Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

”Damn, that felt absolutely great.”

Shen Ji, the 5th Crown of the generation and the proud possessor of the world-shaking Tyrant King Sacred Physique, let out a deep, booming rumble from his chest.

He forcefully stretched his massive, muscular arms over his head, his thick joints cracking like localized thunderclaps as he confidently walked out of the spiritual bamboo changing house and stepped onto the smooth stone pathway of the courtyard.

The mineral-rich, high-temperature steam from the hot springs still lightly drifted off his skin, dissipating into the cool evening draft of Leaf Green City.

Following directly behind his broad shoulders was Shen Fei, the former undisputed first crown who had recently been shifted to occupy the current position of the 2nd Crown.

He let out a long, heavy yawn, lazily rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand as he muttered, ”Damn, that spiritual wine really made me sleepy. My eyelids feel like they are lined with lead.”

”Hahaha! You should be thankful you can even stand on your feet after that!” Shen Cai laughed out loud, his voice full of a bright, bragging amusement as he slapped his thigh.

He was the current 8th Crown and officially operated as the premier Artificer of the Crowns, his fingers always stained with the metallic soot of cosmic smithed weapons.

”That was indisputably the single best, rarest, and most expensive bottle of damn wine hidden in the deepest sectors of my storage ring! I’d be absolutely damned if a Nascent Soul cultivator like you wouldn’t even feel a single thing after drinking an entire bottle of that compressed nectar!”

Shen Fei clicked his tongue. He has always been rather weak with alcohol, so it’s no surprise he’d feel like this first.

Of course he can use his Qi to dissipate the effects of alcohol, but what’s the point of drinking if you’re afraid of getting drunk?

”Hm. Thankfully, I chose to maintain my pristine clarity and didn’t drink a single drop of that liquid poison,” Said Shen Bai, the current 9th Crown and the undisputed Formation Master of the Ten Crowns, his fingers casually tracing miniature silver arrays in the empty air as he walked. ”A messy mind leads to a messy matrix.”

At that, those miniature arrays glowed and transformed into glowing butterflies that flew to the sky.

He smiled, watching them fly away.

”Weaklings, the lot of you,” Shen Jian snorted condescendingly from the rear.

As a chaotic genius who had spent his entire youthful cultivation journey actively, aggressively indulging himself in every earthly pleasure—food, sex, and high-grade wine—this level of minor spiritual intoxication was absolutely no problem for his internal pathways.

His body automatically metabolized the toxins within a single breath even without him doing it with qi.

”Say that pathetic word to my face one more time, Shen Jian, and I will personally bury your entire body beneath these peach trees,” Said Shen Fei, his sleepy eyes instantly narrowing into razor-sharp lines of pure martial aggression as his aura flared out.

”Heh, go ahead and try it, you little bitxh,” Shen Jian smirked condescendingly, tilting his chin up as his qi began to subtly shear the falling petals. ”Let’s see if your slow hands can even touch the edge of my clothes today.”

Shen Fei’s eyes violently flashed with a dangerous gold light, his fingers tightening into fists as he took an aggressive step forward, about to walk straight towards him to initiate a total brawl.

But at that moment...

”Alright, that is more than enough childish barking,” Shen Hei suddenly appeared dead between their frames like a ghost rising from the mud.

He was the current 7th Crown and universally recognized as the single most silent, detached member of the entire entourage—a cold-blooded, absolute shadow assassin in the making who rarely ever voiced a single syllable unless a target needed to be clinically executed.

He stared at the two, sighing in annoyance. They have always been like this, even before their rankings changed.

”Back off, Shen Hei! I am going to completely pummel this arrogant guy into the pavement first,” Said Shen Fei, his knuckles cracking as his golden qi rolled off his shoulders.

”Oh yeah? Come on, then, you low born. You’re just from a branch family, you think you’re better than me? Let’s fight right here, right now,” Shen Jian countered, his smirk widening into a feral line. ”I’ve been fiercely wanting to take your seat anyway. Your position looks remarkably comfortable.”

Shen Fei narrowed his eyes, however, Shen Hei stood between them, preventing them from completely fighting.

”Just kiss and fuck each other already,” at that exact microsecond, Shen Tao appeared directly behind their backs, his expression completely tight and full of an intense, long-suffering annoyance.

The 1st Crown glared at them through the steam, his posture radiating a heavy authority. ”You two act like a pair of bickering concubines in a lord’s court.”

”Pfft!”

Shen Cai and Shen Bai almost bursts out laughing, however, they thankfully managed to suppress it.

”Hahahaha!” Shen Ji, however, completely let loose.

Shen Fei and Shen Jian immediately, violently turned their heads toward his coordinate, their eyes burning with a sudden, furious fury at the absolute insult to their pride.

Shen Ji just smirked at them, completely unafraid.

However, before either of them could even open their mouths to voice a single angry retort, the opposite wooden door of the girl’s changing room smoothly clicked open, and the long line of ladies walked out into the amber evening light.

But at that moment, the boys’ eyes almost completely popped out of their sockets in an absolute, reality-shattering shock seeing the one walking up front.

It was the Shen Clan’s Heaven’s Chosen, Shen Haoran.

The golden-haired young master looked completely relaxed, his pristine white inner robes loose as his arms were being held with a deep familiarity by Huo Yue, while the rest of the beautiful, damp-haired females followed closely behind his footsteps like a private imperial harem.

The girls cast a brief, completely unbothered look toward the frozen group of the male Crowns before continuing their casual, unhurried walk toward the main residential corridors of the villa.

”Hot damn,” Shen Cai whispered under his breath, his eyes wide as saucers as he let out an impressed whistle, ”I have seen royal harems of kings, but man ’that’ is a far superior, top class harem right there.”

”No wonder he didn’t join our side of the pool,” Said Shen Cai, shaking his head in a state of profound, dazed envy. ”The young master truly operates on an entirely different plane of existence.”

”Hmph. Women are nothing more than a superficial distraction that only serves to delay the absolute velocity in which I draw my sword,” Said Shen Fei, though his gaze lingered for a split second on the passing silhouettes before he forcefully looked away, his expression hardening back into that of a pure sword ascetic.

Shen Jian let out a low, crude whistle through his teeth, a dirty smirk playing on his lips as he nudged Shen Hei’s shoulder. ”Hey, you think they had a massive, world shaking orgy in there? The young master’s endurance must be terrifying.”

Shen Hei merely let out a long, slow sigh, remaining completely silent as he systematically ignored the youth’s depravity.

*SMACK!*

Shen Tao suddenly extended his leg, and violently kicked Shen Jian directly on the center of his lower back.

”Fuck!” Shen Jian stumbled wildly across the stone path, his arms flailing as he almost fell completely face-down onto the hard ground.

He forcefully channelled his qi, twisting his torso mid-air to stabilize his momentum at the very last second.

He immediately turned around, his face flushing with an absolute rage as he bared his teeth at the 1st Crown. ”You fucking bastard! Do you really think I won’t fight back!?”

”Stop filling the air with your depraved, disgusting thoughts,” Said Shen Tao, his voice flat, calm, and completely unbothered by the threat as he began to walk past his frame. ”Come on, stop wasting time. Let’s go to the side pavilion, prepare a proper dinner, and get some sleep. I, for one, am completely exhausted from all that trials.”

With that final administrative command, he led the way across the lawn, his back straight as Shen Cai, Shen Fei, Shen Bai, and Shen Hei silently, seamlessly shifted their steps to follow behind his lead.

Meanwhile, Shen Jian grumbled a series of dark curses under his breath, his hands stuffed into his pockets, but he ultimately, reluctantly followed after their shadow, the authority of the 1st Crown still holding the line.

*

*

*

Meanwhile, back with Haoran and the girls.

”Huo Yue, you and the others should go on ahead without me. I won’t be eating dinner with you guys tonight. I happen to have something highly specific to take care of within my chambers.”

The group paused near the grand entrance of the main residence, and Huo Yue turned her red eyes to stare deeply into Haoran’s liquid gold pupils.

Sensing the deep, unyielding seriousness beneath his casual tone, she offered a slow, understanding nod of her head, her hand smoothly releasing his waist.

”Then, we’ll head straight to the kitchen, if you feel like eating, I will leave some food for you.”

Haoran offered a short nod of agreement and broke off from the main group.

He immediately headed straight through the jade corridors, marching directly toward the single biggest, most isolated, and most luxuriously array-fortified master bedroom situated at the best spot of the villa.

He pushed the heavy doors open, stepped inside the quiet room, and sat down calmly on the edge of the large silk bed.

He caressed the silk as a slow, predatory smile creeping across his handsome features.

”Qing’er.”

The exact instant the name cleared his lips, the ambient shadows in the corner of the luxurious room violently and fluidly twisted.

At that moment, a remarkably beautiful, pale woman possessing exceptionally long black hair and a pair of sharp, crimson-red eyes emerged seamlessly from the darkness.

She was dressed from neck to ankle in her signature, sleeveless, skin-tight full-body combat suit that highlighted every dangerous curve of her lethal frame.

It was Qing’er.

The moment she appeared, she immediately fell into a graceful knee before the bed, her head lowered in absolute devotion. ”Young master... I am here.”

”Those old master teachers should’ve already sensed your existence, but since they didn’t mention or even said a single thing about your hidden presence during our transit through the gates today,” Haoran spoke smoothly, leaning back against the bedpost. ”It means they have probably, voluntarily allowed your permanent stay here inside the dimension as a standard exception for our house.”

Or maybe bringing in protectors were allowed?

Qing’er offered a soft nod of her head, her crimson eyes locked onto his boots.

”Hey, Qing’er,” Haoran’s smirk widened into a sharp, dangerous line, his golden eyes flaring with a dark, reality-warping intensity as he leaned forward. ”Would you like to step forward and help me test a highly specific, little theory of mine regarding the boundaries of our physical limits?”

Qing’er tilted her beautiful head slightly to the side, her crimson eyes blinking in a rare, silent confusion as she awaited his command.