Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

At this moment, in the middle of a dense, shadowy forest miles away from the mountain peak, a group of native servants were walking slowly through the tangled underbrush.

They moved with extreme caution, crouching low to the earth and stepping with utmost delicate precision over brittle twigs and dry leaves, terrified to be discovered by roaming demonic beasts.

The forest was thick with an eerie, lingering mist, and every rustle of the wind through the ancient canopy made the poor mortals jump, clutching their wooden spears and some stones tightly against their trembling chests.

Just then, without any warning, the space directly in front of them suddenly distorted like the rippling surface of a disturbed pond.

*SWIISH—!*

A blinding flash of silver spatial light burst through the fog, tearing open a brief rift in the atmospheric continuum.

Out from the tear tumbled a blood-drenched, battered figure, crashing heavily onto the damp soil at the natives’ feet.

Qing Yan appeared, startling the natives so severely that several of them let out choked gasps and fell backward into the mud, frantically raising their weapons in sheer panic.

However, the figure lying before them didn’t attack.

Qing Yan, missing his entire left arm, lay pooled in his own dark crimson blood.

His clothes were shredded into blood-soaked rags, his face caked in dirt, and his left shoulder socket spurted fresh, agonizing streams of red into the grass.

He raised his remaining right hand slightly, his fingers trembling, his lips pale and completely drained of color.

Qing Yan stared at them with unfocused, bloodshot eyes and muttered weakly, ”Help...”

Before his words could fully clear his throat, his strength gave out completely.

His eyes rolled back into his head, his hand dropped limply into the dirt, and he passed out cold, drowning in an ocean of dark unconsciousness.

The native servants stood frozen for a long, silent moment, staring at the unconscious, bloody youth.

Recognizing the Imperial Academy robes he wore—the very same robes worn by the almighty ”immortals” who ruled this trial dimension—the elder of the servants cautiously stepped forward, checked his faint pulse, and motioned frantically to the others.

”Quick! He’s an immortal disciple! Wrap his wound and carry him to the hidden cave before the scent of blood attracts the wolves!”

*

*

*

Meanwhile, back at the ruined mountain peak.

The wind whistled softly over the pulverized stone and scorched grass where the intense battle had just taken place.

The deep, heavy silence hung over the summit, interrupted only by the lingering crackle of residual solar and lunar qi fading from the air.

”That guy... How on earth did he do that?” said Xia Mengyao, her brows furrowed in genuine, deep confusion as she stared at the empty patch of dirt where Qing Yan had vanished. ”Aren’t we strictly stripped of any external spatial rings, storage pouches, and any spiritual items before we enter this exam space?”

Her concern was entirely valid. The academy elders had took all their belongings and even placed extremely strict arrays at the entry portals to ensure a completely fair testing ground for all Golden Core students.

As for her own sword—the pristine, shimmering blade she carried—it was uniquely tied directly to her own soul.

It was the ancient, saint-grade sword that she and Mingye had successfully inherited and retrieved back then during the grand Bright Silver Emperor inheritance grounds.

Because the weapon was bound to her very soul core and integrated into her spiritual sea, the academy elders couldn’t possibly rip it out of her without destroying her cultivation foundation, right?

So, out of respect for her background and the sword’s nature, they had allowed her to bring it into the trial.

As for Luo Mingye, the other twin sword that belonged to her from that same ancient inheritance had been personally re-forged by her own grand-paternal ancestor—an Earthly Saint Realm expert of supreme renown.

Her grandfather had used heavenly materials to re-shape the divine blade, turning it into the magnificent, ancient wooden zither that she used to channel her music today.

Not only that, but under her command, the zither could instantly revert back into its original, lethal sword form whenever she required pure, offensive martial prowess.

As for Ling Luochen herself, her dark red demonic sword was also soul-bound directly to her body. Its ancient power was tied inextricably to her artificial physique—the terrifying Descending Asura Demonic Physique—acting as an extension of her own skeletal and meridian system.

None of them had brought in external artifacts through hidden spatial bags; their weapons were part of their very beings.

Yet Qing Yan had pulled out an unregistered Rank 4 war spear and activated a space-tearing escape talisman out of nowhere!

”That guy is full of mystery...” said Ling Luochen, her brows furrowed, ”A low-born disciple with trash talent suddenly using such sophisticated spear art, carrying a Rank 4 weapon, and possessing a spatial escape item capable of bypassing Sister Xiansu’s physique... It doesn’t add up at all.”

The others slowly nodded in agreement, their eyes reflecting a shared sense of suspicion.

They couldn’t help but feel like Qing Yan was rather mysterious, and despite their initial dislike of his loud behavior, his bizarre, unnatural capabilities made them deeply curious about what secret legacy or hidden master was standing behind him.

”What mystery?”

Xu Xiansu rolled her eyes with an expression of pure, unadulterated contempt.

She flicked the blood off her hand, her voice dripping with dry disdain.

”He’s nothing but a pathetic cheater who used some underhanded, forbidden trick to smuggle items past the portal seals. If he truly possessed deep capability or a grand legacy, if he could escape like that whenever he wanted, he would’ve done so before I ripped his arm out of his body.”

She snorted softly, turning her back on the blood-stained dirt. ”He waited until his life was on the line and burned his only lifesaving card out of pure terror. He’s a clown.”

The others thought about her blunt words for a brief moment, picturing his desperate, crying expression right before he vanished, and nodded in agreement.

What Xu Xiansu said was completely logical—a true hidden expert wouldn’t scream like a slaughtered pig while getting his arm torn off.

”Let’s go,” Xu Xiansu spoke calmly, her aura completely settling back into her body.

She turned around, stepping off the ruined plateau and walking away down the mountain path, with the rest of the girls—Xia Mengyao, Luo Mingye, Ning Xueli, Ling Luochen, and Zhu Ziyan—following closely behind her as they continued their journey through the trial grounds.

*

*

*

At this moment.

Qing Yan slowly opened his eyes, and immediately found himself inside a dark, and damp cave, his entire body aching.

The air was heavy with the smell of wet earth and ancient moss.

The ground beneath him was hard, uneven stone covered in a thin layer of dry straw.

He groaned loudly, his whole body trembling as a sharp, agonizing phantom throb shot through his upper body.

He pushed himself up, sitting up and stared at his empty arm, where a thick, crude wrap of herbs and cloth bound the jagged stump at his shoulder, and cursed.

”That damn, psycho woman!” Qing Yan spat, his bloodshot eyes burning with unadulterated venom. ”One day, I will make her pay! I’ll break her legs, tear her physique apart, and make her kneel in front of me!”

[Host, the system had now almost ran out of energy from saving you,] the system’s cold, mechanical voice echoed inside his consciousness, crackling with static and sounding far weaker than before. [The Escape Talisman and the emergency combat protocol consumed 98% of my core reserves. You need to capture a goddess fast, or the system will disappear completely.]

Qing Yan gritted his teeth, slamming his remaining right fist against the damp stone floor in sheer frustration. ”Where would I even find one!? You saw them! Almost every woman I encountered hates my guts! SSS difficulty! IMPOSSIBLE difficulty! They look at me like I’m a worm!”

[The system also considered that,] the interface flashed weakly before his vision, [so the system decided to lower the standards. As long as they are a female, you will receive a reward upon increasing affection.]

[And to help the host, the system decided to increase your charm by 1000% for the next hour. At that time, the host need to earn at least 50 points of affection points to replenish the system’s core energy.]

Qing Yan’s eyes immediately beamed at that. His jaw dropped, a broad, triumphant grin spreading across his pale, sweat-stained face as he forgot about the excruciating pain in his left shoulder.

”A thousand percent charm boost?!” he gasped, a manic laugh bubbling up in his chest. ”Haha! Hahaha! Why didn’t you say so earlier, system?! With a thousand percent more charm, what kind of woman couldn’t I capture? They’ll be throwing themselves at my feet! Even if a ice-cold holy maiden walks past me, she’ll fall head over heels in love on the spot!”

”Oh, you’re awake, honored immortal.”

A gentle, feminine voice sounded from the entrance of the dark cave.

Qing Yan turned around, startled, and saw a beautiful female native smiling at him.

She was dressed in simple, rustic animal skins that hugged her slender waist, carrying a wooden bowl filled with clean mountain water and medicinal herbs.

Her long black hair fell softly over her shoulders, and her dark, innocent eyes held a look of deep relief.

Qing Yan’s eyes lit up instantly. ’System, scan her right now!’

[Initiating Scan on Target: Xiao Hua...]

[Name: Xiao Hua]

[Identity: Native Servant Herbalist]

[Charm: 80]

[Affection: 30 (Friendly / Grateful)]

[Capture Difficulty: D]

Qing Yan’s eyes immediately lit up like burning torches.

A D level difficulty! Finally! Finally something that isn’t insane! Finally a normal human target without a terrifying physique or an SSS difficulty rating!

With his 1000% charm boost active, gaining 20 or 30 affection points from a simple village girl with a D-rank difficulty would be as easy as taking candy from a baby!

He put on his most charming, suave, and gentle smile, adjusting his posture to look like a brave, wounded hero.

He was about to open his mouth and speak his first smooth, romantic line when a deafening, earth-shattering roar suddenly echoed from the forest outside!

*ROOOOOAAAR—!*

The entire cave trembled violently. Dust and small pebbles rained down from the ceiling as the terrifying soundwave blew through the entrance.

Qing Yan was startled, his mouth freezing open, while the native woman, Xiao Hua, immediately paled in sheer horror.

She dropped the wooden bowl, which shattered on the stone floor, and ran outside to check on her fellow villagers.

”Wait!” Qing Yan pushed himself up with his one remaining arm, gritting his teeth against the pain, and hurriedly followed her out into the sunlight.

Outside the small cave hidden in the valley, everything was in chaos.

Native men and women were screaming, running frantically for their lives, as a terrifying nightmare stood in the center of the clearing.

They were greeted by a massive Gorilla.

The creature was easily six meters tall, built like a mountain of raw, grotesque muscle.

Its fur was patchy, coarse, and matted with dried mud and blood. Its face was horrifyingly, intensely, extremely ugly—possessing a crooked, broken snout, lopsided yellow fangs protruding from its lower jaw, a flat, squished nose, and tiny, beady, bloodshot eyes that bulged out of its skull.

Its massive chest was so thick and muscular that veins pulsed like thick ropes beneath its dark hide, radiating a terrifying, violent aura of a Golden Core Demonic Beast.

Everyone paled in fright, trembling in utter terror, even Qing Yan, who instinctively took three steps back toward the safety of the cave.

But then...

The giant, hideously ugly gorilla turned its gaze towards the clearing. Its beady eyes swept over the screaming natives, past the fleeing villagers, until its glare landed directly on Qing Yan’s figure standing near the cave entrance.

The gorilla paused.

The massive beast blinked once. Then twice.

The active, 1000% charm aura radiating invisibly from Qing Yan’s soul washed over the creature’s senses like an irresistible, intoxicating wave of cosmic pheromones.

In an instant, the gorilla’s fierce, murderous expression melted away.

The bloodshot, terrifying light in its eyes vanished, and its tiny eyes suddenly transformed into literal, glowing pink hearts.

A bizarre, bashful blush flushed through the dark skin of its grotesque face, and a thick stream of drool leaked from the corner of its fanged jaw.

*Ding!*

A status panel automatically expanded right in front of Qing Yan’s face.

[Name: None]

[Identity: Peak Golden Core Demonic Mountain Gorilla (Female)]

[Charm: Maybe She Has A Beautiful Soul]

[Affection: 90 (In Heat / Completely Infatuated)]

[Capture Difficulty: Public Toilet]

Qing Yan paled even further. The blood drained so completely from his face that he looked like a fresh corpse, his eyes bulged out of his head, his body shaking violently from head to toe in sheer, unadulterated horror.

’S-System...’ Qing Yan stammered in his mind, his voice cracking into a high-pitched, pathetic whimper. ’System... when you said ’as long as they are a female’... do you mean that literally?! As in ANY female, human, beast, monster, or animal in the entire universe?!’

[...Yes, host,] the system replied after a brief, deeply uncomfortable silence. [To help you in your task, the system’s core programming changed and made so it no longer discriminate based on species or physical aesthetics. A female entity is a female entity.]

”No, no, no, no, no! CANCEL IT! TURN OFF THE CHARM BOOST! TURN IT OFF RIGHT NOW!” Qing Yan screamed frantically inside his head, backing away so fast he almost tripped over his own feet.

”HOOO-HOOO! AH-AH-AH!”

The giant gorilla let out a high-pitched, coy, and shockingly feminine squeal that sounded utterly terrifying coming from a six-meter mountain of muscle.

The beast suddenly slammed her massive, hyper-muscular arms against her chest in a bizarre display of mating affection, before moving with such great speed that she blurred through the air, breaking the sound barrier, and captured Qing Yan in a split second!

*THUD!*

Her massive, thick, hairy hand snatched Qing Yan by the waist, scooping him up into her tight, suffocating embrace like a giant plush doll!

She lifted him close to her hideous face, batting her long, sparse eyelashes at him and puckering her massive, drooling lips for a kiss!

”NOOOOOOO! NO! NO! SAVE ME! SOMEONE SAVE ME! TEACHERS! ELDERS! ANYONE! HELP ME—!”

Qing Yan’s frantic, blood-curdling screams echoed across the entire valley as the massive, infatuated gorilla held him tightly against her muscular chest, turning around and bounding joyfully off into the deep forest with her prized new husband!