Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Zhu Ziyan

The Lamias.

In the annals of the Southern and Eastern Regions, no name carried quite the same weight of visceral terror as these creatures.

They were the apex predators of the shifting sands, a race whispered to be born from the blood of ancient demons and desert serpents.

Myths portrayed them as fierce, aggressive, and utterly devoid of mercy—monsters that viewed human flesh not just as an enemy, but as a delicacy.

Huo Yue, like every other child raised in the Eastern Region, had grown up under the shadow of these stories.

She vividly remembered her mother, frustrated with her picky eating habits, threatening that the ”Scales of the Desert” would slither through her window and devour her if she didn’t finish her vegetables.

And these legends weren’t just bedtime stories; they were the foundation of a centuries-old geopolitical stalemate.

The human kingdoms had spent generations and untold fortunes ensuring that the Lamias remained confined to the Great Tao Desert, fearful of what would happen if the serpent-tribe ever truly ventured into the lands of men.

Yes, these creatures were the physical embodiment of a nightmare.

So why...

Why in the name of the Heavens was this happening?!

Huo Yue stood in the center of the Lamia’s grand royal chamber, her eyes wide and her jaw practically touching the polished sandstone floor.

Before her sat a throne that belonged to the Queen of Lamias, Medusa—a massive, intricate chair carved from the fossilized remains of a prehistoric sand-leviathan.

And although it’s a throne belonging to the queen, at this moment it was Shen Haoran who sat there, leaning back with a languid, bored grace that suggested he was born to rule the world.

And around him, the ”nightmare of the desert” was doing something that no storyteller could have even imagined.

Dozens of beautiful Lamias, their scales shimmering in iridescent hues, had swarmed the throne.

At first Huo Yue was worried that they would attack, but her worries were unnecessary as they not only didn’t attack, but they were even fawning over Haoran!

Some were fanning him with giant palm leaves, others were peeling rare desert fruits with delicate fingers, and more than a few were shamelessly trying to coil their tails near his feet, their eyes sparkling with a mix of adoration and primal infatuation.

They flattered him in hushed, melodic tones, completely captivated by his presence.

Beside Huo Yue, even Queen Medusa looked like she had been struck by a divine lightning bolt.

She had ruled these women for centuries, knowing them to be fierce warriors who viewed humans as beneath them.

And so at first, she had expected them to be wary, perhaps even hostile toward a male human intruder, but what she hadn’t expect was for them to treat him like a long-lost deity.

She wondered if his aura was truly this potent—that her subordinates, who had never even seen him before, could be instantly reduced to star-struck handmaidens simply by catching a scent of his draconic essence.

They were acting as if he were their true King, completely ignoring their actual Queen standing right there.

Finally, snapping out of her daze as a Lamia tried to feed Haoran a grape with a suggestive giggle, Medusa’s face turned a mottled shade of purple.

”STOP!” she roared, her Nirvana Rebirth aura shaking the room. ”All of you! Leave this instant! Back to your posts!”

The Lamias let out a chorus of collective, disappointed groans as they uncoiled themselves reluctantly, moving toward the exits with the slow, lingering pace of children being dragged away from a candy shop.

Even as they left, they kept glancing back over their shoulders, their slitted eyes pleading for Haoran to call them back.

But he didn’t.

Once the chamber was finally cleared of the fawning serpent-women, Medusa turned a blistering glare toward Haoran.

”Can you please retract that... that obnoxious aura of yours? You’re turning my elite vanguard into a flock of giggling hens!”

Haoran shrugged, a small, arrogant smirk playing on his lips as he popped a remaining grape into his mouth. ”There’s nothing I can do about it, Queen. My body is just naturally irresistible to your kind. It’s biology, not a choice.”

”...You are incredibly narcissistic for a boy,” Medusa said, crossing her arms over her chest in a gesture of pure disdain.

”Boy?” Haoran’s eyes sharpened, showing a playful yet dangerous glint in his golden eyes. ”This ’boy’ has already tasted the finest pleasures this world has to offer—wealth beyond your imagination, power that can affect the empire, and the touch of the most beautiful women in the Central Region. A virgin queen like you, who has spent her life hiding in a sandbox, has no right to call me a boy.”

Medusa felt her cheek twitch violently as her temper flared, but she suppressed the urge to strike.

She knew the weight of his words and the terrifying potential of his background so instead of arguing, she looked away, her voice tight. ”Anyway, I have business to attend to regarding the clan’s affairs. I will be ready to depart within a day.”

With that, she turned and walked out of the room in a huff, her royal robes snapping behind her.

Haoran watched her leave, his expression softening only when he turned his gaze toward Huo Yue.

He motioned for her to come closer, and Huo Yue, never one to be shy with her fiancé, smiled brightly and practically skipped over, settling comfortably onto his lap.

She leaned back against his chest, sighing happily as she felt the steady thrum of his heartbeat.

Suddenly...

”Um, I think I’ll go and... cultivate outside for a while,” Zhu Ziyan spoke up.

She had actually been standing in the corner, trying her best to blend into the shadows and remain as silent as a statue.

But seeing that these two were about to get intimate, a single cat like her feels like she doesn’t belong here and wanted to leave.

Haoran’s gaze shifted to her, and the warmth he showed Huo Yue vanished instantly as a heavy, cold frown settled on his face. ”Did I tell you that you could leave?”

Ziyan froze mid-step, her body trembled, and her feline ears stood bolt upright in a state of high alert.

”No, sir!” she squeaked, standing as straight as a spear.

”So,” Haoran said, his voice dropping to a low, interrogative hum. ”Why did you approach my fiancée in the first place?”

”Sir! I honestly didn’t know she was your fiancée, sir!” Ziyan replied, her voice shaking but her answer immediate. ”I just found her to be incredibly powerful and independent during my travels. I was lost and hunted, and I wanted to follow someone with her strength, sir!”

”A piece of trash at the Foundation Establishment realm wanted to follow my Yue’er?” Haoran glared at her, his pressure making the cat-girl’s knees buckle.

Ziyan lowered her head in a mix of shame and silent indignation.

’Trash?’ she thought bitterly. In the Eastern Region, a twenty-year-old at the 7th Stage of Foundation Establishment was considered a top-tier genius!

She had fought through blood and shadows to reach this level!

But...well, perhaps in the eyes of this monster from the Central Region, she was apparently no better than the dust on his boots.

However, she swallowed her pride and didn’t say anything, after all, she couldn’t really refute his words.

Also, she had a burning question that she needed answered more than she needed her dignity.

So she looked up, her expression a mix of seriousness and hesitation. ”Um... Young Master Shen, if I may... how is Xueli?”

Haoran stared at her for a long moment, evaluating the sincerity in her eyes.

”She is well,” he finally answered, his tone slightly less frigid. ”She has obtained the core inheritance of a Supreme Emperor and has already reached the peak of the Core Formation realm. In three days, she will be traveling with me to the Central Region.”

”I see...” Ziyan let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.

A weight she had been carrying for two years seemed to lift.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a sharp pang of jealousy. Xueli... her playful, lazy friend who used to skip practice to nap in the sun, has now become a genius at the 9th Stage Core Formation realm.

Back in the Ogre Academy, Xueli only kept up with the rest of the Ogre Seven because her innate talent was so monstrously high that she didn’t need to try.

Ziyan knew that if she had been born with Xueli’s talent, she would have reached her current level 2 years ago.

Still, her friendship won out over her envy and she was truly happy that Xueli hadn’t just survived, but had thrived.

After all, the fate of their group had been a tragedy.

”Tell me,” Haoran asked, his interest piqued by her reaction. ”What exactly happened to the Ogre Seven you were a part of?”

Ziyan hesitated, the memories of that bloody year resurfacing.

”During the finals of the regional tournament, everything fell apart,” she began, her voice small. ”Xia Ruo was discovered to be a reincarnated Demonic Beast. The Spirit Hall—the Pope herself—saw it as an ultimate insult and they attacked immediately. Tang Shan tried to save her, but he was nearly slaughtered and he only survived because the hidden remnants of the Tang Clan intervened and saved him. In the aftermath, the Spirit Hall turned their full fury on the Ogre Academy, branding us all as monsters. Most of our classmates and teachers were killed in the purge. Today... as far as I know, only Tang Shan, Xueli, and I are all that remains of the Ogre Seven.”

The chamber fell into a temporary silence, as if the weight of the fallen academy hanging in the air.

Haoran looked at Ziyan, seeing the survivor’s guilt etched into her face, and for the first time, his gaze held a flicker of something other than disdain.