Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Su Yunjin's family situation was not complicated, and Yan Yu had already understood this from their last conversation.

Both her parents were university professors, intellectuals, so they didn't have the common expectations like "you need to be successful," "you need to make a lot of money," or "you need to marry into a good family." They simply wished for her to live a safe and happy life.

But the problem was that being a Cultivator was obviously not a profession associated with "safety."

When the resurgence of Spiritual Energy was still under information control, Su Yunjin could find excuses to soothe her family. However, now that the war was being widely promoted, Mr. and Mrs. Su became anxious again.

Our daughter is also a Cultivator! What if she is sent to the front line during a war with another country? What if she gets injured? And what if, by any chance...

Realizing it was no longer a peaceful era, Mr. Su finally got restless and began to use his connections to inquire if his daughter could be discharged.

After asking around, they found some leader from the military who told Mr. and Mrs. Su that not all Cultivators were warriors; there were also civilian scientific researchers who didn't need to go to the battlefield—although in the military system, Cultivators formed their separate branch, not subject to external arrangements, and she could only apply by herself.

So the order from home came: Yun Jin, talk to your leader immediately, you must apply for a transfer to a civilian scientific research position!

Hearing Su Yunjin put it this way, Yan Yu couldn't help but be amused.

The leader that Mr. and Mrs. Su had found was definitely not a high-ranking military leader, so it was normal for them to not have a clear understanding of the situation.

Lu Country initially trained military Cultivators, requiring at least five years of service and ensuring they were loyal soldiers with the right ideological awareness. They later found this group lacked potential due to advanced age and deteriorating root bones, which is why they began to recruit college students of the appropriate age as combat Cultivators...

But scientific research didn't have these age issues, so for security reasons, selections remained strict and internal to the military.

In plain terms, it meant that superiors selected you, and you had no room to apply.

This was something that, even if she asked Chen Lingyun or Li Weiguo for help, was utterly impossible. Scientific research Cultivators weren't in short supply; it was the powerful combat Cultivators who were scarce—especially those who could join the battle teams, whom the military cherished like treasures.

That they would shower you with millions in cash after conquering a Mysterious Realm already said a lot.

So, if you say you want to transfer to a civilian job, would those leaders let you go? Only if they had water in their brains.

"Didn't you tell your parents about the bonus?" Yan Yu suggested.

"I did," Su Yunjin replied with a sigh.

"What did they say?" asked Yan Yu.

"My mom said it was blood money," Su Yunjin said, her expression darkening.

Yan Yu: ...

Mrs. Su was quite astute, hitting the nail on the head.

Though it was blood money, it was no small sum. Could an ordinary person earn eight million in a lifetime? If the position were open to public recruitment, wouldn't the line of applicants stretch from Pingjing to Lin'an, filling the banks of the Grand Canal?

But the problem was that Su Yunjin's family didn't care about money. Her scholarly parents considered wealth trivial, which made things difficult.

"If your parents don't care about money, what do they care about?" Yan Yu asked again.

"They hope I can live safely and happily," Su Yunjin said helplessly.

Okay, that was an unsolvable issue.

Combat Cultivators were meant to be on the frontline of the battlefield, which could never align with the traditional parent's definition of "safety."

Turning the cup in his hand and having drunk most of his milk tea, Yan Yu finally came up with a bad idea:

"How about I find some people to pretend to be rogue Cultivators attacking your home, and then you just happen to be there to save your parents? This way, you can tell them that Lu Country is destined to be rife with crises and war in the future, and you can only survive by becoming stronger..."

"Captain," Su Yunjin responded calmly.

"What's up?"

"Be normal."

"...Alright."

Seeing that Yan Yu had run out of ideas, Su Yunjin showed a faint smile and softly said:

"It's okay, Captain. I'll convince them."

"How do you plan to convince them?" Yan Yu asked, frowning.

"Well, that's my personal affair," Su Yunjin said with a slight smile, "Do you really want to know, Captain?"

"No, not really," Yan Yu stood up, nodding, "Alright then, resolve this issue quickly, don't let it affect your performance later."

"Of course," Su Yunjin also stood up, "Shall we go back?"

"Not going back yet," Yan Yu said.

"Do you want to accompany me for a bit longer?" Su Yunjin asked, surprised.

Hold on, is the Captain finally getting a clue?

"No," Yan Yu said firmly, "It's time for dinner, let's eat."

Su Yunjin: ...

I'm an idiot.

————————————

Normally, everyone's daily schedule consisted of tactical studies in the morning and practical training in the afternoon.

At dinner time, it was convenient to eat at the school cafeteria, though occasionally they would go out to a restaurant as a group.

But today, having just flown back from Taining Province, Yan Yu had given everyone the day off, so there was no group dinner planned, and everyone was free to manage their own time.

As for dinner, it was, of course, up to each individual to sort out.

"What does the captain feel like eating?" Su Yunjin asked casually as she strolled along the street with Yan Yu.

"Anything." Yan Yu answered.

"Let me check." Su Yunjin pulled out her phone and searched, "There are quite a few places called 'Anything.' Which one is it specifically?"

"...You decide." Yan Yu raised his hand in surrender.

Although she was not as domineering as Chen Lingyun, she was definitely not a simple girl who could be easily taken advantage of, like who and who and who.

"Hmm, it's kind of hard to decide." Su Yunjin swiped through her phone, "What does the captain think about barbecue?"

"You want to eat barbecue?"

"I'm okay with that." Su Yunjin stared at her phone screen, "But I remember last time the captain wanted to eat barbecue, and then because Sister Zhao wanted beef hotpot, you didn't get to eat it, right?"

"You remember that?" Yan Yu was quite surprised. After all, that was just a minor incident at the time, and he had already forgotten about it.

"I have a good memory." Su Yunjin replied, handing the phone to Yan Yu, "How about this barbecue set meal for two? The price is okay, and if we use a firm's credit card, we can get thirty off."

"But I don't have a credit card." Yan Yu said, scratching his head.

"I do." Su Yunjin said, "I can pay."

"That would be really embarrassing for me, let me treat you." Yan Yu shook his head.

"It's alright." Su Yunjin pressed a few buttons on her phone, smiling, "I've already bought the coupon."

"Don't lie to me." Yan Yu said, "I know that coupon can be refunded if unused."

"Huh? I didn't expect the captain to have that kind of common knowledge." Su Yunjin said with surprise.

"Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me…" Yan Yu was suddenly baffled.

In his past life, Su Yunjin, as he recalled, was not this scheming! She was supposed to be a smart and composed secretary-type character, so what's going on?

Yes, it must be Chen Lingyun's fault. Since she couldn't become the captain this time, she went all out to corrupt Su Yunjin, turning a perfectly good literary girl dark.

Without a hint of his thoughts showing, Yan Yu discreetly took out his phone and private messaged Chen Lingyun.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Just go ahead and be unscrupulous!

About ten seconds later, the reply came leisurely.

[Chen Lingyun]: ?

Yan Yu ruthlessly blocked her, feeling a bubble of frustration in his chest finally relieved, and his mood improved considerably.

When they arrived at the restaurant and sat down, and the waiter brought over the grill and served all the dishes included in the set meal, Su Yunjin then took out her phone and started to take pictures of the plates.

Seeing her continue to type after taking the photos, Yan Yu asked curiously:

"Writing in your diary?"

"Just recording some meaningful daily occurrences," Su Yunjin replied.

"Like eating?"

"Like eating with the captain."

Yan Yu instantly became wary and dropped the subject, simply focusing on grilling the meat.

Su Yunjin quietly watched him and suddenly said:

"I thought the captain would say 'you're not worthy.'

"Uh, it's just a meal." Yan Yu said, his face showing embarrassment, and he chuckled, "I'm not overthinking just a meal, am I?"

"That's right," Su Yunjin said calmly, casually picking up her chopsticks to help with the grilling.

Her right hand held the chopsticks lightly, spreading the marinated meat slices on the grill, her movements steady and unhurried.

Her left hand slowly rolled up the sleeve of her right arm, revealing a fair and flawless forearm that, under the light, gleamed like fine jade—now, to make it easier for influencers to take pictures and check in, restaurants like to set their lights low and bright, to beautify the food on the table as much as possible.

And the girl across the table.

Thanks to the bright light, Yan Yu could clearly see Su Yunjin's face, plain and unadorned, but without a single flaw. Her eyelids were lowered, her long lashes quivering like dragonfly wings, and underneath were eyes clear as autumn waters, stirring ripples with each glance, all the delicate tenderness characteristic of Jiangnan women.

Of course, he might be imagining too much... Yan Yu took a sip of lemonade without showing his thoughts, leisurely watching as Su Yunjin finished grilling the meat, then evenly divided it onto both their plates, saying:

"We can eat now."

"You have some nice skills, Yun Jin."

"Barbecue doesn't require much skill, just wait for the meat to change color," she replied.

"Yeah, I was just looking for a reason to compliment you."

Yan Yu ate most of the grilled meat on his plate but noticed that Su Yunjin hadn't touched her chopsticks.

She kept staring at him.

"What's wrong?" Yan Yu asked.

"I find watching the captain eat more interesting than eating myself," Su Yunjin said with a smile, her demeanor incredibly gentle and soft, truly not an illusion of his imagination.

But was she teasing him? Yan Yu racked his brains for a long time and couldn't come up with an answer. Just as he was about to ask again, he suddenly heard a surprised female voice from outside:

"Oh my, isn't that Yun Jin?"