Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 76: The Three Sisters

Deep within the heart of the Imperial Capital, the personal palace of Chu Xueyu, sat like a silent, slumbering beast of white jade and ancient obsidian.

The air here was so saturated with spiritual essence that it shimmered with a faint silvery hue, a constant reminder of the Clan Head’s absolute dominion over the clan’s ley lines.

In the center of this massive palace, Chu Xueyu sat upon her High Throne, her eyes were closed, her breathing so shallow and rhythmic that she appeared more like a masterpiece of celestial sculpture than a living woman.

The golden hair that cascaded down her white robes seemed to catch the ambient light, glowing with a soft, noble radiance.

The silence was broken only by a subtle ripple in the space before the dais.

One of her shadow guards, a woman with flowing white hair and eyes like polished flint, emerged from the darkness as if stepping through a curtain of water.

She knelt instantly, her forehead nearly touching the cold jade floor.

"What is it?" Xueyu asked, her voice a low, melodic chime that didn’t require her to open her eyes.

"Mistress, the young master has officially crossed the border. He is already on his way to the Imperial Capital," the guard reported, her voice steady despite the overwhelming pressure radiating from the throne.

"I see. You may leave," said Xueyu.

With a silent bow, the shadow guard vanished, merging back into the darkness without leaving so much as a footprint in the dust.

Chu Xueyu remained silent for a long moment, the only sound in the room being the distant, rhythmic hum of the clan’s defensive formations.

"How long are you two going to hide there?" Xueyu asked suddenly, her voice laced with a touch of dry amusement.

A moment of absolute silence followed, until a soft, melodic chuckle echoed from the shadows of the corner.

"Fufu~, since when did you find out, little sister? Your senses are getting far too sharp for your own good."

From the darkened corners of the throne room, two figures emerged into the moonlight.

Their faces bore an unmistakable resemblance to Xueyu’s, the same high cheekbones, the same aristocratic straightness of their posture, the same hair and eyes, but their auras were vastly, terrifyingly different.

The first was a woman of ethereal beauty with thigh-length golden blonde hair that swayed with every step.

She wore a black robe embroidered with golden accents that seemed to writhe like living snakes.

This was Feng Yuyan.

Beside her was a woman with rich, brown skin that looked like polished mahogany under the torchlight.

Her long, flowing golden hair was a stark, beautiful contrast to her complexion, and she wore a revealing red robe with golden accents that flaunted her powerful, lithe physique.

This was Leng Shuang.

These three—Leng Shuang, Feng Yuyan, and Chu Xueyu—were half-sisters.

They shared the same father, a man whose name was now a footnote of history, but they were born from three different mothers, each of whom had been a powerhouse in her own right.

Leng Shuang was the eldest, Feng Yuyan was the middle, and Chue Xueyu was the youngest.

In their youth, this trio had been the most feared and hated figures in the empire, known for their utter lack of respect for life and their complete disregard for the constraints of the Heavenly Dao.

Leng Shuang, the eldest, was known in the annals of history as the Conferred Tyrant of the Twelve Realms.

She was infamous for a campaign of conquest that saw her enslave twelve independent minor realms, forcing their entire populations to worship her as their sole deity.

She had then used the collective power of their faith to forcefully prove her Dao of Tyranny, shattering the barriers of the world to attain the Heavenly Saint Realm.

Chu Xueyu, the youngest, was known as the Ruthless Empress Who Commands Heavens Kneeling.

And compared to Leng Shuang, her path was even bloodier as she followed the Dao of Slaughter.

The heavens themselves had deemed her existence intolerable, for her path broke the natural cycle of life and death and to prove her Dao, she had systematically slaughtered nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine clans and caused the total extinction of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine races.

This sparked a Heavenly Tribulation of such magnitude that the sky turned black for a decade, but in the end, Xueyu had stood atop a mountain of corpses and literally forced the heavens to kneel, dyeing the very firmament with blood until the Dao of Slaughter was accepted into the world’s order.

Feng Yuyan, the middle sister, was often considered the "tame" one simply because she didn’t engage in mass slaughter or enslavement.

However, she was undoubtedly the most troublesome.

Known as the Empress of Forbidden Creation, she dabbled in the taboo arts of blood, corpses, and soul-stitching and she proved her Dao of Tainted Life by sewing together the flesh and souls of different species, creating monstrosities that had terrorized the Prime Origin Realm for centuries.

"Sister Xueyu, I heard you approved of the Heaven’s Choice Tournament?" Feng Yuyan asked, skipping toward the throne with a playful hop before hoisting herself up to sit on the left armrest.

"I don’t believe there is any point to that," Leng Shuang remarked, her voice cold and monotonous as she walked toward the throne and took her place on the right armrest. "It’s a waste of the boy’s time."

"Yep. Our Haoran is definitely going to win that," Feng Yuyan chirped, swinging her legs. "This tournament is just a formality at this point. Why let the branch families harbor delusions of grandeur? It’s a waste of energy."

"What do you mean ’our’?" Xueyu asked, finally opening her golden eyes and rolling them. "He is mine. I carried him."

Feng Yuyan stuck out her tongue playfully. "Don’t be stingy, Xueyu! I helped create him! Without my Forbidden Creation techniques, he wouldn’t be half as perfect as he is!"

"Indeed," Leng Shuang added with a rare smile.

The truth of Haoran’s birth was a secret that would have sent the entire Shen Clan into a convulsive shock.

Years ago, on the night of Xueyu’s wedding to the previous Clan Head, there had been no romantic consummation, nor even a transactional one just to bear a child.

Instead, the three sisters had teamed up and completely immobilized the unsuspecting husband.

Feng Yuyan, using her mastery over the forge of life, had extracted the man’s finest essence—his blood and flesh—and fused it with Xueyu’s own origin, carefully weaving the threads of life to create the perfect vessel: Shen Haoran.

Once the "creation" was complete, Leng Shuang had stepped forward and ruthlessly extracted the husband’s Heavenly Sword Dao Bone before ending his life, ensuring the "donor" would never speak of the night’s events.

They thought that was the end of it, but now, thanks to that person, Haoran’s cousin, they realised that the husband might’ve survived and living in the lower realms.

"Besides," Xueyu continued, her voice turning cold and calculating, "he can use this tournament to establish his prestige before the elders. After all, it is one thing to be the heir by decree, and it is another to stand atop the broken pride of every other ’genius’ in the clan. And if he has any sense, he should subdue those branch family prodigies and make them his loyal subordinates."

"Well, that’s fine as well, I guess," Feng Yuyan said, shrugging her shoulders. "It’ll be fun to see the look on the First Elder’s face when his ’Sacred Physique’ protege gets turned into a stepping stone."

Unlike those weak elders, Feng Yuyan and her sisters, despite being in the Heavenly Saint Realm, naturally possessed combat power no weaker than even the Supremes.

They naturally felt the awakening of Haoran’s physique, not to mention Haoran was the most perfect child the three of them have made.

When it comes to talent, there will never be anyone like him.

Xueyu turned her gaze toward her eldest sister. "Sister Shuang, is everything ready for Haoran’s eventual departure to the wider realms?"

Leng Shuang, cold and emotionless as ever, gave a curt nod. "I have already notified my worshippers and the temple elders in the Saint Burial Realm. When Haoran descends there for his mission, they will be ready to receive him as their Young Lord."

"Thank you." Xueyu nodded, a rare moment of familial appreciation passing between them.

Feng Yuyan chuckled, "Oh sister, you really are ruthless. You already killed your husband once, and now you’re not even letting go of his Reincarnation."

Leng Shuang stared at her, "One must cut off the roots to prevent a weed from growing again."

During her conquest, she didn’t spare children and infants, as she doesn’t want them to grow up and cause trouble later.

"I know that, I’m just messing with you." Feng Yuyan pouted.

Naturally, she knew that principle as well.

When she was grave robbing for her experiments and she was hunted down by the clansmen of the corpse she stole, she made sure that their entire clan will follow as well.

"Well then, we should prepare a welcome gift for our Haoran! He’s been in that dusty Eastern Region for far too long," Feng Yuyan said, standing up and stretching her lithe frame.

She waved a playful hand toward Xueyu before her body dissolved into a swirl of black petals and vanished into the shadows.

"I should prepare as well," Leng Shuang added. she stood up, gave Xueyu a final, respectful nod, and stepped backward into a rift in space that closed silently behind her.

Chu Xueyu sat alone once more on her throne as she looked toward the entrance of the pavilion, her golden eyes reflecting the stars.

"Come home soon, Haoran," she whispered to the empty hall.