Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

The blue core sat quietly in the middle of Shen Haoran’s open hand. Its bright flame had cooled down, no longer showing any fight or heat.

The damp air in the deep cellar blew past them, carrying away the last bits of bad smoke from the broken rocks.

[”Since I have already surrendered, would you like to be the Host?”] Asked the Will.

”No.” Haoran instantly refused, his face did not shift even a little bit.

There was no joy, no greed, and not even a hint of care in his gold eyes, because to him, an object like this was just a useful hammer to hit nails with.

He literally has no need for any system.

Instead, his pale hand turned, his finger pointing straight toward the stone bed where the young woman was sitting with her knees tucked against her chest.

”Give it to her,” Haoran said, his voice was flat, leaving no room for anyone to argue. ”She knows how that dead man ran things and she lived among those strange fools for years. She knows their habits, their words, and their tricks. Putting it in her hands saves me the work of looking at it every day.”

Ling Luochen blinked, her mouth opened slightly, her pink eyes going wide as she looked at the pale finger aimed at her nose.

She had been sitting there quietly, trying to make herself as small as possible so the young master would not find her useless.

She thought she was just going to be an errand runner, someone who watched the doors while the great clan took over the dirt.

”Me?” she asked, her voice cracking just a bit. ”Young Master, you want... me to take that thing?”

She looked between Haoran’s blank face and the blue light resting in his palm.

For years, she had watched Yun Ming treat that strange power like a hidden god, guarding it with his very life, hiding behind closed doors to whisper to the empty air.

And now, the young master was tossing it to her as if he were handing over a cold steamed bun he did not care to eat.

The round sphere did not raise a single question. It had already seen the cold heart of the young master, and it knew better than to say no to his direct command.

Besides, it had felt the dark, bloody strength sleeping under the woman’s skin earlier.

Though she was not as terrifying as the white-robed monster before it, her bones were tough, and her will was hard enough to take a beating without crying for help.

[”Very well. Since she already has experience, she is indeed suitable.”]

With a sudden snap, it turned into a thin line of blue light, shooting across the short space between them like a needle made of cold fire.

Ling Luochen gasped, her hands coming up to cover herself in defense, but the light was too fast for her tired limbs.

It hit the center of her forehead, sinking straight through the skin without leaving a drop of blood or a single mark.

Ling Luochen bent backward, a cold shiver ran from the top of her skull all the way down to her heels, making her teeth click together.

Her ears buzzed with the sound of running water, and for a short second, her sight went completely black.

Then, the darkness pulled away, and a flat square of soft blue light floated right in front of her face, hovering about an arm’s length away.

It was clear and bright, but it did not hurt her eyes.

Clean black marks and straight lines were drawn neatly across its surface, looking completely different from any paper scroll, stone tablet, or jade slip she had ever touched in her life.

Lines of simple text formed across the blue screen, blinking softly as if someone were writing them down with an invisible brush.

[Welcome, Host Ling Luochen.]

[The System Core has settled within your sea of thought.]

[All basic paths have been bound to your soul.]

Ling Luochen observed carefully as she held her breath, not moving an inch.

She waved her hand through the air, and her fingers passed right through the blue light without feeling any heat or solid rock.

Yet, the square stayed right where it was, moving along with her gaze whenever she turned her head left or right.

She read the words, looking at the little boxes drawn near the edges, finally realizing that this should be what Yun Ming and the players call a status panel.

During the eight long years she had spent hidden in the sect, she had watched those strange disciples stop in the middle of roads, waving their arms at the empty wind, talking about their numbers, their health, and their bags.

Yun Ming had done the same thing whenever he thought he was alone in his room.

She had always wondered what kind of ghost they were speaking to.

Now, looking at the neat rows of marks sitting right before her eyes, the curtain had finally been pulled back.

It was not a ghost at all. It was just a cold, quiet slate that showed what a person was made of.

”Alright, now that you have a Host, when can you summon players again?” Asked Haoran.

As those words left his mouth, the Will’s voice echoed.

It did not come from the room this time, instead, it spoke directly inside the cellar, bouncing off the damp stone walls like a low bell, while also ringing inside Ling Luochen’s own thoughts.

[”I cannot call them, as I have mentioned earlier, with the VR pod all being destroyed”] the voice answered, sounding weak and thin. [”Not to mention I also have to turn her into a child of fortune first. Unfortunately, since I have already used up all the luck I had saved up for Yun Ming, I need to accumulate a bit more. Counting the time, it should take two years. If nothing breaks the ground, if the leylines are allowed to rest and heal, it will take around two years to gather enough golden air to turn her into a true child of fortune and patch the holes in the calling gate.”]

Ling Luochen listened quietly, her eyes still fixed on the blue board.

Two years sounded like a long time for a mortal farmer, but for people like them, it was just the time it took to sit through a couple of deep meditations.

Haoran simply nodded.

It was just right. There’s also still two years left before this trial ended and they have to return.

He did not mind waiting, so long as the tool was working properly when he came back to pick it up.

[”You are the master here,”] the voice said, turning its focus back to the white-robed youth. [”Though you do not wish to hold the seat of the Host, do you wish to tie a thread of your thoughts to the system?”]

Haoran raised an eyebrow, as a small look of curiosity touched his smooth brow.

”Explain,” he said.

[”It’s exactly that,”] the Will told him, its words coming out with a careful, steady pace. [”You can simply stand as an NPC, and you will be able to gain some access to the system, like being able to open or buy from the shop.”]

The voice hummed, and Ling Luochen saw a small box with a picture of a bag light up on her screen.

[”The tool holds things that fall from the sky, seeds from strange realms, ancient metals that drifted through the void, and strange medicines that do not grow on common soil. With that door open, you can trade your extra stones to take whatever sits on those shelves without asking anyone.”]

Haoran hummed, eyes narrowed.

[”You will also have your own status panel,”] the voice added. [”You can look at your own numbers, check your own strength, see how your inner energy flows, and measure your own steps without guessing in the dark, and also be able to gain access to a group chat.”]

The voice sounded a bit lighter now, trying to make the offer sound as useful as possible.

[”It also makes it easier for players to immerse themselves in the ’game’ if it has more NPC.”]

Haoran frowned at that, ”Speaking of which, is there any reason why the players need to immerse themselves and make it feel like a game? And I’m curious, although it’s just a tiny fragment, it’s still their own soul, so logically speaking, as they grow stronger here, that strength must also feedback to their original body.”

[”As expected, nothing escapes you, young master.”] The Will sounded impressed, [”Young master, as I have said earlier, the Blue Star’s Will is currently asleep and couldn’t be bothered to manage its world. But that will change once its people touched the dao.”]

[”Once the people there started to be concious of the dao and all supernatural, the Blue Star’s Will will slowly awaken, and by that time, I will no longer be able to take the players from there. It’s also for this reason why I was using the system to regulate the feedback, and instead of returning to the original body, they will all return to the Host.]

[”That’s why, I must always ensure that for the players, this world must remain a game.”]

”I see, that’s understandable.” Haoran nodded.

[”So young master, would you like to be an NPC?”] The Will offered once more.

Haoran stood still, his white clothes hanging straight down in the cool, quiet cellar as he turned the thought over in his mind.

Having a way to send words across lands was convenient, but a communication artifact can do that just fine.

Perhaps the only difference is that, a group chat is, well, a group chat. Something that the communication artifact cannot replicate.

As for the store...well, those various artifacts that Yun Ming pulled out during the battle earlier were indeed interesting.

But he was in no hurry to tie his name to a tool that had just been beaten into submission.

”I will see how useful it is when the time comes,” Haoran replied, his voice flat and uncaring. ”A tool that cannot even call its dogs today is not worth my time.”

He turned his back on the blue light and the broken pillar, his eyes looking up toward the cracked ceiling where the open sky waited above.

”Before any of that matters,” Haoran said, taking a step toward the broken stone stairs, ”I need to call my clan.”

*

*

*

Tian Yuan Empire.

Shen Clan Domain.

Within the innermost sanctum of the Shen Clan Main City, nestled deep in the center, was Chu Xueyu’s palace.

And at this moment, Chu Xueyu sat alone upon her high-backed throne of polished black jade.

Her silken robes pooled around her slender frame like spilled ink, the embroidered silver trim catching the dim, flickering candlelight.

One pale hand rested languidly against the armrest, her long fingers tapping out an erratic, deliberate rhythm against the stone.

Her gaze was unfocused, fixed somewhere beyond the grand pillars and into the dark recesses of her mind.

Those people.

A flicker of sharp and venomous disgust rippled across her icy features.

Just the thought of it—and the contemptible presence tied to it—left an acrid taste on her tongue.

Honestly, if they weren’t so desperate to protect Haoran from the dog house, she wouldn’t even bothered thinking about them.

Suddenly, a faint, rhythmic pulse shattered the quiet.

At her waist, a sliver of luminous azure light of her communication artifact bled through the folds of her silk.

The subtle, harmonic resonance of her jade communication talisman vibrated against the silence, its ancient runes awakening in a steady, rhythmic glow.

Chu Xueyu lowered her gaze, watching the gentle pulse of the transmission.

For a fraction of a breath, the cold detachment masking her face remained frozen, calculating the timing.

Then, slowly, the thin line of her lips curved upward, her face softening into something more motherly and gentleness.

Lifting her hand, her fingertips brushed against the glowing jade.