Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

In order to prevent the dragon-headed monster from discovering them, Yan Yu was also brief, conveying the situation to Li Minghu through a whisper.

"There are big problems here," Li Minghu quickly said. "If there was a way to verify one's nature as a member of the Long Race, why not use it directly? Why detain them in an underwater prison to make them confess on their own? Not to mention that the monster bears a dragon's head but insists it's human—a fool's talk, and its words can't be completely trusted."

"There's another point," Yan Yu replied. "Flood Dragons naturally love water; who would use a water prison to detain a Flood Dragon? For humans and other creatures, a water prison is undoubtedly torture, but for a Flood Dragon, a water prison is more like a luxury single room—a big bed room, to be precise. It doesn't make sense."

"We need to observe for a little longer… ahem, ahem," Li Minghu coughed.

"Are you okay?" Yan Yu asked with concern. "The seawater is icy, and you've been soaked for so long..."

"It's nothing," Li Minghu replied. "I'm using my True Yuan to resist it."

The Valkyrie's lung disease had already made her blood oxygen exchange capability rather weak. Soaking in the cold seawater, her blood circulation slowed, and the risk of fainting from brain hypoxia was significant.

Fortunately, cultivators can temporarily sustain hypoxic cells with True Yuan, a practice known as "turtle breathing," which is why Li Minghu was able to hold on until Yan Yu arrived.
Your adventure continues at empire

A regular person with the same symptoms would probably have been a corpse by now.

After leaving the water prison and putting on Yan Yu's coat, Li Minghu stopped using the Runescript to protect herself, saving her True Yuan.

But now, with all her clothes soaked through and a chill setting in, she subconsciously clung to Yan Yu, shivering.

Yan Yu noticed her frailty and wanted to communicate with the dragon-headed monster so that they could dry their clothes before leaving. But then he considered that Flood Dragons enjoy water; how could they possibly fear the cold? If the other party saw through their ruse, it would not be good.

After some thought, since they were already pretending to be husband and wife, he might as well sacrifice his own reputation... He withdrew his arm from Li Minghu's embrace and then wrapped it around her again, his posture instantly becoming exceedingly intimate.

Li Minghu was suddenly embraced by him and felt a little shocked, shy, and uncomfortable, but then she heard Yan Yu whisper:

"Flood Dragons like water; why would they shiver? Be careful not to give us away."

It was then that Li Minghu realized the ruse and quickly suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, trying hard to keep her body from shivering.

Thankfully, Yan Yu's embrace was indeed warm, and the heat he transferred to her made her feel much more comfortable, as the chill that had spread throughout her limbs faded away significantly.

So they continued to snuggle up to each other, following the dragon-headed monster until they finally arrived at the third single cell.

There was no one inside the single cell, but the dragon-headed monster impatiently knocked on the bars and roared:

"Come out at once! Don't keep hiding underwater like a turtle!"

Before long, knowing further hiding was futile, someone emerged from the water.

They had Asian features, but with dark skin and curly hair—Yan Yu and Li Minghu didn't recognize him; he was undoubtedly a cultivator from Southeast Asia.

The man, seeing Yan Yu and Li Minghu standing with the dragon-headed monster, immediately showed an alarmed and anxious expression, saying a bunch of indistinct words.

"What is this person saying?" the dragon-headed monster wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Yan Yu laughed. "This is a foreigner; he isn't speaking the language of the Central Lands."

"Since he is human, it's simpler to just kill him," the dragon-headed monster nodded and with that, its iron spike suddenly shot out, passing through the iron bars and stabbing straight at the man's vulnerable throat!

In his panic, the man uttered a few strange characters, and the water beneath him rapidly surged, forming a translucent small shield before him!

Vortex Shield, a defensive curse technique for which Curse Technique Masters are famous. Consisting of highly compressed and spinning condensed water, it has strong defensive capabilities against both Immortal Swords and Taoism Methods.

In the latter stage of the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, a certain Witch King was said to have summoned a Vortex Shield with a radius of several kilometers, withstanding a nuclear airburst without dying. Although this was mainly because the Witch King was powerful, it also showed the formidable defense of this curse technique.

Of course, it wasn't the latter stage of the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, and the cultivator before them wasn't the Witch King of Southeast Asia. Thus, the Vortex Shield he conjured was instantly shattered by the dragon-headed monster's iron spike, followed by his Adam's apple, trachea, and cervical vertebrae, breaking in two amidst the spurting blood.

The dragon-headed monster looked down as the man's body fell into the water and floated up horizontally, not showing any real form of a demonic creature, and finally smiled and said:

"Sure enough, he was human."

He continued to walk on. Yan Yu, with Li Minghu in his arms, followed behind it, feeling the stiff body of the lady in his arms relax.

"It's very strong," Li Minghu softly transmitted her voice. "The Barrier Charm might not hold."

"It wouldn't," Yan Yu concurred with more certainty.

The Earth-Element Sturdiness Curse could withstand bullets head-on, but that didn't mean immunity to physical attacks. The dragon-headed monster's iron spike thrust had more force than most close-range bullet shots, enough to pierce through the Barrier Charm's defenses directly.

This meant that in a fight, they couldn't block its attacks; the only option was to dodge, and failure to do so would mean death.

"When do you plan to make a move?" Li Minghu continued to ask.

"Before leaving this area," Yan Yu replied.

"That soon?" Li Minghu was a bit surprised. "We don't have a way to open the prison doors."

"Are you thinking of using it to locate and rescue all of our teammates?" Yan Yu asked.

"What else?" Li Minghu responded.

"It's risky to delay too long," Yan Yu said after a pause.

"I'm more worried that after killing it, even if we find the others, we would only be staring at the prison doors helplessly," Li Minghu insisted.

"Hmm, that could work, as long as we act before the Pruning Dragon Guillotine," Yan Yu suddenly changed the subject. "I thought you didn't want to act quickly because you liked being held by me like this."

Li Minghu fell silent, and after a long while, she finally said:

"If we have to act, let's go all the way. Saving them is more important than anything else."

"If you don't mind that, of course, it's for the best." Yan Yu said, sighing to himself.

The taste was right again.

Li Minghu, despite seeming starkly different in personality from Zhou Hongyu, actually shared something fundamental in common—they both undervalued themselves terribly, never taking themselves seriously.

In a past life, when the Witch King Achan opened gathered the Southeast Asian Allied Forces to strike at Lu Country's southern border defenses, Li Minghu singlehandedly, with only a sword, held them back.

Even if she had just told the rear lines 'I can't hold on anymore,' the Annan Army wouldn't have insisted on her fighting to the death; sending in the army to fight a war of attrition would have been the more reasonable choice.

The Valkyrie ultimately slew the Witch King, drove back the Allied Forces, and died from sheer exhaustion, undeniably saving the lives of many soldiers and countless civilians. But was it all worth it?

Not to mention, her self-sacrifice led to her brother-complexed Li Zhaojiang going mad with grief, sparking the so-called 'Cultivator Awakening' movement. The end result was the closure of the Annan National Defence College, the eradication of the top combat forces, and the planting of deep-rooted dangers and rifts between the court and the cultivators.

Li Minghu, you truly were a woman of grave sin!

In this life, I shall change your fate! I'll steal away your achievement of killing the Witch King and the glory of driving back the Southeast Asian Allied Forces; I'll harshly pull you down from the hallowed throne of the Valkyrie!

I want you, damn it, to live for me!

Perhaps due to the tumultuous thoughts in Yan Yu's mind, his hold on her tightened somewhat. Li Minghu, puzzled, communicated telepathically:

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'?"

"You seem a bit... nervous."

"Yeah, I'm worried you'll go and get yourself killed." Yan Yu confessed frankly.

Li Minghu fell silent for a moment, then coughed softly and said telepathically:

"I... won't die easily."

"Can we remove the 'easily' part?"

"Ah?"

"I feel that," Yan Yu probed nonchalantly, "although you've never said it directly, you always give me this pessimistic feeling, like 'I'm about to die, I need to hurry and do something.'

"Haha, you've seen through me." Li Minghu paused for a moment, then replied, "I've been reading Shi Tiesheng's essays recently, and perhaps I have been deeply moved emotionally."

"I... have always been thinking: if a person's life is destined to be short, what can she do to make her remaining life meaningful enough?"

"Uh, let me think." Yan Yu hesitated for a while, then suddenly suggested, "How about a passionate love affair? How does that sound?"

Li Minghu was stunned, but her body soon began to twitch slightly.

She was holding back laughter.

It was a long while before Yan Yu, somewhat concerned that the dragon-like creature in front of them might notice something amiss behind it, received Li Minghu's belated telepathic reply, said as casually as if she were joking:

"Alright, if my life one day comes to an end, I will seriously consider your suggestion."

Yan Yu immediately seized the opportunity and pressed her:

"Are you saying you'll consider the suggestion itself or consider me?"

"Both," Li Minghu said with a smile, "Hmm, you took advantage of me today. By then, I suppose it wouldn't bother you if I took up a little bit of your time, right?"

"Not at all." Yan Yu agreed readily, then cautioned, "Then let's make that a promise. You can't just go die inexplicably; otherwise, I'll go to your grave, write a scathing essay, and burn it for you."

"I won't," said Li Minghu, her voice seemingly cheerful, "I have a very good memory."

Done deal.

Yan Yu let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

It's not that he was particularly keen on dating Li Minghu, nor did he arrogantly believe that Li Minghu was already in love with him. The whole affair didn't need to be overcomplicated; it was just a small promise between a girl who believed her days were numbered and didn't want to die alone, and a kind-hearted boy who wanted to help her.

However, for Yan Yu with the advantage of foresight, this meant that he had the capability to influence the conclusion of Li Minghu's life.

Keep in mind, he was not a member of Team Qing'an and could not possibly stay by Li Minghu's side every day to monitor her health and determine when she would choose self-sacrifice... but Li Minghu herself would certainly be aware.

As long as she still remembered this promise before becoming the Valkyrie, then with a single phone call, Yan Yu could immediately rush to her side.

Thereafter, whether it was to persuade her, convince her, leverage her, show her the beauties of the world, rekindle her desire to remain in this world, or even to knock her out and take her home for a slow education, or hand her over to the Annan Army and explain the gravity of the situation—whatever the choice, the power was in Yan's hands.

Mwahaha, this is the power of being the supreme intelligence of this world!

With his thoughts well-ordered and feeling smug, Yan Yu's steps seemed to carry a breeze.

Li Minghu curled up in his embrace, with a faint and indescribable shame washing over her. As her emotions surged, a subtle warmth seemed to rise throughout her body, sweeping away the last vestiges of cold.

In the last few days of her life, to engage in a passionate romance...

It sounded quite nice, actually.

She just hoped it wouldn't cause him any trouble.