Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Library

The first rays of dawn had barely begun to bleed through the iron-barred windows of the dormitory when Chu Fang slipped out of his bunk.

His movements were fluid, devoid of the clumsy lethargy that had defined him just twenty-four hours ago.

In his mind, the map of Ogre Academy was a blueprint of missed opportunities, and he intended to claim every single one of them.

After all, before Spirit Hall reduced this place to ashes, many of the powerful experts in the future got one or two opportunities from this place.

And at this moment navigated the cobblestone paths with purpose, his heart racing as he approached the Academy’s Library—a sprawling, circular building that smelled of damp parchment and ancient dust.

In his past life, this place was just a sanctuary to hide from bullies. Now, it was a treasure trove.

’If my memory serves me right,’ Chu Fang thought, his eyes gleaming with a greedy light, ’this is where ’The White Tiger’ Tai Yuhao found his true destiny.’

In the original timeline, Tai Yuhao—the runaway prince with the White Tiger spirit—had accidentally stumbled upon a technique that changed the course of the war.

It was the Kama Deva Sutra, a dual cultivation technique of unparalleled power.

While most dual cultivation methods were mere auxiliary tools, this sutra allowed two souls to merge their Qi into a singular, devastating force, even allowing two person to fuse their spirit to increase their strength.

And Tai Yuhao became famous when he used this technique to fuse his spirit with his then fiancée, Zhu Ziyan, also one of the Seven Ogres.

Despite being mere Nascent Soul then, their fused spirit allowed them to fight and stall a Spirit Ascension Expert of the Spirit Hall.

However, the requirement for this technique was also very specific: the male must possess a ”Yang-heavy” or ”beast” spirit, and the female must possess ”Hell” attributes or a ”Yin-death” affinity.

Tai Yuhao possessed the White Tiger soul, a beast spirit that also possessed a decent Yang attribute, while his fiancée, the cold and curvaceous Zhu Ziyan, was the perfect match with her Hell Cat spirit, possessing decent Yin attribute.

And using this cultivation technique, they had far surpassed other geniuses and ten years in the future, their combined strength had propelled them to the 8th and 9th stages of the Spirit Ascension Realm.

’But Tai Yuhao doesn’t deserve it,’ Chu Fang sneered inwardly. ’at this point in time, he’s nothing but a shallow womanizer who uses his royal charisma to break hearts. Zhu Ziyan absolutely despises him right now. Zhu Ziyan only started to accept him after they won the tournament.’

A perverted, triumphant smirk tugged at the corners of Chu Fang’s mouth.

If he took the Sutra now, he wouldn’t just be stealing a technique; he would be stealing the foundation of their relationship.

He pictured Zhu Ziyan in his mind. Even now, at nineteen, she was the epitome of dark, sultry elegance—leather-clad, with a cold gaze and a body that seemed sculpted by the gods of desire.

And ten years in the future, as a mature Spirit Ascension expert, where she was already married to Tai Yuhao and had given birth to a son, she had become a legendary beauty whose portraits drove soldiers to madness.

But now, all of that will be his! He wouldn’t allow Tai Yuhao to lay his hands on her!

’Hehehe, Ning Xueli as my primary wife, the pure goddess on my left... and Zhu Ziyan as my cultivation partner, the seductive cat on my right,’ Chu Fang’s breath hitched. ’Just imagining that scene is incredibly exciting!’

A man who has traveled through time deserves nothing less than a harem of legends.

”... Finally, here I am.” Chu Fang smiled, staring at the lined up bookshelves.

If he remembered it correctly, when Tai Yuhao revealed the information about where he got the cultivation technique, he said he found on some corner and secluded part of the library.

So without hesitation, he reached the furthest corner of the library, where the shadows were thickest and the shelves were covered in a decade’s worth of undisturbed grime.

He began to pull at the loose floorboards and shift the heavy, moth-eaten scrolls of ”Basic History.”

One hour passed. Then two. His hands were covered in grey soot, and his back ached, but he didn’t stop.

Finally, after another half an hour, his fingers brushed against something cold and leathery.

With a low grunt, he pulled a worn, tattered book from a hidden niche behind a row of crumbling geography texts.

The cover was stained, and the characters were nearly faded, but the title was unmistakable: Kama Deva Sutra.

”Hehehe... it’s mine,” he hissed, his eyes devouring the page. ”Tai Yuhao said it was incomplete, but with my knowledge of the future’s ’Spirit Fusion’ theories, I can fill in the gaps myself. With this, I can conquer the hearts of the Ogre Seven’s beauties.”

Ogre Seven had three girls, and all of them are incredibly beautiful.

The rich young miss, Ning Xueli.

The curvaceous ice queen, Zhu Ziyan.

And the bright and cheerful, Xia Ruo. Who was also a reincarnated Demonic Beast, as revealed during the tournament where the Spirit Hall tried to hunt her, but was rescued by Tang Mao, Tang Shan’s father.

But for the moment, Chu Fang has no idea about Xia Ruo, after all, he knew that Tang Mao is guarding the two.

If he showed even a sligh interest for Xia Ruo, he’d be turned into bloddy paste by Tang Mao’s hammer.

”Chu Fang?” A female voice called out to him. It was soft, melodic, and carried a hint of genuine surprise.

Chu Fang flinched so violently he nearly dropped the book. His blood turned to ice, then surged with a heat that made his ears ring.

He spun around, frantically tucking the Kama Deva Sutra into the small of his back, hiding it beneath his loose outer disciple robes.

Standing in the aisle, bathed in a shaft of morning sunlight that made her skin look like polished jade, was Ning Xueli.

She looked tired, with faint dark circles under her eyes, but she was still the most beautiful sight Chu Fang had ever seen.

The ”Goddess” of his previous life was standing mere feet away from him, her brow slightly arched in confusion.

”M-Miss Ning!?” Chu Fang stammered, his face turning a frantic shade of red. ”W-What are you doing here so early?”

Xueli looked at his soot-covered hands and his disheveled appearance. ”I could ask you the same, Chu Fang. I didn’t think you were the type to spend your mornings in the restricted archives. You’re usually... well, usually you’re still asleep during the first bell.”

She took a step closer, her eyes searching his.

After her dinner with Haoran, she had also began searching for ’anomalies’ that he had described, but so far, she found nothing.

But now, seeing the ”lazy” junior here of all places ...hmm, that’s incredibly unusual.

”Are you alright?” she asked, her voice tilting with concern. ”You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or found something you weren’t supposed to.”

Chu Fang felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple.

He had to be careful. If he played this right, he could start the process of ”saving” her today.

But if she saw the perverted cultivation manual in his hand, his image would be ruined before he even began.

”I-It’s nothing, miss Ning.” He chuckled, ”I-I was just, you know, planning to change for the better. So I decided to come here this early.”

Yep, definitely suspicious.

Ning Xueli frowned. But she didn’t say anything, she merely nodded at him. ”Very well. I am happy to hear that you wanted to improve yourself, please keep at it.”

”I will!” Chu Fang smiled brightly.

Ning Xueli observed him for a few more seconds before turning around and walking away.

Suspicious, definitely suspicious.

Although Chu Fang looked flustered, but normally he would be too shy to even look at her in the face, always lowering his head whenever they talked.

But now... That man actually maintained eye contact.

’I should probably tell this to Shen Haoran.’