Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Farewell

At this moment, the darkness of the forest was no longer a natural night; it had become an abyssal domain, a sanctuary for the two hunters of the Shadow Hall.

The fifth brother’s laughter was a ragged, grating sound that seemed to vibrate the very air, carrying with it the cold arrogance of one who had transcended the limits of mortality.

With his power artificially surged to the 8th Stage of the Nirvana Rebirth Realm, every breath he took caused the air around him to warp and buckle.

”Kekeke!” he cackled, his eyes fixed on Huo Yue, ”Now, obediently hand over your lives! To die by the hands of a Shadow Hall enforcer is a mercy you do not deserve!”

He made a casual, sweeping motion with his hand, and itt was as if the firmament itself had fractured; a massive, invisible pressure descended from the clouds, crushing the trees into splinters and forcing the earth to sink several feet.

The weight was conceptual, aimed at the soul as much as the flesh.

But Liu Ruyan, inhabiting Huo Yue’s body, did not break and just gritted her teeth, her blue eyes flashing with a defiant brilliance.

”You think a bit of gravity can pin me down?” she hissed before she clapped her hands together, and in an instant, a torrent of freezing-hot flames erupted from her pores.

This was the Freezing Ice Flame, ranked 11th in the Heavenly Flame rankings. It possessed the paradoxical property of freezing the spirit while incinerating the body.

The blue-white fire expanded in a violent dome, shattering the atmospheric pressure as if it were glass.

The fifth brother’s grin widened at the sight of the legendary flame. ”The Freezing Ice Flame... the signature fire of Liu Ruyan. I was wondering when you’d use it. However, in the face of the Shadow Hall’s absolute imprisonment, even a rank 11 flame is nothing more than a flickering candle!”

He brought his hands together in a resounding clap that echoed like a funeral bell. ”Hell Imprisoning Chains!”

The ground and sky erupted with glowing, violet circles filled with ancient, mystical runic symbols.

They surrounded Liu Ruyan in a spherical cage, then, from the center of these runes, chains forged from the coldest iron of the underworld began to emerge, dripping with soul-eroding miasma.

Liu Ruyan’s eyes widened, and without hesitation, delivered a sharp, concentrated but gentle kick to Medusa’s side, sending the weakened serpent queen flying outside the runic encirclement just as the chains lashed inward at the speed of light.

”Golden Bell Body!” Liu Ruyan shouted.

Her skin, or rather Huo Yue’s skin, took on a brilliant, polished golden luster as the air rang with the resonant, metallic peal of a massive bell.

This was a supreme defensive battle technique that didn’t just harden the skin; it increased the metaphysical weight of the practitioner, making them as immovable as a mountain range and as solid as star-forged steel.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The chains struck her from every direction, sparks of blue fire and dark energy flying with every impact.

But Liu Ruyan moved with the grace of a master, utilizing all four limbs to block, deflect, and parry the relentless assault.

Her movements were a blur of golden light, but the sheer number of chains was starting to weigh her down.

Medusa, recovering from the kick, stood at the edge of the clearing, her hand clutching her chest.

She saw her friend’s master being systematically entombed and moved to help, but before she could take a step, a blur of charcoal grey blocked her path.

The 8th brother stood there, his face a mask of twisted, humiliated rage. ”Kekeke! You snake! You almost cost me my soul earlier! Now that my brother has pinned down the ’Maiden,’ I will have my revenge on your hide! Hell Punishing Fist!”

His fist ignited with a sickly, purple-black fire—the flames of hell that target the nervous system.

He lunged forward, his strike moving with the desperation of a man seeking to reclaim his pride.

Medusa reacted instantly, crossing her bruised arms in a defensive block, but her injuries were too deep and her guard shattered like brittle wood under the impact.

The fist connected squarely with her chest, the shockwave echoing through her ribs.

She was sent plummeting like a fallen star, smashing into the ground and creating a massive crater that sent plumes of dust into the air.

She coughed up a violent spray of blood, her golden eyes struggling to remain focused as the dark fire of the 8th brother’s fist began to eat at her meridians.

”Kekeke! Die!” The 8th brother laughed manically as he manifested a jagged sword made of solidified shadows and dived toward the crater, intending to pin Medusa to the earth.

But as he descended, a thunderous, earth-shaking roar erupted from the shadows.

Then, a massive tiger, twenty feet long and wreathed in roaring red flames, leaped into the air, its jaws, filled with teeth like daggers, snapped shut around the 8th brother’s waist mid-flight.

”Gah!” the assassin choked, blood spurting from his mouth as the sudden ambush caught him off-guard.

Zhu Ziyan stepped out from behind a boulder, her cat-ears pinned back and her eyes glowing with a terrifying, ancient golden light.

This was a bloodline power she had awakened during her journey with Huo Yue, the Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes.

These eyes are capable subduing any feline-type beasts, and even being able to summon the subdued beasts by her side no matter where they are.

Not only that, the more beasts she subdued, the faster her cultivation becomes!

”Rip him apart!” Ziyan commanded, her voice high and sharp with desperation.

The flame-wreathed tiger shook its massive head with primal ferocity, swinging the 8th brother around like a ragdoll, its claws tearing into his cloak and flesh.

But a Nirvana Rebirth expert was not so easily slain by a mere beast.

”Die, you mangy beast!” the 8th brother roared. Dark, needle-like shadow blades erupted from his every pore, expanding outward in a lethal sphere.

The tiger whimpered as hundreds of blades burst through its ethereal hide, the red flames flickered and died as the beast lost its cohesion, eventually collapsing and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

The 8th brother, bleeding and panting, turned his gaze toward Ziyan, his eyes locked onto hers, and a new greed replaced his rage. ”That... those eyes! The Tyrannical Tiger Subduing Eyes!? A cat-kin from this backwater region actually possesses a top tier ocular bloodline? I must have them! You don’t deserve such a gift!”

However, before he could lunge at the girl, a piercing scream of pure spiritual power tore through the clearing.

Liu Ruyan had finally reached her limit, and with a desperate surge of soul-force, she broke free from the Hell Imprisoning Chains, the golden bell around her body shattering into a thousand fragments.

In her hands, she now held a massive, heavy black ruler, a weapon she had summoned from the depths of her own soul, in other words, her own Natal Artifact.

”8th Brother! Forget them! We need to capture this woman first! She is the true prize!” the fifth brother ordered from his vantage point.

The 8th brother clicked his tongue in annoyance but obeyed, flying back into the sky to join his brother in a pincer maneuver.

Liu Ruyan was breathing in ragged, shallow gasps.

Using the body of a Golden Core junior to channel the techniques of a Saint was causing Huo Yue’s meridians to crack and bleed.

Her vision was blurring, the edges of the world turning grey, and at that moment, finally realized that she couldn’t win this fight no matter what.

With a look of profound apology toward the subconscious Huo Yue, Liu Ruyan made a final, suicidal choice.

She closed her eyes, and her soul—a radiant, illusory figure of a mature, beautiful woman—ripped itself out of Huo Yue’s body.

She hovered in the air, her form translucent and flickering like a candle in a gale.

”Mas...ter?” Huo Yue’s physical body slumped to the ground, her consciousness returning as she stared at the fading spirit of her teacher.

However, despite being back in control, her body was so severely injured and exhausted to even move.

”Giving up your vessel?” the 5th brother grinned, sensing the weakness in the soul form. ”That just makes my job easier! Without a body to anchor you, your soul is nothing but a feast for my chains!”

From the darkened sky, thousands of new chains appeared, forming a ceiling of iron that began to rain down like a mechanical storm.

Liu Ruyan didn’t flee, instead, she moved with a speed that exceeded the physical, grabbing the unconscious Huo Yue and appearing instantly beside Medusa and Ziyan.

She raised the black ruler, creating a translucent, emerald barrier that took the brunt of the falling iron.

The shield groaned, spiderweb cracks appearing across its surface immediately, but it held.

Liu Ruyan turned her head, her illusory eyes turning towards Medusa who was swallowing pills to heal herself.

”Snake girl,” Liu Ruyan whispered, her voice a fading echo. ”The barrier won’t hold for long. Take the girls and leave. Use every ounce of your power to do so. I will buy you the time.”

Hearing those words, Huo Yue’s world collapsed as she reached out, her fingers trembling, trying to grasp the translucent, shimmering hem of Liu Ruyan’s robe.

”What?! No! Master, what about you!?” her voice broke into a raw sound of a girl who had someone important taken away.

Liu Ruyan shook her head slowly, her illusory form flickering like a candle in a hurricane.

”Right now, they are after me, Yue’er,” she whispered, her voice a soft echo that seemed to vibrate directly inside Huo Yue’s heart. ”I’ll stay here and distract them. You three flee. Go to the West or the North, hide in the cracks of the world—just make sure they don’t find you.”

”No! I refuse!” Huo Yue’s tears finally spilled over, hot and bitter against her soot-stained cheeks as she grabbed at the air where her master’s hand should be. ”Master, if we escape, then come with us! I can beg Haoran for help! Just please, don’t do this! Don’t stay here!”

Liu Ruyan’s smile was the most painful thing Huo Yue had ever seen—it was full of a mother’s peace and a martyr’s resignation. ”No need, child. The Shadow Hall is far more terrifying than you imagined. They are backed by one of the Nine Immortal Clans that not even the Shen Clan will lightly make enemies of just for the sake of a wandering soul.”

She leaned down, her translucent fingers passing through Huo Yue’s skin like a warm breeze, caressing her cheeks as if trying to memorize the warmth of living flesh. ”Child, listen to me. I have left behind all my knowledge stored in your storage ring. And the source of my Freezing Ice Flame... it is already rooted in your Dantian. You are talented, Yue’er, and you can surely rise even without me.”

”No! I don’t want the flame! I don’t want those knowledge!” Huo Yue wailed, her chest heaving with a grief so heavy it felt like her ribs were snapping. ”I still have a lot of things to learn from you! I still have many things I want to ask you! I still need you to tell me when I’m being an idiot! I still need you, Master!”

Liu Ruyan simply shook her head, her gaze drifting toward the horizon, the love in her eyes was a weight that could crush mountains.

She turned toward Medusa, whose gold-slotted pupils were clouded with a mix of respect and grim necessity.

Medusa stared at the dying spirit for a few moments, amd without a word, she lunged forward, grabbing Ziyan and Huo Yue and hoisting them over her shoulder.

”Wait! No! Medusa, let me go! Master! Master!” Huo Yue thrashed, her fists pounding against Medusa’s armored back, her eyes fixed on the small, glowing figure standing alone against the encroaching darkness.

Liu Ruyan stared back at Huo Yue, her expression becoming stern yet infinitely tender.

”Child, don’t be so willful anymore,” she said, her voice carrying a soft, scolding warmth. ”You always like to trouble your friends, acting as if the world is a game. One day they might get annoyed and leave, you know. Then you’d be alone.”

”I won’t! I promise I won’t be willful anymore!” Huo Yue’s voice rose to a scream, her throat raw and bleeding. ”I won’t act childish anymore! I’ll study hard every day like you wanted me to! I’ll be the best student in the world for you! Master, please! Just don’t leave! Medusa! Take her! If you don’t, I will hate you for the rest of my life! I’ll never forgive you!”

Medusa gritted her teeth, a single tear of blood tracing a path down her pale face as she tightened her grip.

”Shut it for now, girl!” she growled, her voice cracking with her own suppressed agony. ”You can hate me for eternity later! Right now, we escape!”

”Go,” Liu Ruyan commanded, her aura suddenly flaring with a brilliance that rivaled the sun. ”I will create a chance for you.”

With a final, lingering look at her disciple, Liu Ruyan raised her head toward the two brothers hovering in the sky.

She gathered the remaining essence of her soul—every memory, every spark of her hundred-year existence—into her palm.

Then, she released it in one massive, terminal surge of power.

The effect was cataclysmic.

It was as if the laws of the universe had been inverted. Gravity flipped, and the earth itself tore upward, huge slabs of bedrock, thousands of chains, and uprooted trees all flew toward the sky in a violent, emerald-colored vortex.

”GO!” Liu Ruyan’s voice was no longer a whisper; it was a roar that shook the foundations of the Southern Region.

Without hesitation, Medusa bit her lip until it bled, activated her life-essence escape, and turned into a streak of iridescent light, vanishing toward the horizon.

”NO! NO! MEDUSA! GO BACK! GO BACK!”

Huo Yue’s voice was a jagged shard of glass, cutting through the wind. ”MEDUSA! DO AS I SAY AND GO BACK!”

She reached her hand out, her fingers straining toward the vanishing figure of her master, which was growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

The last thing she saw—the image that would be burned into her soul until the day she died—was Liu Ruyan standing at the center of the storm.

She was smiling at her, a look of absolute pride and love on her face.

Behind her, the two brothers had finally balanced themselves, then, hundreds of dark, barbed chains shot out from the void, pinning Liu Ruyan’s illusory limbs to the air.

The brothers’ laughter was the last thing Huo Yue heard, a cruel, mocking sound that heralded the beginning of her master’s eternal torment.

”NOOOOOOOOO!”

The scream echoed through the forest, long after the light of the escape had faded, leaving behind nothing but the cold, silent dark and the scent of a soul that had burned itself out for love.