Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!-Chapter 99: Snow Wind Sacred Physique

The Northern Continent of the Saint Burial Realm was a stark, unforgiving expanse of jagged ice floes and eternal blizzards.

Here, the spiritual Qi didn’t just flow; it bit at the skin with the cold of a thousand winters. Ordinary Cultivators would find it hard to use their full power in this place, as the place seems to be restricting them.

Of course, this is limited to the furthest north, while the rest of the continent, albeit cold, remained mostly habitable.

At this moment, in the heart of the few habitable land of this continent, the Northern Branch of the Conferred Pagoda stood like a defiant obsidian spear piercing the grey sky.

Just then, the space in the central courtyard rippled, a tear of violet light manifesting before solidifying into three figures.

Shen Haoran stepped out first, his new midnight-blue robes seemingly immune to the howling wind.

Behind him followed Qing’er, her presence as silent and oppressive as the shadows she commanded, and Ling Luochen, whose crimson eyes scanned the familiar yet distant architecture of her sect’s northern outpost.

Waiting for them in the center of the plaza was Shangguan Mu’er. The bluish-silver hair of the Nascent Soul elder fluttered in the gale, her white robes blending almost perfectly with the drifting snow.

"Master!" Ling Luochen called out, her voice carrying through the wind.

She broke into a light run, stopping several paces before Mu’er to cup her hands in a deep, respectful bow.

Shangguan Mu’er’s gaze sharpened as it fell upon her disciple and a flicker of genuine surprise crossed her ethereal features. "You... your cultivation. In just one year, you have reached the very peak of the Foundation Establishment realm? And your aura... it feels as dense as a mountain."

Ling Luochen shook her head, her expression one of humble gratitude. "It was all thanks to the Young Master’s guidance and the trials he allowed me to face."

"It was all due to your own efforts," Haoran said, his voice calm as he walked toward them, his boots crunching rhythmically on the frozen ground.

He didn’t offer empty praise. Over the past year, as they traversed the entirety of Southern continent, Haoran had brought Luochen into some of the most treacherous forbidden zones and ancient ruins in the realm.

However, he had never once raised a finger to clear her path. He had simply stood back and watched, a silent observer to her struggle.

For Shen Haoran, a woman is only worth keeping if they are a flower that can bloom amidst the storm.

Although it is true that a flower raised in a greenhouse, shielded from the elements and fed with artificial nutrients, is definitely beautiful to look at, but a flower that had braved the wind and rain possessed something more than just beauty.

He had treated Huo Yue the same way—giving her the initial spark of resources but leaving her to forge her own path through fire.

He had done the same with Ning Xueli, providing the imperial inheritance but leaving her to climb the stairs of the palace with her own bleeding feet.

He wanted companions who were tempered by the storm, not ornaments that would shatter at the first sign of pressure.

After all, if he simply wanted some beautiful girls to accompany him, he can wave his hand and the girls who wanted to be admired by him can form their own kingdom.

During his time with Ling Luochen, he was also testing her to see if she was worth keeping by his side.

And indeed, there is a reason why this girl can endure Cultivating the Asura’s Descent Cultivation technique.

Shangguan Mu’er turned toward Haoran, her eyes reflecting a deep, instinctual respect as she cupped her hands. "Young Master, I assume your presence here in the North means you have sensed the opening of the Saint-level secret realm?"

Shen Haoran nodded slowly, looking toward the distant horizon where a faint, pulsating golden glow was beginning to stain the clouds. "Hm. I have a feeling that this particular trip will be very... fulfilling. The heavens have been busy preparing a feast."

Mu’er didn’t pry into his cryptic words, knowing that the "Upper Realm" perspective was beyond her. "Young Master, I have prepared a Phoenix-tailed Red Sparrow as our mount for the journey. It is a Rank 5 spirit beast capable of defying the Northern blizzards. With its speed, we can reach the site of the stone gates within half a day—just as the barrier weakens enough for entry. Currently, the realm’s internal laws are still repelling all intruders with a violent spatial backlash."

"Very well," Haoran agreed.

He preferred this method. While he could have simply ordered Qing’er to tear through space and bring them there in an instant, waiting at a barren gate for twelve hours was a waste of his aesthetic sensibilities.

Traveling by mount allowed him to observe the shifting geography of the Northern Continent and enjoy the savage beauty of the world he was currently "cleansing."

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Meanwhile, countless miles to the north, the scene was far more chaotic.

At the base of a towering, translucent glacier, a pair of massive stone gates stood embedded in the ice.

They radiated a light so bright it made the surrounding snow look like glittering diamonds.

Around it, thousands of cultivators had already gathered, forming a sprawling, disorganized camp that circled the gates like vultures around a dying beast.

Amongst the crowd, a figure stood largely unnoticed.

He wore a heavy, tattered brown cloak that smelled of damp earth and woodsmoke, the hood pulled low to obscure his features.

This was Jiang Chen.

He stood silently, his hands tucked into his sleeves, his eyes scanning the crowd with a clinical coldness.

He noted the power levels with a internal sneer. Foundation Establishment... Qi Gathering... a few Core Formation elders from local third-rate sects. Pathetic. The true powerhouses haven’t arrived yet, it seems.

Suddenly, a massive commotion erupted.

The low-level cultivators began to point toward the sky, their voices rising in a mixture of awe and terror.

"Hey! Look! Up there!"

"That’s the Three-Legged White Crow! The signature guardian beast of the Ice God Palace!"

Jiang Chen tilted his head back, his black eyes narrowing.

High above, a magnificent bird with feathers like spun silver and three powerful, taloned legs descended through the blizzard.

It let out a piercing cry that seemed to freeze the very air, its wingspan casting a shadow over the entire camp.

The bird landed with a thud that shook the glacier, its cold aura causing the nearby cultivators to scramble backward, their breath coming out in thick plumes of frost.

Then, several figures leaped down from the crow’s back, their movements light and practiced.

At their head was a woman whose beauty seemed to be carved from the glacier itself.

She had long, flowing light-blue hair that shimmered like a frozen river and silver eyes that held the chill of a winter midnight.

She wore a pristine white robe accented with deep blue silks, the symbol of a blooming lotus on her chest.

"That’s her!" someone whispered frantically. "The Sect Master of the Ice God Palace! A peak Golden Core Realm expert... Xue Bing’er!"

Jiang Chen’s eyes turned towards Xue Bing’er, and instantly, it burned with a dark recognition.

He ignored her beauty and her status, as his gaze was fixed on the rhythm of her breathing and the way the ambient ice-qi in the air seemed to bow toward her body as if seeking a home.

’That aura... that resonance with the frost laws...’ jiang Chen thought, a smirk appearing beneath the shadow of his hood. It’s unmistakable. ’An unawakened Snow Wind Sacred Physique!’

In his previous life as a Sword Venerable, he had seen many such geniuses.

A Sacred Physique was a treasure that could allow a cultivator to jump entire realms in combat, a physique that is only below the Divine Physiques.

If she could be "guided" into awakening it properly, she would become a pillar of power that could suppress an entire continent in the future.

Even in the Prime Origin Realm, given enough resources, she would have a great chance at ascending to Supreme Emperor Realm and be hailed for eternity!

’What a coincidence,’ Jiang Chen mused, his fingers twitching under his cloak. ’The heavens truly provide. I need a ’sword’ to wield against the Shen Clan, and here is a blade of pure ice just waiting to be forged. If I can take her as my disciple—or my woman—my rise in this realm will be unstoppable.’

He watched as Xue Bing’er walked toward the stone gates, her presence alone silencing the bickering of the local sects.

Truly a woman worthy to stand by his side! Beautiful, cold, powerful, and carrying a hidden potential that only he could unlock.

As if noticing his gaze, Xue Bing’er turned her head with a frown.

But at that moment, Jiang Chen already lowered his head and hid behind the group of mobs.

Xue Bing’er observed the surroundings, but found nothing.

"Sect master?" Asked one of elders accompanying her.

Xue Bing’er shook her head, "It’s nothing. Must’ve been my imagination."

Jiang Chen smiled to himself, walking into the very back of the mobs.