Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Return

The Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, once a jagged landscape of impenetrable peaks and ancient forests, had been scarred into a hollow memory two years prior.

It had become a battleground of such catastrophic intensity that the common folk whispered not even a blade of grass would grow there for a century.

But nature is indifferent to the wars of men.

Two years were enough for the world to begin hiding the jagged traces of that day; wild grass had begun to carpet the scorched earth, emerald vines and thick moss clung to the shattered boulders, and hardy tree saplings were already sprouting from the silt.

The only permanent scar was the massive, unnatural plain—a literal erasure of several mountains that had once acted as a barrier.

Now, the Eastern Region sat exposed to the vast, lawless wilderness outside the empire, a gateway for both opportunity and ruin.

At the center of this silence stood the mossy, weathered gates that had served as the entrance to the Supreme Inheritance, and in front of it, Qing’er waited there.

She had remained perfectly still, a silent sentinel who had not moved a single step since the gates closed.

With her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest, she had become so much a part of the landscape that songbirds had nested in the nearby ruins and perched atop her head and shoulders, sensing no malice or movement from the Profound Saint.

Suddenly, the air hummed, and a beat later, the stone archway of the gate pulsed with a rhythmic, silver light.

Sensing that, Qing’er suddenly moved, her eyes snapped open, a sharp golden glint reflecting in her pupils and as she lowered her arms, the startled birds took flight in a flurry of feathers.

The gates glowed with a blinding brilliance before the space buckled and dissipated, revealing the figures of Shen Haoran and Ning Xueli.

Qing’er immediately dropped to one knee, her head bowed low in a display of absolute fealty. ”Welcome back, Young Master.”

”Hm.” Haoran offered a curt nod, his gaze sweeping the horizon.

Qinq’er noticed that he looked taller, his presence more domineering than before. Is this the effects of awakening his divine physique? She wondered.

Naturally, as a genuine Saint rank expert, she felt the awakening of Haoran’s physique, especially when she was so close to him.

”Qing’er, tell me how is the situation in the outside world?”

”The Eastern Region has been plunged into a total war, Young Master,” Qing’er reported, her voice clinical. ”The Allied Forces of the various kingdoms are currently being dominated by the Spirit Hall. The balance of power has shifted significantly in your absence.”

”W-What!?” Xueli’s face turned pale, her starlight aura flickering with agitation. ”My father! How is my father, Miss Qing’er!? What happened to the Ning Clan?”

Qing’er shifted her gaze toward the girl, her expression softening only slightly. ”No need to worry, Young Miss. Your father and the rest of your clan have maintained absolute neutrality. They have closed their borders and refused to be involved in the conflict. For now, they remain untouched by the flames of war.”

Xueli breathed a long, shuddering sigh of relief, her hand clutching her chest.

Haoran turned to her, his expression unreadable but his voice firm. ”Go and see them.”

”I—Is that alright?” Xueli asked, surprised by the sudden dismissal.

Haoran nodded. ”I also have someone I want to meet. After all, it’s been two years, so go and reunite with your parents; deal with your family affairs while I attend to my own business.”

”Then... alright. Thank you, Haoran,” Xueli said softly, a trace of warmth in her silver eyes.

Haoran turned back to his guardian. ”Qing’er, take her to the Ning Clan.”

Qing’er’s eyes widened, a rare flash of panic crossing her stoic features. ”Young Master, I couldn’t! I am responsible for your safety! I cannot, and will not, leave your side in a region currently infested with war and desperate cultivators!”

”Just do it,” Haoran’s voice dropped an octave, carrying a draconic weight that brooked no argument. ”Or are you disobeying my direct command?”

Qing’er bowed her head even lower, her voice trembling slightly. ”I dare not. But...”

Haoran sighed, the tension in his shoulders relaxing slightly. ”You don’t have to worry. I am only going to meet Yue’er. With my newly awakened physique and the artifacts I carry, no one in this backwater region has the strength to harm me. And if you are still worried, simply find me the moment you have dropped her off at her clan’s gates.”

After a long moment of agonizing hesitation, Qing’er finally nodded.

Although she was his mother’s servant, and her orders must be prioritised, but she also knew that the Mistress was incredibly doting on the young master, and would agree to whatever he desires.

Not to mention that the Mistress has already given her to Haoran, so she has to prioritise Haoran’s order more now.

So she knew the Young Master’s will was absolute. ”I understand. I shall deliver the Young Miss with the utmost speed and promptly return to your side, Young Master.”

Haoran turned back to Xueli, his gaze lingering on her for a moment. ”We leave for the Central Region in three days. Do not be late.”

Xueli nodded solemnly, her determination returning. ”I understand. I will say my goodbyes to my father and prepare the clan for my departure.”

Haoran offered a final nod to Qing’er as the Saint immediately stood up and placed a hand on Xueli’s shoulder.

Then, with a sudden ripple of distorted space, the two women vanished as if they had never been there.

Haoran stood alone in the silence of the massive plain for a moment, the wind whipping his golden hair across his face.

After a few moments, he reached into his spatial ring and withdrew a pristine, white sword.

Without hesitation, he tossed it into the air, where it hummed and expanded until it was several meters long, hovering a few feet above the mossy ground.

He jumped onto the blade with practiced ease and within an instant, the sword accelerated with a thunderous crack, leaving only a streak of white light behind as he vanished toward where his fiancée was currently located.

*

*

*

At this moment, the golden dunes of the Great Tao Desert were currently being kicked up into a massive, trailing sandstorm as Huo Yue and Zhu Ziyan sprinted frantically across the horizon.

”What did you do!?” Ziyan exclaimed, her usual cool and aloof demeanor completely shattered and her feline ears were pinned back against her head, and her breath was coming in sharp, panicked gasps.

”Nothing! I just stole their Queen and their Heavenly Flame!” Huo Yue shouted back, letting out a wild, adrenaline-fueled laugh that bordered on manic.

”You what!?” Ziyan’s voice hit a frequency of shock she hadn’t reached in years.

She risked a glance over her shoulder and felt her blood run cold, as emerging from the shifting sands like a nightmare was an entire army of Lamias— an all female desert-dwelling race of creatures with the slender upper bodies of humans and the long, powerful lower bodies of serpents.

In the Eastern Region, Lamias were the stuff of campfire horror stories. Why? Because they were infamous for their predatory nature and a diet that favored human cultivators.

Yes, they apparently eat humans!

Not to mention because of their unique physiology, their physical strength was vastly superior to humans; a Lamia at the Foundation Establishment level could easily crush the ribs of a human Foundation Establishment expert with a single coil of their tail.

More terrifyingly, their ruler, Queen Medusa, was whispered to be one of the three great powerhouses of the entire Eastern Region— a genuine 9th Stage Spirit Ascension Realm expert.

Rumors had it that she was already on the verge of breaking through Nirvana Rebirth!

If the Eastern Region wasn’t plunged into a war, the kingdoms would’ve united to suppress the Lamia Tribe.

After all, a Nirvana Rebirth Lamia, who is said to hate and eat humanity, is far too dangerous of an existence for the Eastern Region.

Unfortunately, humanity are so busy with their war that they didn’t pay any attention to the Lamias.

”How did you even do that!?” Ziyan asked, her mind reeling at the logistical impossibility of kidnapping a regional powerhouse and her most precious treasure.

”I’m very lucky!” Huo Yue answered, though her internal monologue was far less confident.

’Master! Your dearest disciple can no longer hold this! My legs are going to turn into jelly! Aren’t you going to help me!?’ Huo Yue screamed in the privacy of her mind.

A weary, long-suffering sigh echoed from the ring on her finger. ”You always find the most troublesome nests to poke, child.”

Suddenly, the air around Huo Yue changed.

Her red hair began to glow with an intense, ethereal fire, and her eyes shifted from their warm amber to a piercing, crystalline blue.

Within a heartbeat, Fairy Liu took full control of the body.

Huo Yue’s arm shot out, grabbing Ziyan by the waist before the girl could protest, and with a sudden burst of flame that turned the sand beneath them to glass, the two of them shot into the sky in a blinding streak of crimson light.

”No! Give us back our Queen! Return the Flame!”

”You bastards!”

The Lamia army roared in collective fury, their voices Hissing and echoing across the dunes.

They lashed their tails and threw obsidian spears, but it was a futile effort.

After all, true, sustained flight was a luxury enjoyed only by those who had touched the laws of the Spirit Ascension Realm.

The strongest Lamias in this pursuit group were merely at the Nascent Soul Realm; they could leap great distances, but they could not chase a streak of light into the heavens.

”Hurry back and inform the Elders!” the lead Lamia commander hissed, her eyes slitted in rage as she watched the crimson light dwindle into a speck. ”Mobilize the vanguard! We must take the Queen back at all costs, or the desert will run red with human blood!”