Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

”Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes?!”

Qiao Yi’s bright blue eyes nearly popped completely out of their sockets as she stared in absolute, breathless stupefaction at the calm figure of Zhu Ziyan standing right before her desk.

Her breathing fractured instantly, her heart violently hammering against her chest as if she had just witnessed an ancient, world-shaking deity descend directly into the registration office.

Zhu Ziyan merely blinked her eyes in a trace of genuine, quiet confusion, completely not knowing or understanding why the pink-haired senior student was suddenly acting in such an incredibly unhinged, dramatic manner.

However, not wanting to be rude or anything, Zhu Ziyan just gave a small, polite nod, and wondered to herself if it was the right choice to actually go here.

”M-May I... is it okay if I humbly ask to see them with my own eyes for a single moment?” Asked Qiao Yi, her voice trembling so intensely that she could barely form the syllables, her hands tightly clutching the edge of the dark wood desk.

Ziyan offered a calm, silent nod of agreement, her posture remaining perfectly elegant within her form-fitting black and purple silk qipao.

She closed her eyes for a brief fraction of a microsecond, and smoothly, fluidly activated her eyes.

*HUMMM!”

At that exact instant, the moment her eyelids flew back open, the surrounding air inside the registration room violently, sharply shuddered.

Ziyan’s deep purple eyes suddenly, magnificently turned into a blinding, liquid-gold coloration, her pupils sharpening into thin, razor-like vertical slits identical to those of a predatory, primordial feline beast.

An incredibly heavy, ancient, and deeply suffocating bloodline pressure silently erupted from her gaze, causing the ambient spiritual energy in the room to instantly freeze.

”It really is... it truly, honestly is the legendary eyes...” Qiao Yi whispered in an absolute, dazed awe, her face turning completely pale as she fell back slightly into her leather seat, her soul trembling beneath the weight of that golden stare.

The legendary Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes.

Across the ancient, dust-laden ledgers of global cultivation history, it was universally recognized as an exceptionally rare, mythical ocular power that granted the absolute possessor the divine capability to effortlessly, ruthlessly subdue any feline spiritual beasts in existence, completely bypassing their pride to force them into a state of total, absolute submission.

And what’s even more terrifying than mere submission, however, was the fact that this eyes allowed the user to systematically, continuously siphon away the internal cultivation base and primordial essence of their tamed beasts little by little over time, feeding it directly back into their own human channels.

Not to mention the absolute most heaven-defying variable of all is the fact that the user’s personal, biological cultivation talent and meridian width would continuously improve, widen, and refine the more high-tier beasts they successfully subdued, allowing them to fluidly cultivate and break through bottlenecks at a speed that completely outpaced even the most monstrous, record-shattering geniuses of the common world.

Legend has it that tens of thousands of years ago, during a golden era of chaos, a singular owner of the Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes had successfully managed to aggressively compete on the ultimate Immortal Road, standing tall against a generation of gods and monsters, moving closer to successfully becoming the absolute, undisputed Immortal of that entire era than anyone else in history.

Although he lost in the end, but he was still able to be hailed as the ”Invincible Mortal”.

With that accomplishment, it proves that these pair of eyes was definitively a transcendent generational talent uniquely qualified to step onto the Emperor Road and fiercely compete for the grand Heavens Will itself!

Once this purple-robed girl officially became a registered part of the student-led Pocket-Beast League, nay, the exact moment she was successfully integrated as part of the Beast Taming Association as a whole, then her very existence would surely, single-handedly elevate its political and academic status to the absolute heavens!

You know, for thousands of unyielding, frustrating years, the ancient grand elders and patriarchs originating from the Beast Tamer Association had aggressively tried their absolute hardest, exhausting countless fortunes, to force the global cultivation world to formally acknowledge and permanently accept the Beast Tamer profession as the official Seventh Major Occupation of the global civilization.

But despite their deepest desires and unbending perseverance, their efforts had always, inevitably fallen short of the prize.

For one fundamental, practical reason: it was admittedly remarkably easy for a common cultivator to step into a forest and tame a spiritual beast through standard arrays, but actually forcing that beast to continuously grow strong, break through its biological ceilings, and evolve its bloodline required an absolutely terrifying, mountain-sized volume of premium heavenly resources and spiritual medicines.

In the cold, analytical minds of the great clans, or anyone with common sense really, those exact same premium resources could be far more efficiently used by the cultivator to directly strengthen their own individual human body, instead of foolishly relying on the unpredictable strength of a secondary beast.

Secondly, there are already things called golden, automantons, and puppets.

These entities were essentially living artifacts meticulously refined and smithed by high-tier Artificers.

They are a combat companions that could act as perfectly loyal, emotionless protectors on the battlefield, mirroring the exact functional utility of a tamer’s beast without any of the biological risks.

Not to mention the ultimate economic fact that a master practitioner didn’t have to spend a single crumb of daily resources to keep a cold iron golem fed, nor did they ever have to waste precious pills to keep a wooden automation healthy after a brutal dungeon raid.

You simply repaired the metal plates and recharge their core from time to time.

Because of these highly logical, unyielding points of comparison, the Beast Tamers had always remained permanently pushed down into the secondary tiers of the global ranking, lumped together with minor occupations like the Clerics, those who exclusively specialized in direct medical healing, and the Poisoners, those who specialized entirely in toxic deployment.

After all, within the common consensus of the entire world, who in the nine layers of hell would ever practically need to hire separate Clerics and Poisoners when you could simply hire a single, multi-talented Alchemist who could effortlessly refine a batch of pills capable of performing both functions simultaneously?

There was even a deeply cruel, running joke whispered constantly within the elite Alchemist circles that the domains of the Clerics and the Poisoners were merely the pathetic dumping grounds where people possessing absolutely zero natural talent for true Alchemical refinement ultimately ended up trailing in life.

Because of that historical degradation, those two minor professions had always maintained a bitter, intensely deep, and blood-soaked beef against the arrogance of the Alchemist circle.

In that exact, identical way, the Beast Tamers had always shared an intense, unyielding generational beef against the structural dominance of the Artificers.

As a proud, highly dedicated Beast Tamer herself, how could Qiao Yi ever be truly satisfied with the secondary, looked-down-upon academic status of her beloved craft?

She wanted to see the association finally take its rightful stage as one of the major occupations!

”Wait, please wait right here for a single second! Do not move from this spot!” Qiao Yi suddenly, violently stood up from her wooden seat, her hands waving frantically through the air as she motioned for Ziyan to remain perfectly seated on her bench. ”I need to go to the Teleportation Room and immediately report your absolute situation straight to the upper council of the faction!”

Teleportation Room, is a room where they kept a portal device that allows anyone to connect different spaces.

However, this teleportation only works if both places have the exact same device with the exact set of frequencies.

If there are multiple places, you can even choose the place you wanted to go to.

With that final, breathless declaration, her body wrapped in a sudden flash of white spatial light, and she instantly vanished from the room.

Zhu Ziyan just sat entirely alone on the bench, her golden feline slits slowly fading back into her natural purple pupils as she stared at the empty space before her desk, completely, thoroughly dumbfounded by the absolute madness of the encounter.

*

*

*

Aimless Cloud City.

This was a massive, independent city sector tucked away in the western coordinates of the dimension.

It is owned, financed, and heavily fortified by the Pocket-Beast League—a dominant, highly prominent student faction that was composed entirely of veteran Beast Tamers studying inside the academy.

At this exact, momentous hour, within the highest, most secure inner chamber of the central pagoda, the absolute highest-ranking leadership core of the entire faction had gathered together in a grand circle.

The defensive perimeter was held by the Eight Pagoda Masters—eight elite senior students who were all sitting firmly at the 1st to 5th stage of the Spirit Ascension Realm.

Directly above their seats sat the formidable Four Heavenly Kings, four monstrous tactical cultivators who occupied the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th stage of the Spirit Ascension Realm respectively, their spiritual pressures causing the air in the chamber to vibrate like a tight drum.

And finally, sitting at the absolute apex of the room upon a massive throne carved from a dragon’s rib, was the League Champion, who also operated as the absolute, undisputed supreme Faction Leader of the entire group.

Aside from the core fighters, several highly talented, wealthy young masters originating from the prominent noble families that actively sponsored the faction’s massive resource pools were also present in the upper galleries.

Tai Yuhao—or rather, the soul currently masquerading inside the magnificent, gold-clad body of young master Yun Chi—was sitting quietly among them.

His grand Yun Clan was universally recognized as the single primary economic sponsor and material lifeline of the entire league, which granted his current stolen vessel an exceptionally high, untouchable position within the council.

”Now,” the League Champion spoke, his voice a deep, resonant rumble that instantly focused every single eye in the chamber upon his face as he adjusted his heavy leather gauntlets. ”Let us officially begin our seasonal strategy—”

*BOOM!*

”Faction Leader! Boss! Boss! I have an absolutely great piece of news! An absolute, history-shattering piece of great news!”

The grand obsidian double doors of the council chamber were violently, completely thrown open from the outside, and Qiao Yi burst through the threshold, her face flushed red and breathing heavily as she disrupted the meeting of the gods.

Everyone stared at her, breathing heavily, sweat pouring out of her forehead.

”Qiao Yi,” the faction leader stared at her, ”Although you are a bit carefree now, but please conduct yourself with manners befitting that of a former Champion.”

Qiao Yi wiped the sweat on her forehead and gave a peace sign, ”I gave up that seat long ago and now I want to have fun. But that’s not what I’m here for.”

The faction leader nodded, ”Speak.”

”I found a girl with Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes!”

Hearing that, everyone froze. The room got so eeriely quiet you can definitely hear a pin drop.

Finally, after awhile, the faction leader regained his sense. ”Y-You, is what you’re saying true?!”

Tai Yuhao looked confused. After all, he didn’t inherit Yun Chi’s memories, however, base on their reaction, he can tell that this is definitely top tier talent.

”Of course!” Qiao Yi puffed her chest, ”Who do you think I am?”

Everyone stared at each other, having finally regained their senses, and excitement and ambition ignited in their hearts.

Finally, the faction leader leaned in, ”Who is this talent?”

Qiao grinned, ”She’s currently in Leaf Green City, and her name is Zhu Ziyan.”

At that...

Tai Yuhao suddenly stiffened, his eyes widening in shock.