URBAN VILLAIN SYSTEM

Thousands of eyes stared up at the 33rd step where Tony Clark stood, his robes stained with dark blood, holding the dusty parchment scroll of the Phantom Arrow Technique.

To the proud young nobles of the central district, the ancient path of archery was nothing more than a primitive, lower-class skill used by common mountain hunters who couldn’t manipulate true magic.

They simply could not accept that a famous failure had outclimbed all the prominent geniuses of the city just to choose what they considered to be a piece of absolute garbage.

"Look at that absolute fool!" a wealthy applicant from a minor vassal clan shouted, pointing his finger mockingly at the high platform.

"He literally forced his physical body to the brink of collapse, spit out blood, and ignored the magnificent Hurricane Punch and the Mountain Sword manual just to grab a hunter’s toy! Archery has been completely useless in a real magus duel for over three centuries! What a pathetic, delusional waste of an opportunity!"

Another arrogant noble chimed in with a loud sneer, "He probably thinks that shooting a wooden arrow will somehow protect him from a high-voltage lightning bolt or a roaring fire dragon! He bypassed the most desired techniques of our entire outer campus for a useless scroll!"

Tony completely ignored their childish barking, his signature lazy posture perfectly returning to his frame as he stood on the high stone stair. He casually wiped the remaining blood from his upper lip with the back of his leather gauntlet, his dark eyes staring down at the mocking crowd with a look of profound, unbothered amusement. He didn’t waste a single fraction of his spiritual energy trying to explain the absolute, lethal depth of a shadow-attribute archer to a pack of short-sighted children. He knew that on his grand chessboard, public opinion was nothing more than a minor distraction, and their current laughter would only make their future absolute humiliation much sweeter. With a calm, slow movement, he tucked the dark-gold scroll securely into the folds of his crimson outer disciple robes and began his relaxed descent down the spiral stairs, leaving the gossiping crowd behind.

Meanwhile, deep inside the luxurious, heavily guarded residential peaks reserved for the elite inner disciples of the academy, the shocking news of the library challenge was already spreading like wildfire. Lady Julie Faith sat gracefully on a plush velvet couch inside her private pavilion, her fingers lightly tracing the edge of an expensive porcelain teacup as her personal maid rushed into the room, her face completely pale with frantic anxiety.

"My Lady! A massive, unprecedented disturbance has just occurred at the Grand Library Pagoda!" the maid reported rapidly, her voice trembling with sheer disbelief.

"The talentless orphan, Tony Clark... he did not fail the gravity arrays as everyone expected! According to the official ledger crystals, he manually climbed through the heavy mountain pressure and successfully stepped onto the absolute platform of the 33rd step! He shattered a three-ton Black Iron Stone pillar with a single bare fist earlier, and now he has claimed a hidden masterpiece from the previous era!"

Julie Faith’s hand instantly froze mid-air, the porcelain cup rattling violently against the saucer as her beautiful face twisted into a mask of utter, unadulterated shock. Her violet eyes widened to the size of saucers, a cold sweat breaking out across her back as the report completely shattered her past assumptions.

"The 33rd step?!" Julie muttered, her silky voice cracking with a sudden, intense surge of panic.

"How can a mortal piece of trash whose meridians were completely blocked by our family’s slow soul poison achieve such a terrifying feat in less than three days? This is completely impossible! A useless cripple cannot simply wave his hand and trample over the absolute laws of the academy’s gravity arrays!"

She slammed her cup onto the marble table, her mind entering a state of chaotic frustration as she realized the timid orphan she wanted to destroy was rapidly transforming into a dangerous variable that threatened her family’s royal reputation.

Later that night, the cold darkness completely enveloped the Black Rock District, plunging the valley of stone huts into a deep stillness. Tony Clark sat cross-legged on the solid rock bed inside Room 404, his eyes closed as he focused on stabilizing his hardened 7th Class Disciple magus energy. The ancient, heavy wooden door of his chamber suddenly vibrated with a soft, incredibly polite knock. Tony’s Truth Eye instantly activated on instinct, perceiving the familiar, refined energy signature of the nice-looking painting lady standing outside his doorway in the dark corridor.

Tony slowly stood up, pulled back the physical iron bolt, and opened the door. The disguised merchant heiress stepped smoothly into the small, bare meditation chamber, her crimson outer disciple robes looking immaculate even in the dim starlight. She did not say a single word at first, her violet eyes scanning his lean, toned frame with a look of deep respect.

She walked over to his small wooden desk and gently placed a small, glowing crystal vial filled with a premium, emerald-green liquid, alongside a heavy, beautifully embroidered leather bag that jangled with a dense metallic sound.

"Take these as a personal favor from me, young master Tony," she spoke softly, her refined, elegant melody completely bypassing the thin stone walls. "The green vial contains a high-grade Meridian-Cleansing Essence from my private archives that will instantly heal the internal injuries and burst blood vessels you suffered on the 32nd stair today. Inside the leather bag, there are exactly fifty low-grade Aura crystals.

I want you to use these crystals tomorrow morning to purchase admission into the academy’s exclusive Class 2 Training Room. The spiritual density inside that high-tier chamber is three times thicker than this basic hut, and with your absolute comprehension talent, you will definitely master the Phantom Arrow Technique a thousand times faster if you train there."

Tony casually leaned his back against the stone wall, his signature villainous smirk returning to his lips as he looked down at the expensive treasures resting on the table. He let out a low, amused chuckle, his dark eyes locking onto her beautiful face with a sharp, predatory intensity.

"Fifty high-grade Aura crystals and a premium healing medicine are a massive fortune for a poor painting lady to throw around so easily, miss," Tony said smoothly, his tone dripping with shameless confidence.

"Tell me the absolute truth. Why exactly are you going to such extreme, expensive lengths to assist a famous failure like me inside this institution?"

The merchant lady let out a soft, melodic laugh, completely unbothered by his intense scrutiny as she adjusted her grip on her wooden sketchboard. "Nothing in this lower world ever comes for free, young master Tony, and a businessman of your caliber understands that concept better than anyone," she replied with a knowing, brilliant smile.

"Consider this a strategic long-term investment. Just remember to repay this massive favor with your absolute strength whenever I happen to need your unique help in the future."

Tony kept his eyes on her for a long moment, his strategic mind rapidly calculating the hidden threads of this interaction. He knew that aligning with a powerful merchant lineage would grant him the ultimate leverage to procure high-tier resources before his system spirit could wake up from its dormant state.

She is right. Nothing comes for free in any world, but as long as I hold the winning cards, a mutual transaction is the fastest path to absolute power, Tony thought to himself. He slowly nodded his head, a ruthless grin appearing on his face as he reached out his hand to accept the bag. "An exceptionally logical bargain, miss. I accept your terms completely."

After finalizing their secret agreement, the disguised merchant lady offered a polite bow of farewell and smoothly turned on her heel, her slender figure stepping out of Room 404 into the shadow-filled corridor of the Black Rock District.

However, neither Tony nor the merchant lady noticed that a hidden figure was currently crouching in the dense foliage of the rocky ridge overlooking the valley. Lady Julie Faith, unable to rest after receiving the terrifying library report, had secretly sneaked down from the inner disciple peaks to personally spy on Tony’s private quarters to gauge his true condition.

Standing in the cold night wind, her violet eyes suddenly widened in utter, paralyzed shock as she witnessed the elegant lady figure smoothly leaving Tony’s bedroom door in the middle of the night.

"What in the absolute world is happening here?!" Julie Faith whispered to herself, her teeth gritting violently as a massive wave of psychotic fury and confusion crashed over her proud heart.

"First he miraculously survives our family’s poison, then he shatters an ancient monument, outclimbs the entire outer campus to reach the 33rd step, and now he is secretly entertaining powerful, mysterious ladies inside his private quarters at midnight?! How can this pathetic, mortal fellow raise his status and power to this terrifying level so quickly?!"

Her fists clenched so hard that her long nails dug deeply into her palms, her previous royal arrogance completely turning into a desperate, frantic panic. She realized that the timeline was slipping out of her hands entirely, and if she didn’t execute an immediate, absolute strike to finish him off, the entire Faith-Family would eventually be dragged into a bottomless abyss of destruction.

"I must do something catastrophic before the morning-assembly begins," she muttered into the dark air, her eyes burning with a lethal promise as she vanished back into the shadows of the mountain.

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