Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 147: Chapter 147: The Supreme Trinity

At this moment, in the high VIP stands, the three sisters who ruled the domain sat in varied states of observation.

Feng Yuyan, the mistress of forbidden arts, blinked her golden eyes, a look of clinical appreciation crossing her face. ”A three-layered formation? That kid, Shen Bai... he actually has some talent. To weave the Ghost Parade and even adding a two formations of that magnitude requires a spatial understanding that most veterans take centuries to master.”

Leng Shuang, the Conferred Tyrant, gave a slow, imperious nod, her golden hair glowed with a faint, chilling light. ”The Qi Disruption Array and the Heaven Binding Array... although they are technically classified as Rank 5 Formations, their execution is something even a Rank 6 Formation Master would struggle to stabilize. Even a Rank 7 Master couldn’t casually sustain both at the same time while under the pressure of a combat arena. That boy is burning his very life essence to hold those lines.”

Feng Yuyan turned her head, her gaze shifting toward their youngest sister, Chu Xueyu, who sat on the central throne. ”What do you think, sister? They’ve effectively turned your son into a mortal. Are you worried?”

Chu Xueyu did not move, her eyes remained fixed on Haoran, her expression as unreadable as the void between stars.

”Worried?” she repeated, her voice a low, dangerous velvet. ”If they truly believe they can beat Haoran with just this, if they think his strength is limited to the shells we gave him, then I can say for certain... they need to wake up to reality.”

Below the Empresses, the Seven Enshrined Elders sat with their fists clenched, their knuckles white.

These were men who had lived through multiple epochs, yet they were watching the arena floor with a solemnity that bordered on fear.

The First Elder took a deep, rattling breath.

’Shen Bai, you are indeed impressive,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing. ’A genius of the formation path, truly. But this won’t be enough. What you are doing is nothing more than trying to cage a storm with silk ribbons.’

The Second Elder’s thoughts were even darker. ’The Qi Disruption array to cut off his connection to the heavens, and the Heaven Binding Array to seal away the physical power of his physique... if it were anyone else, even one of us in our youth, this would surely be the end. But the one you’re facing is not just a member of the clan. He is Shen Haoran.’

The Third Elder observed the scene with a gaze that seemed to see through the layers of the world. ’Shen Haoran is known as the Clan’s number one genius in the past, present, and future. That isn’t a title he claimed for himself out of arrogance. We were the ones who gave him that name when he was still in the cradle. We, who have seen the rise and fall of countless geniuses.”

For those who knew the inside story, then they might surely think that Haoran’s life was one of stolen glory.

His Divine Physique was something his mother stole and given to him, and even the Heavenly Sword Dao Bone he possessed was an implantation that his mother ripped out from his father.

On paper, his talent was a patchwork of other people’s brilliance.

So, why was he still hailed as the undisputed number one?

Why did the Elders bow their heads to his potential?

Is it just because of his photographic memory or his monstrous ability to comprehend any technique in a single glance?

Maybe, but more than that, it was because of a secret known only to the three sisters and the highest Enshrined Elders: Shen Haoran’s very soul was formed from the physical manifestation of the Three Extremes.

The Three Extremes are the absolute paths that Supreme Emperors must choose when they transcend the limitations of the Saint realms and touch the true source of the universe.

No matter the Dao, whether it be the sword, the flame, or the soul, every Supreme eventually falls into one of three categories: Creation, Destruction, or Domination.

Supremes of Extreme Creation prove their Dao to benefit the world, acting as architects of life and blessings.

Supremes of Extreme Destruction prove their Dao to bring calamity, refining their power through the end of all things.

Supremes of Extreme Domination prove their Dao simply to impose their will upon the totality of existence, making their own ego the axis upon which the world turns.

Once a peak Heavenly Saint touched the edge of the Three Extremes, then they can be considered a half-step into Supreme Emperor realm.

The three sisters, with their own dao, had already touched the edge of these Extremes.

Chu Xueyu embodies the Extreme Destruction, her Dao of Slaughter fed by the blood and souls of millions and souls beings.

Feng Yuyan embodies the Extreme Creation, her Dao of Forbidden Creation capable of birthing life from nothingness and creating creatures of horror that would break the mind of the lessers.

Leng Shuang embodies the Extreme Domination, her Dao of Tyranny ruling over the Twelve Realms, suppressing trillions of lives and imposing her will towards them.

These three are what is known as Three Extremes.

Since time immemorial, every Supreme who ever graced the history of the Prime Origin Realm belonged to one of these three.

To ascend, one had to choose a path and pursue it to the exclusion of all else.

But Haoran was different.

When the three sisters created him, they didn’t want him to be just someone who will follow the rest and just pursue one of them, they wanted him to be the most supreme existence and to pursue everything.

So they used the three Extremes to weave the very fabric of his soul, creating an existence that embodied all three paths simultaneously.

However, this primordial power was initially too vast and too volatile for an infant’s body to contain, and if not handled, would have incinerated his physical form before he could take his first breath.

So to prevent this from happening, the sisters had used the Heavenly Sword Dao Bone they stole from Jian Chen and the Infinity Dragon God Divine Physique that some brat from branch family awakened to create a body that acts as a dual-layered seal.

In other words, the physique and the dao bone were not his talent, they were his shackles.

They were a cage designed to keep his true, terrifying nature dormant until his body was strong enough to act as a vessel for the divine.

One could say that Shen Haoran was already a Supreme existence, an embodiment of the Trinity that the world had never seen before.

There are Supremes who create, there are Supremes who destroy, and there are Supremes who dominate, but never has there been one who is all three.

He was unique.

He was the end of the old laws.

So the three sisters and the Enshrined Elders decided to give him a name;

The Supreme Trinity.

At that moment, as Shen Bai’s arrays reached their peak intensity, a power swept through the arena that caused the very space of the Shen Clan domain to darken.

The artificial sun in the sky flickered, and the ground began to groan with a sound like grinding teeth.

The remaining eight Crowns shivered.

They felt a weight settle on their shoulders that made their Nascent Soul and Golden Core auras feel like flickering candles in a gale, despite having been strengthened by pills and artifacts, with the exception of Shen Xun’er.

They stared at Haoran, and for the first time, they didn’t see a ”cousin” or a ”rival”.

They saw an abyss.

Although the Infinity Dragon God and the Heavenly Sword Dao Bone had acted as his seal during his childhood, but that was when he was a fragile infant.

Now, he was a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

His physical body had been baptized by the world’s most potent herbs and tempered by the Unbreakable Diamond Sacred Technique.

The cage was no longer strong enough to hold the beast.

By sealing his ”external” physiques, Shen Bai had inadvertently forced Haoran to tap into the ”internal” source he usually kept hidden.

Of course, this level of power was still too much for his body to handle, however, it is now more than enough to handle just a minute or two of usage.

At that moment, a tri-colored energy—one of deep, imperial purple, one of brilliant, solar gold, and one of shimmering, cold silver—burst out from Haoran’s body.

And with that energy, the Ghost Parade spirits didn’t just dissipate; they were erased from existence, their very essence unmade.

Thankfully, the Qi Disruption Array and the Heaven Binding Array still remained intact, although they groaned under the sheer conceptual weight of this power.

Finally, as the energy settled, Shen Haoran stood in the center of a massive crater, but this time, he underwent a physical change.

His left eye had turned a piercing, metallic silver; this is the eye that symbolises Creation.

His right eye had transformed into a deep, swirling purple; an eye that symbolises Destruction.

And between his brows, a third eye had opened, its golden pupil radiating a light that demanded the world kneel; an eye that symbolises Domination.

The black and gold robes he wore seemed to drink the light, and his presence expanded until the hundreds of millions in the stands found it difficult to breathe.

Haoran looked at the Eight Crowns, his three eyes blinking in slow, terrifying synchrony as a smirk, cold and devoid of anything resembling mercy, touched his lips.

”Crowns,” he said, his voice now carrying the resonance of a thousand ancient bells. ”Sealing my physique and my Qi was the greatest mistake you have ever made in your short, insignificant lives.”