Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Mu Gang’s face contorted into a monstrous, grotesque mask of pure, bloodthirsty madness.

Seeing Shen Haoran pinned and constrained within the suffocating coils of his wood dragons, the newly empowered Nirvana Rebirth powerhouse threw his head back and let out an apocalyptic, blood-curdling roar that shook the very foundations of Leaf Green City.

”DIE! DIE! DIE! VAPORIZE INTO NOTHINGNESS, YOU ARROGANT LITTLE RAT!” Mu Gang screamed at the top of his lungs.

He raised his hands high above his head, his fingers clawing at the sky.

The compressed, life-eroding wood-element qi burning inside his dantians surged to a terrifying peak, condensing into a swirling, incandescent sphere of emerald plasma that hovered above the ruined district like an artificial, dying star.

WHOOOOOOOSH—!!!!!

With a violent forward thrust of his palms, Mu Gang unleashed a continuous sea boiling energy beam of pure, concentrated destruction directly down upon Shen Haoran.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

The beam of raw, radiant energy tore through the atmosphere, melting the air itself into shimmering glass before slamming squarely into Haoran’s body.

The spiritual and thermal impact detonated with catastrophic force, triggering an explosive mushroom cloud of blinding emerald fire that expanded across a three-hundred-meter radius.

Surrounding pavilion buildings, ancient stone arches, carved marble statues, and lush garden plots were instantaneously vaporized, reduced to microscopic ash and flowing liquid magma.

The subterranean spirit veins beneath the surface ruptured, spewing streams of volatile, glowing green fluid high into the night sky, causing catastrophic tremors to ripple outward, shattering the foundations of nearby city blocks.

Yet Mu Gang didn’t stop there. Driven by a frantic, hysterical desire to utterly erase every single atom of the young man before him, he hovered in mid-air and unleashed attack after relentless attack!

”Emerald Dragon’s Wrath!”

”Thousand-Leaf Annihilation Blades!”

”Celestial Forest Grave!”

BANG! BANG! BOOM! BANG! BOOM!

Massive, thousand-foot crescent blades of compressed qi, towering spectral dragons made of roaring green plasma, and heavy, meteor-like spears of solidified elemental force rained down upon the crater in an absolute, machine-gun deluge of apocalyptic destruction.

The ground caved in further and further, dropping fifty, a hundred, two hundred feet into a glowing, molten abyss of pulverized bedrock.

The sheer air pressure alone flattened every structure within a mile, sending violent shockwaves sweeping across the night sky, blowing away every cloud for leagues around.

For several continuous, deafening minutes, the entire central district of the Botanist Faction was subjected to a hellish, unrelenting bombardment that looked as if the heavens themselves were collapsing upon the earth.

”Finally, that should do it right?” Said Mu Gang, panting heavily, his chest heaving up and down, and blood trickling from the corners of his eyes from the extreme strain of burning his essence blood with Grade 8 pills.

Slowly, he brought his hands down, watching the blinding smoke, searing thermal dust, and swirling emerald embers slowly began to part under the howling mountain winds.

Mu Gang stared down into the center of the deep, molten crater, expecting to see nothing more than a charred, unrecognizable smear of bloody ash where the arrogant boy once stood.

Instead, his heart dropped into a cold, bottomless pit of horror.

Standing right at the center of the molten abyss, surrounded by lakes of bubbling liquid stone and smoldering crater walls, was Shen Haoran.

His elegant robes were slightly torn at the sleeves, showing his arms that reveals his tattoo, a few faint streaks of blood stained his pale skin, and his chest heaved slightly under the lingering pressure—yet he was taking it all without a single hint of panic, fear, or despair.

Most terrifyingly of all, despite taking the full, point blank brunt of a Nirvana Rebirth expert’s entire, cataclysmic arsenal, Haoran’s eyes remained as deep, tranquil, and impossibly calm as an ancient, undisturbed well.

There was no anger nor pain in his expression, there was only a cold, quiet, and profoundly analytical stillness, as if he were casually standing under a gentle spring rain rather than an apocalyptic bombardment.

That calm, unbothered look hit Mu Gang’s mind like a shattering thunderbolt.

A wave of intense, suffocating humiliation, embarrassment, and unbridled fury surged straight into Mu Gang’s brain, causing his vision to turn completely red.

’He’s... Is he underestimating me?!’ Mu Gang’s mind shrieked in hysterical disbelief. ’I burned my life essence! I use pills to breakthrough to the late stage Nirvana Rebirth Realm! I unleashed every supreme technique in my arsenal! I turned a massive area of solid stone into a molten pit! AND HE IS JUST STANDING THERE LOOKING AT ME LIKE I AM A MERE CHILD THROWING A TEMPER TANTRUM?!’

”YOU... YOU BASTARD!” Mu Gang screamed, his voice cracking into a high pitched, psychotic screech as dark veins bulged frantically across his throat! ”DO YOU THINK YOU ARE INVINCIBLE?! DO YOU THINK I AM A JOKE TO BE UNDERESTIMATED BY A NASCENT SOUL JUNIOR LIKE YOU?!”

The realization that he was being underestimated, that his strength was being openly judged, and dismissed as nothing more than an annoyance, completely destroyed the last remaining shreds of Mu Gang’s sanity.

”I WILL TEAR THAT ARROGANT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE IF IT IS THE LAST THING I DO ON THIS EARTH!” Mu Gang howled, his bloodshot eyes weeping tears of crimson blood as he gathered every single remaining drop of his burning life force, preparing to unleash a final, suicidal strike.

Haoran just raised a single finger, and motioned him to come at him with everything he got.

Mu Gang’s bloodshot eyes flashed with a psychotic glare.

Realizing that standard martial techniques energy slashes were utterly incapable of wiping the serene, infuriatingly calm look off Shen Haoran’s face, he reached the limit of his sanity.

He slammed both of his palms together, biting through his tongue and spraying a mist of essence blood into the air as he activated the forbidden, ultimate taboo art that he found in one of the trials.

”Forbidden Art: World Draining Verdant Extinction!” Mu Gang screamed, his voice sounding like two dry stones grinding together in agony.

WHOOOOOOOOOOSH—!!!!!

An unnatural, bone chilling tempest swept across the entirety of Leaf Green City.

Then, a sinister, dark green gravitational aura erupted from Mu Gang’s body, spreading out for miles in every direction.

In an instant, every tree, flower, spiritual herb, and blade of grass across the vast gardens withered, shriveled, and died, their vibrant life essence forcibly ripped from their fibers.

The stolen vitality then turned into countless glowing streams of emerald light that converged rapidly above Mu Gang’s trembling hands, compressing into a floating, unstable green energy ball of pure, absolute power.

The sphere of compressed life force crackled with violent, destructive energy, radiating a thermal and spatial pressure so immense that the air surrounding it hissed and turned into shimmering plasma.

”DIE AND BE ERASED FROM EXISTENCE!” Mu Gang howled, violently hurling the massive green energy ball straight down towards Haoran.

BOOOOOOM—!

The sphere of pure power tore through the crater, leaving a vacuum trail in its wake.

Shen Haoran just stared at the descending energy ball with cool and completely calm eyes.

He didn’t step back, didn’t dodge, and didn’t summon a defensive artifact. As the destructive sphere reached his position, Haoran simply raised his bare right hand... and caught it!

BANG—!!!!!

The spiritual kinetic and destructive impact slammed into his open palm, but Haoran held it firm.

Inside his frame, his body was roaring like a primordial furnace.

His dantians vibrated at a terrifying, unprecedented frequency, his qi circulating at a rapid, uncontrollable pace through his meridians, and his internal power felt like it was about to burst completely out of his body!

The immense, suffocating pressure from the compressed life-eroding energy was hammering against his stubborn Nascent Soul bottleneck, driving its utmost breaking point.

Haoran felt it clearly—he was standing right on the golden verge of breaking through!

But Mu Gang, seeing Haoran actually catch his ultimate attack with a bare hand, went completely mad.

”NO! IMPOSSIBLE! PRESS DOWN! DIE!”

Mu Gang roared at the top of his lungs, pouring every single drop of his remaining life essence, blood, and qi directly into the energy ball!

The sphere expanded violently, its oppressive weight multiplying tenfold!

CRUMBLED—!

”DIE! DIE! DIE!”

The molten bedrock beneath Haoran’s boots couldn’t withstand the sudden surge of physical weight and completely caved in!

The earth shattered, dropping another hundred feet into the subterranean abyss, burying Haoran beneath a mountain of crushing green plasma!

”VANISH FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH!” Mu Gang screamed in hysterical triumph as he forced the unstable sphere to its absolute limit.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

The green energy ball exploded!

A catastrophic, blinding wave of green fire and violent shockwaves detonated inside the crater, blasting millions of tons of stone dust high into the night sky!

The explosive shockwave flattened the remaining ruins for miles around, leaving behind an absolute, desolate wasteland of smoldering rubble.

Mu Gang hovered weakly in the air, breathing heavily, his chest heaving as sweat and blood dripped off his pale chin.

He was completely exhausted, his dantians dry and his life force severely depleted from burning his essence blood.

”Haa, haa, haa~,” Mu Gang breathe heavily, weakly wiping the blood and sweat from his mouth and face.

An eerie, suffocating silence ensued over the ruined district.

Mu Gang scanned the crater below with his divine sense, and noticing there was no immediate movement or sound coming from the deep pit, a wide, hysterical grin began to spread across his blood-stained face.

He opened his mouth, about to laugh out loud in victorious relief—

But suddenly...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!!

A majestic, radiant pillar of combined gold and purple qi suddenly erupted from the bottom of the deep crater.

The magnificent column of gold and purple energy shot straight into the high atmosphere, piercing through the clouds and illuminating the entire region in a divine, heavenly light!

The sheer, oppressive physical pressure radiating from the pillar was tens of times heavier and more majestic than anything Mu Gang had ever exerted!

”W-What!?” Mu Gang’s eyes widened in shock, ”He’s... He’s still alive!?”

Down in the center of the pit, the dust parted completely, revealing Shen Haoran.

His robes fluttered wildly in the ascending energy storm, his hair flying like golden silk.

And most importantly, he was grinning—a rare, sharp, and downright dominant smile stretching across his face as he felt the boundless, god-like power coursing through his veins and meridians!

The Nascent Soul bottleneck had finally shattered completely, his dantians transforming into vast, infinite oceans of spirit ascension qi!

But at that moment, before he can even celebrate, the atmosphere above Leaf Green City shifted violently!

RUMBLE—!

The sky darkened in a fraction of a second, pitch-black storm clouds swirling together to form a colossal, whirlpool-like vortex spanning hundreds of miles.

Violet and golden lightning crackled furiously within the dark cloud layers, letting out deafening thunderclaps that shook the heavens and the earth.

Mu Gang looked up at the swirling cosmic vortex and panicked, his face draining of every drop of color.

”H-Heavenly Tribulation!?” Mu Gang shrieked in paralyzing horror. ”Shit! He’s... he’s actually about to break through to the Spirit Ascension Realm right now!”

Without any hesitation, Mu Gang didn’t dare to even curse Shen Haoran for even a single second and immediately decided to retreat.

Those foolish individuals who got too close to someone undergoing a Heavenly Tribulation would always be recognized by the heavenly laws as accomplices, caught up in the divine punishment, and instantly incinerated into ash by the amplified lightning strikes.

”Damn it! Why is that bastard so lucky?!” Mu Gang screamed, already flying far away as fast as his trembling legs and dry dantians could carry him.

Down in the crater, surrounded by the swirling pillar of gold and purple qi, Haoran was thoroughly enjoying the terrifying surge of fresh, transcendent power expanding his soul and body.

The sensation of his physical frame evolving into a true Spirit Ascension physique was intoxicating.

However, amidst the intoxicating rush of his breakthrough... Haoran suddenly shuddered!

An ancient, suffocating coldness settled over his soul, freezing the blood in his veins!

He slowly stopped smiling and looked up toward the center of the dark tribulation vortex in the sky.

His eyes widened in genuine, profound shock.

There, embedded at the center of the swirling pitch black clouds, high above the lightning, a single, colossal purple eye with golden pupils was open, staring down directly at him with emotionless, primordial authority.

Then, a deep, ancient, and bone-rattling rumbling voice echoed directly inside the deepest depths of Haoran’s mind.

”So it’s you...”