Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Elder Zhao and Advisor Liu were running through the crumbling remains of the pitch-black subterranean corridors like their lives were on the line.

Their lungs burned, their chests heaved, and their dirt-stained silk robes fluttered wildly as they sprinted through the damp stone tunnels.

Every shadow seemed to twist with impending doom, and every echo of distant, grinding stone behind them sent fresh waves of paralyzing terror shooting down their spines.

They were high-ranking council members of Leaf Green City, men who had spent centuries delegating orders from comfortable carved chairs, yet now they were reduced to panicked, panting animals scrambling through the dark.

”Faster! We just need to reach the auxiliary array control chamber!” Advisor Liu wheezed out, his face pale as chalk, cold sweat dripping off his chin. ”Once we turn those secondary keys, the central pagoda will be locked down tight! Faction Leader Mu Gang will save us!”

”Wait for me! My qi already running dry!” Elder Zhao stammered, his old legs shaking as he struggled to keep up with his younger colleague’s desperate pace.

He was already rusty, after all, ever since he got this position, he had never once trained or fight again, making him severely weaker than average Spirit Ascension realm on the same level as him.

But at that exact, terrifying moment...

SWISH—!

A streak of vibrant, crimson-red light shot out from the shadows above like an striking viper.

Out of nowhere, a long, glowing red rope suddenly appeared and wrapped itself tightly around Elder Zhao’s chest and arms.

”NO!” Elder Zhao gasped in horror, his mouth wide agape as the enchanted rope constricted with bone-crushing force, pinning his arms flat against his ribs.

As the rope violently yanked him backward into the darkness, Elder Zhao frantically reached out with a trembling, desperate hand, grabbing hold of Advisor Liu’s trailing sleeve.

”Liu! Help me! Pull me out! Don’t leave me!”

Advisor Liu’s eyes bulged with pure, selfish panic that he didn’t even look back with a shred of pity.

”Get off me, you old fool!” Advisor Liu shrieked, frantically trying to slap away Elder Zhao’s clawing hands with his free palm. ”Let go! You’re going to get us both killed!”

He violently kicked Elder Zhao’s hand away, tearing his own silk sleeve in the process.

But at that exact second—

BOOM—!

A terrifying shadow dropped from the stone ceiling like a hungry predator launching itself directly at its helpless prey as space itself seemed to buckle under the explosive force of the descent.

It was Shen Ji!

Before Advisor Liu could even scream, Shen Ji’s massive hand clamped around Advisor Liu’s neck like an iron vise.

The sheer momentum of the leap slammed Advisor Liu violently back-first into the cold granite floor!

THUD! CRACK!

The stone floor fractured beneath Advisor Liu’s spine, knocking the wind completely out of his lungs in a sickening gasp, right in time for the crimson rope to violently pull the screaming Elder Zhao away into the dark shadows where Shen Xinye was waiting.

With Advisor Liu pinned flat underneath him, Shen Ji looked down at the pale, choking council member with wild, bloodthirsty eyes.

He threw his head back and laughed—a booming, terrifying sound that rattled the stone walls of the narrow corridor.

”Finally caught you, old rat!” Shen Ji cackled. ”You are one hell of a runner! Let’s see if your body is as durable as you are fast!”

Without giving Advisor Liu a single second to recover his breath or gather his qi, Shen Ji raised his massive right fist high into the air and brought it crashing down straight into Advisor Liu’s face.

BANG—!

Blood and broken teeth instantly sprayed across the stone floor.

”AARGH!” Advisor Liu shrieked in agony.

BANG—!

Shen Ji drove his left fist directly into Advisor Liu’s jaw, fracturing the bone.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Rhythmic, bone-rattling punches rained down in rapid succession!

But as the violent beating commenced, a terrifying, dark-golden aura began to slowly radiate from every single pore of Shen Ji’s body.

The air around them grew stiflingly hot, vibrating with a heavy, oppressive physical pressure.

This was the sign that his Tyrant King Sacred Physique was already starting to work!

This was an ancient, terrifying bodily constitution—a physique that possessed no upper limit during active combat.

It made its wielder exponentially stronger, faster, and tougher the longer and harder he fought.

Every drop of blood spilled, every impact endured, and every strike unleashed served only to fuel the innate, tyrannical furnace burning within his veins.

Right now, with every brutal punch he threw into Advisor Liu’s bleeding face, the raw kinetic output of the next strike was noticeably stronger, heavier, and more destructive than the last.

BANG! BANG! BOOM!

Advisor Liu’s nose was completely flattened, his eyes swollen shut, and his face covered in a gory mask of his own blood! Driven by the absolute, desperate terror of being beaten to death like a dog, Advisor Liu’s survival instincts violently erupted.

”GET OFF ME, YOU MONSTER!” Advisor Liu screamed through his broken teeth.

Gathering every single drop of his remaining qi into his dantians, Advisor Liu slammed both of his open palms squarely against Shen Ji’s chest.

”Tidal Wave Blast!”

BOOOOM—!

A massive, high-pressure eruption of concentrated water-element qi exploded out from Advisor Liu’s palms at point-blank range.

The explosive force was strong enough to breach a steel gate, and it managed to forcefully push Shen Ji’s heavy frame backward, sending him skidding twenty feet down the stone tunnel.

Advisor Liu didn’t hesitate for a second as he instantly scrambled backward on his hands and knees, wiping the thick blood from his eyes as he gained some distance, frantically pulling out a pair of high-grade defensive emerald rings from his spatial storage and slipping them onto his blood-stained fingers.

SWISH—!

A thick, multi-layered green wood-element barrier expanded around Advisor Liu, shielding his battered body.

He panted raggedly, his chest heaving up and down, his hands trembling violently as he stared through the green light at the figure standing down the dark corridor.

”I am an Advisor of Leaf Green City!” Advisor Liu choked out, his voice cracking with hysterical rage and fear. ”You think you can just beat me to death with your bare hands, you brute?!”

Down the corridor, Shen Ji slowly stood up to his full, towering height.

He casually dusted off his chest where the tidal blast had hit him, revealing nothing more than a faint, smoldering scorch mark on his dark robes.

His eyes weren’t filled with anger—they were burning with an unhinged, predatory euphoria.

The golden glow of his Tyrant King Sacred Physique flared even brighter, his muscles bulging as his aura surged to a terrifying new high.

The force of Advisor Liu’s blast hadn’t injured him; it had merely excited his physique, raising his strength to an even higher plateau.

”Heh... nice try, old rat,” Shen Ji growled, his voice deep and vibrating like a wild beast. ”Now let’s see how many punches that green bubble of yours can take!”

BOOM!

Shen Ji kicked off the ground with such explosive velocity that the stone floor beneath his boots caved in.

He launched himself forward like an unstoppable, golden war-beast, attacking Advisor Liu relentlessly.

”NO! STAY BACK!” Advisor Liu shrieked in terror.

Shen Ji closed the distance in a microsecond, his golden-clad fist smashing directly into the green barrier.

BOOOOM—!

The green shield shuddered violently, deep spiderweb cracks appearing across its surface on the very first hit.

Advisor Liu stumbled backward, coughing up a stream of blood from the shockwave passing through the barrier.

He desperately poured his remaining qi into the emerald rings, trying to reinforce the fading shield, but Shen Ji was an absolute, relentless nightmare.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Shen Ji didn’t stop for a fraction of a second as he unleashed a ferocious, machine-gun barrage of full-power punches, heavy elbows, and crushing knee strikes straight against the green barrier.

Left, right, hook, uppercut—every single hit was exponentially faster and more terrifyingly powerful than the one before it, driven by the ever-scaling fury of his Tyrant King Sacred Physique.

The narrow corridor echoed with thunderous, deafening explosions.

The stone walls crumbled into dust, the ceiling cracked, and Advisor Liu could do absolutely nothing except stand trapped inside his flickering green bubble, weeping in utter, helpless despair as he desperately raised his arms to defend himself against the unstoppable monster smashing through his life.

But he was not reconciled!

”Damn it!” Advisor Liu cursed through his remaining blood-soaked teeth, his eyes wide with wild, frantic desperation as the cracking green barrier shattered into useless emerald shards under Shen Ji’s relentless fists.

Knowing that his physical body would be pulverized into meat paste within seconds, Advisor Liu bit down hard on his tongue, spraying a thick mist of essence blood straight into his dantians.

His qi burned to its limit, triggering an explosive, desperate manifestation of his ultimate martial strength.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

The narrow subterranean stone tunnel detonated outward as tens of thousands of tons of rock were blasted into flying shrapnel as Advisor Liu finally activated his Spirit Avatar.

A colossal, hundred meter tall ethereal green figure erupted into the subterranean hall.

It was an ancient, imposing warrior clad in massive, layered plate armor forged from compressed wood-element qi, holding a towering broadsword that radiated a sharp, cutting aura.

Hovering securely inside the glowing, crystalline forehead of the giant entity, Advisor Liu wiped the blood from his swollen eyes and looked down at Shen Ji with a hysterical, vengeful snort.

”Die, you brute! Sunder under my Spirit Avatar!” Advisor Liu shrieked.

Shen Ji brought his boots to a halt amidst the swirling dust, looking up at the towering green giant with a wide, predatory grin that split his face from ear to ear.

His dark-golden aura flared to a blinding zenith, the air around him twisting under a heavy, oppressive physical gravity.

”Hahaha! Finally pulling out the big toys, little rat?!” Shen Ji bellowed, throwing his head back in pure, unbridled excitement! ”Tyrant King Sacred Armor!”

BOOOOOOM—!

At that exact second, the dark-golden energy radiating from his blood and marrow violently condensed, wrapping around his towering frame.

Dense, ancient golden dragon scales, heavy spiked pauldrons, an impenetrable chestplate engraved with ancient sovereign runes, and a fearsome, horned war helmet materialized out of thin air, completely enveloping his body in a glorious, tyrannical golden armor.

This was the ultimate combat form of his Tyrant King Sacred Physique after reaching the revered stage of Minor Completion.

He wasn’t able to use this legendary, god-like armor during the Heaven’s Choice Tournament years ago against their young master, Shen Haoran, simply because he was so completely overwhelmed, outmaneuvered, and dismantled by Haoran’s unmatched, terrifying speed and strength that he was eliminated before he could even trigger the physique’s transformation.

That bitter memory had burned inside his soul for years—and now, the unleashed power of his Minor Completion physique was about to tear through everything in its path.

”TAKE THIS!” Advisor Liu screamed, commanding his Spirit Avatar to bring its massive, sixty-foot green broadsword crashing down straight toward Shen Ji’s skull.

WHOOOOOOOSH—!

The giant blade cut through space with the weight of an collapsing mountains, but Shen Ji didn’t even bother drawing a weapon or stepping back.

Draped in his Tyrant King Sacred Armor, he charged straight forward into the attack!

BOOOOM—!!!!!

The massive broadsword slammed squarely into Shen Ji’s gold-armored shoulders!

The shockwave wiped out the surrounding stone pillars, but Shen Ji didn’t bend a single knee.

His Tyrant King Sacred Armor flared with blinding golden runes, absorbing and neutralizing the cutting wood qi effortlessly.

”WHAT?!” Advisor Liu gasped in pure horror.

Before the ancient spirit warrior could pull its massive sword back, Shen Ji reached up with his golden-armored gauntlets, grabbed the flat side of the giant blade, and used it as a springboard!

BOOM!

Shen Ji kicked off the giant sword, launching his heavy, armored body straight onto the spirit avatar’s massive right arm.

”Get off! GET OFF MY AVATAR!” Advisor Liu panicked, commanding the spirit warrior to thrash its massive arm violently, trying to shake the intruder into the stone debris below.

Shen Ji merely laughed like a wild, unhinged demon.

Moving with terrifying, beast-like agility, his golden-armored boots and clawed gauntlets dug directly into the green energy plates of the avatar.

He was climbing and moving through the giant spirit avatar with fluid, unstoppable force, scaling its thick forearm, leaping across its massive shoulder, and ascending up its neck like an apex predator stalking its prey.

Every time the spirit avatar raised its energy fists to swat him away like a nuisance, Shen Ji used his bare, golden-clad knuckles to smash the incoming giant hand into scattered green sparks, which Advisor Liu was desperately trying to repair.

BANG! BANG! CRACK!

”Die! Die! DIE!” Advisor Liu screamed frantically, sweeping the avatar’s broadsword across its own shoulders in a desperate attempt to slice Shen Ji off his own body.

Shen Ji didn’t flinch. He ducked beneath the giant blade’s path, leaped onto the spirit warrior’s face, and slammed his heavy, golden-armored fist directly into the avatar’s giant nose bridge.

BOOOOM—!

The entire green giant shuddered violently, its head jolting backward as deep, spiderweb cracks spread across its face.

Advisor Liu, trapped inside the crystalline forehead compartment, was thrown against the internal energy walls, coughing up another heavy splatter of crimson blood as the brutal feedback ripped through his dantians.

”You can’t hide in a glass box, old man!” Shen Ji’s booming, terrifying voice echoed right outside the forehead crystal.

Through the semi-transparent green energy barrier, Advisor Liu looked up paralyzing terror—and saw the horned, golden-armored helmet of Shen Ji staring straight into his soul.

Shen Ji pulled both of his golden-scaled arms back, his dantians roaring like a volcano as the Tyrant King Sacred Armor channeled every ounce of its scaling, tyrannical physical force into his knuckles!

”Tyrant King Fist!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

Shen Ji drove both of his fists simultaneously into the forehead of the Spirit Avatar.

The high density energy barrier shattered like fragile glass under the mountain crushing impact.

The massive spirit avatar let out a silent, flickering groan as its head caved in, green energy sparks showering in every direction like a dying firework.

Before the avatar could completely collapse and dissolve into thin air, Shen Ji used his heavy, golden-armored hands to violently pry open the shattered energy gap.

CRACK! TEAR!

With a terrifying display of pure, unadulterated physical dominance, Shen Ji broke cleanly through the forehead of the avatar and physically crawled inside the glowing cockpit chamber, reaching his golden-clad arm straight toward the screaming, blood-covered, and utterly helpless Advisor Liu!