Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

The underground cavern shook violently from a massive, deafening explosion.

The thick granite ceiling cracked into a dozen jagged fissures, sending heavy boulders and raining cascades of pulverized stone stalactites crashing down into the subterranean abyss below.

TRRRRRRRR! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Standing right at the center of the vibrating stone platform, his wild eyes glowing with a manic, unhinged radiance and his robes flying in the atmospheric heatwaves, Shen Cai grinned like a true madman.

His head thrown back, he burst into a booming, psychotic laugh that echoed off the collapsing cavern walls.

”HA HA HA HA HA! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!”

Shen Cai roared at the top of his lungs, his hand repeatedly slamming down on the glowing red firing lever of the massive dark-star iron artillery cannon.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The three-meter-long barrel of the colossal Grade 8 artifact flashed with a blinding, incandescent crimson light, unleashing a relentless, rapid-fire bombardment of ultra-dense, concentrated destruction shells straight at the defensive position ahead.

Every single blast carried the kinetic weight of a falling meteor, tearing through space and melting the surrounding granite walls into flowing, liquid magma in a fraction of a second.

To sustain such an absurd, continuous barrage with a Grade 8 destructive artifact, Shen Cai was literally burning through hundreds of thousands of high grade spirit stones every single second.

Behind the cannon’s heavy tripod base, a massive, glowing mountain of pure, top quality spirit stones was being rapidly consumed by the weapon’s voracious energy intake, turning into empty grey ash at a rate that would make even the wealthy leaders of top-tier sects faint from sheer financial horror.

However, for the Shen Clan, no, even just for him, it wasn’t much. He can keep firing this thing for awhile.

”Hahaha! More! Faster!” Shen Cai cackled in pure, ecstatic delight, completely unbothered by the astronomical cost of the ammunition. ”Let’s see if these old bastards can hide behind their wet shields forever!”

On the opposite side of the cavern, it was a like a living nightmare.

Advisor Liu and Elder Zhao were utterly pale, their faces drained of every drop of color, cold sweat pouring down their trembling necks like torrential rain.

They were crouching frantically behind a massive, multi-layered defensive barrier created by their elite bodyguard escort, clutching their robes and whimpering in sheer, paralyzing terror every time another Grade 8 cannon shell detonated against their shields.

”HOLD THE SHIELD! IN THE NAME OF THE HEAVENS, HOLD THE SHIELD!” Advisor Liu shrieked, his voice cracking into a high-pitched, pathetic whine as a stray shockwave nearly knocked him off his feet. ”IF THAT CANNON BREACHES OUR BARRIER, WE WILL BE TURNED INTO ASH BEFORE WE CAN EVEN SCREAM!”

”A-Are those insane brats throwing away a fortune?!” Elder Zhao screamed in absolute, mouth-agape horror, his trembling hands pointing at the mountain of burning spirit stones behind the cannon. ”That isn’t a combat strategy! That is a financial lunacy! He’s burning enough spirit stones to purchase three entire cities just to blow us up!”

The seven early-stage Spirit Ascension realm experts and twelve late-stage Nascent Soul guards were doing their best to block the overwhelming, continuous bombardment.

Their faces were contorted in horrific agony, their veins bulging across their necks and foreheads like thick, twisting serpents.

”Celestial Ocean Fortress Barrier!” the guard captain, a Spirit Ascension realm expert screamed, biting his tongue and spraying a mist of essence blood directly into the air!

SWISH-SWISH-SWISH—!

The seven Spirit Ascension masters joined their palms together, channeling every single drop of their combined water and earth element spiritual energy to construct seven interlinked, massive glowing blue-and-green energy domes!

The twelve Nascent Soul wardens poured their dantians dry into the base of the barrier, desperately reinforcing the defensive runes to resist the unstoppable, repetitive impact force.

BOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Every high-caliber blast from Shen Cai’s Grade 8 cannon slammed squarely into the blue water domes.

The mere contact of the two sent violent shockwaves ripping backward through the seven Spirit Ascension experts’ bodies, causing them to cough up heavy streams of bright crimson blood over and over again.

Their knees buckled, their spiritual pathways ruptured, and their bones cracked under the suffocating weight.

The subterranean cavern itself was slowly getting destroyed.

The four massive, glowing green subterranean spirit veins feeding energy to the city above were flickering wildly as the collapsing ceiling structures smashed into the array nodes, filling the air with floating, unstable green plasma and blinding clouds of pulverized stone dust.

While the cannon roared and the ground caved in, standing a few dozen paces behind the manic artificer, completely untouched by the flying debris were Shen Xinye, Shen Ji, and Shen Jian.

The three of them just stood at the back, looking quite annoyed at Shen Cai for going completely wild.

Shen Jian raised his hand, placing his fingers over his ear as another deafening BOOM rattled his eardrums.

His eyes narrowed into an irritated glare as he looked at Shen Cai’s laughing back.

”Can someone please tell that lunatic to calm down?” Shen Jian sighed loudly, his voice dripping with pure annoyance. ”He’s making so much noise that my ears are going to ring for three days straight. We were sent down here to cleanly secure the subterranean spirit vein core and lock down the array, not to perform a public demolition show.”

Shen Ji crossed his massive, heavy arms over his chest, his sharp eyes watching the cavern ceiling crack further as a deep, displeased frown creased his forehead.

”If he keeps firing that oversized piece of junk with hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, he’s going to collapse the entire underground cavern down on top of our heads before he even kills those two old fools.”

Shen Xinye simply stared at him and shook her head, sighing. ”It’s always the same with him. Give him a single new weapon and a bag of spirit stones, and he forgets the objective entirely. He’s wasting Young Master Haoran’s precious resources just to satisfy his own twisted, childish urge to blow things up.”

”Hey! Shen Cai!” Shen Jian finally shouted over the deafening roar of the artillery, his voice carrying a sharp pressure. ”Wrap it up already! If you break the subterranean spirit veins and ruin the Young Master’s plan, I’m going to let Shen Ji throw you straight into your own cannon barrel!”

Shen Cai didn’t even turn his head, merely letting out another wild, unhinged laugh as he slammed the firing lever down yet again, sending another roaring star-iron shell hurtling straight toward the cracking water shields of the terrified, blood-spitting council members!

”Goddammit!” Shen Jian felt his cheek twitch in annoyance at being ignored, ”Just listen to me will y—”

He didn’t get to finish his words, as that moment—

Crack.

A sound echoed. It was sharp, crisp, and travelled through the vast subterranean cavern like a snapping bone.

Everyone froze in an instant, including Shen Cai, whose hand hovered mere millimeters above the cannon’s firing lever, and tHe wild, manic laughter died in his throat.

Then, every single gaze slowly drifted upward toward the arched granite ceiling above them.

The massive, ancient stone arches supporting the weight of Leaf Green City were trembling violently, fine stone dust and tiny pebbles raining down like dry snow.

Silence immediately ensued, thick and suffocating, as if breathing too loudly or making the slightest movement could trigger an unavoidable catastrophe.

The two terrified advisors held their breath, their faces completely pale, while the blood-covered Spirit Ascension guards remained locked in their defensive poses, not daring to shift even an inch of their weight.

For several long, agonizing seconds, the cavern hung in a fragile, suspended stillness.

The dust settled slightly, and the heavy cracking noise did not repeat.

After a while, when it seemed the structural integrity had somehow held, nothing happened.

Shen Cai let out a long sigh of relief and grinned, wiping the sweat from his forehead. ”Phew! Well, nothing seems to be wro—”

He didn’t get to finish his words as the entire subterranean cavern suddenly collapsed.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

The ancient ceiling gave way completely under the accumulated stress of hundreds of high-caliber Grade 8 cannon detonations!

Tens of thousands of tons of solid granite, heavy earth, and shattered array pillars caved in with an earth-shattering roar, burying the primary spirit vein chamber, the stone platforms, and every living soul beneath an apocalyptic mountain of falling rubble.

All over the city, everyone who was fighting—from the blood-stained streets near the Eastern Gardens where Huo Yue’s flames burned, to the quiet alleyways where Shen Tao and Shen Fei stood, to the shattered meeting hall where Shen Haoran sat face-to-face with Mu Gang—noticed the massive, low-frequency tremor that shuddered through the earth beneath their boots.

Yet, despite the jarring shaking of the ground, no one paid it any serious attention, treating it as merely another natural byproduct of the violent, city-wide war unfolding around them.

Just then, amidst the suffocating dust clouds and grinding stone far below the surface, the mountain of fallen rubble exploded violently outward.

EXPLODE—!

From the rubbles of the cavern, a massive blue ethereal figure—a hundred and twenty meter tall, imposing half-dragon half-man entity with shimmering aquatic scales, razor-sharp talons, and a long draconic tail—emerged into the light!

It was the fused Spirit Avatar of the lead captain of the guards assigned to protect the two advisors.

The energy giant swept its massive, clawed arm through the air, blasting away thousands of pounds of crushed rock to clear a path.

Hovering securely inside the forehead of his Spirit Avatar, the lead captain turned toward the two coughing, dirt-covered council members staggering out of a crevice.

”Advisor Liu, Elder Zhao, please go and activate the formation immediately!” the captain shouted, his voice echoing through the dragon-man’s throat like thunder. ”We will hold them off here no matter the cost!”

The two advisors stared at each other for a fraction of a second, nodded frantically in shared terror, and immediately scurried away like frightened rodents, running as fast as their legs could carry them toward the secondary array access tunnel deeper in the ruins.

Then, at that exact moment...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Six more massive Spirit Avatars of varying colors and elemental affinities rose from the pulverized ruins one after another.

A fiery red winged warrior, a heavy brown granite titan, an emerald wood spirit, a pale white wind phantom, a dark violet lightning conqueror, and a shimmering silver blade master all manifested into reality, their massive frames towering over the cavernous ruins as they lined up beside the blue half-dragon captain to form an impenetrable wall of martial might.

Standing on top of a flat, overturned boulder, dusting off his dark silk robes with an expression of pure, unbothered excitement, Shen Cai looked up at the seven towering energy giants lining up against him.

He didn’t panic, hell, he didn’t even flinch, and instead, Shen Cai just laughed out loud, his eyes sparkling with absolute, thrill-seeking mockery!

”Hahaha! You think being big makes you strong?!” Shen Cai scoffed, his hands moving in a swift blur. ”Come out!”

From his spatial storage ring, he unleashed a massive, blinding flash of silver-and-gold spatial light.

THUD—!!!!!

A heavy, bone-rattling impact shook the bedrock as an absurdly massive artifact materialized right in front of him.

It was a colossal, hundred and fifty meter tall humanoid metallic puppet—a towering, sleek, and terrifyingly engineered battle artifact constructed entirely from rare Dark-Star Meteor Iron, high-grade Divine Platinum, and reinforced Dragon-Bone Alloy.

Its broad, angular chest plate was shaped like a roaring golden dragon head, its eyes glowing with twin beams of lethal, concentrated crimson light.

Massive, articulate metallic arm joints were built with multi-layered rotation gears, housing retractable energy blades and high-caliber array muzzles within its forearms, while its back mounted four heavy, wing-like thruster conduits pulsing with compressed spirit-stone plasma.

The sheer craftsmanship was breathtaking—sleek, ancient, elegant, yet radiating a cold, unyielding aura of absolute technological and alchemical dominance.

Every single inch of its polished metallic armor was intricately etched with golden array runes that spelled out the supreme, undisputed glory of his lineage.

If anyone ask why Beast Tamers weren’t put in high regard? It’s because of these. Who would raise a bunch of beasts that costs too much resources when you can mass produced artifacts like this one?

Shen Cai leapt smoothly into the air, landing inside the glowing, glass-walled control cockpit positioned safely within the robot’s chest.

Shen Cai grinned, his voice amplified through the metallic beast’s roaring speakers as he looked down at the seven Spirit Ascension avatars in disdain, not putting them in his eyes at all.

”Let me show you backwater dirt-dwellers what true, supreme engineering looks like!” Shen Cai declared, his eyes flashing with aristocratic pride. ”Before the pinnacle of my Shen Clan’s creation, your pitiful, temporary spirit avatars are nothing more than fragile glass waiting to be crushed into dust!”