Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

”She didn’t show up...”

Tai Yuhao muttered under his breath, his voice laced with a dangerous mixture of disbelief and growing rage.

He felt a sharp, uncontrollable twitch in his right cheek, a physical manifestation of the humiliation burning like wild fire through his veins.

His grip tightened instinctively, and with a sickening crunch, he crushed yet another expensive crystal glass of spiritual wine.

The dark red liquid mixed with a fresh ooze of crimson blood from his unhealed palm, dripping onto the fine table runner.

Why hadn’t she shown up? It made absolutely no logical sense within his twisted worldview.

Wasn’t she the least bit curious? Anyone in her position would be absolutely dying to know how a random noble scion from a premier Central Region clan knew the darkest, most carefully guarded secrets of her tragic past.

She was supposed to be desperate for answers, practically sprinting down to this exact room to beg him for clarification.

”No... maybe she just got delayed,” he whispered, desperately trying to rationalize the situation to soothe his fractured ego. ”Yes, that must be it. The Champion and Qiao Yi probably held her back to finalize the fine print of the contract.”

With that thought, he decided to wait for a few minutes longer...

...no one came. Not even a shadow.

Unable to sit still for another second, he stood up abruptly, knocking his chair backward.

He stormed out of the luxurious VIP room, his jaw clenched as he began to aggressively search for her throughout the grand, marble-floored lobby of the Pagoda.

He paced through the dining areas and checked the private alcoves, but his eyes failed to find the striking black-and-purple qipao or the delicate cat ears he was hunting for.

He didn’t find her. Anywhere.

Growing increasingly frantic, he decided to climb back up the grand staircase toward the upper levels, intending to march straight back into the administrative office to see if she was still wrapped up in a conversation with the League Champion and Qiao Yi.

But halfway up, he stopped himself, realizing how pathetic and desperate that would look to the powerful elders. Instead, he spun on his heel and decided to go ask the receptionist at the front grand desk.

”You...” Tai Yuhao called out sharply, slamming his hand onto the pristine jade surface of the reception desk.

The receptionist, a beautiful young woman wearing the official uniform of the Pocket-Beast League, jumped slightly.

She blinked in surprise, her eyes widening as she recognized his face. ”Y-Yes? Y-You are... Young Master Yun!?”

”Have you seen a girl with black hair and cat ears pass through here recently?” Tai Yuhao demanded, his eyes boring into hers with a terrifying, unhinged intensity.

The receptionist immediately nodded rapidly, her voice trembling under his intense gaze. ”Y-Yes, young master! I remember her clearly. She actually went out of the main entrance a few minutes ago.”

”What!?” Tai Yuhao exclaimed, his voice exploding in a furious roar as he slammed both palms flat onto the desk with enough force to crack the wood underneath.

The receptionist let out a sharp shriek of pure fear, ducking her head and shielding her face, terrified that the volatile young master was going to strike her.

Several students looked over, but realizing who made the commotion, they decided to remain silent and just shot the receptionist a pitying and apologetic looks.

Tai Yuhao didn’t even bother to look at her or offer a token apology.

He just immediately turned around and dashed out of the building, his expensive silk robes fluttering wildly behind him as he burst through the main doors into the open air.

Why did she leave?

She wasn’t supposed to leave!

She was supposed to be with him again, falling into his arms and accepting her rightful place in his shadow!

Gritting his teeth until they ached, his mind consumed by a toxic storm of possessiveness, he decided to plunge into the crowded streets to search for her.

*

*

*

Meanwhile, across the vast expanse of Academy City.

Chu Yan sat comfortably on the open-air balcony of a high-end tea cafe.

Why is he here? Well...

The balcony provided a perfect, unobstructed view of the grand avenue just a single street away from the Central Administration Office.

He was nursing a cup of bitter spiritual tea, his eyes casually scanning the passing crowds, waiting patiently to see if Shen Haoran would truly show up to execute the point-buying plot.

If Haoran appeared, it would be the ultimate, definitive confirmation that the young master of the Shen Clan was a fellow transmigrator who possessed the knowledge of the script of the novel.

Of course, he didn’t choose this place just for that, instead, there was another, equally vital reason why he had chosen this specific cafe and this exact balcony seat today.

”Excuse me, young man. Is this seat taken?”

Chu Yan looked up from his cup, his heart nearly skipping a beat as he maintained a perfectly calm facade.

Standing right before him was a middle-aged man with long, snow-white hair tied neatly into a traditional high scholar’s bun.

He wore a plain, remarkably unadorned white robe that completely lacked any clan crests or flashy embroidery, making him look like a simple, eccentric academic.

He wasn’t particularly handsome, but he gave off this scholarly vibe that made him quite charming.

”Oh, no, please go ahead, senior,” Chu Yan smiled politely, gesturing toward the empty wooden chair across from him with a respectful bow of his head.

The man returned a gentle, appreciative smile and sat down, letting out a soft sigh of relief. ”Apologies for the intrusion, young friend. It seems all the other tables on the balcony are completely taken today, so...”

”No, it’s really alright, senior. It’s actually much better than just sitting here all alone with my thoughts,” Chu Yan replied smoothly, his tone the perfect blend of youthful humility and respect.

On the inside, however, Chu Yan was practically screaming with wild excitement.

He knew this man. Or rather, he possessed absolute, detailed knowledge of him from his previous life as a reader of the original web novel.

This seemingly ordinary old man was Elder Mu.

In the original timeline of the novels, this unpretentious scholar was a terrifying 9th Stage Earthly Saint powerhouse and a highly revered Rank 9 Master Teacher, hailed as one of the Sage Candidates with talent sufficient enought to replace any of the Ten Sages in case one of them retired or if something happened to any of them.

He was a legendary figure whose hidden strength could shatter entire planets with a mere flick of his sleeve.

Not to mention that one day in the future, he would become the primary teacher and mentor of Xu Xiansu, serving as her absolute greatest, most unyielding political and martial backer within the upper echelons of the academy.

Unfortunately, his ultimate fate in the novel was a harrowing tragedy, just like any other characters who helped and supported Xu Xiansu.

This Elder Mu had died a brutal, heartbreaking death while exhausting his own life essence to protect Xu Xiansu during the apocalyptic final battle against the overwhelming might of Shen Haoran and the legendary Shen Clan.

According to the specific lore of the web novel, this old man frequently visited this exact, low-key cafe near the administration office for a deeply sentimental, deeply tragic reason.

This balcony gave him a direct, crystal-clear line of sight straight toward the grand entrance of the majestic Academy Library and even the perfect view of the window showing the main office of the library’s librarian.

Why does he want to stare at it? Well, that is because this library happened to be the exact location where his first and only true love currently worked.

Unfortunately, Elder Mu’s romantic life was destined to be a colossal, permanent failure of epic proportions.

Tens of thousands of words had been spilled by the author detailing his backstory.

Elder Mu had originally been born a completely destitute commoner, lacking any family background or ancestral wealth.

Thousands of years ago, during their bright youth as students in the academy, he had met and fallen madly in love with the girl who currently served as the head librarian.

In fact, their love hadn’t been one-sided at all.

They had shared countless beautiful, romantic moments under the starlight, and the two did genuinely end up falling deeply in love with one another, defying the strict societal boundaries of their era.

Unfortunately, the girl’s father, a powerful, ruthless patriarch of an ancient noble house, had brutally broken them apart, viewing Mu as nothing more than a worthless parasite trying to climb the social ladder.

Lacking the strength to fight back against an ancient clan, a broken-hearted Elder Mu could only run away from the capital like a defeated dog with its tail tucked firmly between its legs.

Driven by the pain of his loss, Mu had trained like a madman, eventually achieving monumental success and ascending to become a 9th Stage Earthly Saint powerhouse.

But the deeply rooted psychological trauma and feelings of inadequacy never truly left him, as even after achieving greatness, he still felt profoundly unworthy and inadequate before her.

Why? Because during the thousands of years they had spent apart, the girl hadn’t stayed stagnant either.

She had ascended to become a terrifying 6th Stage Heavenly Saint Realm expert and a supreme Rank 10 Master Teacher, eventually being crowned as one of the legendary Ten Sages of the entire empire.

Feeling that the gap between them had only grown wider, Elder Mu could only choose to silently observe her from afar, coming to this cafe day after day just to catch a fleeting glimpse of her silhouette through the library windows.

He had spent centuries trapped in his own head, completely convinced that she had already forgotten his name and moved on with her immortal life.

It was only until his final, dying breath in the tragic final arc of the novel, as his soul was fading away, that the truth was cruelly revealed.

The woman had actually known he was watching her the entire time.

She had been waiting for him for hundreds of years, desperately hoping he would finally muster the courage to walk across the street and confess his feelings.

But by the time they finally spoke, it was already far too late, and he died in her arms.

Chu Yan had actually openly cried when reading that specific Chapter in his previous life, cursing the author for creating such an unnecessarily tragic romance.

However, now that he had transmigrated into this world and was sitting right across from the legend himself, he was going to completely change this miserable outcome!

Not to mention the massive personal benefits involved.

If he successfully played the role of a romantic matchmaker and helped this tragic old man reconcile with his lost love, he would immediately secure the unconditional gratitude and loyalty of a 9th Stage Earthly Saint Realm powerhouse as his personal backer.

Furthermore, if Elder Mu got back together with his first love, that would automatically net him another supreme 6th Stage Heavenly Saint Realm backer from the Ten Sages!

With two literal saints protecting his back and funding his cultivation, Chu Yan would pretty much be able to walk sideways through the entire academy without fearing a single soul.

With that, Chu Yan stared at Elder Mu and smiled.

He just needed to play his cards perfectly, and he can be considered almost untouchable in this academy with the sole exception of those from Immortal Lineages.

Don’t worry Elder Mu, you won’t suffer such tragic ending this time around.

With me here, you’ll have your happy ending.