Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 69: An Idiot

Haoran stopped in the void above the Azure Dragon Sect, his golden trimmed robes fluttering as he hovered with the effortless grace of a celestial being.

His eyes, cold and analytical, swept over the architecture and the inhabitants below, observing everything with the detached precision of a hunter surveying a new territory.

Without even needing to expand his spiritual sense fully, he accounted for everyone.

Excluding Lin Feng, there were a total of seven people within the sect grounds, likely the "disciples" the system had prompted the boy to recruit.

Each of them possessed cultivation ranging from the 7th Stage of the Qi Gathering realm to the 1st Stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.

To the common people of the Eastern Region, these would be considered rising stars, but to Haoran, they were merely flickering candles in a hurricane.

Without further hesitation, he descended.

He did not crash down like a meteor, nor did he sneak in like a thief, he landed with a soft, imperceptible thud directly in front of the main gates.

Despite his overwhelming power, he entered through the front door; after all, he had manners, and a true noble of the Central Region always maintained the etiquette of a guest until the host proved unworthy of the courtesy.

As he entered the central courtyard, the air seemed to grow still, as if the world itself was holding its breath in his presence.

He immediately saw six of the disciples—two women and four men—practicing their combat forms.

They were sparring with a rhythmic intensity, their wooden weapons clashing with the dull thuds of focused effort.

The moment Haoran stepped into their line of sight, the sparring stopped abruptly, and the air of the courtyard changed, and the students stared at him in profound confusion.

He was too refined, too elegant, and his aura was too vast to be a simple traveler.

"Brother, this is the Azure Dragon Sect," spoke one of the students, stepping forward to intercept him.

He was a bald man with bronze skin, his muscles so incredibly well-defined they looked like they had been carved from mountain rock.

He carried a heavy, earthen pressure about him. "Are you here to join? I am the eldest disciple, Xiao Ning."

Xiao... Haoran’s mind immediately flicked through his internal records.

Among the anomalies he had studied from the memories of his cousin, the Six Great Protagonist Families always stood out: Xiao, Lin, Yun, Chu, Tang, Ye.

Seeing a muscular youth with the surname Xiao in a remote forest sect was almost a cliché of fate.

Haoran was instantly confident that this man was an anomaly as well, likely possessing some "Ancient God Body" or a "Devouring System" of his own.

"I’m an old friend of Lin Feng," Haoran said, his voice flat and calm.

At those words, the atmosphere shifted instantly, and instead of a warm welcome, everyone in the courtyard turned incredibly cautious, their bodies tensing into combat stances.

Haoran raised an eyebrow, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his face.

Unknown to him, Lin Feng had spent the last two years brainwashing his disciples with a single, paranoid rule: Never believe anyone who introduces themselves as my ’old friend’ or ’acquaintance’.

Although it wasn’t his intention, but Lin Feng had actually painted a picture of himself as a man being hunted by shadowy, powerful organizations from his past.

His disciples, filled with youthful righteousness and loyalty, had agreed to keep his secrets, hoping to protect their "beleaguered" master.

What they didn’t know was that Lin Feng was indeed being hunted—but it wasn’t by ancient sects or vengeful gods, it was because of a staggering amount of debt.

When he had transmigrated as the Sect Master of the Azure Dragon Sect, he hadn’t just inherited the land and the title; he had also inherited the massive, spiraling financial liabilities the previous master had left behind.

Lin Feng had absolutely no intention of paying them back; after all, in his mind, those debts belonged to a dead man, and he was just the new tenant.

If they’re so capable, why don’t they go to the underworld and ask the original Lin Feng to pay them back.

"Um, brother, we don’t have anyone named Lin Feng around here. You must have the wrong mountain," Xiao Ning said, his voice dropping an octave as he prepared to drive this "debt collector" away.

Haoran stared at him for a second, then sighed. He immediately decided it wasn’t worth the effort to argue with children or explain the complexities of his arrival.

He simply began to walk past them, heading straight toward the main building where he felt the unmistakable resonance of the ring he had given Lin Feng two years ago.

"Wait!" Xiao Ning shouted, his patience snapping as he reached out with a hand like a vice, wanting to grab Haoran’s shoulder to physically stop him from advancing.

At that exact moment, the world seemed to scream.

The air grew heavy, no, not just heavy, but solid as a pressure so great it as if the entire weight of the heavens was falling pressed down not only on Xiao Ning, but on everyone in the courtyard.

The ground beneath their feet cracked, and they could even hear the faint, terrifying sound of dragons roaring in the back of their minds as they were slammed into the dirt.

Every single disciple dropped to the ground, lying flat on their faces, unable to even twitch a finger or draw a breath.

It was the absolute suppression of a higher lifeform.

Haoran didn’t even turn his head as he looked down at Xiao Ning out of the corner of his eye, his gaze filled with a cold, aristocratic disdain. "Do not try and touch me, worm."

Protagonist family or no, Haoran absolutely hated being touched without his explicit permission.

To him, these anomalies—despite their potential—were currently nothing more than useless insects, and in his eyes, they were like cockroaches skittering across a kitchen floor; being touched by one was not a threat, it was simply disgusting.

He stared at them for a long moment, letting the weight of his Golden Core realm cultivation grind their pride into the dust.

Though these people might be useful tools in the distant future, right now, they were less than nothing.

At that moment, a frantic shuffling sound came from the main hall.

"Ah! Young Master! Young Master! Please, please, stop! Forgive them!"

Lin Feng appeared, running out of the manor and nearly tripping over his own feet, wearing nothing but a flip-flops, a Hawaiian shirt and shorts.

He stood in front of Haoran and rubbed his palms together frantically, bowing low.

His actions didn’t look like a Sect Master at all, and instead he looked like a sleazy businessman who had just been caught in a tax audit."They have eyes but couldn’t see Mount Tai! They don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth! Please be magnanimous, Young Master! Spare them, spare them!"

Haoran retracted his pressure in an instant, and the crushing weight vanished as quickly as it had arrived, leaving the students gasping for air and trembling on the ground.

Lin Feng breathed a massive sigh of relief, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest as he whirled around and began shouting at his terrified disciples. "You people! What are you doing lying around!? Go prepare snacks! Prepare the highest-grade tea! We have a distinguished guest! After that, go to the disciplinary hall and punish yourselves in the tickle machine for two hours!"

"What!?" The disciples looked up, their faces pale. "Master, no! Anything but the tickle machine!"

"Not that! Please, Master, we’ll double our cultivation time instead!"

"Alright then," Lin Feng snapped, "increase the punishment time by another hour for talking back! Be glad I didn’t send you to the ’Endless Salt’ room!"

That effectively shut up the students before they scrambled to their feet, bowing dejectedly, and fled toward the kitchens as if the god of death himself was chasing them.

Lin Feng watched them go with a nod of satisfaction, then turned back to Haoran, his expression shifting instantly back into one of fawning servitude.

"Young Master," Lin Feng said, his voice honeyed with desperation, "it has been so long! To what do I owe the honor of this visit? Is there something this humble one can do for you?"

Inside Lin Feng’s mind, a familiar blue screen was flashing frantically with a bright red border.

[Emergency Quest: Satisfy The Requests of The Mysterious Heir]

[Description: A figure of absolute power has graced your doorstep. Do not offend him. Do not annoy him]

[Reward: Unknown (High Value)]

[System Note: Host, look at him! Look at that aura! If you have no backing in this cruel world, then you must hug the thighs of those with backings! What kind of cultivator doesn’t have a golden thigh to cling to nowadays!? If you play your cards right and get him as your patron, you’ll ascend to heaven in one step! Don’t be a fool, be a sycophant!]

Lin Feng gulped, his eyes darting between Haoran’s cold face and the system’s insistent prompt.

He didn’t need the system to tell him that, after all the man standing before him was a walking disaster, and Lin Feng was more than willing to be the world’s greatest ’yes-man’ if it meant keeping his head on his shoulders.

Haoran looked at the bowing, sweating young man and felt a slight sense of amusement.

This "sheep" was certainly more entertaining than the stoic warriors of the Central Region.

"I am leaving for the Central Region in a few days," Haoran said, his voice ringing clearly in the quiet courtyard. "I came to see if you were worth the ring I gave you. But it seems you’ve been busy playing ’Master’ in this little shack."

"A shack? Oh, no, Young Master, this is... a humble start-up!" Lin Feng laughed nervously. "But please, come inside. Let us talk over tea. I have much to say... and perhaps, I could use a little guidance from someone of your caliber?"

Haoran didn’t answer immediately as he began to walk toward the inner sanctum, his steps silent.

He could see that the "Azure Dragon Sect" was built on high-level system artifacts, and the foundation was solid, even if the Master was a slacker.

As expected, system users are truly the most troublesome people to deal with.

But it’s alright, this one seems to be an idiot.