Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

The dense canopy of the primordial woodland formed a nearly impenetrable ceiling overhead, choking out the midday light until only a dim, emerald gloom remained.

Beneath the towering boughs, a heavy, cold mist crawled across the damp earth, rising to waist height and masking the roots, treacherous ravines, and winding trails in a blanket of suffocating white.

Shen Xinye moved quickly, jumping from branch to branch while navigating through the forest of thick and tall ancient trees, with her vision almost completely blocked by the thick mist.

Her slender, agile silhouette blurred against the gnarled bark of colossal ironwood trees whose trunks measured dozens of yards across.

Dressed in her sleek, black combat robes trimmed with the subtle silver crest of the Shen Clan, her movements were as light and weightless as falling willow leaves.

Yet, beneath her calculated grace, her breath was shallow, and a faint ribbon of crimson stained the left sleeve of her garment, soaking through the refined fabric.

Ever since the violent spatial dispersion on the northern plains had thrown her across the world, she had found herself dropped directly into the treacherous heart of this ancient arboreal expanse.

And she was not alone.

SWISH—!

The damp air to her right tore open, and a series of distorted, pitch-black silhouettes—creatures resembling elongated humanoid beasts composed entirely of shifting shadows and predatory mist—flitted across the high branches, their glowing violet eyes locking onto her trailing scent of blood.

They moved without making a sound on the mossy bark, closing the distance from three different angles with lethal coordination.

Shen Xinye didn’t even break her forward momentum as she leaped gracefully from a massive limb, twisting her body mid-air with impossible balance.

Raising both hands, she formed finger guns with her delicate, porcelain-white fingers, aiming her index tips directly into the swirling fog.

Then, condensed, razor-sharp bullets of pure sword intent shot from her fingertips in rapid succession.

The miniature, needle-like projectiles of sword qi cut through the damp air with sharp, supersonic whistles, leaving trailing ribbons of frozen vapor in their wake.

THUD! SPLAT! CRACK!

The condensed sword intent bullets struck the pursuing shadowy figures with pin-point, terrifying accuracy.

The first projectile pierced cleanly through the forehead of a lunging shadow beast, the freezing sword intent instantly expanding inside its skull and bursting the creature into thousands of frozen, crystalline shards.

The second and third shots struck two shadows mid-pounce, tearing through their chests and pinning their frozen corpses against the massive trunk of an ancient pine before they shattered into cold, dark dust.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

She fired two more shots over her shoulder without looking, taking down another pair of shadowy figures following her from the lower roots.

The dense mist hissed and parted wherever her sword bullets traveled, carving temporary tunnels through the white fog.

However, the strain on her meridians was mounting.

During the initial landing, she had clashed with a pack of apex beasts hidden within the dimensional rift, taking a heavy kinetic blow to her shoulder that had slightly rattled her Nascent Soul core.

After a while, injured and feeling the lingering burn in her left arm, she burst through the final line of dense ironwood trees, the suffocating mist suddenly thinning out to reveal a wide, sunlit clearing nestled within a secluded mountain valley.

There, resting peacefully beside a winding, crystal-clear river, stood a small, rustic village.

The settlement was modest and ancient, constructed from hand-hewn logs, dry-stacked stone foundations, and thatched grass roofs.

Modest vegetable gardens, simple wooden fences, and small pens for domestic livestock were scattered along the dirt paths.

Shen Xinye descended softly from the trees, landing on the soft grass near the village entrance, her boots lightly touching the dirt road.

Her sudden appearance was immediately noticed by a group of young kids who were playing near the edge of a wheat field with wooden toys.

Seeing a beautiful, foreign young woman descending from the mystical forest like a fairy from the sky, the children’s eyes widened with innocent wonder.

Instead of fleeing in terror, they all eagerly came running towards her, chattering excitedly among themselves, with some calling out loudly for the adults working in the fields and workshops nearby.

”Look! Someone came out of the Spirit Woods!”

”Mother! Father! A beautiful big sister has arrived!”

Shen Xinye stared at the kids approaching her and the ones running away, and didn’t panic in the slightest, nor did she reach for her sword to strike down the approaching crowd.

After all, her sharp divine sense had swept across the entire valley in a single heartbeat, instantly confirming that these people were completely harmless, ordinary mortals who did not possess a single strand of qi.

To a late-stage Nascent Soul expert like her, a thousand such mortals posed less threat than a speck of dust.

Within moments, dozens of villagers, simple farmers in coarse linen shirts, weavers carrying woven baskets, and blacksmiths with soot-stained aprons, hurried toward the village square, murmuring curiously as they gathered in a wide circle around the elegant, injured cultivator.

Soon, the murmurs parted as an elderly man arrived, leaning heavily on a carved wooden walking staff as he walked slowly to the front of the gathering.

The old man had deeply weathered skin, a long silver-white beard that reached his chest, and eyes cloudy with age, carrying the quiet, tired dignity of a village patriarch who had seen generations come and go.

The elder stopped a few paces away from Shen Xinye.

He stared at her for several long seconds, his cloudy eyes taking in her refined, aristocratic features, her charcoal robes, and the cold, sharp aura of martial perfection lingering around her frame.

He opened his mouth and was just about to say something, perhaps to ask of her origins or inquire why a noble traveler had entered their humble valley—

HUMMMMMMMMM—!

Suddenly, right against the old man’s chest, beneath his linen tunic, a brilliant, blinding metallic resonance echoed into the quiet air.

An ancient, tarnished silver sword necklace that the elder was wearing as an ancestral family heirloom suddenly glowed with an incandescent, holy brilliance.

The tiny, finger-sized silver sword pendant detached from his chest, floating into the air between them, bathing the entire square in a radiant, sky-blue celestial light that resonated in direct, harmonious sympathy with the pure sword intent vibrating within Shen Xinye’s dantians!

CLANG—!

A crisp, sacred sword chime rang out across the valley, so clear and profound that it resonated directly within the souls of every mortal present.

This unexpected phenomenon stunned everyone in the village completely into stone-cold silence..

The farmers dropped their tools, the weavers let their baskets fall to the dirt, and the children gasped, looking between the floating, glowing pendant and the calm woman standing before them.

A look of sheer, overwhelming, and near-hysterical reverence washed over the old patriarch’s face.

”The... The Ancestral Blade...it had awakened...” the elder stammered, tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks. ”Ah... This is a blessing!”

Without a second thought, the elderly man threw down his walking staff and fell flat onto his knees, pressing his forehead into the dirt.

Following his lead, every single man, woman, and child in the entire village immediately knelt down in unison, prostrating and bowing their foreheads deeply against the ground before her in an overwhelming display of absolute, fanatical devotion.

Shen Xinye stood frozen, her sharp eyes widening in genuine, rare shock as she looked at the sea of prostrating villagers.

Before she could even utter a word to question their bizarre behavior, the old elder raised his trembling hands toward the sky, leading the entire village in a booming, tearful chorus of ecstatic praise.

”PRAISE BE TO THE HEAVENS! THE SWORD OF THE SUN HAS RETURNED!”

”WE WELCOME THE SACRED DESCENDANT! WE WORSHIP THE IMMORTAL BLADE!”

”ALL GLORY TO OUR PATRON DEITY—ASCALON, THE GOD OF SWORDS!”

Shen Xinye sighed. Surely the others didn’t had it as bad as she did, right?

*

*

*

At this exact moment, unknown miles away from the mist-veiled forests, frozen mountain ruins, and remote jungle pyramids, the bustling avenues of Glorious Heaven City were practically vibrating with deafening noise, roaring cheers, and an ocean of surging foot traffic.

The grand metropolis, carved from pristine white marble and glowing with celestial array lines under the blazing afternoon sun, was packed to its full capacity.

Cultivators from across the four corners of the continent filled every inn, rooftop, and street corner, all drawn by the monumental opening of the Celestial Dragon Vault.

SWOOSH—!

A slender, dazzling figure suddenly landed at the bustling southern entrance gates of the city.

Shen Xun’er arrived here, panting slightly as she caught her breath, wiping a thin bead of sweat from her forehead with the back of her silken sleeve.

Her journey across the continent had been nothing short of a frantic, non-stop sprint.

When that catastrophic spatial collapse on the northern plains had torn through reality, she had been violently flung across space, landing over a hundred thousand kilometers away in a desolate mountain ridge.

The moment she regained her footing, she hadn’t wasted a single second exploring random ruins or hunting local beasts.

Instead, she had immediately pulled out her academy communication token, specifically searching for Shen Haoran’s spiritual coordinates on the interface network.

Upon discovering that her beloved young master was the closest person to her current location, she had immediately pushed her movement techniques to its limit, traversing mountain ranges and rivers at breakneck speed to reach Glorious Heaven City as fast as humanly possible.

Now standing amidst the roaring mortal crowds, she immediately began to actively search for Haoran.

Her short, golden hair that ends with green topsy swayed with her quick, decisive steps, and her vivid violate eyes darted across the massive thoroughfares.

Dressed in her sleek, gold-trimmed red combat dress that accentuated her youthful yet formidable figure, she moved through the avenues like a flash of crimson fire.

She began asking around the busy street intersections, stopping tavern keepers, wandering swordsmen, and local merchant scouts.

But she found none. And the academy location function is still unreliable, and it can only give a general location.

At that moment, her eyes suddenly caught something.

”Excuse me, where is that large gathering of cultivators heading today?” Shen Xun’er asked an excited group of rogue cultivators carrying broadswords.

”Where else, little sister?!” one of the burly swordsmen laughed, pointing his thumb toward the city center. ”The central plaza! Lady Xun of the White Dragon Sect is overseeing the preliminary selection tournament for the Celestial Dragon Vault! Everyone who thinks they have two hands and a spine is rushing to the arena!”

”Thank you, mister!”

Following the directions and the dense flow of foot traffic, she navigated through the winding marble streets and soon arrived at the colossal central plaza.

The scene that greeted her was breathtakingly chaotic and grand.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators were packed around dozens of elevated stone platforms.

Massive draconic war galleons hovered in the skies above, casting majestic shadows over the white marble floor, while vibrant martial banners snapped in the wind.

Shen Xun’er pushed her way toward the front edge of the spectator barriers.

She asked a nearby young cultivator about the ongoing commotion and quickly learned all the critical details: this massive, roaring competition was being held specifically to determine the one hundred individual rogue and unaligned cultivators who would be officially eligible and granted entry tokens to enter the ancient secret realm alongside the top ten elite sects.”

Her sharp, perceptive eyes scanned the raised VIP dais where the successful candidates and already selected contestants were standing.

And there, leaning casually against a jade-carved balustrade with his arms crossed over his dark robes, looking down on the chaos with that familiar, untouchable, and sovereign nonchalance, was Shen Haoran.

Seeing that he had already effortlessly secured his spot without breaking a sweat, a radiant, relieved smile broke across Shen Xun’er’s delicate face.

As if sensing the familiar, fiery dragon martial aura entering the plaza, Shen Haoran’s golden eyes subtly shifted down from the arena.

Across the bustling expanse of thousands of shouting people, the two made clear, direct eye contact.

Shen Haoran’s lips curled into a faint, approving smirk, acknowledging her swift arrival and untamed energy.

Seeing that smirk, Shen Xun’er grinned widely, her violate eyes sparkling with pure, unadulterated delight and fierce combat spirit.

She immediately nodded at him, a silent exchange passing between them that needed no words.

She was here, she was ready, and she was going to stand by his side inside that secret realm no matter what.

Having confirmed her master’s presence, Shen Xun’er smoothly turned her gaze back towards the center of the primary makeshift arena.

Standing tall upon the elevated stone stage was a burly, ferocious-looking male cultivator clad in heavy bronze-plated armor, brandishing a massive, jagged-toothed greatsword dripping with dense, oppressive earth-element qi.

He radiated the formidable, crushing aura of a peak Core Formation expert on the verge of forming his Nascent Soul, having just brutally kicked his previous challenger off the platform with bone-shattering force.

At the edge of the ring, the official White Dragon Sect arena announcer raised his hands, his amplified voice booming across the entire plaza.

”Bout seventy-four concludes! Challenger Zhang holds the ring for his fourth consecutive victory! Is there anyone else among the crowd who wishes to step onto the stage and challenge him for his qualified spot?!”

The announcer looked around the immense sea of spectators, but absolute silence fell over the surrounding crowd.

No one was going up.

The surrounding rogue cultivators and minor sect disciples looked at the towering bronze-armored giant with pale faces and hesitant expressions, murmuring nervously among themselves.

Many had already seen how ruthlessly he broke the ribs of his last three opponents, and none of the remaining fighters were willing to risk severe internal injury right before the secret realm’s gates opened.

”I repeat!” the announcer bellowed, raising his wooden tally stick. ”If no one steps forward by the count of three, the sixty-eighth spot will officially be awarded to—”

”Hold on!”

A crisp, clear, and melodious female voice rang out like the strike of a silver bell, cutting through the murmurs of the crowd with absolute, effortless clarity.

Without a single second of hesitation, Shen Xun’er raised her slender hand high into the air, stepping boldly onto the stone boundary line with a bright, confident, and predatory grin on her face.

”I will fight!” she declared proudly, her voice echoing across the quieted plaza. ”His spot belongs to me!”