Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Ning Xueli was currently leaning back on a weathered stone bench beneath the shade of a massive, weeping willow tree, staring intently at the glowing holographic screen of her identity token.

The blue light reflected off her sharp, intelligent eyes as she browsed through various academy forums and tactical archives, her fingers occasional twitching as she scrolled through the data streams.

Around her, students were coming and going.

Some students were even staring at her, naturally, due to her beauty.

However, no one was brave enough to get close again.

Earlier, there are quite a few brave students who wanted to strike a conversation with her.

However, Ning Xueli was way too lazy to even bother talking to them and turning them down, so she just flashed the Shen Clan identity token, telling everyone that she was a member of an Immortal Lineage.

The result? It scared off everyone.

Ning Xueli had used this method in the past, as well.

Not to mention that she was actually quite well known.

Back then, when the Shen Clan declared war and annihilated the Golden Cloud Immortal Sect—the sect that interfered with Haoran’s affairs in the lower realm—she was sent by Chu Xueyu to hunt down the scattered disciples.

She made a name for herself then, especially when people found out that she came from the Eastern Region.

She even became a role model of commoner and rogue cultivators.

Although, since she always stick around with Shen Haoran and the group, all of them more famous than her, her fame remained rather hidden.

Just then, the rustle of dry leaves caught her attention, and Haoran appeared, slowly walking towards her with a relaxed stride and that familiar, faintly dangerous smirk playing on his lips.

He looked entirely unbothered, as if he hadn’t just sprinted out of a female teacher’s office after leaving a metaphorical landmine behind.

Ning Xueli immediately closed the screen with a swift flick of her wrist and stored her identity token away securely into her spatial storage ring before she smiled up at him, her eyes narrowing with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

"So? What is it? You suddenly asked me to call you out of nowhere," she noted, crossing her arms as she tilted her head. "I thought it was something urgent, yet here you are, strolling along like you have all the time in the world."

Haoran chuckled, the sound low and thoroughly amused as he stopped right in front of her.

"Yes, well. You called at just the right time." He smiled at her, "Let’s go. I’ll treat you to a meal to make up for the sudden disruption."

Ning Xueli stood up from the bench, brushing off her robes with a casual grace, but instead of walking, she extended her palm right in front of his chest, her left eyebrow raised in a demanding arch.

"Before that, can you give it back?"

Haoran looked at her, briefly confused by the sudden gesture. "Give what back?"

"The book," she said, her tone dropping into a slight pout. "The romance novel I lent you. I haven’t finished reading it yet, and I was right at the climax before you snatched it away for whatever little scheme you were cooking up."

"Oh, that." Haoran shook his head, a wry grin spreading across his face as he recalled the exact title of the scandalous manuscript currently sitting on Ye Hongyan’s desk. "I can’t give it back now. It’s currently serving a much higher purpose as educational material for a certain senior faculty member. But... what do you say about seeing a live-action adaptation instead?"

Ning Xueli blinked, her mind rapidly connecting the dots, and her jaw instantly dropped slightly before her expression shifted into pure disbelief.

"You want to bang a teacher?"

"Interested?" He brought his face closer, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper that carried a thrilling undertone of absolute mischief. "If you help me and play your part in the upcoming acts, you can have a guaranteed front-row VIP seat to the entire drama."

Ning Xueli stared at him for a long, silent moment, processing the sheer audacity of his ambitions, and then a massive, wicked grin split her face.

"Oh, this is going to be fun. Count me in. I didn’t know you were this wild, Haoran. I mean, you’re kind of a sadist, but targeting a literal paragon of academic virtue is next level."

"You think that’s fun? Then let me tell you the best part," Haoran said, leaning back slightly, his eyes gleaming with a calculating, predatory light. "The teacher in question is already deeply in love with someone else, and the feeling is entirely mutual. They have a whole tragic history together. Unfortunately, due to pride, misunderstandings, and old scars, they haven’t spoken a single word to each other in years."

"Fuck. You want to put a green hat on the poor dude too? That’s so hot," said Ning Xueli, actually licking her lips as a thrill of genuine, chaotic excitement coursed through her veins.

The sheer malice and psychological warfare of the plan appealed immensely to her own rebellious nature.

"Stealing a man’s woman right from under his nose while he watches helplessly? That is absolutely devious."

"Yeah. It’s my first time doing something like this as well," said Haoran, shrugging his shoulders casually as if he were discussing a minor change in his daily cultivation routine, "and honestly, it’s not that bad. The process is quite entertaining."

Indeed. Before all of this, he really had no interest in that sort of thing.

Romance, seduction, and the petty emotional entanglements of mortals and low-tier cultivators had always seemed like a massive waste of his valuable time and energy.

After all, with just a wave of his hand, what kind of woman he couldn’t get? Why bother taking another man’s love?

He was not that bored.

However, his motivations had shifted entirely because he really wanted to make Elder Mu suffer to the absolute maximum.

Killing him outright was way too easy, an instant release that wouldn’t do justice to the sheer annoyance the old man had caused.

He wanted him to experience a profound, lingering pain and torment that went past just physical destruction—he wanted to dismantle his mind, his pride, his past, and his future, piece by agonizing piece.

"Let’s go," said Haoran, turning on his heel to lead the way out of the academy gates, "what would you like to eat? Money is no object today."

Ning Xueli grinned, catching up to his side and falling into step with him. "Let’s go back to Leaf Green City. I heard from some inner court disciples that there’s a very famous spirit-chef restaurant that opened up there recently. Their spiritual beast meat is supposed to be divine."

With that, the two of them walkes away, imagining the day where Haoran would get his hands on that beautiful female teacher.

*

*

*

At this exact moment, far away from the bustling corridors of the academy and the scheming youths, on top of a lonely, wind-swept hill, sitting on a jagged boulder, was Chu Yan.

He was sitting cross-legged, his posture rigid but his breathing deep and perfectly synchronized with the natural flow of the world around him.

The surrounding spiritual qi was swirling in a miniature vortex, drawn toward his body like iron filings to a magnet.

Behind him, floating like an ethereal specter of ancient wisdom, Xiao Long was closely observing the thick, vibrant strands of qi coursing through his disciple’s intricate spirit circuits.

The system user’s eyes were sharp, correcting the flow with occasional mental prods.

At that exact moment, Chu Yan’s body suddenly erupted with a blinding wave of golden power.

The sheer pressure shattered the loose pebbles around the boulder, sending a shockwave rippling through the grass.

"Hah!"

At last!

He had broken through from the First Stage of the Nascent Soul realm to the Second Stage!

He stood up quickly, checking his hands and feeling the immense, newly unlocked reservoir of spiritual energy thrumming beneath his skin as a broad, triumphant smile lit up his face.

A week. No, less than a week since he became Xiao Long’s disciple, and he had already broken through an entire stage!

He whispered to himself, his heart hammering with absolute ecstasy.

As expected, Xiao Long really was not that useless, perverted old teacher described in that trashy novel he had read back in his old world, but was actually a true, deeply competent hidden expert!

"Congratulations," said Xiao Long, smiling warmly as he stroked his nonexistent beard, his tone filled with genuine pride for his student’s rapid advancement.

However, his eyes actually was reading the system screen in front of him.

[Congratulations Host!]

[Your first disciple have achieved a breakthrough! Receiving 10x Feedback!]

[You have received: 10x Nascent Soul Qi]

Xiao Long instantly felt his cultivation increased, and that he was already about to breakthrough to Nirvana Rebirth Realm!

However, he quickly suppressed the breakthro, thinking of doing it once he is alone and safe.

He stared at Chu Yan like he was a treasure and nodded, "Your current strength and the purity of your qi should already be on the same level as the top disciples of the Immortal Lineages."

Indeed. In terms of pure cultivation reserves alone, Chu Yan was already comparable to the lower half of the prestigious Shen Clan’s famed Ten Crowns—the absolute elite of the younger generation.

But... that praise was strictly limited to pure cultivation level alone.

If it actually came down to a real, life-or-death fight where strategy, battle experience, and lethal intent mattered, Shen Ying—the technically weakest and most eccentric of the Ten Crowns—would absolutely turn him into a pile of mangled meat and blood within three breaths by mercilessly carpet bombing him with hundreds of high-tier, volatile exploding cauldrons.

And it’s not limited to him.

Shen Ying could technically defeat any other Crowns aside from the Top Four just by carpet bombing them.

Of course, the Crowns also has their specialties, and they can fight back.

Just like Shen Cai’s Flash Artifacts—a method that increases the power of an artifact by one rank at the cost of it getting destroyed.

Chu Yan himself knew this brutal truth all too well, so he wasn’t entirely blinded by his quick success.

Right now, in the grand small world of the academy’s monstrous geniuses, he could be considered as the proud head of a chicken, or the very fragile tail of a majestic phoenix.

He had the raw stats, but lacked the lethal refinement or some sort of trump card that can make him stand out.

Just then, the space right in front of the hill trembled violently, the air warping like a heated mirage.

The two of them turned instantly, their defensive instincts flaring, and saw the familiar figure of Elder Mu standing not far away from them beneath the shade of a twisted pine tree.

Chu Yan’s eyes lit up with immediate excitement, stepping forward eagerly. "Elder Mu! How did it go? Did you successfully secure a date with Teacher Ye using the secret techniques I taught you?"

However, Elder Mu didn’t answer.

He didn’t offer his usual haughty, composed greeting. Instead, he just lowered his head, his face completely pale and his eyes hollowed out by a profound, crushing despair, and knelt heavily on the hard ground, his hands slamming into the dirt.

Seeing that utterly broken posture, Chu Yan’s joyful smile instantly vanished, and he knew with absolute certainty that something had gone horribly, disastrously wrong.