Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

"Even Mr. Mei is impossible?" Ye Jun asked.

"Mr. Mei..." Yan Yu paused slightly, "Of course not. Mr. Mei has aspirations beyond romance."

"But she needs to form her core too," Ye Jun said.

"What do you take me for?" Yan Yu said, displeased, flicking his sleeve. "Am I a tool for helping others reach the Golden Core rank?"

"Ah, ah, ah! I was wrong. Of course, you aren't! You really aren't!" Ye Jun hurriedly grabbed his hand, apologizing and admitting fault with excitement, but inwardly he was indifferent.

You've helped ten times and still claim otherwise? Something like the Ten Thousand Bamboo Sword or the Xuan Guang Ruler, real tools for core formation, would be used up after just one attempt, but you've helped ten times...

Actually, Ye Jun had discussed this with Li Minghu earlier, and both agreed that Yan Yu's sweet spot was familiar, powerful, and beautiful female cultivators. Being familiar breeds affection, being powerful breeds value, being beautiful breeds desire.

While Mr. Mei wasn't exactly beautiful, she wasn't unattractive, and her status in Lu Country was unique. Calling her a 'master of cultivators' wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Given Yan Yu's habit of choosing girlfriends as if collecting postcards, he was likely infatuated with female cultivators of unique value and high status.

"Alright, alright." Ye Jun held him in a hug, kissed him several times, with a smile and softening attitude, playfully suggesting, "Why don't we go check out the progress at Oblivion River, how about it?"

"Humph, fine, let's go."

The two controlled their swords through Ghost Gate and continued forward, soon spotting a stall set up by the river bank.

Ghost Mother Yin Rou was sitting behind the stall, bored, playing on her phone. It wasn't until she saw the two coming that she hurriedly put down her phone, showing a nervous expression as if being inspected by a superior.

"Meng Po Soup started operating already?" Yan Yu asked surprised.

"Not yet," Yin Rou replied respectfully. "Naihe Bridge hasn't been built yet; the ghosts aren't passing through here. Lord Ling Yun just told me to come early to get familiar with the work environment."

Your way of getting familiar with the work environment is to play on your phone, huh? Yan Yu looked down and saw that the screen displayed a casual puzzle game—this girl was quite up-to-date.

Considering there's no signal in the underworld, apart from playing games, there weren't other entertainment options.

He didn't say much, just looked off into the distance with Ye Jun.

The waters of Oblivion River flowed steadily, equally engulfing every ghost attempting to cross.

Without Naihe Bridge, ghosts had to cross through a narrow stream upstream. The river had the property to erase memories; crossing it caused choking and drinking too much led to muddled minds, resulting in poor embryonic development in the reincarnated fetus.

From this perspective, rebuilding Naihe Bridge is a tremendous merit for countless lives, well worth undertaking.

The issue lay with the materials. Construction materials that withstand the erosion of Oblivion River's waters aren't something that can be made with mere reinforced concrete.

Without the national materials lab's support, relying only on Zhao Yuanzhen's subjective experience for selection, it certainly required a lot of time and effort, taking it slow.

Back at the Jinling Prefecture villa, Yan Yu saw Zhao Yuanzhen, Xie Ruoxi, and Anna laughing heartily on the couch; they were as close as sisters.

When did they become so close?

Looking at the various Northern Border foods on the table, Yan Yu seemed to understand the answer.

"He's back," Xie Ruoxi said cheerfully, quietly transmitting to the other two sisters.

"Are we starting now?" Anna asked excitedly, "Later, I want to play Liu Bei."

"Not yet, wait until Hongyu returns," Zhao Yuanzhen suddenly asked, "Why would you play Liu Bei? I have the highest seniority at home, so I should be Liu Bei."

"Because Liu Bei is Huang Shu," Anna said matter-of-factly, "Look at my hair color."

"It's not the color of hair that counts as Huang; truly Huang is a mind that's Huang," Zhao Yuanzhen declared decisively, "On that front, I won't lose to anyone!"

"No way! That's not a title worth fighting for..." Xie Ruoxi retorted, taking out her phone to ask where Hongyu was.

Zhou Hongyu and Tang Xiaolian went out shopping, wearing sunglasses and masks, trying on clothes everywhere in the mall, enjoying the thrill of their identities being discovered by the public at any time.

After receiving Xie Ruoxi's message, Tang Xiaolian giggled, saying:

"Yan Yu is in trouble this time! With Anna's figure, she won't be easy to deal with."

"Humph," Zhou Hongyu said coldly, "What's the use of a good figure? Skills matter!"

"Sure, sure, no one compares to your Life-taking Scissors Kick," Tang Xiaolian suddenly thought, "But previously when you teamed up with Yuanzhen, you nearly defeated Yan Yu. Perhaps Anna is what's missing?"

Zhou Hongyu pondered for a long time, nodding, saying:

"Indeed, how your bedding mates, you can't know until you sleep together."

Tang Xiaolian: ......

What is bedding? It feels like the style around us is increasingly drifting off course, right?

Thinking carefully, Yan Yu indeed sometimes acted quite foolishly, liking to bully weak girls, this time letting tough girls teach him a harsh lesson.

Haha, I want to watch him make a fool of himself!

Yan Yu, however, wasn't aware he was being targeted. He was lying in bed at that moment, looking at messages sent by Liu Longtao.

"Pear Blossom Courtyard is almost unable to hold on," Liu Longtao said. "The conditions they are offered require the Pear Blossom Courtyard to accept Purple Cloud Formation nodes."

"That's no problem," Yan Yu chuckled. "Without the Taiyin Circulation Purple Cloud Formation, there's no way to penetrate the outer defense barrier of the great serpent. If they disagree, let them figure it out themselves."

"The facts are clear, but making them willingly accept will take some time," Liu Longtao chuckled, "After all, installing the Purple Cloud Formation means accepting that Lu Country would have complete control over the national defense system."

Non-Lu Country cultivators can't handle formations, like beasts on the ground unable to soar in the sky, it's due to fundamental differences between the two transcendent systems.

Though both absorb spiritual energy, cultivators call it 'True Yuan,' Onmyoji call it 'Spiritual Power,' whereas swordsmen from Pear Blossom Courtyard call it 'Sword Qi'—refining spiritual energy into a specialized enough sharp energy to enhance the power of controlling Flying Swords, sacrificing its application in fields beyond Sword Control Technique.

If they don't want the Purple Cloud Formation controlled by Lu Country, then Pear Blossom Courtyard must make domestic transcendents abandon Sword Qi to cultivate True Yuan, meaning the cultivation system would completely integrate with Lu Country, creating an even more menacing hidden danger.

No wonder they're finding it difficult to decide.

"By the way, have you heard?" Liu Longtao suddenly asked, "Pear Blossom Courtyard apparently plans to use a honey trap."

"A honey trap? On whom?"

"Li Zhaojiang."

"No way, why a honey trap on him?"

"Because he went up to them."

Yan Yu was stunned for a while, finally realizing this brother-in-law was audacious enough to actually go to Jinmen for girl chasing.

"So you're suggesting I complain to his sister?"

"Hey, I didn't say anything, don't put words in my mouth," Liu Longtao laughed. "That kid's pursuing two Goryeo girls at the same time, that's his own business. After all, I'm not his brother-in-law, why should I care?"

"Alright then, I'm his brother-in-law, I'll go say something, lest this kid gets lovesick and inadvertently leaks national secrets," Yan Yu decided to get out of bed, just as Lord Master continued:

"Old Yan, they say your house has double-digit residents now?"

"What's the problem, any objections?"

"Nope! Just wondering if your body can handle it," Liu Longtao teasingly said, "Shall I have them fetch more Strengthening Foundation and Nourishing Essence Pills for you?"

"Heh," Yan Yu coldly chuckled, not responding, "My joys you'll never understand!"

He hung up the phone, intending to find Li Minghu.

He hadn't reached the door when he saw Su Yunjin and Lin Ning phasing through the walls, their expressions seemingly somewhat unpleasant.