Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 181: Passing of Time

The immortal realm.

The words hung in the air like a forbidden prayer, vibrating with a frequency that seemed to resonate with the very marrow of their bones.

Leng Shuang and Feng Yuyan breathed heavily, their lungs expanding with a jagged rhythm as they stared at the captured system core with a raw, unadulterated desire.

For every cultivator, from the lowest qi condensation servant to the highest supreme saint, they desire that elusive immortal realm more than life itself.

It was the end of the road, the final evolution, and the only escape from the cycle of reincarnation and the decay of time.

This system, the inheritance that showed up nowhere in the map of the central region or the vast wilderness, either existed outside their known reality in a different dimension entirely, or it originated from the immortal realm itself.

Either way, it was an incredible discovery that defied the common logic of the heavens.

It was a golden key dropped into their laps, a bridge to a place they had only ever seen in the oldest of scrolls.

"Aunts..." Haoran turned towards them, his eyes reflecting the shimmering, geometric light of the system core. "Think about it, if this is truly an inheritance realm from the immortal realm, then it must have the immortal qi from that realm, right? It wouldn’t make sense for a supreme legacy of that caliber to be powered by the thin, diluted spiritual energy of the Prime Origin Realm. It has to be carrying a seed of the higher plane."

They breathed even more heavily at his suggestion, their eyes burning with a desire so fierce that even the completely detached and emotionless mask of Leng Shuang shattered like glass hitting stone.

Her cold, marble-like features twisted into a look of predatory ambition.

"If we modify it slightly," Leng Shuang whispered, her voice trembling for the first time in centuries, "we might be able to create a localized environment where immortal qi will flow. If we can isolate the source, we can create a sanctuary imitating the Immortal Realm all for ourselves."

"Even if we can’t, with the Immortal Qi from that thing, then we can ascend to the immortal realm without relying on that Heaven’s Will," Feng Yuyan added, her hands shaking as she reached toward the containment field. "We wouldn’t have to wait for the celestial gates to open or for the heavenly dao to deem us worthy. We could force our way in!"

The two sisters grinned at each other, a look of shared madness and triumph.

Relying on themselves to breakthrough to the immortal realm? Yes, instead of relying on that thing called Heaven’s Will, which no one knows when it will descend, breaking through on their own was more in line with the values of the Shen Clan.

The Shen clan did not beg for entry; they built their own doors and kicked them down.

"However...." Feng Yuyan suddenly calmed down, her scientific mind reasserting itself over her greed. "That thing is still trapped in the confinement field, and once we open it to start the extraction, it might just escape since it no longer has a host to anchor it to this plane of existence. It’s a slippery thing, like a soul without a body."

Leng Shuang nodded, her expression darkening. "That Ye Feng we created, the homunculus body we tried to force it into just to force it to reveal itself, is ultimately just a fake, after all. It lacks the karmic depth of a true living being, and even if it miraculously transferred to the fake for a moment, we would still be left with just the system interface, and the system core would likely return to where it came from like it did with the real Ye Feng during his failed escape attempt. We need a way to lock it in place permanently."

Feng Yuyan nodded, "Indeed. That might be a bit troublesome and will certainly require the help of our Grandmother, or even the entire Supreme Hall of the Shen Clan just to achieve."

"Well," Haoran shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the technical difficulties that were causing his aunts such distress. "That will be left for you to do, aunts. I have provided the specimen, so the surgery is now your responsibility. Besides, I also have something important to do that requires my full attention."

"Hmm? You’re leaving already?" Feng Yuyan pouted, grabbing his arm and acting coquettish. "Can’t you stay with me for awhile?"

Haoran smiled faintly, "Aunt, I can’t. I have something important to do."

Leng Shuang frowned at Feng Yuyan, "Sister, let him go. Don’t act like a child."

Feng Yuyan pouted at her, but she did let go of Haoran, "Hmph! Like you don’t want him to stay longer."

"What I want is irrelevant. Stop bothering him." Said Leng Shuang.

Haoran stared at them, "Well then, aunts. I’ll be leaving now."

"See ya around Haoran!"

With that, he walked out of the research facility, his footsteps echoing against the cold iron floor.

His mind was already moving past the research, thinking of the luck seeing technique he had contemplated.

He needed a way to measure the invisible, to see the strings of fate before they could tangle him.

Besides, it will be just so much easier to identify protagonists this way.

*

*

*

Before long, he arrived at the surface and felt the warm, natural air of the Main City.

After taking a deep breath, he immediately went to the palace where his mother, Chu Xueyu, usually stays.

He didn’t stop to talk to the servants or the lesser nobles who bowed in his wake and just entered the massive obsidian gates and walked the long corridor, past the statues of the founding ancestors, before he arrived at the throne room.

Chu Xueyu sat on her throne, looking every bit the slaughter empress, with two shadow guards standing like statues of coal, fanning her with massive feathers of a thunderbird.

Seeing him enter, she smiled, a genuine expression that softened her terrifying aura. "So? How was your research with your aunts? Did they find what they were looking for?"

Haoran smiled back, stopping at the base of the dais. "We might’ve discovered something related to the immortal realm, mother. Something that could change the fate of the entire Shen Clan."

Chu Xueyu froze for a moment, the cup of wine in her hand stopping mid-air as her smile turned into an excited, predatory grin that mirrored her sisters’. "Oh? Is that so? How... interesting. Once we reach that realm, then...."

She didn’t finish her words, but that incredibly evil smirk was enough.

"Indeed." Haoran nodded, acknowledging the weight of her statement. "Mother, I actually came here to tell you that I might be staying in the Hanging Garden’s library for awhile. I need to conduct some personal research into some ancient records."

Chu xueyu raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "Why? You have the entirety of the clan’s archives at your disposal. Why go through that place now?"

"I want to see if there is a technique there that can see through luck," Haoran replied. "After my encounter with the protagonist types at the feast, I realized that I am blind to their greatest weapon. If I can see the luck they carry, I can strip it away more effectively. It will be very useful for me when I go to the academy."

"See through luck, huh?" Chu Xueyu muttered, tapping her finger against the gold armrest. "It’s a rare skill, and only those high level Seers have grasped them. I believe there is no records of one in our archives..... Hm. Very well."

Haoran had once brought her into the library of the Hanging Gardens Of Babylon, and even she was shocked by the collection of books and scrolls in that place.

Perhaps there, he can really find a technique to see through luck.

"And mother, when can I get Qing’er back?" Asked Haoran. "I’ve grown accustomed to having her within reach that I feel uncomfortable without her."

"Soon," Chu Xueyu replied, her gaze turning serious. "I sent her on a specialized mission. But she will probably be returning soon."

Haoran nodded. "Very well. Thank you mother, I will be returning to my room now."

With that, he turned around and walked away, his mind already beginning to sift through the infinite categories of the gardens’ library.

He left Chu Xueyu sitting in the silent throne room, her mind undoubtedly racing with the possibilities of the immortal realm.

*

*

*

Haoran arrived in his room and shut the door, then, without hesitation, he called out to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, focusing his will on the connection between his soul and the Imperial Artifact.

Instantly, he felt the familiar and violent shift in space, the world blurring into a kaleidoscope of colors before stabilizing.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on the central of the floating gardens, surrounded by the scent of a million blooming flowers.

With a wave of his hand, he used the garden’s spatial authority to appear at the familiar and majestic library.

The shelves stretched upward into the mist, containing the knowledge of civilizations that had been dead for eons.

"Well now," Haoran whispered to the empty, quiet air. "Time to read."

He pulled the first scroll from the shelf, a dusty parchment that vibrated with the power of an ancient eye.

Just like that, the world outside continued to turn, the seasons shifted, and the shadows grew longer.

Eventually, a year passed in the blink of an eye within the silent sanctuary of the gardens.