Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Huo Yue And Friends

The humid, heavy air of the Southern Region’s deep forests felt like a thick blanket, pressing down on the three exhausted travelers.

High above, the canopy of the giant tree they rested under was so dense that only jagged needles of sunlight managed to pierce through, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the stagnant air.

Huo Yue, Medusa, and Zhu Ziyan were a sight that would have shocked any observer.

These were women who usually radiated power and ethereal grace, yet now they looked thoroughly ”beat up.”

Their robes were torn in places, stained with the purple ichor of the demon that had hunted them, and their hair, once pristine, was now a chaotic mess of tangles and leaves.

”I’m done with this! I am officially done!” Medusa snapped as she surged to her feet, her eyes shimmering with a dull, frustrated light as she pointed a trembling finger directly at Huo Yue’s nose. ”You! This is all because of you! Because of your ’spirit of inquiry’ and your ’rebellious heart,’ we were chased around these woods like stray dogs by that... that thing! Why did we ever agree that you should be the one to lead us, huh!?”

Huo Yue didn’t look even remotely repentant as she leaned back against the massive root of the tree, lazily massaging her chest through her tattered red robes as if to emphasize its volume as a smug, cat-like smirk spread across her face. ”I told you already, Queenie. It’s because in this group, I’m the one with the biggest ’virtue.’ It’s a matter of cosmic balance. Come talk to me about leadership when you’ve reached at least an E Rank.”

”You—!?” Medusa’s jaw dropped, ber face turned a violent shade of crimson, her teeth gritting so hard a faint grinding sound echoed in the clearing.

She then looked down at her own chest—respectable, but certainly not matching Huo Yue’s ”virtue”—and found herself momentarily speechless.

In the world of cultivators, logic was often dictated by strength, but Huo Yue’s logic was dictated by... other metrics.

”Xueli is bigger,” Zhu Ziyan muttered from the sidelines.

The cat-girl was busy picking burrs out of her tail, her ears drooping with exhaustion.

”Who?” Huo Yue turned toward her, her smirk faltering into a look of genuine confusion. ”Who the heck is Xueli?”

Ziyan paused, looking up with a blank stare. ”Your fiancé didn’t tell you? Ning Xueli. She’s the girl Haoran brought with him from the Eastern Region to the Central Region. She’s my friend, and also went on the same academy as me. She is very beautiful and... well, she’s very ’virtuous’.”

Huo Yue went still as she combed through her memories, recalling a brief mention from Haoran about an ”interesting anomaly” he had found in a backwater city.

She didn’t really care much about that said girl when he mentioned it, as she focused more on the fact that Haoran was enjoying his time with another woman while she was going on an adventure.

But now, the competitive fire in her eyes was ignited.

”Bigger than me?” Huo Yue asked in a tone of wounded disbelief a she rubbed her breasts once more, looking down at them as if they had betrayed her. ”Bigger than these? Are you sure your feline eyes haven’t gone blurry from all that running?”

Ziyan tilted her head, considering the visual comparison with the seriousness of a grandmaster evaluating a high-tier artifact. ”Probably around the same size... no, actually, maybe a little smaller? But she carries herself with a lot of ’weight’.”

”Heh.” Huo Yue’s arrogant smirk returned in full force, her confidence restored as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her backside. ”As I expected. No one in the four regions has a bigger virtue than me. It’s a divine gift. So, unless either of you can surpass my measurements, you two should just shut up and obediently follow my lead.”

”Enough of this nonsense!” Medusa glared at them, her aura flaring briefly. ”Boobs aren’t going to get us out of this forest. Because of that demon’s final attack, our storage rings were completely compromised. The internal dimensions imploded, and our items were scattered into the void. We are, for the first time in our lives, completely and utterly penniless.”

”And we need money to eat,” Ziyan added, her stomach letting out a timely, pathetic growl.

Contrary to the popular belief held by mortals, Cultivators—even powerful ones—needed to eat.

In fact, the more powerful a Cultivator was, the more specialized their nutritional needs became.

This was why ”Gourmet Hunter” was considered one of the Great Professions, standing alongside Alchemists and Artificers.

A Cultivator’s body was like a high-performance engine, constantly circulating Qi, resisting the pressure of natural laws, and regenerating cells at an accelerated rate.

All of that required massive amounts of raw metabolic energy.

While they could technically use their stored Qi to keep their organs functioning without food, doing so was a desperate measure.

It was like burning the furniture to keep the house warm; the body would eventually begin to ”eat itself,” consuming muscle and marrow to maintain its structure.

Qi was energy, but it wasn’t matter. It couldn’t create blood or bone out of nothing.

Huo Yue patted her red robe, her eyes gleaming with a sudden, mischievous inspiration. ”Well, I guess we have no choice but to ’acquire’ some capital. It’s time for some professional redistribution of wealth. Come on, follow me!”

Medusa and Ziyan exchanged a wary glance, but they had no better ideas so they can only followed Huo Yue through the thicket until the forest thinned out, revealing a wide dirt road that cut through the greenery.

This was the Southern Trade Route, a lifeline for caravans traveling between the remote jungle villages and the larger regional hubs.

It was technically a ”Safe Zone,” as the mercenaries of the Grand Order, a mercenary guild, frequently patrolled the path to clear out beasts.

Huo Yue signaled for them to dive into the thick bushes lining the road.

”Hey, what exactly are we doing here?” Medusa whispered, her pride as a Queen prickling at the idea of hiding in the dirt. ”How can we earn money by squatting in a bush?”

”Is this some kind of specialized herb gathering?” Ziyan asked, sniffing the air for valuable plants.

”Of course not!” Huo Yue patted her chest in total confidence, a devious grin stretching across her face. ”This is the fastest, easiest, and most ancient way to earn money! It’s called ’Market Research and Direct Tax Collection’!”

The two looked doubtful, but before they could press for details, Huo Yue held up a finger for silence. ”Shush! Look. A big fish is swimming into the net.”

A rhythmic thud of hooves sounded in the distance.

Then, moments later, a luxurious carriage emerged from the bend.

It was carved from expensive sandalwood and pulled by four Dragon-Scaled Horses—beasts that were notoriously difficult to tame.

Surrounding the carriage was a small army of warriors riding on Flaming Horses.

From the steady, disciplined aura they projected, these mercenaries were all at the Foundation Establishment realm.

In this region, that was a high-tier security force.

Huo Yue’s eyes brightened. ”Perfect. They look loaded.”

”What? Are we going to step out and offer our services as high-level bodyguards?” Medusa asked, her hand moving toward her waist. ”With my Nirvana Rebirth cultivation, they’d pay a fortune to have me clear the road.”

”Follow me!” Huo Yue didn’t answer and instead, she leaped out of the bushes with a shout, landing squarely in the middle of the road.

Medusa and Ziyan looked at each other for a moment, before shrugging and immediately jumped out after her.

”HALT!” Huo Yue bellowed, raising her hand with the authority of a sect leader as she planted her feet and stuck her chest out, looking remarkably imposing despite her torn clothes. ”Listen up, you travelers! This road is mine! These trees are mine! The air you’re breathing? It’s taxable! If you want to pass through this sector without encountering a ’spontaneous explosion,’ you’d better pay your toll!”

The entire scene froze.

The guard captain pulled his Flaming Horse to a rearing halt, his hand going to his sword, but he didn’t attack; he was too busy staring in absolute shock.

Not just the soldiers, but even Medusa and Ziyan stood behind Huo Yue, their faces going pale with embarrassment.

This girl... she’s actually trying to be a highway bandit!?

Inside the spatial ring on Huo Yue’s finger, the illusory form of Fairy Liu covered her eyes with both hands, shaking her head in a rhythmic motion of despair.

She’s not my disciple... I don’t know this person... I never taught her this...

Just then, the window of the sandalwood carriage slid open and an incredibly beautiful young woman with long, flowing purple hair and piercing red eyes peered out.

She had been bored to tears by the long journey, but now, her interest was piqued.

She looked at the three ”bandits” standing in the road—one a fiery-robed woman with a ridiculous claim, one a cold-eyed beauty who radiated a power that made the horses tremble, and one a cat-girl who looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

The coachman turned back, his voice shaky. ”Just some... er... unconventional bandits, ma’am. Shall I have the guard clear them?”

The purple-haired woman leaned her chin on her hand, a small, intrigued smile playing on her lips. ”No, wait. I can’t believe there are such talented people acting as common thieves in this lowly region. That one with purple hair... she’s a Nirvana Rebirth expert. Why is she robbing a carriage? This is far too interesting to end with a fight. Let’s see what they want.”