Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

In the evening, a hotel room.

Lin Ning suddenly woke up from the bed and felt a lingering soreness in her arms.

It was probably from scrubbing the team leader's back for too long in the hot springs... Hmph, it was all the team leader's fault!

He thought about nothing but extra practice all day, and even after we'd just finished the mysterious realm, couldn't he give us a break?

She got up, slipped into the hotel's slippers, and decided to make a trip to the restroom.

As she passed by Zhao Yuanzhen's bed, due to the fact that there were no lights on, Lin Ning accidentally tripped over the foot of the bed and fell onto it.

Hmm, empty?

She reached into the covers to feel around, and indeed found no one there, and there was no warmth to it either; it seemed she had been gone for quite a while.

Where had Sister Zhao gone?

After using the toilet, Lin Ning returned to her own bed, but now she found herself unable to fall asleep.

She checked her phone and saw it was 11:30 p.m.

Where had Sister Zhao gone?

Although their relationship hadn't yet reached a point where they could meddle in each other's business, Lin Ning was inherently a worrisome character. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to skillfully chant persuasion spells in high school.

After silently thinking for a good while, Lin Ning finally picked up her phone and sent Zhao Yuanzhen a text message.

[Ningning]: Where are you? Read new chapters at empire

[Ningning]: I'm a bit worried about you.

[Ningning]: Reply when you see this.

Zhao Yuanzhen, of course, hadn't seen the message because she was currently dual cultivating with Yan Yu.

The two of them were sitting opposite each other on the bed, joining palms and transferring True Yuan to each other, performing the dual version of the Grand Circulation.

As they breathed in and out deeply, wisps of white vapor even started appearing on their foreheads, a sign of True Yuan being refined to an exquisite level.

After an unknown period, they slowly withdrew their hands and began to breath out the energy.

Zhao Yuanzhen sneakily glanced at Yan Yu, her thoughts somewhat complex.

Through their lengthy dual cultivation, she had come to recognize Yan Yu's aptitude for cultivation, which couldn't even be described as a lump of mud—it was practically nonexistent.

On the other hand, what stood out in sharp contrast to his wretched aptitude was his rich combat strength and experience, which didn't at all resemble that of a low-level cultivator.

The Demonic Sect Enchantress, after observing for some time, was certain that even the battle-renowned senior sisters from her sect wouldn't stand a chance against her partner in a real fight.

If the great orthodox sects valued aptitude and foundation, then the Demonic Sect was the very epitome of craving quick success and instant benefits, where being able to fight and kill was paramount. Therefore, she didn't dwell too much on Yan Yu's cultivation aptitude, but was instead very curious about how he possessed such strength.

Hmm, it must have been the nurturing of his master.

With all the mysterious aspects about Yan Yu that she couldn't explain, Zhao Yuanzhen attributed them all to that powerful master behind him, and she coveted that mentorship greatly.

Of course, the rascal Yan Yu was very cautious in this regard, always refusing to reveal the slightest hint, which annoyed and galled Zhao Yuanzhen considerably.

"Speaking of which," she asked casually, "when are we going to exchange our yuan yang and yuan yin?"

"At the time of the union of the dragon and the tiger, it has the effect of breaking through bottlenecks," Yan Yu had thought about this and answered, "Of course, it's to be used for attempting to achieve the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage."

This was the anticipated answer. Since it could break through bottlenecks, naturally it would be saved for when they encountered one, to maximize its benefits.

But Zhao Yuanzhen was still faintly displeased and said with a snort:

"Waiting for you to reach the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage, who knows when that will be!"

"It won't take long," Yan Yu replied calmly.

In his former life, he had always been a mere mortal, so there was no concern for cultivation levels. But in this life… based on Lord Master's rate of progress, he had unrivaled talents and an abundance of resources, so he was essentially chasing the tail of the spiritual energy ceiling.

If I, Yan Yu, am to be the strongest in this world, then I definitely need to keep up with the pace of leveling up, right?

"You'd better be," Zhao Yuanzhen replied, her face full of displeasure as she stood up.

She left Yan Yu's room, pulling the door closed behind her. As she turned around, she saw Lin Ning standing in utter shock at the doorway of the room they shared:

"...Sister Zhao?"

——————

After spending a night in the town, the group set off on their return flight to Jinling the next day.

Since there was no team confrontation, there wasn't a need for a debrief session. They only had Chen Lingyun send the video recording to everyone for the ladies to watch and analyze on their own.

Yan Yu, lying in his seat, gazed at the sea of clouds outside the porthole and suddenly felt a bit sentimental.

In his previous life, after the Spiritual Energy Resurgence had reached the stage of Sword Flight, airplane passengers would occasionally see sword light cutting through the distant clouds from their windows. That was the unique light effect of Rikoku Cultivators performing Sword Flight, a phenomenon exclusive to them, with no other branches worldwide.

It even led to the popular online "Sword Light Atlas," which detailed what color of sword light indicated which Cultivator was in flight... Although it reflected the public's support and adoration for Cultivators, it also meant that Cultivators had zero privacy when traveling, as their sword light streaking across the sky couldn't be hidden—everyone below saw it.

As a result, unless absolutely necessary, everyone preferred not to travel by Sword Flight. Step out today, and by tomorrow you're trending—quite bothersome indeed.

Yawning, Yan Yu saw Chen Lingyun sit down next to him and smile as she said,

"I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

"Let's hear the good news first, then the bad," Yan Yu said indifferently.

"Oh, why is that?" Chen Lingyun blinked curiously.

"Do I not know you by now?" Yan Yu glanced at her scornfully, "You never bring any good news, only bad news and worse news."

"Humph," Chen Lingyun didn't argue and simply smiled as she revealed the answer, "The good news is, remember the prisoner we brought back?"

"Mm," Yan Yu nodded, "What about him?"

"His value is greater than we initially thought," Chen Lingyun said with a smile.

"And the worse news?"

"The bad news is he escaped," Chen Lingyun said meaningfully, "The information from this Mysterious Realm will be strictly sealed and kept top secret... To put it simply, our trip to the Mysterious Realm this time was for naught, and we are not to mention it to anyone ever again."

"Oh, you let it slip," Yan Yu immediately understood.

With Park Changmin at the mercy of Lu Country, if he could make it back home and pass the screening, he would of course become an extremely important intelligence agent—of course, at this point in time, Lu Country had not yet realized the true value of the Goryeo Sword Master.

"So what happened to him later in my previous life?" Chen Lingyun asked curiously.

"He became the Goryeo Sword Master," Yan Yu chuckled, "He was on par with Liu Longtao, a solid fifty-fifty match. Impressive, right?"

"That really is amazing~" Chen Lingyun's defense broke, and she laughed until tears came out, "To be on equal footing with the Goryeo Sword Master, Lord Master must feel quite honored."

As she wiped the tear from laughing from the corner of her eye, she suddenly said,

"By the way, Ningning seems a bit off, do you know why?"

"Lin Ning? Off mood?" Yan Yu looked back at Lin Ning.

All he saw was Sister Lin sitting in the back row opposite him, one hand resting beside the porthole, as she gazed sorrowfully at the sea of clouds outside. Amazingly, she bore an uncanny resemblance to Sister Lin—naturally, in the version from Dream of the Red Chamber.

Yan Yu's mind instantly conjured up an image, seeing Lin Ning speak like a bitter lemon, saying with a sour tone,

"I'm not fortunate enough to be so cherished, can't compare to others who are asked if they're warm or cold, I'm just a nobody."

Stop! Hold it right there!

He quickly averted his gaze and asked Chen Lingyun,

"What's up with her?"

"How would I know?" Chen Lingyun asked with a laugh.

"Why don't you find a way to know?" Yan Yu countered her question with another.

"Alright, I admit I am a bit curious," Chen Lingyun said with a helpless smile, "but there are more important things lately, so I didn't have time to figure it out. That's why I came to ask you."

"I truly have no idea," Yan Yu said bemused, "We just finished the Mysterious Realm yesterday, and there were no extra practices. How would I know why she's unhappy? Maybe her relatives came."

"They didn't," Chen Lingyun denied, "Her relatives aren't due until the end of the month..."

"That's about enough," Yan Yu immediately interrupted her, "I don't want to know about her menstrual cycle, and I also don't want to know why you know about her menstrual cycle, but I have to remind you of something: Ensuring the mental well-being of our team members is also part of the Vice-Captain's duties. If she messes up in the upcoming training, I'll hold you responsible."

"The Vice-Captain has to manage that, too?" Chen Lingyun laughed in surprise, "Is there such a rule?"

"There is," Yan Yu said earnestly, "It's a rule for our team, which I just made up."