Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

"Brother."

"What is it?" Read new chapters at empire

"Why doesn't a grown man like you start a family?"

"Buzz off."

"I think that Miss Chen is exquisite and beautiful, with refined taste, a fine match indeed."

"Miss Chen is arrogant; I don't like her."

"Miss Zhao has a charming figure and is easy to care for, would make a delicate wife."

"Miss Zhao is stupid; I don't like her either."

"Miss Lin can enter the kitchen and wield a spoon with her bare hands, suitable to be a wife."

"Miss Lin is blunt; I don't like her either."

"Miss Su is gentle and understanding, a great choice for a main wife."

"Miss Su is crafty; I don't like her either."

"The reason you're still single isn't because they're arrogant, stupid, blunt, or crafty. It's because you've enclosed yourself in a circle and refuse to step lightly into love."

"Enough already, now you're the expert, eh? Go back to your room."

"Hmph, I'm going to tell mom to pick a daughter-in-law for you."

"Suit yourself."

Yan Yu chased his hopping and skipping sister out of the room and sighed helplessly.

In other families, sisters either diligently pester their older brothers or don't speak a word to them for half a year. Why is mine always thinking about getting me a sister-in-law? She's more eager to marry me off than my own parents!

After freshening up in the bathroom, Yan Yu put on his pajamas and was about to lie down when he suddenly heard an urgent knock on the door.

A Demonic Sect Enchantress? What time is it now, and she's already rushing over for dual cultivation?

When Yan Yu opened the door, it wasn't Zhao Yuanzhen, but Lin Ning, Sister Lin, wearing a white T-shirt, her hands clutching the hem of her shirt, revealing her fair and tender thighs.

"Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom." Lin Ning was also very agile, and before Yan Yu could ask, she darted under his arm—it looked like the girl wasn't wearing pants, only relying on the shirt hem to cover her thighs, which explained why she had to hold it down to prevent exposing herself.

"What's wrong with the bathroom outside?" he asked casually.

"It's occupied," Lin Ning said from inside, having closed the door behind her.

Not having an en-suite bathroom in the bedroom was inconvenient; if someone was inside and you needed to use it urgently, it could be very troublesome.

Yan Yu didn't mind letting her use it, though; he just lazily lay in bed, playing with his phone.

[Shenxing Qianli] invites you to join the chat group, where 6 of your friends are also members.

Yan Yu: ?

[Shenxing Qianli] is Qiu Ze's chat account nickname. He clicked accept without much thought and was quickly added to a group with nearly sixty members.

[Shenxing Qianli]: @Everyone/Welcome Captain Yan to the group.

Below, a row of emojis flooded in, either showing reverence or applause, but among them was a discordant voice.

[Rizhao Zhujiang]: Why didn't I get such a reception when I joined the group?

[Shenxing Qianli]: Haha, Captain Yan is our Zhendong Army's top cultivator; as the group admin, of course, I have to make a big deal of it.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Li Zhaojiang, aren't you being childish, fussing over this?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: @Yuegua Donghu, Li Minghu come manage your brother.

[Rizhao Zhujiang]: Scram scram scram scram scram scram scram!

[Rizhao Zhujiang]: I'm warning you, don't just @ my sister.

[Rizhao Zhujiang]: She's currently at the hospital for check-ups, and doesn't have time for you.

[Yuegua Donghu]: @Yi De Fu Ren, what's up?

Immediately, the chat was overrun with laughing emojis, as no one had expected a comeback that swift.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Keep an eye on your brother.

[Yuegua Donghu]: Sure, smile.

Li Zhaojiang stopped talking, apparently so devastated that he went off to sulk.

[Liu Shao]: How's Vice-Captain Li's health?

[Zhu Jun]: If the Xingwang Residence can't cure it, you could come to Pingjing to see. Our Dingbei Army can help arrange for experts to consult.

[Yuegua Donghu]: Thanks, it's an old issue, no serious worries for now.

Once again, a string of emojis wishing good health cascaded down the chat.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Hey, why hasn't Xiao Zhou joined the group chat?

[Chu Kou Cheng Zhang]: Captain Zhou probably hasn't seen the invite yet, I'll go ask her.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: What Xiao Zhou? Yan Yu, our Captain Zhou was born in the same year as you, even a month earlier, so if you're going to address her, it should be as Sister.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: There was a mistake in the year on my ID card when it was registered; it's a year late, so I'm actually older than all of you, remember to call me brother.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Really?

[Ninghai Old Meng]: Tang Xiaolian, you believe that?

[Liu Shao]: Judged as fake at first glance.

Knocking echoed again outside, and then Zhao Yuanzhen pushed the door open, lifted her mobile phone and said,

"Someone just tried to invite me into a group chat, take a look... should I join?"

"Go ahead and join." Yan Yu glanced at her phone, "It's probably an internal chat for the cultivators of the team."

"Oh, okay." Zhao Yuanzhen sat down beside his bed and casually tapped 'agree.'

[Grand Dame Surnamed Zhao] joined the chat group.

"What's this group for?" Zhao Yuanzhen continued to inquire.

"It's for cultivators to chat." Yan Yu kept playing with his phone, "You don't need to worry about it."

"Team cultivators... so it's the current most powerful cultivators of Lu Country, all in this group, right?" Zhao Yuanzhen pondered.

"Mmm-hmm," Yan Yu replied nonchalantly.

Zhao Yuanzhen wanted to ask something else but then saw Lin Ning coming out of the bathroom.

The two women locked eyes, and then their expressions both began to change—Demonic Sect Enchantress's face turned dark while Sister Lin turned pale.

"You done in the toilet?" Yan Yu raised his head.

Zhao Yuanzhen then noticed that Lin Ning was properly dressed, and with the sound of the flushing toilet, she could easily guess that it was just a "toilet visit" and not "hiding from me after I caught her in a private meeting with Yan Yu," so her expression softened again.

To cover up her embarrassment at having misunderstood the situation, she quickly showed a smile and pulled Lin Ning to the side of the bed:

"Ningning, come here, there's an internal group chat for cultivators, let me pull you in."

Lin Ning, treated with such zeal by Zhao Yuanzhen, was also puzzled for a moment, but followed her lead in joining the chat group, before she managed a forced smile:

"I just came to use the toilet, I won't disturb you two."

"No disturbance." Yan Yu replied without looking up, "We haven't started the Qi refinement yet."

"Qi refinement?" Lin Ning asked, surprised.

"Er," Zhao Yuanzhen hesitated for a moment, thinking that although the matter of dual cultivation needed to be kept secret from outsiders, Sister Lin had joined their team for so long and was now living together with them, which seemed to mean she couldn't be considered an outsider, so she explained,

"It's dual cultivation. Two people practice Qi Refinement together, it's more efficient... but you must keep it a secret, okay?"

"Alright." Lin Ning nodded stiffly, and then slowly began to realize the implications.

The current Qi Refinement technique that everyone used for their practice was the "National Standard Qi Refinement Technique" recorded in the Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation (adapted from Mei Yingxue's Primordial Unity Scripture), which didn't include any parts about dual cultivation.

This meant that the captain and Sister Zhao must have gotten hold of another Qi Refinement technique and didn't want to turn it over to the state, so they gathered every night, secretly practicing dual cultivation without telling anyone... So it wasn't a secret rendezvous!

Her mood soon brightened, and she said with a smile:

"A secret cultivation technique, huh? I won't tell anyone, heading back now."

After watching Lin Ning leave the room, Zhao Yuanzhen turned to ask:

"Hey, can we trust Lin Ning?"

"Why not?" Yan Yu raised his eyebrows, "Besides, she doesn't know what technique we're practicing."

"That's true." Zhao Yuanzhen pondered.

"Actually, living under the same roof and next to each other, it's only a matter of time before it gets discovered," Yan Yu continued, "Lin Ning is simple and straightforward. Being a little open with her, she won't overthink it. In the future, if you are out on duty, and you two share a room at night, she could help cover for you."

"You really think of everything." Zhao Yuanzhen gave up on further thought and carefully climbed onto Yan Yu's bed, "Let's begin then."

"Hold on," Yan Yu said.

He sat up in bed, looking towards the door, and spoke in a low voice,

"My sister is also at home today, which is a bit risky. It would be safer to wait until after midnight when everyone is asleep to proceed with the dual cultivation."

"That's better." Zhao Yuanzhen fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said,

"By the way..."

"What's up?" Yan Yu asked.

"When you were younger, you really weren't betrothed?" Zhao Yuanzhen asked doubtfully.

"Get lost."