Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Discussions

The sun hung low over Fragrant Flower City, casting long, dark shadows across the grey stone walls of the Jiang Clan manor.

The air here was thick with the scent of blooming night-jasmine and the faint, metallic tang of spirit-iron being forged in the distant artisan district.

Within the manor’s corridors, a sudden silence followed the footsteps of the young master.

Jiang Chen walked with a newfound gait—measured, noble, and possessed of a gravity that seemed to distort the air around him.

The servants, who once scuttled away to avoid a random lashing or a verbal berating, now felt a different kind of fear.

It wasn’t the fear of a petulant child with power, but the instinctive dread of a prey animal sensing an apex predator.

They huddled in the corners, their whispers dying in their throats as he passed.

But Jiang Chen ignored them all, after all to a man who had once stood at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Saint Realm, the opinions of mortal servants were less than the buzzing of gnats.

He reached the heavy, iron-wood doors of the Patriarch’s office and gave a sharp, perfunctory knock before pushing his way inside.

The room was dimly lit, smelling of old parchment and stale tea.

There, Jiang Hei, the head of the clan, sat behind a desk cluttered with ledgers and jade slips, his hair was disheveled, and deep bags hung beneath his eyes, which were bloodshot from lack of rest.

He looked less like a powerful Foundation Establishment expert and more like a man drowning on dry land.

”Father?” Jiang Chen’s voice was calm, but it held an underlying resonance that made Jiang Hei snap his head up.

”Chen’er?” Jiang Hei looked up and forced a weary smile, trying to straighten his robes. ”What brings you here so early? I... I thought you were resting. Don’t push yourself, okay?”

”No, Father,” Jiang Chen said, stepping closer to the desk. He didn’t sit, but he stood with his hands behind his back, his presence filling the room. ”What happened to you? You look as though you haven’t slept for the past two years.”

Jiang Hei sighed, his shoulders slumping as he rubbed his temples with trembling fingers. ”It’s nothing you need to worry about, son. It’s just... administrative fatigue.”

”Do not lie to me, Father,” Jiang Chen countered, his tone brooking no argument.

Jiang Hei stared at his son, startled by the sheer authority in his voice.

Silence permeated the room for a while before Jiang Hei let out a long, shuddering breath and gestured toward the ledgers.

”It’s the Ling Clan. Ever since Ling Luochen was accepted as a personal disciple by that Elder of the Conferred Pagoda, her family has gained access to alchemy recipes and resources we can’t even dream of.”

Jiang Hei rubbed his temple, once again feeling the headache of being completely suppressed.

”They have begun flooding the market with pills, elixirs, and artifacts of a quality Fragrant Flower City hasn’t seen in centuries. Due to that, our shops are basically empty, and our long-term partners are breaking their contracts to sign with the Lings. We’ve taken massive losses in the past two years, and just two weeks ago, they released an even better pills, completely suppressing our business. At this moment several of our primary medicine halls are on the verge of bankruptcy.”

Jiang Chen’s eyes narrowed as a faint, murderous aura leaked from his body, causing the temperature in the room to drop.

’Those Ling Clan fools truly had a way to court their own death! Not only did they humiliate the Jiang bloodline by publicly severing an engagement set by the ancestors, but they were now attempting to starve the clan out of existence!’

In the world of cultivation, a clan without business was a clan without spirit stones, and a clan without spirit stones was a clan without a future.

”I see,” Jiang Chen murmured. ”No wonder they acted so arrogantly. They believe that with the Pagoda as their backing, they can simply erase us from the city’s history.”

”They are succeeding,” Jiang Hei whispered.

”Father, tell me,” Jiang Chen asked, leaning over the desk. ”What are the most popular items sold in this city? What do the common cultivators and the small sects scramble for?”

Jiang Hei blinked, confused by the sudden shift to commerce. ”It... it used to be the Blood Nourishing Pill for the Body Refining realm and the Spirit Essence Pills for the Qi Gathering Realm. Those were our bread and butter. But the Ling Clan has introduced Iron Body Pills and Qi Enhancing pills. They are far more potent, and they claim the impurities are lower by twenty percent. No alchemist in our clan knows the refinement process for such high-grade recipes.*

Jiang Chen rubbed his chin, ’Iron Body Pills? Qi Enhancing Pills? I haven’t heard of them before. Must be an original local pill created here.’

But it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t believe that people of this lower realm can create pills better than those in the upper realm.

In a world like the Saint Burial Realm, where the quality of Qi was degraded, even the simplest recipe would appear divine.

”Father, I need you to gather some materials for me,” Jiang Chen said. ”I need Jade Spirit Grass, the blood of a Body Refining Fierce Beast, some Eastern Star Moss, and Blue Silver Lily. Also, get me a sample of those Iron Body and Qi Enhancing pills from the Ling Clan’s shop.”

Jiang Hei stared at his son, his mouth agape. ”Chen’er, those herbs are easy to find—they are common weeds that grow on the outskirts of the city. But what use do you have for them? You aren’t an alchemist.”

”That is a secret for now, Father,” Jiang Chen said, his golden eyes flashing with a predatory light. ”Just trust me. Within three days, I will give you a surprise that will make the Ling Clan’s ’high-quality’ pills look like rabbit droppings.”

Not an alchemist? In his past life, he was a genuine Rank 9 Alchemist, and that was because he didn’t focus much on Alchemy as much as he focused on Cultivation.

But even then, this level is enough to completely supress the best alchemist in this world.

Jiang Hei looked at his son, seeing a man he didn’t recognize—a man who radiated an absolute, crushing confidence.

For the first time in months, a glimmer of hope sparked in the Patriarch’s tired eyes.

*

*

*

Countless miles away, atop the soaring spires of the Conferred Pagoda, the air was vibrating with the frantic energy of a hive.

Elders and core disciples were scrambling across the mountain peaks, their Qi flaring as they mobilized every spy network and divination array at their disposal.

The ”Divine Guest” had given a single command, and in the Conferred Pagoda, his word was the law of the universe.

Ling Luochen stood on a balcony overlooking the Great Plaza, her blood-red eyes fixed on the horizon as her heart was racing with a mixture of ambition and a strange, cold dread.

She thought to Shen Haoran’s orders, and how je was looking for someone named Jiang Chen, specifically, a ”trashy young master” from the outskirts who had suddenly undergone a radical change in personality, as if he had become a completely different person.

Ling Luochen’s mind immediately flickered to the face of the man she had just humiliated.

Jiang Chen of Fragrant Flower City. He was the definition of a ”trashy young master”, and he lived on the outskirts.

But... had he changed? When she had broken the engagement, he was the same as always, although he felt humiliated, he endured and just smiled at her flatteringly.

After all, even a trash like him knew not to offend the Conferred Pagoda.

’Could it be him?’ she wondered. ’No. It’s impossible. How could a waste from a backwater city be known to a god from the Upper Realms?’

But the rewards for finding the correct target were rumored to be enough to allow someone to ascend directly to the Spirit Ascension realm.

In the face of such a prize, even a ”What if?” was worth the risk of her life.

She turned and sprinted toward her Master’s courtyard, her blue robes snapping in the wind.

There, she found Shangguan Mu’er standing beneath a flowering plum tree, her bluish-silver hair drifting in the spiritual breeze.

”Master!” Luochen cried out, dropping to a knee.

Shangguan Mu’er opened her eyes, the Nascent Soul pressure causing the petals of the plum tree to freeze in mid-air. ”Luochen? Do you have some questions regarding your Cultivation?”

”No, not for now. Master, I believe I have found the person Young Master Shen is looking for,” Luochen said, her voice trembling with excitement. ”My former fiancé, Jiang Chen of the Jiang Clan in Fragrant Flower City. He fits the name, the location, and the reputation of a wastrel.”

Shangguan Mu’er frowned, her eyes narrowing. ”Luochen, do you realize the gravity of what you are saying? If we bring a common trash before the Young Master and waste his time, he could erase this entire mountain in the blink of an eye.”

Luochen bit her lip, remembering the chill that had run down her spine when Jiang Chen had looked at her. ”Master, the Young Master himself said it didn’t matter if we were wrong, as long as we brought him everyone who met the criteria. He said he would ’sort them out’ himself.”

Shangguan Mu’er stood in silence for a long minute, the only sound being the distant chime of the pagoda’s bells.

Finally, she nodded.

”Very well,” Mu’er said, her eyes turning toward the central palace where the golden light had descended. ”If this is your intuition, we shall pursue it. Let us go and inform the Young Master. If you are right, Luochen, your path to the stars is already paved in gold.”

As they walked toward the Main Hall, Ling Luochen gripped her hands into fists.

She didn’t know why a god wanted a worm like Jiang Chen, but she would be the one to hand the worm over.