Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

After spending a whole day in the Wuyi Mountains, everyone returned to Nanping Prefecture's hotel to spend the night.

There was nothing much to say about spending the night. There were no girls sneaking in for a night attack, nor were there any pillow parties. It was just completing the daily practice of dual-cultivation breathing with Zhao Yuanzhen before sending her back to her own room—Chen Lingyun was sharing a room with Lin Ning, and he was sharing with Su Yunjin.

Not returning to their own rooms for the night would definitely raise suspicions.

Yan Yu lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep, his consciousness gradually sinking into a dream.

In the hazy rain of the night, he stood in the room of an apartment.

Beneath his feet, in a puddle of blood, lay several bodies, arranged haphazardly. Were there two... or three? He couldn't quite remember.

Yan Yu looked toward the slightly ajar bedroom door and walked over with steady steps.

Suddenly, a Flying Sword burst out of the door like thunder, and the sword light that came towards him illuminated his icy expression.

Yan Yu instantly sidestepped, his footwork rapid. In a blink, he was inside the bedroom, his fingers already tightly gripping the attacker's neck.

Was it a boy, or a girl?

It wasn't clear; it felt like a high school student, but they could have been an adult, just with a youthful face.

In truth, it didn't really matter.

Unauthorized, illegally practicing cultivators among common folk have a unified protocol for handling.

Just take care of it.

From behind, a sharp sound of cutting air approached. It was the previously fired Flying Sword, now flying back under the control of its master, aimed at the back of Yan Yu's head.

But Yan Yu just silently clamped down on the throat, staring into the other's eyes.

In the other's eyes, there was both the fear of impending death and a bone-chilling intent to kill.

.........

Awakened by a knock on the door, Yan Yu slowly sat up and yawned.

Dreaming of a past life is one thing, but why would it be a memory from a mission?

Really bad luck.

But on closer consideration, there didn't seem to be any particularly happy memories that left a deep impression on him from his past life.

Apart from his parents and sister, there was only Chen Lingyun...sigh, better stop thinking about it, it just brings more bad luck.

Yan Yu silently got out of bed, walked over and opened the door, only to see Lin Ning standing outside, hands on her hips, urging him:

"The hotel breakfast service ends in half an hour, didn't I tell you to set an alarm?"

"I did set it," Yan Yu said groggily, taking out his phone and glancing at it, "Hmm, it might have gone off, but it didn't wake me up."

"Well, hurry up." Seeing his tired face, Lin Ning didn't continue to blame him and softly said, "We've all changed clothes and are waiting in the next room. We'll go have breakfast together in a bit."

"Oh," Yan Yu said and closed the door. Experience new tales on empire

Not until he was at breakfast in the restaurant did he finally perk up, but he still looked listless. He tried to pick up a fried egg with his chopsticks twice and failed because he was so distracted.

"Are you okay, Captain?" Su Yunjin asked with concern.

"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well," Yan Yu said vaguely.

"Hmph." Zhao Yuanzhen was smug on the side.

Without mind-reading, Yan Yu could guess that the Demonic Sect Enchantress was probably thinking, "Without me accompanying you for dual-cultivation, you really can't sleep well, can you?" But Yan Yu couldn't be bothered to argue with her, he just picked up his bowl and slowly finished the noodles inside.

After leaving the hotel, the group went to Chong'an Airport to catch a flight back to Jinling College.

Once on the plane, Yan Yu finally snapped out of his daze and began to look at videos on his phone.

Zhao Yuanzhen to his right began to feel sleepy and started to snore loudly. Chen Lingyun, seated by the window on his left, looked at him with a smile, noticing that he was watching recordings of the Mitchi Superhero League.

"Do you have any plans coming up?" the woman teased with a light laugh.

"Training first," Yan Yu replied, "It's time for everyone to get into actual combat practice."

"What about a periodic review?" Chen Lingyun continued to ask.

"Hmm," Yan Yu pondered for a moment, then said, "Lin Ning's standard has reached a preliminary benchmark; what she lacks now is practical experience. I will be providing her with practice partners soon; she should be able to become the fastest-growing person on the team."

"Su Yunjin, on the other hand, is still lacking in many aspects. Experience, psychology, response… Let's have her practice movement and evasive maneuvers first, to at least acquire some self-preservation skills."

"As for you," he glanced at Chen Lingyun's delicate and sweet smiling face, "to be honest, I haven't completely figured it out yet."

"How so?" Chen Lingyun's smile grew sweeter.

"Your strength lies in your brain," Yan Yu tapped his temple and said bluntly, "From the perspective of playing to your strengths, definitely, gaining practical experience like Lin Ning would be the greatest help to your growth in power."

"But your weakness is also obvious, which is your on-the-spot reaction. For example, in the Mysterious Realm, when we faced that tree demon, it suddenly charged out of the flame formation. I intercepted it, and you and two other military Cultivators deployed the Flame Curse again... Your adjustment was half a second slower than theirs, resulting in a delay in casting the Flame Curse."

"You were confronted with the tree demon head-on, and yet you still had the time to pay attention to what I was doing," Chen Lingyun said with an unchanged smile, "I'm truly flattered."

"I'm the team leader. The performance of the entire team, in the full scope of the battlefield, at all times, is what I need to closely monitor," Yan Yu pondered for a while, "Anyway, it's up to you to decide whether to prioritize playing to your strengths or addressing your weaknesses."

"I can do that," Chen Lingyun nodded and said, "What about her?"

"Her?" Yan Yu turned his gaze in surprise to look at the sleeping Demonic Sect Enchantress, "She doesn't need our concern. She has her own methods of cultivation, which I can't interfere with. At most, I can spar with her to let her grow on her own."

"Understood," Chen Lingyun said thoughtfully, "Wait, it seems like there's one more person."

"Who?"

"You~"

Yan Yu was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled:

"What do I need to train for?"

"You don't need to train?" Chen Lingyun revealed a cute and playful smile.

"Well..." Yan Yu pretended to contemplate and finally answered, "I'm still looking for the right feel."

"What feel?"

"Of course, it's the feel of being the strongest person in this world," Yan Yu described casually, "It's that kind of invincible aura where I don't even need to speak, but as soon as I appear, everyone will subconsciously think 'this is an opponent not to be trifled with.' Do you understand?"

"I don't know," Chen Lingyun laughed happily, "But when you truly become the strongest in this world, remember to come and find me, so I can properly feel your aura of strength."

"Certainly," Yan Yu said seriously, "Then you can also learn 'Conquest' and kneel by my side to sing it to me."

"A song from the 90s, I'm not sure if the current me can handle it," Chen Lingyun said with a smile.

"Then it's a deal," Yan Yu nodded and said.

After the plane arrived in Jinling, as soon as everyone stepped out of the airport, they saw Instructor Qi Changping had already driven there to pick them up.

"This mission was executed beautifully! Ladies!" As soon as they met, Qi Changping exclaimed excitedly. Then he noticed Yan Yu leading the group, laughed, and grabbed his shoulder, "Of course, it's mainly you, Captain Yan Yu, your contribution this time was indispensable!"

"Instructor, you seem very happy?" Yan Yu asked in surprise.

"Of course, I'm happy," Qi Changping grinned, "What you've taken down is the first Mysterious Realm of our entire Lu Country!"

The ladies all cried out in surprise, but Yan Yu wasn't very excited.

It couldn't be the first Mysterious Realm.

The previous documents obtained from Li Weiguo detailed the process of first entering, formation breaking, enemy slaying, flag capturing, and the entire exploration of the Mysterious Realm. Clearly, this was a complete set of methodologies summarized after Mei Yingxue personally led military Cultivators through the actual exploration of a Mysterious Realm.

However, the existence of Mei Yingxue still needs to be kept secret. So officially, the credit for capturing the nation's first Mysterious Realm falls to Yan Yu's Team.

"So, are there any rewards?" Yan Yu continued to ask.

"First-Class Merit, it's been decided," Qi Changping declared jubilantly, as if the honor was his own, "After all, this time you were risking your lives in an adventure between life and death."

"The honorary title hasn't been decided yet. It seems that the higher-ups are planning to design a new system of titles specifically for us Cultivators, separate from the ordinary military heroes."

"Of course, there is also a cash prize. Guess how much it is?"

"Oh," Yan Yu wasn't surprised about the cash reward. After all, this year Mitchi Country's superhero league's postseason top scorer won a total prize of 20 million Mitchi Dollars.

If Mitchi can be so generous with Transcendents, but our Lu Country is miserly and unwilling to disburse money, it creates a disparity in treatment.

With a disparity in conditions, loyalty issues arise... Lu Country isn't a poor nation, why skimp on this expenditure?'

Not to mention, Wuyi Mountain Secret Realm, being a Mysterious Realm with Wood-based Spiritual Energy, is naturally suitable for cultivating various medicinal herbs. The industrial benefits that could be dug out from here cannot be exchanged for any amount of capital.

At the mention of "cash reward," the ladies' attention was immediately drawn, even Zhao Yuanzhen, originally from another world as a Demonic Sect Enchantress, had, after assimilating here, come to appreciate the value of money, with eyes blinking expectantly at Qi Changping.

"Let's not guess this one, shall we?" Yan Yu said with a smile, "Guessing too low shows a lack of insight, guessing too high is overestimating oneself. Instructor, just tell us."

Qi Changping thought it made sense, so he no longer teased them and announced the correct answer with a smile:

"8 million yuan, tax-free, directly deposited into your bank accounts."

"8 million in total?" Lin Ning was shocked and apprehensive.

Her family ran a fishing company, so she had a clearer idea of what 8 million in cash meant. Su Yunjin, who was more aloof from worldly affairs, only felt "Wow, that's a lot of money."

"No, 8 million each," Qi Changping said.