Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

At this moment, in the Tian Yuan Empire.

The afternoon sky above the vast mountain ranges was painted in soft shades of orange and faded gold, but the quiet air was torn apart by the harsh whistle of cutting wind and the sharp smell of fresh blood.

A beautiful, silver haired woman with fox ears and nine fox tails was flying through the horizon, incredibly injured.

Her long silver locks, usually smooth as fine silk, were tangled and matted with dark crimson stains, whipping wildly against the cold drafts.

Her soft, pointed animal ears twitched weakly atop her head, one of them torn at the tip, weeping small drops of red that trailed behind her in the rushing wind.

Behind her back, nine magnificent, fluffy tails flapped erratically, no longer showing their usual proud, shimmering glow.

Three of them were scorched black from lightning burns, while another two hung limp, their bones cracked from heavy strikes.

Her lilac silk dress was shredded across her ribs and back, exposing pale skin covered in deep cuts that would not stop bleeding.

Every beat of her heart sent a sharp stab of pain through her chest, her breathing coming in ragged, shallow gasps as she forced her tired legs to kick against the air, desperate to put distance between herself and the death following behind her heels.

This woman is Wei Zhingyi, the Palace Mistress of the Immortal Coupling Palace, and Su Xishi’s master.

She was a figure who held great fame across many lands, a woman whose beauty and charm could make kings empty their treasuries and strong warriors lay down their shields just to hear her laugh.

She was also one of the Ten Strongest Heavenly Saint Experts in the empire, standing on the same level as the likes of Chu Xueyu, Leng Shuang, and Feng Yuyan...well, at least on paper.

Yet here, high above the empty rocky peaks of the empire, none of that charm and fame could help her.

The power in her body was running completely dry, and her inner core spun sluggishly like an empty waterwheel in the middle of a drought.

Behind her, a man riding a sword was chasing after her.

He moved through the clouds without the slightest hurry, his feet planted firmly upon a broad, gray iron blade that hummed with a low, menacing buzz.

He wore plain brown robes tied with a hemp cord, his face weathered by thousands of winters, with sharp gray eyes that looked like two cold iron nails driven into stone.

There was no wind flapping his clothes; the sheer force of his presence pushed the air away before it could even touch his hem.

This is the Sword Emperor, a Supreme Emperor known for his swordsmanship and the only Supreme in the Empire known to not belong to any faction.

He answered to no ancient clan, bowed to no imperial throne, and held no disciples to tie his hands.

He walked the lands alone, taking what he wished and cutting down anyone who dared stand between him and the treasures he sought.

Because he had no home to defend and no family to threaten, even the great sects hesitated to cross his path, knowing that once his blade left its sheath, it did not return until blood washed the steel clean.

The Sword Emperor’s gaze remained locked on the flying fox woman ahead of him.

His speed increased with a simple lean of his shoulders, closing the gap until his voice easily cut through the rushing wind.

”Hand over the box, Wei Zhingyi,” the Sword Emperor demanded, his tone dry and hard, completely devoid of pity. ”You have run across three provinces, burned through four of your life-saving talismans, and severely damaged your foundation. You cannot outrun my blade. Give me the ancient relic you pulled from the deep tomb, and I will let your soul walk away into the cycle of rebirth.”

Wei Zhingyi did not slow down, though blood bubbled past her lips as she gritted her teeth.

”You shameless old vulture!” she shouted back, her voice strained and hoarse, yet filled with biting defiance. ”You waited outside the tomb until I fought the guardian beasts, waited until I bled through my robes to break the outer seals, and now you step out to rob me like a common thief on the road! I would rather throw the relic into the deepest pit of the earth than place it in your greedy hands!”

The Sword Emperor’s gray eyes narrowed, the cold patience in his chest snapping like dry twigs.

”Stubborn fox,” he spat, his voice turning into a harsh roar that caused the rocky cliffs below to crack and crumble. ”If you wish to die without a grave, then let your blood water the earth beneath you!”

He raised his right arm, his fingers snapping together into a sharp sword gesture, and shouted.

”Ten Thousand Sword Domain!”

BOOOOOOM!

The world changed.

The orange clouds, the warm sunlight, and the jagged gray mountains below vanished in a fraction of an instant.

The open air was swallowed whole by an eerie, dead chill that froze the blood inside the veins.

Before Wei Zhingyi could react, she immediately found herself in a dark void.

There was no sky, no ground, and no horizon.

She floated in an endless, pitch-black space where no light could enter and no sound could travel, except for the cold, metallic ringing of iron.

And in that void, countless swords were all pointrd at her.

Above her head, beneath her feet, and stretching out into the dark for miles in every direction, millions of blades hung suspended in the blackness.

There were heavy broadswords, slender rapiers, rusty iron cleavers, ancient bronze daggers, and jagged two-handed killers, each one glowing with a pale, ghostly white edge.

Every single tip was angled directly toward her trembling body, locking onto her throat, her chest, and her battered tails with cold, unblinking intent.

The Sword Emperor stood high above the field of floating blades, his brown robes still, looking down upon her as if she were an insect pinned to a wooden board.

”You are just a Heavenly Saint...” the Sword Emperor spoke, his voice rolling through the dark void like thunder bouncing off an iron wall, heavy with total contempt for the gap between their realms. ”A fragile woman who relies on sweet smiles and parlor tricks. Did you truly believe your little domain could stand against a Supreme?”

He did not wait for her reply.

The Sword Emperor waved his hand.

SHIIIIING!

The black void shrieked as millions of weapons moved as one single, terrifying beast!

It was a torrential downpour of cold, screaming steel, a white tidal wave of blades that tore through the empty space from every possible direction!

The air was shredded into a vacuum, the whistling sound so loud it ruptured the eardrums, leaving no room to dodge, no gap to slip through, and no stone to hide behind!

Wei Zhingyi looked at the descending ocean of blades, her eyes wide with desperation.

Her nine tails flared one final time, her teeth biting clean through her lower lip as she spat a mouthful of pure, golden essence-blood directly onto a small, cracked silver mirror hidden inside her sleeve!

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

The dark void erupted into a blinding storm of white sparks and violent kinetic concussions.

The swords collided at the center of the domain with the force of colliding meteorites, grinding against each other, snapping blades, and throwing up clouds of pulverized steel dust that completely obscured the center of the formation.

Then, as the attack ended, the ringing slowly died away.

The Sword Emperor lowered his arm, his expression calm and arrogant, expecting to see a mangled pile of meat and silver fur drifting in the dark.

With a simple thought, Sword Emperor also cancelled his Sword Domain.

The black void dissolved like morning fog.

The normal orange sky, the cold mountain winds, and the jagged gray rocks of the empire returned to view.

The Sword Emperor stood firmly upon his flying blade, his hands tucked behind his back, his eyes scanning the open air where the woman had just been standing.

But he frowned when he noticed that there was not even a trace of her.

There was no broken body. There were no severed tails. There was not even a single drop of fresh blood drifting on the breeze.

Aside from a few burnt, silver fox hairs floating lazily in the wind, the sky was completely, utterly empty.

”...She escaped?” he muttered, his thick gray brows knitting tightly together.

He frowned. His spiritual senses spread outward across thousands of miles in an instant, sweeping through the mountain ranges, diving into the deep river valleys, and probing the clouds.

Nothing. Not a single trace of her aura remained in the sector.

She had used some kind of forbidden, ancient escape treasure, trading the very marrow of her soul to jump across spatial boundaries.

The Sword Emperor clicked his tongue in deep irritation, his face darkening like a storm cloud, before he turned his blade around and shot into the distance to search elsewhere.

”Damn it. Now I have to spend more effort in searching for her...should I threaten her with the destruction of her sect?”

No, that’s just the last resort.

The reason why he can roam freely in the empire was not only because of his strength, but also because he hasn’t touched the interest of any faction, so they let him be.

But once he had threatened to destroy a sect, those various powers will definitely feel threatened as well and would start hunting him down.

So for now, he can only search for her.

”Damn it!”

*

*

*

At the same time, somewhere in the Ye Heavenly City.

The outskirts of the great city were quiet and peaceful, far removed from the cold battles of the high mountains.

A wide, clear river wound lazily through thick green groves of weeping willows and wild berry bushes, its surface reflecting the soft purple hues of the approaching dusk.

Rustle.

The tall reeds along the water’s edge parted with a wet, heavy scrape as Wei Zhingyi struggled taking a few steps beside a river.

Her feet were bare, caked in mud and dried blood, dragging through the wet grass with agonizing slowness.

The spatial jump had torn her meridians to shreds; her chest felt as if a thousand needles were grinding against her lungs, and her vision was swimming with dark, spinning spots.

Her silver hair hung limp, wet with sweat, sticking to her pale, bloodstained cheeks.

Every single one of her nine tails was now limp, dragging through the mud behind her like heavy, waterlogged ropes.

She could not feel her left arm, her ribs were completely fractured, and the spiritual energy inside her body was so depleted that she couldn’t even summon a small flame to warm her freezing hands.

She was running purely on the stubborn will to survive, her fingers clawing at the rough bark of a willow tree just to keep herself upright.

”Just... just a little further...” she whispered through cracked, bleeding lips, her voice barely louder than the rustling of the leaves.

She pushed off from the tree trunk, trying to reach the road that led toward the city gates.

Then, as she took one more step, her right knee gave out entirely, the bone unable to bear her weight any longer as she stumbled to her knees.

Thud.

Her knees sank into the soft riverbank mud, cold water soaking through the torn fabric of her dress.

She tried to lift her chin, tried to force her hands to push against the wet earth, but the darkness in her eyes rushed forward like an overwhelming wave.

Her breath hitched in her throat, her eyelids fluttering shut, and she fell down, unconscious.

Her body lay limp in the tall grass, her silver hair spilling across the mud, completely motionless beside the quiet water.

At that moment, from the bushes, a figure suddenly appeared.

The branches of a nearby berry thicket were pushed aside with a soft rustle, and a young man dressed like a noble stepped out onto the riverbank.

He froze mid-stride, his eyes landing on the bloody, nine-tailed silver fox woman lying facedown in the mud right before his feet.

Looking confused, he scratched the back of his head, staring at the strange sight in total disbelief.