Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

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Yin Yang Bureau headquarters.

As the screen went dark, the five bigwigs each fell silent, their expressions unspeakably ugly.

Especially the two who had previously supported the Shinyori Clan, their faces were so gloomy they looked like they could drip water.

The loss of 200 elite Onmyoji was an extremely tough and serious loss for the Yin Yang Bureau to accept.

But even more troublesome was the death of Shenyuan Guang.

If the Shinyori Clan wanted to maintain its position as one of the leading families of the Yin Yang Bureau, they must have a top-tier Onmyoji, which is an iron law of power struggle.

The bastard Shenyuan Simie was uncontrollable and could bite back at any time, so the clan had pushed Shenyuan Guang to the top instead.

But the result was a hard slap in the face from Yan Zhanlong through the screen.

Though their faces weren't physically beaten to a bruised mess, their insides were certainly shaking loose teeth and swallowing blood!

What's worse, with the sacrifice of Shenyuan Guang on the battlefield, the Shinyori Clan had no other choice but to pin their noses to the grindstone and adamantly support Shenyuan Simie.

The thought of that bastard continuing to cause trouble left the bigwigs feeling an unbearable frustration, as if they were being spat in the face yet forced to dry it themselves.

After about two or three minutes of silence, suddenly someone said in a deep voice:

"Yan Zhanlong is too dominant. If we don't eliminate him, he will surely become a huge thorn in our sides!"

No one responded.

The reality was right before their eyes. Liu Longtao of the Dingbei Army of Lu Country was indeed strong, but at least his strength was within a range that the Yin Yang Bureau could understand.

But the strength of Yan Zhanlong was, frankly, incomprehensible.

He defeated the Great Tengu with his fists and cut down the Battle Ghosts of the Heike Clan with his sword. Given that a Cultivator's Flying Sword lacked sentience, Yan Zhanlong must be multitasking.

Yet when it comes to multitasking, who could surpass Onmyoji who play with Shikigami? Throwing out three, four, five, six Shikigami at once, they always have to divide their focus to control them. This was their forte!

Both were fighting on two fronts. Rationally speaking, Shenyuan Guang, an Onmyoji specializing in Shikigami Style, should have been better at this, yet he ended up distracted and overwhelmed, getting literally smashed and slashed by Yan Zhanlong. How could this be explained?

Sato Akihide's Iaido Slash was so quick that even the naked eye could hardly catch its trace, yet Yan Zhanlong was able to narrowly evade it, even more than once. How could this be explained?

The Ninja's Illusion Smoke Clouds create a thick fog upon release, impenetrable to any probing spells, yet Yan Zhanlong's sword light could still strike through with deadly precision. How could this be explained?

Under the relentless pursuit of the Six-Armed Demon God and surrounded by many Onmyoji, his sword light moved as if he were taking a leisurely stroll. Most people would struggle to keep up even with eight eyes, yet Yan Zhanlong not only evaded all attacks but also manipulated the attacks of the Six-Armed Demon God to affect the Onmyoji. How can this be explained?

There's no explanation!

But that is precisely the problem: Yan Zhanlong is too strong. He needs to be eliminated, but who could possibly kill him at this stage?

"Let's not talk about Yan Zhanlong for now," another Onmyoji bigwig said, "Have all of you seen the others?"

"Zhao and Lin, fierce in battle, strong in power, capable of fighting the Demon King; Chen, precise in command, orderly and without haste, seizing opportunities perfectly; the most dangerous is Su, who's able to release a deluge in silence, waves that reach the sky, the bane of all Samurai."

Honestly, even when facing a crazed beauty like Zhou Hongyu who likes to wildly blast and burn with the bright light of fire, one can't really say she's "the bane of Samurai."

Because the Samurai, despite having short reach, boast high offense and defense. Even if a direct Flame Spear were to hit, they could simply respond with a cutting slash, taking the brunt of the explosion with their body without much trouble.

But Su Yunjin's Southern Dipper Galaxy Secret Art, with hardly any lethal power and mainly strong control, precisely hits the Samurai's Achilles heel—water flows are uncuttable.

As bigwigs of the Yin Yang Bureau, of course they could perceive the threat that Su Yunjin posed to the Samurai, which was in some ways more deadly than Zhao, Lin, or Chen.

Shortly after, someone slowly said:

"To kill Yan Zhanlong, we must first clip his wings."

"Among them all, Su poses the greatest threat and must be dealt with first."

"Relax the quota restrictions at the various Dao institutes to replenish the losses of the Kyoto Onmyo Academy."

"As for Yan Zhanlong... a forceful killing is unrealistic, but we can look for a method of sealing."

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The Mysterious Realm atop the clouds, a field strewn with corpses.

Over 200 people stood tightly packed together. Even in death, they piled up like a mountain. Limbs severed, blood flowing like rivers, it was like hell on earth.

Xie Ruoxi had been holding back for a long time but finally couldn't anymore, sneaking off to the side to retch quietly.

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The girls seemed unfazed, with Lin Ning even borrowing a napkin from Su Yunjin to wipe the blood off her body, her fierce nature undoubtedly showing.

Yan Yu silently observed, thinking to himself that when the girls had first started fighting and killing, none seemed to feel nausea or the urge to vomit. Could it be that among them all, only Xie Ruoxi was the normal one...?

The thought, once it surfaced, startled him.

What did he mean Xie Ruoxi was the only normal person? Could that beautiful but useless girl really be considered normal?!

It must be because everyone's adrenaline was pumping during their first battle, whereas that useless Xie Ruoxi could only watch from the sidelines, which was why she couldn't suppress her nausea and vomiting!

While he was leisurely daydreaming, he saw Su Yunjin come up to him and, smiling, asked,

"My performance in the battle, doesn't the captain have any comments?"

"Performance, eh," Yan Yu pondered for a moment. "Your timing was good, and the support was on point. Pretty good."

Even though the truth was "it would've been the same with or without your support", Yan Yu felt that he should primarily encourage Secretary Su, instead of frequently crushing her confidence as he did with the trashy princess and the Demonic Sect Enchantress—because Secretary Su would really take it to heart.

"That's good," Su Yunjin replied with a bright smile. "Then I'm barely keeping up with the captain's pace. Given time, perhaps I might have the chance to fight side by side with the captain?"

Though she said, "I want to fight alongside you", the underlying meaning clearly was, "I want to stand by your side". Yan Yu decided to play dumb:

"Haven't we been fighting side by side all along?"

"Ah, that's true," Su Yunjin's voice was light and teasing, "but I want to try fighting in tandem with the captain..."

Before she could finish, Lin Ning popped up from the side and asked with a smile,

"Are we reviewing the last battle? How did I do?"

"Your performance was also excellent. The key to the Sword Control technique is positioning, not offense. I'll explain more when we get back," Yan Yu said earnestly.

"And me?" Su Yunjin quickly asked. "Will the captain give me pointers on my spells, too?" Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

"Of course, of course..." Yan Yu felt the atmosphere suddenly grow tense for some reason and hurriedly placated her too.

The command center in the rear, where the specialists and staff were watching the screens, all furrowed their brows.

Some of them wanted to smirk, but they needed to maintain seriousness at their workplace... so they held it in.

On the screen, the Zhenhai Team took a brief rest before starting to meticulously sweep the battlefield.

"Don't touch the Onmyoji corpses," Yan Yu reminded. "Who knows what traps they've rigged to harm you as soon as you touch their bodies."

"Ptui, ptui, ptui, we're not going to touch any corpses!" the girls responded.

"I have five ghosts," Chen Lingyun said with a grin.

Five big dogs emerged from their invisible state and began to scour the corpses—only to be tormented by various poison gas and explosive traps, howling in distress. But to Chen Lingyun, it seemed like fun.

Yan Yu moved to the side of the Six-Armed Demon God's corpse and looked at the weapons thrown on the ground.

His Divine Sense scanned each one, and he finally sensed something unusual in the Demon-Subduing Pestle.

The Huang Tingjian was wielded directly, slashing forcefully at the pestle, causing sparks and fragments to scatter.

The girls stopped what they were doing, curiously converging to watch.

At last, the Demon-Subduing Pestle was split completely open, revealing its core:

A cone.

The cone, made of an unknown metal with a bright luster yet heavy to the touch—not like gold or iron—measured about 25 centimeters in length, roughly the size of an adult man's hand, with sharp edges and inscribed with tadpole-like inscriptions.

Yan Yu faintly remembered the Six-Armed Demon God channeling this object by striking it with the Demon-Subduing Pestle... So he turned to examine the pestle and sure enough, found a hammer embedded on the inner side of the head.

One hammer, one cone. With two lifetimes worth of experience, Yan Yu quickly recalled the legend of the "Nine Heavens Shouldering Element, Thunder God."

The Nine Heavens Shouldering Element, Thunder God, commonly known as "Lei Gong", was a deity officially listed in the heavenly courts. His weapon was a pair of hammer and cone; striking the hammer against the cone, he would thunder and roar, serving as Heaven's agent, punishing evil deeds, and expelling demons—in short, it held restraining power over evil things.

He decided to play around with it.

With that thought, Yan Yu swung the hammer in his right hand at an empty patch of ground in the distance, and with force, smashed it against the cone in his left hand.

Without striking, he would never have known; the impact shocked Yan Yu to his core... he felt his True Yuan surge up instantly, like floodwaters released through open gates, rushing wildly toward the cone in his left hand!