Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

The next day, the bright morning sun filtered through the high, arched windows of the Spirit Hall palace, casting long paths of brilliant white light across the polished marble floors.

Despite the fresh, pristine aesthetic of the imperial structure, Huo Yue was weakly walking down the grand hallway, her footsteps sluggish and uneven.

She looked incredibly tired, her usually immaculate posture completely drooping, and her face carried a deep, pale exhaustion that standard meditation couldn’t seem to wash away.

Haoran.... is an absolute, relentless beast.

She thought, a shiver running down her spine as her mind involuntarily flashed back to the vivid, frantic memories of the previous night inside the sealed kiosk.

They had done it all night, pushing past the boundaries of standard physical endurance, so thoroughly that she haven’t even gotten a single wink of sleep.

The sun had already reached its apex in the sky before the storm of their passion finally subsided.

Although as someone who is at the absolute peak of the Golden Core Realm, a single night without having any sleep is typically considered nothing more than a minor inconvenience to her spiritual focus, but Haoran was completely, terrifyingly relentless.

He had driven her until her meridians were vibrating, and she was now thoroughly exhausted both physically and mentally!

Every single joint in her lower body felt stiff, and her throat was completely dry from the hours of breathless cries she had uttered against his chest.

She didn’t complain, though. Her heart was full, and her inner devotion had only deepened under his heavy touch.

It is indeed has been an incredibly long while since they last saw each other, and during that agonizing period of separation, her soul had starved for his presence.

She was more than willing to let Haoran do absolutely anything he wanted to her, to let him mark her flesh and claim her vitality until she was completely numb.

It was the price she gladly paid to feel alive again.

But as she took another shaky step forward, a sudden, terrifying realization dawned upon her mind.

If this keeps up, once they are finally together in the grand Imperial Academy where they will be living in close quarters every single day, she seriously doesn’t know if her mortal body can still handle his insatiable appetite.

He was a cultivator who possessed an indestructible physique, and his stamina was a bottomless well that defied the standard limits of human flesh.

Someone like her whose cultivation level was lower than him was bound to be completely overwhelmed.

”Sister Yue? There you are! We’ve been looking for you all night!”

Huo Yue raised her head slowly, her vision slightly blurry from fatigue, and saw Medusa and Zhu Ziyan walking towards her from the far end of the long gallery.

The two women looked completely refreshed, their distinct, powerful auras harmonizing as they moved gracefully through the palace corridors.

She stared at them, watching the fluid, mesmerizing slide of the Lamia Queen and the athletic, cat-like grace of the beast tamer.

At that exact second, a completely crazy, desperate thought suddenly occurred in her exhausted mind.

Maybe... just maybe, they can actually help me share the burden?

Unlike that annoying, deeply suspicious woman Xu Xiansu, whom she didn’t trust as far as she could throw her, these two were her genuine sisters.

They have been together for years, migrating across the harsh borders of the Central Region, and they had experienced many life and death situations together.

They had shared tents, resources, and secrets; there was no treachery between them.

”Ziyan...” Huo Yue called out, her voice slightly raspy.

”Hm?” Zhu Ziyan smiled warmly, tilting her head to the side as her dark purple cat ears twitched in curiosity, looking completely confused by Huo Yue’s ragged, disheveled state. ”What’s wrong, Sister Yue? You look like you fought another giant while we were sleeping.”

”You don’t have a lover or anything right now, are you?” Asked Huo Yue, getting straight to the point without a single shred of hesitation.

”No, why on earth are you asking that?” Ziyan replied, her brow furrowing slightly.

In her mind, the brief question caused a fleeting image to appear—the memory of her now late fiancé, a young man who had tragically died due to his own foolishness and pride in wanting to protect the now-destroyed Ogre Academy.

Although she didn’t love the man, but that incident basically closed her heart for romance as she focused entirely on her survival and her friendship with Medusa and Yue.

”You’re a virgin, right?” Huo Yue pressed further, her eyes locking onto her friend’s face.

”Yeah...” Zhu Ziyan’s cheeks flushed a light pink, and she was getting thoroughly confused by the second.

She didn’t understand why her usually quiet, stoic friend was suddenly asking these incredibly personal, intimate questions in the middle of a public palace hallway.

”W-Where is this coming from?” Ziyan stuttered, looking incredibly flustered.

”Are you saving yourself for someone special or something? A hidden prince or a destiny partner?” Huo Yue continued asking, ignoring the awkwardness that Ziyan was feeling.

”Not... particularly, no,” Ziyan muttered, shuffling her boots against the marble. ”I haven’t even thought about those things since the academy fell. My focus is entirely on getting stronger and surviving.”

”Good,” Huo Yue smiled, a look of profound relief and sudden triumph washing over her tired face.

”Good?” Ziyan tilted her head in confusion, ”What do you...?

She didn’t get to finish her words as Huo Yue took a step closer, leaning her weight against Ziyan’s shoulder. ”Then, one day in the future, if I get too incredibly tired from our...ahem, nightly activities, sub in for me and have sex with Haoran so I can finally get some sleep.”

Zhu Ziyan’s entire face exploded into a violent crimson blush, her cat ears standing completely straight as she stumbled backward in pure shock. ”W-W-W-What!? No way! Absolutely no way! I am definitely not doing that! Are you out of your mind, Sister Yue!?”

Huo Yue raised an eyebrow, her expression perfectly serious as she crossed her arms, completely unbothered by her friend’s hysterical reaction. ”Why? It’s not like you’re saving yourself for someone special, right? You said it yourself just a second ago. So it’s completely alright to have Haoran take your virginity; it’s not like you’re going to lose out on anything. In fact, you can even brag to the entire world that you shared a bed with the greatest, most outstanding man in existence. It’s a win-win situation for your reputation.”

”I... I... I don’t... that’s not how it works!” Ziyan stammered, her hands flying up to cover her burning face as her mind completely short-circuited.

The thought of the golden-haired youth, whose sheer presence made the world feel respect and awe, touching her in that manner made her heart pound with a terrifying mixture of dread and a strange, subconscious thrill.

”It’s decided then,” Huo Yue smiled brightly, ignoring her protests entirely as she stepped forward and firmly patted her trembling shoulders, sealing the verbal contract in her own mind.

She then turned her gaze towards the elegant figure of Medusa, her eyes narrowing with a speculative gleam.

”No,” Medusa said instantly, before Huo Yue could even open her mouth as her orange, reptilian pupils slitted as she took a protective step backward, her arms crossed firmly over her chest.

”I haven’t even said anything yet, Sister Medusa,” Huo Yue pouted.

”We all know exactly what you’re going to ask, and my answer is an absolute, definitive no,” Medusa stated, her voice cool and unyielding. ”I am the Queen of the Lamia Tribe. I do not serve as a distraction for your domestic exhaustion, no matter how outstanding your fiancé is.”

Huo Yue shrugged her shoulders casually, a teasing glint returning to her wine-red eyes. ”It doesn’t really matter, anyway. I’m sure anyone from your tribe back in the Great Tao desert will be more than happy to offer themselves as concubines to Haoran once I ask them. Surely you must’ve not forgotten what happened when he last came to your territory, right? They’d crawl over broken glass just for a drop of his...’lineage’.”

Medusa felt her sleek cheek twitch violently at the blatant provocation as a dangerous, beautiful smile formed on her lips as she stepped forward, her physical velocity bypassing Huo Yue’s tired defenses.

She reached out with her slender, pale fingers, pinching Huo Yue’s soft cheeks and pulling them together with just enough force to make her pout like a fish.

”It seems being with your supreme man has made you incredibly brave, huh, little girl,” Medusa whispered, her voice dripping with an affectionate, reptilian malice. ”You dare tease me now? Have you forgotten who carried you across the lava rivers when your flames went wild? Who saved your ass whenever you provoke someone you shouldn’t have provoked?”

”Ow, ow, ow! Leth ghou! Sister Medusa, it hurthhs!” Huo Yue struggled weakly, her hands flailing as she tried to pull herself away from the Lamia Queen’s iron grip.

Thankfully, Medusa chuckled softly and did let go, wiping her fingers against her silk skirt, her expression returned to its usual composed, authoritative state as she surveyed the quiet hallway. ”So? Playful banter aside, what do you truly plan to do now? The giants have been defeated, the city is safe, and the entire region is now freed.”

Huo Yue rubbed her flushed cheeks for a while before she lowered her hands, her playful demeanor instantly evaporating into thin air as she took a deep, stabilizing breath, the residual heat of her core settling into a steady, dangerous hum.

”Let’s stay here in the Spirit Hall for a week,” Huo Yue stated, her voice dropping into a firm, low register. ”Haoran and the rest of the Central Region people are also staying for that exact duration to stabilize their gains and allow the local factions to rebuild the outer walls. Once they finally leave for the capital, let’s head to the Central Region as well. I have a score to settle with the Shadow Hall.”

Huo Yue clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white, her eyes now looking incredibly serious, solemn, and filled with a cold, focused intent.

The image of her master being dragged into the dark rifts by the Shadow Hall burned within her mind, a fire that no celebration could ever extinguish.

She now had this knife, she also had this token, and she had the willpower; now it was time to hunt the hunters.

Medusa and Ziyan stared at each other for a long moment, reading the absolute determination etched into every line of their sister’s face.

The bond they had forged in their years of traveling was not one of convenience, but of blood. Wherever the Flame Empress walked, the Serpent and the Tiger would follow.

They both nodded in unison.

”Alright,” Zhu Ziyan said, her eyes flashing. ”Those Shadow Hall has been harassing us for far too long, now it’s time for us to harass them and put an end to this grudge.”

”You’re the boss, girl,” Medusa smiled, ”Let’s turn that Shadow Hall into a graveyard.”