[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-villains-aren-t-stepping-stones":3,"chapter-villains-aren-t-stepping-stones-villains-aren-t-stepping-stones-chapter-26":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},448198,704,"Chapter 26: Value","villains-aren-t-stepping-stones-chapter-26",26,"\u003Cp>The space within the Ogre Academy rippled with the subtlety of a ghost’s breath as Qing’er manifested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a Saint-level expert, navigating the rudimentary defenses of a backwater institution was as simple as walking through a beaded curtain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t need to search; she merely stood in the shadow of a stone pillar and let the ambient chatter of the students wash over her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It took less than a minute for the name \"Chu Fang\" to surface, whispered in tones of mockery by a passing group of disciples.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blending perfectly into the architecture of the shadows, Qing’er made her way to the male dormitory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She found him in his cramped bunk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chu Fang sat cross-legged, his eyes closed in deep concentration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To a casual observer, he looked like any other mediocre student struggling with his breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to Qing’er’s divine sense, the world was laid bare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She watched as he began to circulate a cultivation technique that she found, at first, quite novel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qi did not follow the standard celestial orbits or the balanced paths of the Five Elements, something no other Cultivation Technique she had seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the next instant, her brow furrowed in visceral disgust as she tracked the energy’s path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Qi surged through his veins, bypassed the higher spiritual centers, and swirled through his liver before settling with a concentrated, pulsing heat directly in his crotch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qing’er’s lip curled in disdain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From that single observation, the nature of his cultivation technique was clear: a dual cultivation technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the Central Region recognized that certain dual-path methods were legitimate—sharing Yin and Yang to reach the Dao—they were still heavily frowned upon by the orthodox elite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such techniques were the final refuge of desperate perverts and those so devoid of talent that they had to rely on the life-force of others to progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this Chu Fang, with his shifty eyes and stagnant foundation, seemed to be the embodiment of both.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought of Huo Yue, that woman who suffered for three years yet retained the pride and arrogance of a genius, but also had the mature and gray outlook of the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought of Lin Feng, who, while looking lazy and sleazy, was able to discover the talent and potential of Huo Yue, and was incredibly cautious and smart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought of Tang Shan, although he has misplaced arrogance and incredibly egocentric, at least he has some abilities, actually able to not immediately collapse from her young master’s pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he looked at this Chu Fang... Are these four all really the same ’species’?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the silence of the room was broken as Chu Fang suddenly sat up as a triumphant, unsettling laugh escaped his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Qing’er’s mounting irritation, he actually reached down, opened his pants, and stared at himself with a look of manic glee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qing’er felt her cheek twitch, a rare crack in her icy composure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is there to be happy about? she thought, her mind instinctively comparing the pathetic sight to her own master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Haoran’s physique was a masterwork of the Heavens—toned, muscular, and carrying a divine weight, as if every inch of his skin had been perfectly sculpted by the gods from primordial jade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To even look upon such a creature after seeing the Young Master was an insult to her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She watched from the darkness as Chu Fang composed himself, a smug, \"protagonist-like\" smirk plastered on his face, before he adjusted his robes and hurried out of the dormitory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked with a new, swaggering confidence, oblivious to the fact that a Saint was trailing him like a silent reaper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qing’er exhaled a silent, weary sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is going to be a long day, she mused, her hand resting briefly on the hilt of the concealed dagger at her waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were up to her, she would have ended this farce seconds ago—snapping his neck, extracting his soul, and presenting the \"Anomaly’s\" memories to Haoran on a silver platter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her Young Master was a perfectionist who enjoyed watching the threads of fate tangle before he cut them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until the order came to execute, she was merely a shadow in the wake of a pervert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The setting sun spilled through the sheer silk curtains of the royal guest suite, painting the mahogany floor in stripes of orange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Haoran sat at the edge of the bed, his back a canvas of lean, corded muscle that glowed like polished marble in the light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was completely naked, showing an unbothered, sovereign indifference to his nudity as he held a delicate porcelain teacup in one hand and an ancient leather-bound scroll in the other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, cocooned in heavy embroidered blankets, Ning Xueli stirred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her skin had a translucent, glossy glow—the unmistakable mark of a woman who had just crossed the threshold into adulthood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she sat up, a sharp, lingering ache radiated from her lower body, traveling from her core down into her thighs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Haoran had been thorough and demanding, his strength far beyond what her body was accustomed to, stretching her into positions that had tested the very limits of her flexibility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She pulled the blanket tighter against her chest, her gaze fixed on the broad, steady line of Haoran’s shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The emotions swirling in her chest were a tangled, complex web. Did she hate him? Did she feel used because he had taken her virginity while explicitly stating he felt no obligation to be \"responsible\" for her heart?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strangely, she didn’t feel the weight of a loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a world where power was the only true currency, she had traded something ephemeral for a chance at the sublime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if ever her path eventually diverged from his and she was forced to marry another for the sake of her clan, she would simply offer a silent apology to a future husband for her lack of \"purity.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To her, the experience had been an awakening, a cold splash of reality that washed away the flowery illusions of her youth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How are you feeling?\" Haoran asked. He didn’t turn around, his eyes remaining fixed on the cryptic characters of the book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sore,\" Xueli answered, her voice slightly raspy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was being honest; there was no point in playing the coy maiden with a man who had already seen every inch of her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Haoran gave a curt, almost clinical nod. \"That’s normal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xueli tilted her head, a stray thought crossing her mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is it truly? In the romanticized novels shared among the female disciples of the academy, the \"morning after\" was always portrayed as a dream of sweetness, tender whispers, and spiritual bliss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was never any mention of the bone-deep lethargy or the localized throbbing that made even shifting her weight a chore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She cursed those authors in her heart for beautifying a physical act into something it wasn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By the way,\" Haoran spoke again, his voice dropping into a more contemplative register. \"What do you think of that boy, Chu Fang?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xueli blinked, the sudden mention of the \"lazy junior\" feeling jarring in the quiet of the room. \"Chu Fang? I think nothing in particular of him. He was a student I felt sorry for, nothing more. Why do you bring him up now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What would you feel,\" Haoran continued, finally setting the book down and taking a slow sip of tea, \"if he were to... disappear?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing, I guess?\" Xueli didn’t hesitate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The protective instinct she had felt for the \"bullied\" version of Chu Fang had been eroded by the unsettling, predatory look she had seen in his eyes at the library.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Although it would bother me for a few days, it wouldn’t really affect me. It’s like caring for a single piece of grass, if it were to grow and spread, then good, if not, then it’s just a piece of grass. If he vanishes, it is simply the way of the world.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is that so?\" Haoran paused, his golden eyes narrowing as he stared at the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the cold, calculating theater of his mind, Haoran began to think of his experiences since he traveled to this backwater place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had already encountered three anomalies in this region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huo Yue was an important asset for him, her talent for alchemy and her connection to an ancient soul, and her future as the Flame Empress made her a perfect long-term investment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Feng, the System-bearer, was a useful beacon—a \"Protagonist Magnet\" that would save Haoran the trouble of hunting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Shan and the Ogre Seven were the anchors for Ning Xueli, a way to ensure her loyalty without resorting to crude mental manipulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this Chu Fang... he was different from the rest of the protagonist he had encountered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no unique physique, no high-tier beast bloodline, no ancient soul master, and practically offered nothing to the ARC Foundation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His only value lay in the memories of an ancient expert or a future expert, which he can easily extract like what his mother did with his cousin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So basically, he has no value keeping alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’A soul without utility is just a pest that knows too much,’ Haoran thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So since he has no value alive, then he should at least offer his life for the greater good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Qing’er,\" Haoran said softly, his voice carrying through the mental link. \"I’m done with the observation. Extract the memories and erase the source. Do it before the sun sets.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1580,"2026-05-30T09:35:03.587Z","2026-06-01T04:30:53.833Z",1,"novelbin.me","185a2ae9b0274c3cc93d9fa6a2c550365ca341f4efa6c990e8b35f5612db95cf","villains-aren-t-stepping-stones-chapter-27","villains-aren-t-stepping-stones-chapter-25",241,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fvillains-aren-t-stepping-stones-cover.jpg"]