Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

At this moment, within the grand, opulent interior of the Ye Family’s private manor in Ye Heavenly City, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense, heavy with unbridled malice and decades of built-up resentment.

Ye Liuman stood near the heavy mahogany desk, his face flushed with violent rage as he stared furiously at Yan Renhua, his chest heaving up and down.

He slammed his hand against the polished wood and roared, ”Renhua, why did you do that?!”

Yan Renhua, who was sitting casually on an embroidered silk couch, smoothed down her luxurious sleeves and let out a cold, contemptuous snort. ”Why did I do it? Are you going to hit me over a mere adopted child? That precious adopted son of yours spilled hot tea all over my favorite dress! It is entirely his own fault for being so clumsy and incompetent! And as his legally recognized adopted mother, isn’t it only natural and fitting for me to discipline him for his utter lack of manners?”

”You have no right!” Ye Liuman screamed, his voice cracking with sheer fury. ”Adoptive mother?! When have you EVER acted like a mother to him?! Don’t think I am blind to your endless, disgusting schemes! You did that on purpose! Are you so terribly afraid that I will grow tired of your arrogance and pass the family headship and core inheritance to him instead of that unfilial, cold-blooded daughter of yours?!”

”Ye Liuman!” Yan Renhua’s eyes narrowed into razor-sharp, lethal slits as she glared back at him, her gentle demeanor completely evaporating, her voice turned dangerously cold as she sneered, ”You seem to care so deeply for that little mongrel. Tell me, are you truly just taking pity on an orphan, or are you sure he isn’t actually your filthy illegitimate child born from some worthless whore outside?!”

”So what if he is?!” Ye Liuman roared back without thinking, his anger completely blinding his judgment as the words spilled violently out of his mouth. ”So what if he carries my blood?!”

Yan Renhua froze for a split second, her eyes turning pitch-black with a freezing malice.

But instead of flying into a rage, her lips slowly curved into a twisted, mocking smile that made Ye Liuman’s stomach churn with an unnatural dread.

She let out a soft, venomous chuckle and leaned back against her silk cushions, looking at him as if he were the most pathetic creature under the heavens.

”Ah, how adorable,” Yan Renhua mocked, her voice dripping with pure disdain. ”You think you’re the only one who can do that, Ye Liuman? Well, let me tell you, while you were out there doing business, I have slept with countless younger, far more capable men behind your back! I keep an entire collection of handsome boytoys in my private villas, men who satisfy me in ways your pathetic, withered dick never could! And as for Hongyan? Do you truly believe a magnificent, peerless genius like her could ever be born from your useless, weak bloodline?! She isn’t your daughter at all! You don’t just wear one green hat, Ye Liuman—you are wearing a whole mountain of them, and the entire high society of the realm secretly laughs at you behind your back!”

”You— you— !”

Ye Liuman’s entire body trembled violently. His eyes bulged out of his head, blood vessels popping across his forehead as he gasped frantically for air, feeling as though his heart was about to burst right out of his chest!

His face turned from red to a terrifying, sickly purple, he couldn’t even form a single coherent sentence, his hand shaking uncontrollably as he could only point a single trembling finger at her mocking face.

He knew she was just saying that out of spite, after all, whether she cheated on him and kept several men, how could he not know?

But even so... Even so...!

”You shameless... Bitch...!” he choked out, his vision spinning with pure rage.

Just then, a soft, pathetic creak echoed from the grand doorway.

Ye Fan appeared, covered in thick white bandages from head to toe, looking utterly weak, battered, and pitiful.

He leaned heavily against the doorframe, his face pale as he looked at the raging couple with wide, tear-filled eyes.

”Father... please don’t get mad,” Ye Fan whimpered softly, his voice trembling with heartbreak as he feebly reached out toward Ye Liuman. ”It’s all my fault... Mother is right, I was too careless with the tea. Please, you shouldn’t fight and ruin your marriage because of a worthless person like me...”

Yan Renhua’s eyes turned even colder, filled with deep disgust as she glared at the boy’s pathetic display.

She could see right through his hypocritical act, but she didn’t even deign to speak to him.

Ye Liuman, however, looked at his battered, trembling adopted son and felt a sudden, immense surge of warmth and validation wash over his fractured pride.

Looking at Ye Fan’s bruised face, he felt that this boy was so gentle, so obedient, and so filial—infinitely more filial and respectful than his arrogant wife or that cold, unfilial daughter who treated him like dirt!

Ye Liuman turned back toward Yan Renhua, his eyes burning with renewed hatred as he barked, ”Do you see that?! Do you see how kind and filial he is?! Even after you abused him, he still blames himself! Look at him, and look at that heartless monster you raised! I wish with all my heart that he was my true, biological child instead of her!”

”Father, please don’t say that!” Ye Fan cried out, burying his face in his bandaged hands as tears of apparent anguish threatened to fall from his eyes. ”Sister Hongyan is a peerless genius... I am just... I am nobody...”

Yet, behind his bandaged hands, hidden completely from Ye Liuman’s sight, Ye Fan’s lips curved into a dark, triumphant, and deeply sinister smile.

Inside his mind, he was secretly gloating with pure, unadulterated joy!

’Yes! Fight! Tear each other apart, you fools!’ Ye Fan thought viciously, his heart racing with ecstatic thrill. ’Keep arguing! Keep pushing each other to the brink! My plan is working even better than I calculated!’

Step by step, Yan Renhua will fall completely out of favor with the family elders, and that arrogant bitch Ye Hongyan will be stripped of her status and officially cut off from the family lineage forever!

Once those two obstacles are erased, the old man will have no one else to turn to, and the vast wealth, the ancient resources, and the supreme authority of the entire Ye Family will naturally fall into his hands!

And once he controls it all, he will make every single person who ever looked down on him crawl at his feet!

He lowered his hands, letting a single, perfect tear roll down his pale cheek, continuing his tragic, filial performance for his foolish, gullible foster father.

”Really? Then fine. It’s alright even if you cut her off from the family line,” said Yan Renhua, her voice completely calm and devoid of a single trace of panic.

She smoothed down the front of her luxurious silk dress, a slight, mocking smirk playing on her lips as she added,

”After all, she is already the woman of the Shen Clan.”

With that, she turned around on her heel, her fine robes trailing behind her, and began walking gracefully toward the grand exit of the manor.

”Wait!” Ye Liuman called out, his voice suddenly cracking as his eyes widened in utter, paralyzing shock.

The fiery rage that had been boiling in his chest just a second prior completely evaporated, replaced by a wave of cold, suffocating disbelief.

”Shen Clan...? That Shen Clan?!”

Ye Fan blinked, his tear-streaked face freezing mid-performance as he looked back and forth between Ye Liuman’s trembling frame and Yan Renhua’s departing back, thoroughly confused.

’The Shen Clan? Who on earth are they? Why did old man Ye’s face turn completely pale just hearing that name?’

Ye Fan thought frantically, his mind racing to search through his limited knowledge.

Let it be known that before his fortunate stroke of luck, Ye Fan was just an ordinary, low-born peasant living in a dusty, backwater village before he managed to trick his way into being adopted by Ye Liuman.

His understanding of high society, power structures, and the broader world was strictly limited to the local noble households, wealthy merchants, and minor city sects within the immediate territory.

To a former beggar like him, the Ye Family was already the peak of the world, a colossal titan that no one could ever hope to challenge except for the Imperial Family.

He had no grasp of the vast, ancient powers that truly ruled the cosmos.

”Yes, that Shen Clan,” said Yan Renhua, stopping briefly near the doorway without even bothering to turn around to face him, her tone was light, dismissive, and dripping with sweet poison. ”But it really doesn’t matter, does it? After all, you just said you don’t want her as a daughter anymore. You can go ahead and give everything to your precious adopted son.”

”Who said that?!” Ye Liuman suddenly yelled, stepping forward with an anxious, sweating face before a wide, shameless grin stretched across his features. ”Blood is thicker than water! She carries my legacy! How could I ever not want my own brilliant daughter?!”

Yan Renhua paused, glancing back over her shoulder with a sharp, mocking arch of her eyebrow. ”Oh? Aren’t you afraid that she isn’t your biological daughter? Didn’t I just tell you she might not carry a single drop of your blood?”

”Of course not! That was just angry talk!” Ye Liuman barked, waving his hand frantically in the air as he glared at her with intense, desperate earnestness. ”How could I not know my own daughter?! I knew the moment she was born that she inherited my supreme talent and dignity! Stop wasting time with foolish squabbles! Go call that girl immediately and tell her to invite her man! I will personally organize a grand banquet in Ye Heavenly City to welcome them!”

Yan Renhua rolled her eyes at his utterly shameless, instant turnabout, but she gave a simple, subtle nod and walked smoothly out of the room, her high heels echoing softly down the grand marble hallway.

The moment the heavy wooden doors clicked shut, leaving only the two of them in the quiet, luxurious study, Ye Fan couldn’t hold back his burning curiosity any longer.

He dragged his bandaged body a step closer, his eyes wide with genuine bewilderment.

”Father... what is the Shen Clan?” Ye Fan asked, his voice filled with cautious, eager curiosity. ”Are they... some powerful merchant family from another city?”

Ye Liuman turned his head toward Ye Fan, letting out a long, heavy sigh that carried centuries of awe, fear, and profound reverence.

He walked back toward his massive desk, leaning his hands heavily against the edge as he looked down at his adopted son with a deeply serious, almost solemn expression.

”Trade family? A mere city power?” Ye Liuman shook his head, his eyes shining with an intense light. ”Fan’er, your origins lie in the mortal world, so it is natural that you do not yet understand the true nature of the cultivation world. Listen closely. The world we live in is vast beyond measure, but at the pinnacle of existence stand the Nine Immortal Clans and the Twelve Immortal Sects!”

He leaned forward, his voice dropping into a low, breathless whisper that echoed with ancient weight.

”These ancient lineages are not mere factions—they are the supreme rulers of the universe, the foundational pillars of the entire central empire! They are the strongest, most terrifying, and most influential forces in existence. They possess deep, bottomless foundations that have endured for hundreds of thousands of years, having survived ancient catastrophes and cosmic wars that wiped out entire star realms! More importantly... every single one of these supreme forces has produced true, transcendent Immortals in their history!”

Ye Fan’s breath hitched in his throat, his heart skipping a beat as he listened. ’True Immortals...? Forces that produced actual Immortals?!’

”No ordinary sect, no grand empire, and no wealthy merchant family—not even our proud Ye Family—can come anywhere close to their level of power and authority,” Ye Liuman continued, his voice trembling slightly with ambition and excitement. ”Among the Nine Immortal Clans, the Shen Clan is a titan among titans! Their territory spans entire realm, their elders can shatter planets with a single wave of their sleeves, and their core descendants possess divine bloodlines that defy the very laws of heaven and earth!”

Ye Liuman looked toward the doorway where Yan Renhua had left, a manic, ambitious smile spreading across his face.

”If Hongyan has truly become the woman of a core young master from the Shen Clan... then our Ye Family’s standing will soar to unimaginable heights! Even the high elders of the Imperial City will have to bow their heads when they pass through our gates!”

He turned back to Ye Fan, reaching out to pat the boy’s bandaged shoulder with heavy, forceful encouragement.

”Fan’er, go back to your room right now and prepare yourself! Put on the finest spiritual robes, heal your wounds, and refine your manners! When the banquet begins, I will personally introduce you to her man! If you can form a good relationship with a core genius of the Shen Clan, even a tiny drop of fortune falling from his fingers will be enough to grant you boundless opportunities for the rest of your life!”

”I... I understand, Father!” Ye Fan replied, bowing his head deeply with a humble, grateful posture. ”I will go prepare immediately!”

”Good, good! Go on!” Ye Liuman laughed, his mind already filled with grand visions of power and prestige.

Ye Fan turned around and slowly limped out of the study, keeping his head bowed in a respectful, obedient manner until he turned the corner into the long, empty hallway.

The moment he was out of Ye Liuman’s sight, the humble, grateful expression vanished from Ye Fan’s face, replaced by a dark, twisting scowl that distorted his features behind his white bandages.

His fists clenched tightly inside his sleeves, his fingernails digging deep into his palms until blood dripped through the linen wrap.

’The Nine Immortal Clans...? The Shen Clan?!’ Ye Fan screamed internally, his eyes burning with intense, suffocating jealousy and venomous rage. ’Why?! Why does that cold, arrogant bitch Ye Hongyan get everything?! She already possesses supreme talent, her mother’s backing, and great prestige! And now she even has a man from the most powerful family in the universe standing behind her?!’

He gritted his teeth, his jaw aching from the sheer tension.

’No... I refuse to accept this!’ Ye Fan vowed silently, his eyes flashing with a sinister, dangerous glint as he limped toward his private chambers. ’A young master from an immortal clan? He’s probably just an arrogant, spoiled brat who relies on his family’s name! Just you wait... I will find a way to use this banquet to my advantage! If I can drag that Shen Clan genius down, or trick him into supporting me instead of Hongyan, then the Ye Family will still belong to ME!’