Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Tan Wu City

The Eastern Region, once a place of vibrant commerce and ancient serenity, had been transformed into a charnel house.

Nowhere was this devastation more apparent than in Tan Wu City.

What was once a bustling hub of trade, known for its towering white-stone walls and the rich scent of medicinal herbs(at least, in that small corner), was now a jagged landscape of ash and bone.

At this moment, the entire city was basically in ruins as a few tall, muscular, and red-skinned barbarians walked around the city.

These were the vanguard of the Fire Giant Tribe, the barbarians who invaded the central region.

Their skin was the color of dried blood, and their eyes burned with a primal, savage hunger for destruction.

They moved with a lumbering grace, their heavy footfalls shaking the cracked pavement of the streets, occasionally overturning collapsed buildings with a single hand just to see if anything edible, or killable, was hidden beneath.

At this moment, on a corner of a street, tucked behind a half-melted fountain, a young man with short black hair and red eyes was breathing heavily.

His clothes were tattered, soaked with a mixture of sweat and grime, and a deep gash ran across his shoulder.

From his aura, he was at the 1st Stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, a level that would have garnered respect in the city’s schools a year ago, but here, it was barely enough to stay alive.

”Damn it, I’m cornered.”

This young man was Huo Lin, a member of the Huo Clan.

He clutched a broken iron sword, his knuckles white with tension as his heart hammered against his ribs like a drum of war, and every breath felt like inhaling liquid fire.

A few years ago Huo Clan had entered a golden age, with Huo Yue sending high-grade resources and cultivation pills back to her clan from her travels, they had dominated the entire Tan Wu City, elevating the Huo name to heights unseen for centuries.

They had built new pavilions, expanded their influence, and become the undisputed leaders of this small, local region.

However, a year ago, the sky turned the color of rust as these barbarians calling themselves the Fire Giant Tribe suddenly appeared from the mountain passes and started wreaking havoc.

They didn’t come with grand strategy or complicated siege engines, and simply came with the momentum of an avalanche.

Although they don’t have any battle techniques, no sophisticated sword forms or elemental spells, they possessed incredible physical strength and skin as hard as steel.

Their bones were as dense as ironwood, and their regenerative abilities meant that a shallow sword wound would close before the blood could even hit the ground.

Not to mention they possessed an innate ability to control and manipulate fire!

In just one day, the entire Tan Wu City was razed to the ground.

The city lord had been executed in the town square, and the great libraries were burned for warmth.

Thankfully, the Huo Clan was able to hide themselves under an underground base that their ancestors had prepared just in case their clan faced a threat of annihilation.

It was a labyrinth of stone and damp earth, reinforced by ancient, fading runes.

It has barely enough protection that these barbarians who don’t possess much spiritual awareness, couldn’t sense the Huo Clan underground as long as the clan members kept their qi suppressed and remained silent.

However, the only problem was that the water and food was limited.

Hundreds of survivors were crammed into the dark, and the rations were dwindling faster than the morale.

Because of this, every now and then, some of them would come out and gather some food or supplies from the ruins above.

It was a suicide mission, but a necessary one.

And it was Huo Lin’s turn this time. He had managed to find a small sack of dried grain in a cellar, but the clinking of a ceramic pot had betrayed him.

Unfortunately, he was found out.

He was chased by a barbarian like a cat chasing a mouse.

”Shit, I need to go back. Their rations wouldn’t last another week!”

But at that moment, a seven-foot-tall barbarian appeared from behind a collapsed wall, grinning like a maniac.

His chest was bare, revealing a body full of black tribal tattoos that seemed to pulse with a faint, dark heat.

He carried a crude club made from the femur of a colossal beast.

”Hahaha! You little ant, you’re finally cornered!” The barbarian’s voice was a guttural growl that resonated in Huo Lin’s chest. ”Tell me, where are the others hiding!? I can smell the stench of humans nearby. Give them up, and I might make your death quick!”

This barbarian only had a qi signature equivalent to that of a Peak Qi Gathering Realm cultivator, but the physical disparity was terrifying.

Because of their lineage, he could even beat 4th or 5th-stage Foundation Establishment realm experts of Tan Wu City in a direct confrontation.

Their muscles acted as natural armor, and their speed was deceptive.

”Like hell I’d tell you!” Huo Lin gritted his teeth, his red eyes burning with a desperate defiance.

He knew he couldn’t win, but he refused to lead these monsters to the children and elders hiding in the dark below.

”Then die!” The barbarian roared, the sound echoing off the ruined walls as he charged towards Huo Lin, his massive fist raised in glee.

The air whistled as the blow descended.

Huo Lin closed his eyes, preparing for death, his body tensing for the impact that would surely shatter his skull.

But at that moment, the world didn’t end in pain. Instead, there was a sudden, violent *thud* followed by the sound of something wet bursting.

Huo Lin opened his eyes and stared in horror and confusion at the pile of flesh and blood that remained of his pursuer.

The barbarian had been turned into a bloody pulp in an instant, squashed flat by a massive, pitch-black ruler that had slammed down from the heavens like a divine pillar.

At that moment, several figures came down from the sky, drifting through the smoke and ash to land softly on the cracked earth.

The sight was surreal—three women, looking like goddesses of war amidst the filth of the ruins.

It was Huo Yue, Zhu Ziyan, and Medusa.

Huo Lin’s eyes widened, his breath hitching as he looked at the lead figure.

Long crimson hair, bright red eyes, and a face that can charm any man... Huo Lin was once lost in that beauty many years ago, so he couldn’t forget her no matter what.

”You... You are...”

Huo Yue stared at him, her expression a mask of stoic calm that hid an inferno of emotion as she stepped over the remains of the barbarian, her hand reaching out to retrieve the black ruler with effortless strength. ”It has been a while, senior brother Lin. I would like to chat, but that can wait for later. For now, tell me, where are my parents and my brothers? Are they safe?”

”Huo Yue...” Huo Lin whispered, his voice trembling.

He found her completely different from the woman who had left a few years ago.

She was now more mature, with a sophisticated and melancholic feel, her presence radiating a gravity that felt like a mountain pressing down on the surroundings.

She carried herself as if she had experienced and overcome many trials and tribulations, her eyes holding the wisdom of someone who had seen worlds end.

”You... You came back...” Huo Lin whispered, the shock finally beginning to give way to a fresh wave of panic. ”This... this is dangerous. You should go. I can tell you that your family are okay, most of the clan members are fine as well, even some people from the city are with us in the base. But this place isn’t safe! The main tribe members are nearby! You should leave before the giants notice your presence!”

At that moment, the ground trembled.

Another barbarian appeared from the shadows of a nearby temple, and this one was larger, nearly twelve feet tall, with skin that glowed like molten ore.

This was a barbarian who had truly tapped into his bloodline, a warrior at the Foundation Establishment realm.

He stared at the bloody pulp of his kin, then looked at Huo Yue and the others, and his eyes widened in a terrifying, animalistic rage. ”You! You killed my brother!”

”Oh no!” Huo Lin’s face went pale as he recognized this monster.

This was the barbarian who had killed the Core Formation realm expert who served as the City Lord’s primary bodyguard.

In Huo Lin’s mind, even though Huo Yue had recovered her talent and found success elsewhere, she probably hadn’t even reached the Core Formation realm yet.

In his limited worldview, it was impossible for her to win against a creature that had slain a Core Formation master.

”Huo Yue—” He was about to warn her, to scream for her to run, but his mouth simply went wide with shock.

Huo Yue didn’t even look at the charging giant, and she didn’t use a complicated movement technique or a flashy elemental spell.

She simply clenched her hand at the handle of the massive black ruler and swung it in a wide, casual arc toward the barbarian.

There was no sound of metal meeting flesh—only the sound of an absolute force meeting an object that could not withstand it.

The Foundation Establishment barbarian didn’t even have time to scream; he turned into a splattering mess of blood and flesh, his ”steel-hard” skin offering as much protection as wet parchment against the weight of the ruler.

The silence that followed was deafening as the mist of blood settled slowly on the grey ruins.

Huo Yue, with a single droplet of blood on her cheek that made her look like a vengeful saint, turned back towards the stunned Huo Lin.

Her gaze was soft but absolute.

”Take me to the clan.”

”Y-Yes...” Huo Lin stammered, his mind reeling as he struggled to stand.

He realized then that the girl who had sent pills back home was gone; in her place was a powerhouse that Tan Wu City, and perhaps the entire Eastern Region, was not prepared for.

He turned toward the hidden entrance of the underground base, his hope, which had been dead for a year, suddenly beginning to flicker back to life.