Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 118: Shangguan Mu’er(2)

Shen Haoran stood on the rooftop of a pagoda, his golden eyes reflecting the violet-and-gold chaos of the sky.

The wind, whipped into a frenzy by the celestial pressure, tugged at his midnight-blue robes, but he remained as immovable as an ancient mountain.

He watched Shangguan Mu’er’s transformation with a look of clinical appreciation, and a faint, amazed smile touching his lips.

"That demonic form," Haoran mused, his voice smooth despite the roaring thunder. "In that state, she could probably trade blows with a 3rd Stage Spirit Ascension realm expert, couldn’t she?"

Qing’er, standing a half-step behind him, did not look away from the spectacle, her red eyes were glued to the pulsating, pitch-black hole that had manifested in Shangguan Mu’er’s stomach—a void that seemed to tug at the very light of the world.

A flicker of recognition, perhaps even a trace of ancestral memory, crossed Qing’er’s stoic face.

"Young master," Qing’er whispered, her voice tight. "The demon who left behind that inheritance for her... it couldn’t be Beelzebub, could it? That specific manifestation of the ’Emptiness’ is unmistakable."

Haoran let out a short, dark chuckle. "Qing’er, look at that form. Who else could it be but Beelzebub himself? The Lord of the Flies, the Gluttonous King. Heh, the true inheritor of that old monster actually ended up in our hands, buried in a backwater secret realm. I wonder what those Gula Demons in the Prime Origin Realm will do once they find out their forefather’s legacy is being carried by a human woman."

The Gula Demons were legendary, even among the terrifying 7 Great Demon Bloodlines.

Just like other 7 Great Demon Bloodlines, they descended directly from the Great Demon King Beelzebub, a figure who had reached the heights of a Half-Step Supreme Emperor before his fall, they were the embodiment of insatiable consumption.

To a Gula Demon, the universe was not a place to live, but a banquet to be devoured.

Currently, the remnants of the Gula clans were hiding in the desolate, vast wilderness outside the borders of the Tian Yuan Empire.

They had been beaten back so severely by the Empire’s previous purges that they dared not casually step foot within civilized lands.

However, they remained a formidable, terrifying force, with their current leader, Abyss Alpha, being a 5th Stage Heavenly Saint Rank Demon King, supported by a council of elders ranging from the 1st to the 4th Stage.

In the hierarchy of the demons, ’Demon King’ was a title that corresponded to the Heavenly Saint Realm of humans.

Beelzebub, as a Half-Step Supreme, had transcended that title to be known as the Great Demon King.

"Abyss Alpha is a prideful creature, however, he is also someone who respected bloodlines and inheritance the most. " Qing’er noted, her analytical mind already tracing the political ripples of Mu’er’s ascension. "Once he senses the purity of Beelzebub’s aura on a human, he would have only two paths: either submit to her as the new vessel of the King’s will, or kill her immediately to strip the inheritance and claim the ’Gluttony’ for himself."

"Right, so, what if we help her tip the scales?" Haoran’s smirk widened as he watched Mu’er cleave through a bolt of lightning, her movements becoming more bestial, more efficient. "If she can take over the Gula Demons, we wouldn’t just have a servant; we would have a massive, combat-ready force of monsters we can instantly call upon."

The strategic value was undeniable, after all, Demons possessed physical strength far superior to humans, and their bloodline specifically was born with an instinctual, refined talent for slaughter, with some even directly inherting combat techniques from their parents.

They didn’t need the complex logistics of a human army.

"Gula Demons recover and grow stronger by devouring the flesh of those they kill," Haoran continued, his eyes flashing. "You don’t have to train them, you don’t have to spend a fortune on high-grade spirit stones to feed them, and you don’t have to provide them with medicinal resources. You simply sic them onto a battlefield and let them eat. You’d have an inexhaustible, self-sustaining, and ever-growing army that thrives on the very casualties it creates. A perfect weapon to conquer a world, don’t you thunk."

"Maybe, young master," Qing’er replied, her tone neutral, though she acknowledged the cold logic of his vision.

Shen Haoran found himself looking at Shangguan Mu’er with more and more "appreciation", finding her much desirable by the second.

High above the Pagoda, Shangguan Mu’er let out a soul-shaking roar.

The seven golden lightnings of the seventh tribulation struck her simultaneously, turning the sky into a sea of white fire.

Her ash-white skin cracked, and her demonic wings were singed, but she did not fall.

She used the Blade of the Abyssal Maw to cleave through the electrical dragons, her yellow pupils glowing with a manic, hungry light.

She drifted in the sky, her chest heaving, steam rising from her seared flesh as the sixth and seventh waves had nearly broken her, but the "Hunger" in her stomach was only growing sharper.

"There’s two more to go," she rasped, her voice a discordant harmony of a woman and a beast.

As if answering her challenge, the heavens roared with a sound that cracked the earth below.

Eight bolts of lightning, thicker and more concentrated than the last, descended in a synchronized strike.

"AAAAHHH!"

Mu’er screamed as the energy surged through her, as if the golden electricity sought to rewrite her demonic meridians, to purge the "filth" of Beelzebub from her soul.

Her body convulsed, her black horns sparking with static discharge. But amidst the agony, she found a cold, dark center as she gritted her teeth, the sound of grinding bone audible even over the thunder.

"Not... done... yet! DEVOUR!"

The fist-sized hole in her stomach suddenly began to pulse with a violent, gravitational pull.

Instead of the lightning incinerating her, it was being sucked into the void of her midsection.

Her Heaven Devouring Demonic Art began to circulate at a suicidal speed, catching the raw heavenly energy and grinding it down, stripping away the Will of the Heavens and transforming it into pure, neutral Qi.

The transformation was instantaneous.

The influx of high-level celestial energy forced her cultivation to jump, and at that moment, amidst the lightning storm, she shattered the barrier of the 1st Stage and broke through to the 2nd Stage of the Spirit Ascension Realm!

With this newfound surge of power, she flexed her wings, and a shockwave of black demonic Qi erupted from her, completely dispersing the eighth tribulation like mist before a gale.

She took a deep, shuddering breath, her ash-white skin knitting back together as she stared up at the heavens.

The clouds were churning in a frantic, restless patterns, as if the world itself were becoming desperate to end her existence.

"One last chance," she provoked, her voice dripping with a mix of blood and arrogance. "Come on, don’t waste it. Show me the absolute ’Justice’ of this world!"

The Heavens responded with a fury that blinded everyone watching from the ground.

Nine bolts of lightning roared as they descended, but this time, they were no longer mere lightning bolts.

The energy condensed and shaped itself into the forms of the Ancient Sovereigns—a four Dragon of pure gold, three Phoenix of white fire, and two Qilin of crackling thunder.

They roared with a collective, divine authority and struck her all at once.

The impact was cataclysmic.

Mu’er coughed up a spray of dark blood, one of her obsidian horns snapped under the pressure, and her skin began to spiderweb with cracks that leaked purple light.

The weight of the three different mythical forms threatened to crush her into the earth.

She gritted her teeth, her yellow eyes wide with a terrifying resolve.

She wouldn’t die here.

Not after eighty years of filth.

Not after the hunger.

Not after everything she went through.

"SPIRIT AVATAR! COME FORTH!"

From the void in her stomach, a torrent of purple energy erupted.

It didn’t just surround her; it materialized into a colossal figure that stood behind her, dwarfing the Pagoda’s highest spires.

The figure grew to a staggering 150 meters in height—a terrifying demonic being composed of translucent purple energy, its entire body wreathed in flame-like Qi.

It had a fierce looking face with two large fangs pointed upwards, with a bull-like horn and twelve arms, each hand open as if ready to grasp the world.

The Spirit Avatar was the hallmark of a true Spirit Ascension powerhouse—a manifestation of one’s invincible will and the symbol of their Dao.

The form of the avatar would also take the form of what the owner believes to be the epitome of invincibility.

For some it’s a dragon, for others an ancient supreme, for many it’s a god, but for Shangguan Mu’er, it’s a demon.

Spirit Avatar granted nigh-absolute defense and a staggering increase in attack potency and increase in area of effect.

Most importantly, it projected an Aura that could suppress entire armies.

Not to mention a Spirit Avatar can also show how solid the foundation and how firm the dao heart of the user is, base on the size of the avatar itself.

The average Spirit Ascension expert produced an avatar of roughly 50 meters.

Shangguan Mu’er’s avatar was a staggering 150 meters—three times the norm, a testament to the absolute, unwavering solidity of her foundation and the terrifying firmness of her heart.

"BREAK!"

Mu’er and the Avatar struck simultaneously.

The avatar’s twelve hands grasped the golden Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin, and with a surge of demonic power, crushed them into nothingness.

The golden lightning shattered, turning into a rain of harmless light that washed over the city.

Finally...the ninth tribulation was cleared.

The heavens roared one final time, a sound of celestial frustration, but the clouds inevitably began to disperse.

The bruised violet sky reverted to a clear, twilight blue.

High in the air, the 150-meter-tall demonic avatar stood silent and majestic, looking down upon the world like a god of war who had just conquered the sky itself.

Shen Haoran watched from below, his eyes shining with a dark, satisfied light. "A 150-meter avatar... Even in the Imperial Capital, such talent can be considered top tier."

If she grew up in the upper realm and enjoyed the vast resources, she would’ve already become a Saint by now.