Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

The next morning, the soft, golden light of dawn filtered gently through the grand, floor-to-ceiling balcony windows of the master bedroom, casting a warm glow across the elegant silk sheets.

Zhu Ziyan groggily opened her eyes, a heavy, uncharacteristic drowsiness weighing down her eyelids.

For a few bewildered moments, she stared blankly at the intricately carved canopy above, completely disoriented.

She found herself in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by the faint, masculine scent of premium cedarwood and raw spiritual energy, and she couldn’t help but wonder with a small spike of panic if she had accidentally slept in.

She instinctively turned her head to the side, her feline ears twitching as she fully expected to see her chaotic friend, Huo Yue, looming over her with a mischievous grin, holding a bucket of freezing mountain water or preparing some other ridiculous prank to violently startle her awake.

After all, over the years of their shared journey, whenever Huo Yue managed to wake up first, this was exactly what she always tried to do to break her friend’s cold composure.

Because of that agonizingly persistent habit, Ziyan had made it a strict, daily survival instinct to always wake up at least an hour before her.

Unfortunately, no matter how disciplined a cultivator was, there were just some rare, exhausting days where her physical body would give out, and she would completely sleep in.

And today was very clearly, undeniably one of those days.

”Awake?”

A familiar, incredibly deep voice that contained a rare, unexpected touch of profound gentleness suddenly resounded right beside her ear.

Ziyan’s head violently snapped upward, her breath hitching in her throat.

Sitting right beside her on the edge of the mattress was Shen Haoran.

He was completely naked, his chiseled, flawless physique gleaming faintly under the morning sun, a relaxed, highly amused smile playing upon his handsome lips as he looked down at her.

She blinked once.

Then twice.

And then, in a terrifying, spectacular rush of adrenaline, the chaotic, intensely passionate events of the previous night came flooding back into her consciousness like a broken dam.

Her mind short-circuited entirely, and her delicate face instantly turned a shade of crimson so fierce it made her look as red as a ripe tomato.

”Y-Y-Young Master... g-g-good morning,” she muttered frantically, her voice dropping to a breathless, stuttering squeak.

Atop her head, her delicate cat ears began to flutter wildly in pure, unadulterated embarrassment, and her dark purple cat tail, which she had completely forgotten to hide in her groggy state, stiffened like an iron rod, curling into a tight, defensive knot against the sheets.

”Good morning,” Haoran replied smoothly, his grin widening just a fraction as he enjoyed her flustered reaction.

He lazily stood up from the bed, stretching his muscular limbs. ”Qian Yunxi called just a few minutes ago, saying that breakfast is ready downstairs. Get yourself dressed, and let’s head down.”

With a casual wave of his wrist, Haoran reached into his spatial storage ring and took out a fresh, immaculate set of loose black robes embroidered with roaring golden dragon designs along the sleeves.

He smoothly slid them over his shoulders, adjusting the silk sash with the effortless grace of an emperor.

Left alone on the mattress, Zhu Ziyan suddenly felt an extremely deep, hollow hunger growling within her stomach, prompting her to stand up to prepare herself.

But the exact millisecond she shifted her weight and tried to slide her legs out from beneath the covers, a sharp, burning jolt of absolute soreness tore through her lower body, causing her to let out a sharp, pathetic hiss of pain.

She cautiously looked down beneath the silk sheets, her face flushing even deeper when he saw her delicate groin area was still distinctly red, tender, and visibly swollen.

Her body had been thoroughly, ruthlessly abused by Haoran’s relentless, unyielding stamina last night, having suffered an absolute storm of passion despite it being the very first time her sacred gates had ever hosted a guest.

Not to mention, the guest in question had been way too monstrously large for her comfort.

She let out a long, defeated sigh, realizing she would have to adjust her wardrobe choices for the day.

As for using pills to relieve the pain? Well, this kind of pain only happens once in a lifetime.

She wanted to savor it as much as possible.

She carefully reached into her spatial pouch, took out a comfortable, loose pair of black dolphin shorts, and carefully pulled them on, absolutely not wanting to hurt her bruised skin any further by forcing herself into her standard, skintight full bodysuit.

To match the casual shorts, she also took out a massive, oversized white baggy shirt and slid it over her head.

The loose garment was a bit too big for her slender frame, causing the wide collar to lazily sag to the left, leaving her entire left shoulder and collarbone completely exposed to the open air.

The dark purple hickeys and deep love marks that Haoran had possessively left behind all over her neck and shoulder could be seen fully, glowing like brands of ownership against her pale skin—although, in her frantic haste, she hadn’t even noticed their prominent existence yet.

As she stepped away from the bed, her eyes accidentally caught sight of the white silk sheets, and her breath caught.

There, resting right in the center of the fabric, was a distinct, crimson red spot—the immutable, bloody mark of the virginity she had willingly lost to him last night.

Her cheeks burned with a fresh wave of heat as she quickly averted her gaze, although, she couldn’t resist taking a few peeks.

Then, after a few moments of contemplation, she decided right then and there that she would discreetly ask him for these specific sheets later in the evening, as she wanted to secretly keep the fabric as a deeply cherished memento of her stepping into the stairs of adulthood.

”Shall we?” Haoran asked, turning back toward her as he extended his large, warm hand.

Ziyan shyly, hesitantly reached out, wrapping her smaller fingers around his palm.

The moment their skin met, Haoran immediately, firmly intertwined their fingers together in a possessive grip.

With that silent show of tenderness, the two of them walked out of the master bedroom and headed straight down the grand jade staircase toward the villa’s central dining room.

*

*

*

The moment they stepped through the arched threshold of the dining hall, they found that every single member of the villa was already gathered around the massive mahogany table, happily digging into their lavish morning platters.

Huo Yue, who was currently chewing on a piece of spiritual toast, instantly looked up.

The exact second that her sharp eyes locked onto the pair, specifically catching sight of the blatant, dark purple hickeys aggressively decorating Ziyan’s exposed left shoulder, a massively smug, heavily mischievous smirk spread across her face.

”Well, well, well... you two certainly seem to have thoroughly, and rather intensely I might add, enjoyed your private evening together,” Huo Yue teased loudly, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Ziyan was completely, utterly way too embarrassed to say a single word of refutation.

Her throat went entirely dry, and she rapidly shuffled her feet, hiding her entire body directly behind Haoran’s broad back to shield herself from their knowing grins.

Especially Ning Xueli and Luo Mingye, who couldn’t wait to discuss the matters of bedroom with someone who had just experienced it for the first time.

Huo Yue stared at Ziyan, and sighed, obviously knowing clear as day just how incredibly thin-skinned and sensitive her cat eared friend truly was, so seeing her absolute breakdown, she mercifully chose to not try and embarrass her any further for the morning.

Instead, she swallowed her toast, her expression shifting into a rare stance of professional focus as she turned her focus entirely toward Shen Haoran, her own fiance that her friend just slept with.

What does she feel about it? Nothing. She was the one who offered her friend to Haoran.

In her mind, it’s better for Haoran to eat her friend than let other men do it.

”Alright, now that the main boss is finally present, let’s officially hold a tactical meeting before we have our breakfast,” Huo Yue announced, tapping her fork against her glass to gather everyone’s attention.

She then nodded toward the side of the table. ”Xiansu, your stage.”

Xu Xiansu nodded firmly and stood up from her chair, her expression completely serious.

She reached into her robes, took out her official Academy Identity Token, and swiped her finger across the jade surface, causing a massive, multi-layered blue holographic screen to project out into the open air above the table.

”The administration office officially released the formal class distributions for the freshmen early this morning,” Xu Xiansu stated, her clinical voice cutting through the clinking of silverware. ”According to the official data, the academy’s class structures are not divided by age, nor are they divided by the chronological time of a student’s enrollment. Instead, the hierarchy is strictly divided by their literal cultivation levels.”

The entire room fell into an absolute, disciplined silence as the various Crowns and villa girls listened in with sharp focus.

”First, we have the Golden Class, which is reserved strictly for the common students residing within the Golden Core Realm,” Xu Xiansu explained, pointing her finger at the glowing ledger. ”Next is the Nascent Class, meant for the upper-tier students at the Nascent Soul Realm. Above that is the Spirit Class, which houses the elite geniuses who have successfully reached the Spirit Ascension Realm. And finally, sitting at the absolute apex of the freshman generation, is the Nirvana Class, reserved exclusively for the monstrous prodigies who have already attained the Nirvana Rebirth Realm.”

She paused, scrolling down to reveal a secondary set of parameters.

”Furthermore, each of these individual classes is also heavily subdivided into different internal academic grades, stretching from Grade A being the absolute best, down to Grade E being the absolute worst. This specific grading metric strictly follows the performance of the students based on their entrance exam scores, their raw cultivation level, and their innate talent. The higher your assigned grade, the better the cultivation resources, the more legendary the Master Teachers assigned to your hall, and the higher the amount of administrative authority you can wield within the academy gates.”

Xu Xiansu deactivated the screen with a swift wave of her wrist, her sharp eyes turning intensely serious as she locked her gaze directly onto Shen Haoran’s calm face.

”Now, I am explicitly telling all of you this data for one single, ultimate reason only...” she murmured, her voice echoing clearly through the grand hall. ”What exactly is our goal in this academy?”

Everyone went silent.

”Resources? The Shen Clan is the strongest and wealthiest clan in the known world.”

”Fame? We could just travel the world and show off our talent.”

”Strength? We are in this school because we are the best in this generation.”

”Backing? Aside from Qian Yunxi and I, who amongst here actually lacks a backing?”

”So, what is it that we seek in this academy?”

She stared at every single one in the room, ”Before we can make any concrete plans, we need to have an idea about everyone’s goal, so that it will be easier for us to actually conquer this academy.”