Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Yan Yu was certainly doing it on purpose.

After returning home, Yan Yu, although he had not scanned the girls' locations, was very aware that they must have been hiding inside the house—the nonchalant demeanor of Xie Ruoxi said it all.

The reason for saying those things was to lure the girls into taking the initiative to strike, which would give him a legitimate reason to assess everyone's true strength.

Why assess everyone?

Because after the trip to drop his sister off at the high-speed train station, on the cab ride to the airport, the girls had engaged in silent, secretive message exchanges for a while.

Even though Yan Yu did not know what they had been discussing behind his back, he could guess it was definitely trash talk about him. If there's something that can't be discussed openly in front of me, why the need for secret message exchanges?

If I say you guys need extra training, then you need extra training. As the team leader, my word is law, and I must follow through!

Zhao Yuanzhen approached with her Shifting Technique, her hand suddenly flashing with a grey light, as the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin shot towards his shoulder.

Good timing! Yan Yu's eyes lit up in an instant.

This Demonic Sect Enchantress, due to her past habit of going all out against her enemies, would always use full strength in her attacks. Her control was quite poor, to put it mildly.

But watching the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin's speed, which clearly used only about forty percent of her power, showed that she was intentionally holding back her output... Very good, she has made significant progress!

Of course, although he was inwardly impressed with Zhao Yuanzhen, Yan Yu decided to curb any chance of her becoming overly proud and complacent by continuing to push her.

With a 'ding,' the Huang Tingjian deflected the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin mid-flight and then charged straight at Zhao Yuanzhen.

Zhao Yuanzhen quickly intercepted with her Yin Wind Sword, only to see that Yan Yu had somehow closed in on her as if he had truly teleported!

By the balcony railing, about to enter the room, Chen Lingyun saw everything clearly:

Yan Yu first accelerated with the Shifting Technique, then stopped short, using the momentum to rush at Zhao Yuanzhen. Seizing the moment she directed her Sword Control to intercept the Huang Tingjian and shifted her gaze away, he stealthily activated the Invisibility Technique and vanished from sight.

He became invisible, getting right in front of Zhao Yuanzhen, and reappeared while simultaneously halting with the Cloud Ascension Technique—seeing from Zhao Yuanzhen's perspective, it was as if a person had suddenly appeared before her, and of course, she couldn't react in time.
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"Ning." Chen Lingyun quickly sent a message.

Yan Yu, taking advantage of the surprise he had given Zhao Yuanzhen at the start, rapidly dismantled her defenses with the Curved Curse Punch. Just as he was about to "strike her down," he suddenly changed direction and retreated urgently.

Lin Ning's green sword light descended from the sky!

The moment she touched down, she used the Cloud Ascension Technique to arrest her fall and immediately lunged forward, the Green Bamboo Sword swinging directly at Yan Yu's head as if casting a reprimand!

Take that for saying I'm gullible!

With a flick of his fingers, Yan Yu's Huang Tingjian instantly returned to block.

Now, with the three of them at close range, their swordplay fell within a "short axis" distance. The Huang Tingjian needed only a simple sweep to strike both the Green Bamboo Sword and Yin Wind Sword at the same time. Moreover, as a heavy sword renowned for its power, it managed to parry both swords with ease for a time, leaving Lin Ning and Zhao Yuanzhen unable to penetrate his defense.

As Lin Ning hastily cast her Sword technique, her heart was filled with anxiousness. When she glanced at Zhao Yuanzhen's onslaught, she almost fainted, hurriedly sending a message saying:

"Sister Zhao, don't just fight on your own! Work with me..."

"There's an opening!" Yan Yu took the chance to lunge forward, swiftly entering from the Green Bamboo Sword's blind spot and quickly approaching Lin Ning.

Lin Ning was nearly scared into jumping away. It was too late to recall her Green Bamboo Sword, and she knew she was no match for Yan Yu in a direct confrontation. She quickly rolled backward, landing awkwardly on the ground—a clumsy move, but better than being pummeled into rolling all over the floor!

Seeing her roll away so resolutely, Yan Yu somehow felt it wasn't right to strike. By the time he decided to chase after her again, his feet were already entangled by Five Spells, and Su Yunjin's Coral Tears came slicing down from above at just the right moment.

The cooperation between Chen Lingyun and Su Yunjin was indeed far superior to the unspoken understanding between Lin Ning and Zhao Yuanzhen, prompting Yan Yu to silently praise them in his heart.

The Huang Tingjian swiftly moved to defend, intercepting the Coral Tears midair, but right then Yan Yu disappeared on the spot again, vanishing without a trace.

Invisibility Technique again, huh! The girls quickly spurred their Divine Sense, sweeping through the entire living room.

Never having dealt with an enemy that used Invisibility Technique before, their reactions were a beat behind. By the time they located Yan Yu, he had already rushed out to the balcony, knocked down Chen Lingyun who had sensed danger and was attempting to leave.

No matter how clever your schemes, if your own strength doesn't keep up, it's all for nothing, right?

The first victim had appeared!

The beating was just the beginning!

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Meanwhile, as soon as Zhao Yuanzhen burst out, Xie Ruoxi quickly took off like a rabbit breaking free, dashing out of the room.

She ran several hundred meters in one go before realizing she was still in her big rabbit pajamas and fluffy slippers. When she saw the inexplicable looks from passersby, her face turned red once again, and she could only walk back towards the villa slowly.

Arriving at the villa entrance, Xie Ruoxi first listened carefully, then slowly approached the front door.

Ensuring that she never heard any sounds of fighting, she turned to sneak into the backyard and quietly looked towards the balcony. There, she saw Yan Yu sitting on the sofa, munching on a peeled apple, while the defeated girls sat beside him, covered in dust and ash, allowing Su Yunjin to treat their wounds one by one, all looking dejected, dispirited, and downcast.

It's over? Yan Zhanlong won? Against four?

Xie Ruoxi carefully walked in and saw Yan Yu turn his head and asked in annoyance,

"What were you running for just now?"

"I..." Xie Ruoxi fell silent for a moment and then laughed, "I thought you guys were doing internal training, which is confidential, so I consciously left the scene, haha."

"Did you see that?" Yan Yu turned to the girls and said, "Even she thinks she's an outsider. You lot are all doubting this and that, playing little tricks and throwing tantrums with me. Isn't that embarrassing?"

The girls didn't pay any attention to him, but Su Yunjin walked over generously, pulled Xie Ruoxi to sit by the couch, and smiled,

"What's all this about outsiders? Since you're going to be responsible for operating and promoting our team, that makes you one of us. By the way, I heard from Yan Yu that you also have a talent for cultivation?"

"Mhmm." Xie Ruoxi nodded and said, "It's just that my aptitude isn't that great..."

"Aptitude isn't a problem," Yan Yu waved his hand dismissively, cutting off her speech and scolding, "What matters is whether you dare to fight! If your first instinct upon seeing cultivation is to get lazy, and your first instinct upon seeing a fight is to hide, how can you be a good cultivator?

Look at them, even though they know they're no match they still challenge me, getting beaten to the ground and still refusing to admit defeat. This is the spirit and courage that my Yan Zhanlong's teammates should have!"

"Don't mind him," Lin Ning said from the side, chiming in and shooting Yan Yu a glare, "He likes to play tough and scare people!"

"The way you glare at me really does have some presence, but it's still not as free-spirited as when you were rolling on the ground just now," Yan Yu said with a laugh.

Lin Ning's face turned dark on the spot, and she started grinding her back teeth fiercely, only to hear Chen Lingyun suddenly say,

"Let's talk upstairs."

The five girls got up one after another, hand in hand, and went upstairs, leaving Yan Yu alone and isolated in the living room.

Although he couldn't deploy many tactics at home, it was still a proper sparring session, and he had fed the teammates with experiences generously. At this moment, Yan Yu was filled with a sense of accomplishment as a mentor.

After sighing once more with "As the peaches and plums do not speak, a path forms beneath them," Yan Yu lazily picked up his phone and dialed a number:

"Hello, Coach Qi."

"Yes, I have a question I'd like to ask about the current situation with cultivator allocations..."

Xie Ruoxi followed the girls to the second floor, feeling increasingly anxious.

After all, with only a high school education and coming from a poor family, Xie Ruoxi already had a bit of an inferiority complex. Seeing that the girls were all attractive with superior manners and temperaments, she felt completely overshadowed standing next to them, and couldn't help feeling increasingly self-conscious and intimidated.

Although she was timid and weak, the girls didn't hold any negative opinions about her.

From Yan Yu's attitude towards her, they were mostly thinking, "As if she's even worth considering."

Well then, if no one was worthy, they might as well pull Xie Ruoxi into the "Zhenhai Team Women's Mutual Assistance Group" to discuss how to deal with Yan Yu—this detestable man really did go too far in sparring, genuinely beating up the girls!

Everyone sat down on the floor in Chen Lingyun's room. The princess was particular about quality of life; the whole floor was covered with blankets, comfortable for both sitting and stepping on.

Lin Ning brought over a fruit plate for the girls to enjoy at their leisure and casually asked,

"Ruoxi, how does Yan Yu know you have talent for cultivation?"

"Uh..." Xie Ruoxi stuffed a cherry into her mouth and after a while responded, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" The girls were all surprised.

"He just asked me if I wanted to be a cultivator," Xie Ruoxi said with a bitter face. "Then he threw a book at me and forced me to memorize all about acupoints and qi circulation routes... With so many words, how could I possibly memorize them all!"

"Acupoints and qi circulation routes... isn't that just three chapters of content?" Su Yunjin said uncertainly.

"About twenty pages," Lin Ning provided a more accurate figure.

"Exactly!" Xie Ruoxi complained indignantly, "A full 20 pages!"

The others almost fainted—were 20 pages really that hard to memorize with a bit of effort? Sister Zhao must have a rival in intelligence.

Zhao Yuanzhen, however, was oblivious to everyone else's thoughts. She had already filled her mouth with cherries, her cheeks bulging like a little hamster, and then she used her nimble tongue to peel off all the fruit flesh and swallow it. Following that, she spat out the pits like a pea-shooter, one after another, before saying,

"What's there to memorize? As long as you understand it and can produce qi, isn't that all that matters?"

"Right, right," Xie Ruoxi nodded eagerly, wholeheartedly agreeing, "I looked at it once and managed to produce qi. Afterwards, Yan Yu didn't make me memorize it anymore."

The girls immediately looked astonished.

To be able to produce True Qi after just one reading, what kind of concept was that?

A congenital cultivation physique, right? With such cultivation talent, why hadn't she been selected into the cultivator academy after the high school blood test?

Chen Lingyun leisurely sipped her tea. While the others found it hard to believe, she had merely had her suspicions confirmed, so she wasn't overly surprised, and simply asked,

"Do you know the Three Arts and Five Spells?"

Xie Ruoxi innocently asked,

"What are the Three Arts and Five Spells?"