Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 45: Thief

Lei Yin’s phantom drifted closer to the edge of the altar, his silver hair billowing in a non-existent wind as he cast a sideways glance at Haoran, his expression unreadable.

"The process of engraving my legacy into her soul is not a brief affair," the spirit noted. "To inherit everything I have, it will take a minimum of one year—perhaps two at the maximum if her spirit proves stubborn. Do you truly intend to remain here, guarding this desolate summit for that long?"

Haoran didn’t even blink.

"Yes," he replied with a tone that brooked no argument. "I’ll wait here."

Lei Yin nodded, a faint trace of respect flickering in his spectral eyes. "Very well. You have the patience of a mountain. It is a rare trait in the youth of today."

Back then, when he was at his age, he was incredibly foolish and arrogant, offending a lot of people and ancient clans, which caused his journey to be filled with rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.

Although, he’d argue that it is precisely because of that arrogance of his that made him into an Emperor.

He then turned his focus back to Xueli, who was already deep in a meditative trance, her body beginning to glow with the first sparks of starlight Qi.

"Although," Lei Yin added, his brow furrowing as he scanned her internal structure, "you really gave me a problematic inheritor. Her bloodline and potential are completely messed up because of whatever crude method her ancestors used to alter their spirit and blood. The ’Spirit Possession’ was it? The new cultivation method of this region... it is like trying to build a palace on a foundation of mud."

Honestly, he was appalled at the crude method that the people of this era had thought of. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Although it would be fine in the first few generations, and they might even produce geniuses that can leave their name in history, but that would be it.

After ten or so generations, their potential would wane, and they might even find it hard to advance to Nirvana Rebirth.

"I will have to reconstruct her physique, her bloodline, and her very soul from the ground up," Lei Yin continued. "Don’t worry; it is nothing harmful. I will use the essence of the stars to wash away the impurities and reconstruct her as a True Vessel. There will be no negative effects, only a complete rebirth."

Haoran offered a curt nod.

He was well aware of the limitations of the Eastern Region’s popular cultivation methods, after all, he had personally studied it when he first arrived in Cao Yin Kingdom.

If Lei Yin hadn’t offered to fix her foundation, Haoran would have been forced to take her back to the Central Region to have his mother, the Matriarch, perform a similar reconstruction.

This saved him a considerable amount of effort.

Then, without another word, Haoran turned back toward the edge of the 999th step, and immediately felt the pressure pressing down on him.

He sat down cross-legged, his back straight as a pillar.

He didn’t close his eyes entirely; instead, he allowed the crushing imperial pressure of the stairs to force his Qi to circulate and condense, using it as a tempering tool for his newly awakened Infinity Dragon God Divine Physique.

Lei Yin observed him for a final moment, noting the terrifying focus of the boy, before turning his full attention to the long, arduous task of forging Xueli into a successor.

Although that Seer told him that his successor would possess heaven defying luck, capable of turning misfortunes into fortune... This girl, having been favored by the heir to that hegemon, can also be considered to have the luck that defies the heaven, right?

So technically speaking, the prophecy of the Seer was already fulfilled.

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While the summit remained in a state of sacred stillness, the lower chambers of the palace were a theater of violence and greed.

In a vast, secondary hall filled with the glint of spirit stones and the dust of ancient artifacts, the air hummed with the remnants of a high-level clash.

Ao Long stood victorious in the center of the room, his blue sword trembling slightly in his grip as he pointed it at Jin Pei’s throat.

The Crown Prince of Blue Wind was in a sorry state, his robes were tattered, his chest was heaving, and blood seeped from a dozen shallow cuts, but a massive, triumphant grin split his face.

"I won... Prince of the Sun Bird Kingdom," Ao Long wheezed, his lungs burning.

Jin Pei let out a dry, raspy chuckle from where he lay on the floor. He was covered in his own blood, his golden fire extinguished. "You won. I admit... at this moment, I am inferior."

In truth, their strengths were nearly identical, and if the fight happened before they went to this inheritance realm, Jin Pei was confident that he has a higher chance of winning because his flames were far more aggressive.

As for why he thinks that, it is because Jin Pei had never fully recovered from the spiritual blow he took when Haoran humiliated him at the gate.

His foundation was shaky, and his confidence had been fractured. So he really was not at full power when the two of them fought.

However, as a prince, he didn’t make excuses.

A loss was a loss.

Ao Long retracted his sword and offered a hand.

Jin Pei stared at it for a second, then grinned and took it, allowing the other prince to pull him to his feet.

"Well, that technique is yours by right of combat," Jin Pei said, leaning against a pile of gold coins to catch his breath. "I’ll go find other things. There’s plenty of scrap to go around."

But as Jin Pei turned to leave and Ao Long watched his back, still relishing the victory, a shadow that had been perfectly camouflaged among the piles of gold suddenly detached itself from the floor.

Before either of them could react, the shadow moved with lightning speed, a blur of violet-black Qi snatching the cultivation technique from the altar.

"Yun Li!" Ao Long roared, his jealousy and rage exploding as the figure skidded to a stop at the entrance of the room.

It was indeed Yun Li. He held the book in his hand, his eyes gleaming with a manic, opportunistic light.

"Give it back!" Ao Long glared at him, his sword-hand twitching. "You have no right to take that technique, you thief!"

"That’s right," Jin Pei added, his voice low and dangerous. "He won it fair and square. If you wanted that, you should’ve joined the fight like a man instead of hiding in the trash!"

Yun Li merely grinned at them, his aura flickering with the strange, foreign power of the Falling Immortal Sutra. "This is the inheritance of an Emperor! Whoever is lucky and has the ability can claim the spoils! I took this technique with my intelligence and outsmarted the two of you. Why should I care about your ’fairness’?"

With a mocking wave, his body dissolved into a dark mist and he vanished into the corridors once more.

"Bastard!" Ao Long stomped his foot, the stone beneath him cracking.

He tried to make a move to chase, but for some reason, a strange sensation washed over him—a weird, sluggish thought telling him it was dangerous to pursue a "small" thief while he was injured.

Although, realistically, he knew that a newly promoted Core Formation, no matter how strong, couldn’t possibly outrun or beat a Golden Core Cultivator.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to give chase.

He shook his head, clearing the odd feeling, and spat on the ground. "Once I return to the kingdom, I will ensure the Royal Family completely suppresses the Yun Clan! I’ll strip them of their titles and their military!"

Normally, his father would never agree to such a move, especially since the Yun Clan had a new Saint, and with how Yun Li was rumored to be quite close with Lio Mingye, the Luo Clan might also offer help to the Yun Clan.

But during their time in this realm, Ao Long had noticed that Luo Mingye actually wasn’t that close with Yun Li, in fact, she seems to be closer to that Heaven’s Chosen of Flower Mountain Sect than Yun Li.

Which means, if the royal family suppressed the Yun Clan, there is a very little chance that Luo Clan will interfere.

And without the Luo Clan’s support, the Yun Clan was just a child with a knife. Dangerous, but manageable.

"Well man, sorry about that," Jin Pei said, patting Ao Long’s shoulder with a sympathetic grunt. "That brat is a slippery one. Once we return to the Central Region, let’s have a drink. My treat."

Ao Long sighed, his shoulders dropping as the adrenaline faded. "Alright. Anyway, there are hundreds of rooms in this place. Let’s just go and search for other treasures."

"Alright," Jin Pei grinned, and the two former rivals walked out of the room together, leaving the empty altar behind.

As for the gold and spirit stones? They don’t lack those.

Maybe if they still have time, they’d take them once they found another powerful treasure.