empire that you deserve to stand on the path of immortality."

With that, everyone shut up.

The suffocating weight of her words, backed by the subtle but undeniable pressure of a teacher’s aura, hung heavily over the room.

Not a single student dared to breathe too loudly, let alone whisper another complaint.

The harsh, unyielding truth of her philosophy cut through their childish excuses like a cold blade.

They were, after all, the elite of the Tian Yuan Empire, but in the grand scheme of the cultivation world, they were still incredibly naive.

To complain about fairness in a world governed by the law of the jungle was the height of folly.

"Well, let’s get this over with."

The first to get up was Haoran.

He didn’t wait for Ye Hongyan to call them forward one by one, and with an air of effortless grace and absolute confidence, he slid out of his seat.

His hands were tucked casually into the pockets of his pristine robes, and his footsteps made no sound against the polished floor.

As he approached the podium, the eyes of every student in the room followed him.

He stood before the desk, looking down at the ancient wooden box, and then slowly raised his gaze and smirked at Ye Hongyan.

It was a fleeting, devilish little smile, full of warmth, playfulness, and an intimate knowingness that sent a sudden jolt straight through her core.

She flinched, and almost wanted to throw herself at him, but held it down.

For a terrifying fraction of a second, the mighty Sage Ye Hongyan, one of the ten pillars of the Imperial Academy, felt her heart skip a beat.

Her professional mask nearly crumbled right then and there as a sudden warmth rushed to her cheeks, and her fingers clenched tightly beneath the wide sleeves of her robes to stop herself from reaching out to him.

The urge to disregard the classroom, the students, and her duties just to pull him close was incredibly overwhelming.

Taking a deep, silent breath, she channeled her spiritual energy to cool her face, forcing her expression to remain as rigid and unreadable as carved ice.

Haoran placed his hands inside the box and pulled out a paper.

The slip of paper was made of a rare spiritual parchment, glowing with a soft, silver light that flickered with ancient runes to prevent any form of divine sense from scanning the interior.

Written in bold, elegant ink was the single digit: 7.

"Alright, next." Said Ye Hongyan.

Haoran nodded and went back to his seat.

His movements were entirely unhurried, as if he didn’t seem to care who his partner would be, nor did he display any anxiety about the upcoming survival test.

To him, whether he was paired with a peerless genius or a complete burden made no difference; his absolute strength ensured that he would dominate the trial regardless.

"Let’s go, sister Xunyi."

"Alright."

The atmosphere in the classroom shifted from stunned silence to a tense, electric anticipation.

With the young master leading the way, the other elite disciples of the Shen Clan and their associates felt their competitive spirits ignite.

Huo Yue stepped forward with a fiery determination burning in her eyes, her hand plunging into the runic box without a moment’s hesitation.

Gu Xunyi followed her with her usual serene, ethereal grace, her fingers delicate as she drew her slip of paper, her calm face betraying none of her thoughts.

Then came the legendary powerhouses of the younger generation.

Shen Tao, standing tall and imposing, drew his lot with the solemn gravity of a general preparing for war.

Shen Fei, Shen Jian, Shen Ji, and the rest of the upper echelon of the Ten Crowns marched forward in an orderly, disciplined fashion, drawing their fates from the silver-runed box.

Seeing the absolute leaders of the class take their turns, the rest of the students finally shook off their hesitation and scrambled to stand up.

They quickly formed a long, winding queue down the steps of the amphitheater.

The nervous murmurs returned, but this time, they were hushed and anxious.

Classmates peered over each other’s shoulders, trying to guess who would end up with whom.

Some prayed silently to the heavens to be paired with one of the monstrously powerful Shen Clan members, while others simply hoped they wouldn’t draw someone who would drag them down to their doom.

Soon, the room fell into a tense silence once more as the last student returned to their desk.

The rustling of parchment filled the air as all students unfolded their glowing slips of paper, revealing the matching numbers that would bind their fates together for the next three days.

Huo Yue’s brow arched as she looked at the bright crimson digit glowing on her slip.

Number 3, she thought, her mind immediately scanning the room to see who else held the matching number.

She wasn’t particularly worried, but she hoped her partner would at least be someone who could keep up with her aggressive, high-speed and explosive combat style.

Beside her, Gu Xunyi quietly smoothed out her parchment, her pale fingers traced the delicate ink of the number 1.

Her expression remained entirely tranquil, like a deep mountain lake undisturbed by the wind.

Whoever her partner turned out to be, she would simply adapt and execute the objective with her trademark precision.

Shen Xinye, however, was secretly over the moon as she stared at the glowing silver number in her palm, her heart beating so hard against her ribs that she was certain the entire classroom could hear it.

Number 7!

A deep, rosy blush crept up her neck and colored her cheeks, and she had to force herself to look down at her desk to hide the sheer, unadulterated joy radiating from her face.

The same as the young master!

To be paired with Shen Haoran was a dream come true.

To fight by his side, to support him, and to prove her worth to him was an opportunity she would not waste.

She clenched her small fist around the paper, her eyes shining with a fierce, quiet resolve.

She would do whatever it took to ensure she did not disgrace him.

Ye Hongyan’s sharp eyes swept over the classroom, taking in the various expressions of joy, despair, and determination on the faces of her students.

She adjusted her glasses, her voice cutting through the silent tension like a bell.

"Now that you’re done, you have three days to prepare."

She let the words sink in, ensuring every student understood the gravity of the timeline.

Three days was barely enough time for strangers to coordinate their battle formations, let alone master a cooperative strategy.

"This trial will be broadcast to every corner of the empire. So do your best. This is not just an academic exercise anymore," she added, her tone dropping to a serious, commanding pitch. "The eyes of the Imperial Court, the noble houses, the vassal states, and the common people will all be watching your every move through the projection arrays of the Ye Family Stadium. Whether you bring glory to the academy or expose your incompetence to the world is entirely up to you. Do not make me regret calling you my students. Class dismissed."

With those final, heavy words, she turned on her heel, her red robes billowing behind her as she strode out of the classroom, leaving the students to face the daunting reality of the trial ahead.