Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Yan Yu sat in the pavilion, watching the torrential river flow eastward, and felt a subtle sense of relaxation.

Just like this, ceaselessly, day and night.

Compared with the relentless river of time, what were women? And what was the battlefield?

Hmph, nothing but fleeting epiphyllum flowers.

As Yan Yu was immersed in his contemplation, his cell phone suddenly rang.

Although the incoming number was a string of digits, he recognized the caller immediately.

"Hello?"

"Yan Yu," Chen Tianming said calmly, "an entrance to a Mysterious Realm has appeared on Black Dragon Isle."

"Oh," Yan Yu asked, "so what?"

The emergence of a Mysterious Realm was not a strange occurrence. In this era of Spiritual Energy Resurgence, Mysterious Realms sprouted like mushrooms after rain all over the globe, and it would have been strange had they not appeared.

After the Rakshasa forces contracted westward, the vast Siberian region was left with numerous and crisscrossing Transcendent forces of varying sizes, constantly warring against each other day and night, too preoccupied to explore or manage Mysterious Realms—so, was there anything particularly noteworthy about a new Mysterious Realm appearing on Black Dragon Isle?

"That person wishes to investigate it," Chen Tianming continued.

Yan Yu was initially startled, then quickly realized what was happening.

Last time Mei Yingxue visited alone, but the meeting place was the principal's office—how could Chen Tianming and Li Weiguo be unaware?

Since Teacher Mei had specifically mentioned this Mysterious Realm, it probably did warrant a detailed investigation.

Hmm?

The entrance to the Mysterious Realm being on Black Dragon Isle, the heart of the Gelian Bearmen's territory, meant that conflict was inevitable.

Should Rikoku Cultivators attack Black Dragon Isle, the Gelian Bearmen would have no choice but to consolidate their forces to defend their headquarters, perhaps even withdrawing their troops from the mainland to protect themselves.

In that case, the military crisis facing the Amur Witch Troop would be swiftly resolved.

What a clever strategy!

The feint of "saving Zhao by besieging Wei" was not unusual; many would think of attacking Black Dragon Isle directly. The key was finding a suitable and justifiable excuse to convince the majority of the domestic factions to agree with the action.

To pinpoint a precise entry point amidst the chaotic situation, then to extract what one desired from the flames as if using a scalpel—that was Chen Tianming's forte. Despite being a man of two lives and deeming himself the strongest in this life, Yan Yu had to admit that in this aspect, he was outdone by Old Taishan. Only Chen Lingyun approached her father's level.

"Understood," Yan Yu asked gravely, "when do we leave?"

"The day after tomorrow, in the afternoon," Chen Tianming replied. "The Dragon Soar Team needs one day to prepare. They will set off with you."

"Alright."

"Xie Ruoxi's application to join the team has been approved by the Privy Council. Take her with you this time."

"Her training is not yet complete," Yan Yu had some reservations about this.

The beautiful but useless person was now like this: hardware that was technically top-notch with corresponding drivers mostly installed. She could use the Three Arts and Five Spells and was close to mastering the Sword Control Technique and developing Divine Sense through the Soul Refining Technique. Now, only voice transmission was left unlearned, but that wasn't a major issue.

Her problem mainly lay in the software. Experience, awareness, reaction, and of course, the most crucial, courage... It was like a child with a gun; even if a single shot could blow the enemy's head off, did they possess sufficient mental fortitude to take aim?

"Take her with you," Chen Tianming sighed. "There won't be much time for training in the future."

This was the first time Yan Yu heard Old Taishan sigh.

In his previous life, when the situation was on a knife-edge, he had never seen a trace of emotion from Old Taishan—certainly because at this point in time, Chen Tianming still held a sufficiently optimistic forecast for the future, making him express concern and sigh over certain matters.

Rest assured, once the tides of the era hit you hard enough, you'll no longer be so easily startled!

After hanging up on Old Taishan, Yan Yu opened the cultivator chat group and directly called out a few members.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: @Liu Shao, @Ri Zhao Zhu Jiang, @Zao La, show yourselves!

[Liu Shao]: What's up, Old Yan?

[Ri Zhao Zhu Jiang]: I'm having afternoon tea; don't disturb me now, I'll deal with you later.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Where's Xiao Zhou?

[Yun Juan Yun Shu]: She doesn't talk much in the group, right? Captain Zhou, why don't you try Deputy Captain Zhang?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: @Chuchukengzhang, are you there? If you are, give me a buzz.

No response, just others continuing to shoot the breeze, guessing what matter Yan Yu needed to discuss with the Huofeng Team.

After a while, Lord Master sent a message privately.

[Liu Shao]: Stop looking, the Huofeng Team is off on a mission in the plateau, probably don't have time to check their phones.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: What's up in Tianzhu?

[Liu Shao]: It's been a mess over there for a while, with all sorts of civil sects complicating matters. Since the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, these sects got their own Transcendents and started to attack each other to seize believers... Why do you suddenly ask?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: The Huofeng Team heading to the plateau province, isn't it because there are Transcendents from Tianzhu infiltrating?

[Liu Shao]: Maybe, but that's hardly surprising. We had plenty of border frictions before the Spiritual Energy Resurgence.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Alright...

[Liu Shao]: Old Yan, are you worried about some formidable figure from Tianzhu?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Hard to say, let's wait and see.

[Liu Shao]: Hey, you're still playing coy with me!

[Liu Shao]: Forget it, see you the day after tomorrow.

Yan Yu closed the chat window with Lord Master and silently reminisced.

The number of folk sects in Tianzhu was so great that even Tianzhu natives couldn't make sense of it; sometimes, a small village with just over twenty followers was enough to constitute a sect.

After the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, due to the prolonged influence of mysticism, Tianzhu produced more Transcendents than any other country. Fortunately, most of these Transcendents spent their time fighting each other over beliefs... until a nameless destroyer who called himself "Ishana" appeared.

At this time, Ishana was still somewhere battling others, so there was no need to worry about Zhou Hongyu meeting his end at Ishana's hands. It was likely that Chen Tianming was just worried about the deteriorating security situation in the plateau area.

Can you stop being so jumpy, old man? If you dare disturb my inner peace, tell your daughter to be careful!

Yan Yu sighed silently and then suddenly received a new message from Lin Ning.

[Ningning]: Where are you?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Outside.

[Ningning]: Oh, Ling Yun's mom is calling you home.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Something up?

[Ningning]: She's a guest, and as hosts, it's better to entertain her, right?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Fine, I'm on my way back.

When Yan Yu arrived home, he saw Chen's mother sitting on the sofa, regal and majestic, surrounded by the girls chatting her up like the Lady Dowager from the Dream of the Red Chamber.

Of course, even among the girls of the younger generation, there were intimacies and distances.

Chen Lingyun was naturally the most favored "Jia Baoyu," sticking close to her mother with a winsome smile, monopolizing seven or eight parts of her affection.

Su Yunjin and Lin Ning were more restrained and polite, answering a few questions from Chen's mother with polite attitudes but a hint of unease—however, Chen's mother didn't seem to mind, being quite amiable towards them, like the Lady Dowager towards the other golden hairpins.

Zhao Yuanzhen and Xie Ruoxi were very enthusiastic, incessantly striking up conversations with Chen's mother, with their flattering intent plainly on display.

But Chen's mother was visibly tired of these two. They would say a few words, and only then would Chen's mother reply with a tepid response, much like the Lady Dowager did with Lady Xing, to Yan Yu's distaste.

In his previous life, Chen Lingyun had brought him into the family, and this pious old woman looked down on him, never seeing him as good enough, with a nose that didn't seem like a nose and eyes that weren't eyes.

Now, for some reason, she went through a change of heart, starting to appreciate him to no end; yet seeing how she treated Zhao and Xie, wasn't it the same old habit of looking down on others?

"Yan Yu's back?" As soon as Chen's mother saw him come in, she beckoned him over, "Come here, auntie has brought some fruits. Try them and see if you like them."

Yan Yu looked toward the center of the coffee table, sure enough, there were several plates of cleaned fruits placed there—though there were no exotic rarities, the quality was the best and most expensive, large and plump, obviously juicy and delicious.

Looking at Zhao Yuanzhen and Xie Ruoxi, each with a trash bin beside them, it was clear they weren't really interested in getting close to Chen's mother...

Sitting down next to Zhao Yuanzhen, Yan Yu picked up a grape, threw it in his mouth to chew vigorously, and spoke to the Demonic Sect Enchantress telepathically: Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire

"You've got millions to your name now, what can't you buy? Do you need to suck up for some fruits?"

"You don't get it!" Zhao Yuanzhen said proudly, "The money you earn yourself, how can that compare to the money you get as a gift from an elder? That's the real joy of spending!"

Yan Yu: ?????