Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Shen Haoran stood on the cold, alien metallic ground of his artificial world, his breathing slightly shallow but his eyes remaining as sharp as twin daggers.

He stared downward at the headless corpse of Tai Yuhao.

There was no pity in his gaze, only a clinical indifference.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, a speck of brilliant, pure golden flame danced on the tip of his index finger.

"Gold Incinerating Supreme Flame," he murmured. "Burn him."

He dropped a spark of his Heavenly Flane onto the fallen protagonist’s body, and instantly, the golden flame erupted into a roaring, majestic vortex of heat, consuming the flesh, blood, and bones in a fraction of a second.

It didn’t just burn the physical body of Tai Yuhao, but also incinerated the remaining physical traces, reducing the Child of Destiny into a pile of absolute, unrecoverable gray ash before a gentle gust of localized wind swept it away into the void.

With that loose end thoroughly erased from existence, Haoran slowly turned his body toward the other occupant of the domain.

Elder Mu was still standing completely frozen under the conceptual weight of the Genesis Protocol, his joints locked and his majestic sea of saint-level qi forcibly suppressed down to Haoran’s exact level.

Haoran raised the Black Imperial Sword, Azathoth, its dark edge humming with an ominous desire for blood.

He was about to step forward and launch a definitive, crushing attack to silence the old man permanently when a violent, screeching sound echoed across the golden sky.

*Crack! Crack! Crack!*

Massive, jagged spatial fractures suddenly started tearing open across the liquid gold clouds of his independent realm.

The boundaries of the pocket dimension were violently vibrating, destabilizing under the immense, accumulated mental fatigue that was currently hammering against Haoran’s brain.

The suppression of a 9th Stage Earthly Saint, combined with the hostile counter-interference of the outer world’s heavenly laws during the execution of Tai Yuhao, had finally pushed his spiritual energy to its absolute threshold.

Before he could even raise his hands to weave the complex runic arrays required to fix the fracturing space, the entire artificial world completely crumbled like a sheet of fragile glass.

The golden sky shattered, the metallic earth dissolved into particles of dark light, and the two men were violently, instantaneously brought back to the physical reality of the outside world.

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The transition was jarring.

Shen Haoran materialized back onto the solid stone streets of Academy City, his physical body swaying slightly as a wave of intense, blinding dizziness washed over his consciousness.

The sheer mental drain felt like a physical hammer to his skull.

However, his unyielding pride and the absolute majesty of his bloodline refused to let him fall.

He gritted his teeth, shifting his weight slightly, and quickly stabilized his footing, forcing his posture back into a stance of effortless nobility.

"Haoran!"

A beautiful, frantic voice pierced through the ambient noise of the crowded street.

Zhu Ziyan completely broke free from her usual calculated calm, her heart leaping into her throat as she completely forgot to even add her customary "Young Master" honorific.

Her face pale with genuine panic as she simply rushed forward across the cracked cobblestones toward his side.

She was profoundly, utterly confused. Only a few minutes earlier, Shen Haoran, the maddened Tai Yuhao, and the enigmatic white-haired elder had simply vanished from the face of the earth right before her very eyes, leaving no spatial tracks behind.

And now, when they finally reappeared out of thin air, her sharp feline senses immediately noticed that Haoran was not in a good condition; his internal spiritual fluctuations were unusually chaotic and fatigued.

Meanwhile, a few meters away, Elder Mu violently gasped for air.

The moment the golden domain dissolved, he felt the invisible, crushing shackles on his soul instantly snap.

After that, a wave of profound, intoxicating relief washed over his ancient meridians as he felt his boundless, terrifying 9th Stage Earthly Saint strength instantly return to his control.

Then, his gaze locked onto the golden-haired youth, and his expression turned incredibly dark.

He glared at Shen Haoran with eyes filled with sudden, intense hostility.

For some strange, inexplicable metaphysical reason, deep within the recesses of his soul, he felt a sudden, irresistible, and overwhelming urge to severely punish this arrogant young man.

It was as if a powerful, divine voice deep in his mind simply couldn’t forgive Haoran’s actions and wanted him to suffer, to bleed, and to be broken.

"Enforcers!" Elder Mu called out, his deep voice carrying the booming, thunderous resonance of a Saint.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

Instantly responding to his high-level command, the academy’s official Enforcement Team appeared.

Dozens of students dressed in all-black tactical armor and heavy cloaks emerged like dark ghosts from the surrounding shadows of the alleyways, their weapons already drawn as they formed a tight, military perimeter around the central platform.

"This individual has dared to blatantly break the sacred foundational laws of the Imperial Academy in broad daylight, attempting murder and disrupting the peace!" Elder Mu firmly stated, pointing a stern, accusing finger at the fatigued youth. "I want you to immediately apprehend him and imprison him in the deepest dungeon for ten years to repent for his sins!"

"Yes, Elder!"

The black-clad enforcers, all of them elite inner-court students residing at the late stages of the Nascent Soul Realm and the early stages of the Spirit Ascension Realm, didn’t hesitate for a single second.

They unleashed their overwhelming qi, transforming into streaks of black light as they immediately rushed forward from all directions to subdue the weakened Haoran.

"You—" Zhu Ziyan gritted her teeth so hard they ached, a flash of pure, unadulterated fury igniting within her purple eyes.

Seeing the incoming threat, she didn’t hesitate for a single fraction of a moment.

Her hereditary Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes glowed brighter than ever before, her spiritual energy flaring to its absolute absolute limits as she threw her hands wide.

"Don’t you dare lay a single finger on him!"

*Roar! Roar! Roar!*

A series of massive spatial rifts tore open around her, and dozens upon dozens of powerful, predatory spiritual beasts—massive flame tiger, armored lions, and gargantuan gryphons—appeared on the street, forming a living wall of meat and claws to block the enforcers’ path.

But it was ultimately no use against the academy’s elite guards.

The disparity in sheer organizational power was too wide.

Her summoned beasts, which were almost entirely at the Golden Core Realm with only a few rare specimens reaching the early Nascent Soul Realm, were ruthlessly, mercilessly slaughtered by the advanced tactical formations of the black-clad enforcers.

Limbs flew, and blood painted the stone floor as the guards pushed through her defenses without slowing down.

Just then, a powerful enforcer at the early Spirit Ascension Realm burst through the front lines of the beast wall, his hand wrapped in dark, crushing energy as he finally appeared directly before the pair, his palm thrusting forward to seize Haoran’s shoulder.

Instantly, Ziyan’s instincts took over.

Without a single thought for her own personal safety, she rapidly stepped forward, standing firmly in front of Haoran like a human shield, prepared to take the full force of the attack to protect his weakened state.

But at that exact, life-or-death moment, a massive, heavily built shadow completely bypassed her position.

Nuo Wan, the peak Spirit Ascension graduate who had just signed his lower-realm contract a few minutes prior, miraculously appeared right before them like a descending guardian deity.

His face was a mask of fierce determination as he extended his massive, calloused hand forward, completely ignoring the enforcer’s defensive aura.

He grabbed the rushing enforcer directly by the face, his iron grip crushing the guard’s nose, and with a brutal downward swing, he violently slammed the enforcer’s head straight into the solid stone ground!

*Boom!*

The cobblestones shattered into a massive crater, the shockwave knocking the surrounding guards back.

Everyone around them instantly froze in absolute shock.

The black-clad enforcers stopped mid-stride, their eyes wide with disbelief as they looked at the graduate who had just openly committed high treason against the administration.

Nuo Wan slowly straightened his spine, shaking the blood off his large hand as a cocky, wide grin spread across his face.

He spat a glob of saliva onto the ground and looked at the guards with absolute disdain. "You pathetic, brainless dogs of the administration office... what on earth gives you the right to harm the Young Master? Do you truly think our contracts are just sheets of worthless paper?"

On the inside, however, Nuo Wan was practically jumping with wild, ecstatic joy, mentally praising his own brilliant reflexes.

’Holy shit, I did it! With this incredibly heroic, timely display of loyalty, I’ve definitely secured a massive place in the Young Master’s good graces! I’ll be rising through the ranks of the Divine City enterprises in no time!’

Then, like a catastrophic domino effect running through a dry forest, the spark of rebellion ignited the entire plaza.

Those hundreds of graduating students who had already been formally employed by Haoran, alongside those thousands of desperate seniors who were still standing in line looking to be employed, immediately stepped forward.

With loud roars of defiance, they abandoned their lines and formed a massive, impenetrable wall of bodies, standing directly in front of Ziyan and Haoran to shield them from the law.

"Hahaha! That’s right! I’ve been wanting to bash a few faces of these arrogant, self-righteous enforcers for a long, damn time!" a burly graduate roared, drawing a massive battle axe.

"Count me in! I still remember clear as day when one of you bastard guards falsely imprisoned me in the solitary tower for two whole years just because I accidentally bumped into one of your inner-circle brothers in the hallway! Let’s settle the score today!"

"Couldn’t agree more! We’re going to graduate anyway, what are they going to do? Expel us?"

Well, even if they did get expelled, and didn’t receive any credentials, they were already working for the Shen Clan, so their future is secured.

The black-clad enforcers suddenly found themselves completely surrounded, their bodies rigid as they didn’t dare to move a single inch forward.

After all, the people standing in front of them were not helpless underclassmen; these were graduating senior students who had been surviving, training, and fighting within the brutal environment of the academy for hundreds of years.

Even the absolute weakest among this rebellious crowd was already hovering comfortably at the late stages—the 7th, 8th, and 9th rank—of the Spirit Ascension Realm, with several faction leaders bordering on the Saint realms.

If a full-scale battle were to truly break out here, these furious graduating students would utterly pulverize and pulverize the enforcement squad within a matter of minutes!

At that moment, Elder Mu finally erupted.

"You... You ungrateful, rebellious fools!"

Elder Mu’s ancient voice suddenly resounded across the plaza, vibrating with an overwhelming intensity that caused the very stone structures to tremble.

He took a heavy step forward, his eyes flashing with a deep, disappointed anger as he stared down at the sea of graduates.

"The Imperial Academy spent centuries cultivating your talents, providing you with resources, and protecting your paths! And yet, the moment you are about to step out into the wider world, you choose to openly turn your backs on the law, siding with a cold-blooded, arrogant murderer who views our rules as nothing more than a joke!"

One of the students snorted, "What? You gonna interfere with a student’s dispute? Have some shame."

Elder Mu glared at the student, his face hardened into a mask of righteous fury. "This intervention is not for personal petty gain! This is strictly for the sake of absolute, unyielding justice!"

*Boom!*

The moment the final word left his lips, his vast, boundless 9th Stage Earthly Saint Realm aura completely surged out from his physical body like a localized typhoon.

The sheer, suffocating pressure of a Saint descended upon the plaza like a physical mountain, crashing down onto the shoulders of the graduates.

The graduating students immediately turned completely pale, their knees trembling as they struggled to remain standing under the localized gravity.

Several weaker seniors let out muffled groans, their faces dripping with cold sweat as they looked up at the old man in disbelief and anger.

"Old man, have you completely lost your damn mind!?" a brave faction leader shouted through gritted teeth, his joints popping under the pressure.

"You’re a legendary, highly revered peak Earthly Saint powerhouse, a Rank 9 Master Teacher! And yet, you are actually using your strength to openly bully a few young juniors right in the middle of the street!? You should be profoundly ashamed of yourself!"

"Silence!" Elder Mu ordered, his voice carrying a localized sonic shockwave that cut through their complaints. "You who willingly choose to side with the wrongdoers, you who sell your loyalty to an arrogant tyrant for a few meager crumbs of wealth... you possess absolutely no right to criticize my judgment or question the law!"

The entire assembly of students was instantly silenced, their voices forcefully choked out as the immense, unyielding weight of his saintly aura physically suppressed their vocal cords, pinning them into submission.

Just then, amidst the suffocating silence, a slow, deliberate footstep broke the quiet.

Shen Haoran took a calm step forward, patting Ziyan on the shoulders to calm her down and telling her that he’s fine as he walked past the protective wall of graduates until he stood at the very front of the line, facing the old man directly.

Despite the lingering mental fatigue in his eyes, his posture remained straight as a celestial pillar, entirely unaffected by the heavy saint aura radiating through the air.

Then, a slow, chillingly elegant smirk played upon his lips as he looked at the plain-robed scholar.

"A Master Teacher who uses the word ’justice’ to cloak the pathetic, irrational whims of his own internal impulses... you truly are a masterpiece of shamelessness, Elder Mu," Haoran spoke smoothly, his voice echoing clearly across the tense square. "To use the collective weight of an entire academy just to appease a grudge against a junior... it seems your thousands of years of cultivation have only managed to refine your capacity for self-delusion."

Elder Mu’s eyes narrowed to sharp slits, his aura spiking dangerously at the open mockery. "Young man, your tongue is sharp, but it all ends today. Submit peacefully."

Haoran let out a low, melodious chuckle that carried an incredibly dark, unhinged undertone.

He didn’t show a single trace of panic. Instead, he slowly reached his hand toward his high-grade spatial storage ring.

And with a casual wave of his wrist, a soft flash of light occurred, and he took out a seemingly ordinary, thoroughly mundane-looking iron kitchen knife.

The blade was entirely dull, covered in minor scuffs, and completely lacked any majestic inscriptions or flashy gemstone mountings.

"Tell me, Elder... you don’t mind me utilizing a minor personal artifact for my own defense during this little dispute, do you?" Haoran asked mockingly, spinning the cheap knife lazily between his long fingers. "After all, you are a towering, peerless Earthly Saint powerhouse, while I am merely a weak, Nascent Soul freshman. A small advantage shouldn’t hurt your grand sense of justice."

Elder Mu was about to instantly express his deep, aristocratic disdain at the sight of the seemingly pathetic, dull kitchen tool, opening his mouth to scoff at the juvenile display, when the ordinary iron knife suddenly, violently lit up.

*Hummmmm—!*

An incredibly deep, ancient, and terrifyingly dark vibration suddenly rippled out from the core of the small knife.

The dull iron surface vanished, replaced by a blinding, pitch-black void energy that seemed to actively scream with the suppressed willpower of a dying god.

And at that precise millisecond, a wave of pure, unadulterated power so overwhelmingly monumental, so conceptually absolute, and so intensely ancient exploded from the artifact that the entire atmosphere of Academy City was violently crushed.

The air turned to solid iron, and the ambient spiritual energy was instantly vaporized.

To Elder Mu, the sudden pressure was so devastatingly suffocating that his saintly aura was instantly blown back into his body, his lungs freezing as a cold sweat of genuine, existential terror broke out across his forehead.

Haoran raised the glowing knife, pointing the tip lazily toward the sky, his eyes gleaming with a manic, beautiful madness as he looked at the paralyzed old scholar.

"If you truly desire to get completely crazy and launch an all-out attack against me over a piece of trash, fine by me. Let’s both get absolutely crazy today, Elder," Haoran whispered, his voice carrying a chilling clarity that resonated through the souls of everyone present. "However... I must warn you beforehand. Once I release the full restrictions on this little toy... I cannot guarantee that this entire academy dimension will still exist on the map by tomorrow morning."

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