Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 103: Trials

The atmosphere in the dark, ancient forest of the Heaven Piercing Saint’s trial grounds was thick with the copper tang of blood and the heavy, humid scent of decaying vegetation.

For the participants, every shadow seemed to hide a predator, and every rustle of the purple leaves was a harbinger of death.

At this moment, in the outskirts of the foresr, Jiang Chen wiped a smear of dark, foul-smelling sap from his cheek as he stood over the splintered remains of a Dearh Demon Tree.

This Rank 2 Demonic Beast, which possessed the strength of a high-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, had attempted to ensnare him with its necrotic vines, only to be sliced apart by Jiang Chen’s precise, soul-tempered strikes.

He reached into the shattered trunk and pulled out a pulsing, murky green orb—the Beast Core.

In the world of Cultivation, a Beast Core was the absolute condensed essence of a demonic creature’s life.

Unlike humans, who often distributed their Qi throughout their meridians and Dantian, demonic beasts were driven by a more primal, concentrated form of evolution.

Once they reached the Qi Gathering realm, they began the arduous process of compressing their vast, wild energy into a singular, solid core.

This gave them an explosive power and physical durability that far surpassed most human cultivators of the same rank.

In fact, Jiang Chen recalled from an ancient lore he had read from an ancient stone tablet in Shen Clan Library saying that in the primordial dawn of cultivation, before the current system of Qi Cultivation were perfected, it was a legendary human ancestor who had survived by observing the internal structures of primordial beasts.

By mimicking the way a beast formed its core, that ancestor had discovered the secret to breaking through the limits of the mortal flesh, paving the way for a Foundation Establishment expert to breakthrough to Core Formation and Golden Core realms that defined the modern era.

"Heh," Jiang Chen muttered, a cold, triumphant smirk playing on his lips as he stored the emerald core into his storage ring. "As I expected, the age restriction did not apply to me, as despite my soul age, I was able to enter here, and that Shen clan dog guarding the gates, that woman who thinks she is so high and mighty, didn’t even notice a shadow passing her by. I truly am favored by the heavens."

With his confidence renewed, he adjusted his tattered brown cloak and vanished into the depths of the forest, his movements silent and predatory.

After all, right now, he was a shark in a pond of minnows, or so he believed.

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Miles away, in a sector of the forest that had become a literal slaughterhouse, Shen Haoran walked with a casual, rhythmic pace. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

He didn’t look like a man in a life-or-death trial; he looked like a nobleman taking a stroll through his private hunting grounds.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent a spray of dark blood flying from a massive Beast Core he held in his hand.

The gore splattered against a gnarled tree trunk, but not a single drop touched his midnight-blue robes.

"Hmm, this should be about enough to satisfy the old Saint’s requirements," Haoran said, his voice calm and melodic.

He then tossed the core over his shoulder into his storage space with an air of boredom.

Behind him, the scene was one of apocalyptic carnage as literal mountains of corpses—scaled, feathered, and furred beasts—piled up like macabre hills.

Rivers of thick, multicolored blood flowed between the roots of the giant trees, pooling in the hollows of the earth.

Even some Rank 5 beasts that were supposed to be the terrors of this forest lay in pieces, their legendary hides torn like wet parchment.

As he walked deeper toward the center of the realm, Haoran noticed a peculiar change.

The constant snarling, growling, and rustling of beasts that had characterized his first thirty minutes had vanished.

Now, the entire forest was shrouded by silence, broken only by the soft crunch of his boots on the leaf litter.

"Hmm, how strange," Haoran mused, rubbing his chin. "It seems the local wildlife has suddenly developed a sense of self-preservation. Perhaps there are no more demonic beasts in this designated sector, or... more likely, the stench of the hundreds of beasts I’ve slaughtered has finally reached their primitive noses. Hm, the aura of death must be terrifying them into hiding."

He didn’t think too much about it. If the beasts were too afraid to show their faces, it was simply less of a nuisance for him, after all he preferred the quiet; it allowed him to better sense the lingering ripples of the Heaven Piercing Saint’s intent that permeated the air.

After a short while, he arrived at the geographical center of the trial grounds.

There, rising from a bed of silver-glowing moss, stood an ancient, ruined altar.

It was crafted from weathered basalt, covered in creeping vines that pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light.

It looked like a relic of a forgotten age, yet the power it radiated was undeniable.

Without hesitation, Haoran stood before the altar and opened his storage ring, and a literal flood of Beast Cores erupted from the ring, cascading onto the stone surface.

The altar reacted instantly and a hum vibrated through the ground, before a pillar of white light shot up from the stone, vaporizing the pile of cores as it calculated their value.

Moments later, the light faded, and massive, glowing golden characters began to manifest in the emerald sky, visible to every living soul within the secret realm.

1. 78 Rank 3 Beasts, 32 Rank 4 Beasts, 19 Rank 5 Beasts!

As these words blazed across the heavens, the entire forest seemed to hold its breath as throughout the realm, every participant—from the elite disciples of the Ice God Palace to the rogue cultivators hiding in the bushes—froze on the spot.

Their necks craned upward, their eyes widening in a mixture of disbelief and pure, unadulterated shock.

Rank 3 beasts were the equivalent of Core Formation experts and Rank 5 beasts were the equivalent of Nascent Soul sovereigns.

In this lower realm, a single Rank 5 beast could flatten a kingdom! They represent the pinnacle of power that this realm can accommodate!

To kill nineteen of them, along with dozens of others, in less than an hour was not just "powerful"—it was a feat of a god!

"Who... who is this monster?" a participant whispered, his legs giving out.

Jiang Chen, standing miles away, stared at the sky.

The golden light reflected in his eyes, but instead of awe, he felt a crushing, familiar weight in his chest as a cold sweat broke out on his brow.

Even in his prime as a Sword Venerable, he knew the difficulty of hunting demonic beasts, in fact, he himself knew that he would struggle fighting, much less killing a demonic beasts that of a higher realm than him.

After all, they were inherently superior to humans in physical prowess and raw energy.

In fact, to defeat a beast of the same level was already the mark of a genius, praised by the elders for having superior martial prowess than others of the same level!

He gritted his teeth, and despite how he didn’t see the face of the person who is the first one to submit his hunt, for some reason, an instinctual, bitter certainty took hold of him.

’It has to be that Shen dog.’ Jiang Chen clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white, the resentment burning like acid in his veins.

’Yes, after all, he has those absurd weapons with him! He must’ve used them to hunt! What a disgrace!’

He made an excuse, after all, his dao heart would surely collapse if he admits that a literal child in his eyes was so much better than him, who had lived for hundreds of years.

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Back at the ruined altar, Shen Haoran stared up at the sky, watching the golden words fade.

He didn’t look proud; he looked slightly annoyed that the altar had made such a public spectacle of his minimal effort.

Hw then stared at the back of his hand, where the number one was engraved.

Just then, two figures emerged from the dense treeline.

They are Ling Luochen and Shangguan Mu’er.

They stepped into the clearing, their clothes remarkably clean despite the nature of the trial.

"Young Master Shen," they greeted in unison, bowing their heads.

Haoran nodded toward them, gesturing to the altar. "You’ve arrived. Throw the cores you’ve collected into the altar, your ranks will them be displayed as shown in the sky."

The two women nodded.

Ling Luochen stepped forward first, her blood-red eyes fixed on the altar as she emptied her storage ring, and a significant pile of high-quality cores clattering onto the basalt.

Shangguan Mu’er followed suit, her expression one of cold indifference as she deposited her own haul.

The altar glowed again, twice in rapid succession as the golden characters in the sky shifted, updating the leaderboard for all to see:

2. 71 Rank 3 Beasts, 29 Rank 4 Beasts, 18 Rank 5 Beasts.

3. 178 Rank 2 Beasts, 97 Rank 3 Beasts, 1 Rank 4 Beasts.

The disparity between the first two ranks and the third was immense, yet the third rank was still a testament to Ling Luochen’s relentless efficiency.

Ling Luochen stared at the back of her hand, where the number 3 was engraved, while a number 2 was engraved on Shangguan Mu’er.

Haoran stared at the sky, deep in thought.

"Seven spots left," he murmured, his eyes narrowing. "Let’s see if the ’favored’ child can even make the list."