Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

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That evening, the group used Sword Control to reach Pingjing, landing near Xiaotangshan.

At the rendezvous point, two cars were waiting to take the Zhenhai Team to the Liu Family's villa—resembling an ancient-style building, with hardly any traces of steel-reinforced concrete evident.

"Old Liu, this villa of yours, why does it look a bit like an imperial vacation palace from a previous dynasty?" Yan Yu remarked on the architecture as he stood at the entrance and casually asked.

"My ancestors were royal sons-in-law," Liu Longtao replied, "The residence was bestowed by the emperor; have you heard of Princess Xuanming?"

"No, I'm not good with history." Yan Yu asked again for confirmation, "But it has water and electricity inside, right?"

"How could it be livable without water and electricity?" Liu Longtao tossed him a set of keys, laughing, "Make yourself at home, throw a party or whatever, just don't damage the walls—the cultural heritage bureau comes to check every few years, ugh, so troublesome."
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He then mounted his sword light and left. Yan Yu turned around, using the keys to open the door.

Inside, it was less a villa and more a sizable garden estate. Surrounded by tall, red walls outside, the interior featured pavilions, terraces, flowering hedges, and waterside gazebos, layered upon each other as if truly entering the Grand View Garden from Dream of the Red Chamber.

"There are so many fallen leaves," Su Yunjin sighed beside him, "they're impossible to clean up."

"The feng shui layout isn't bad," Zhao Yuanzhen posed like an expert and assessed, "The artificial hill in the center of the pond is the essence."

"I really want to do an ancient-style Cos here," Xie Ruoxi agreed, "It would be pretty."

"Which room are we going to stay in?" Lin Ning looked around, "Isn't there a map or something?"

"Typically, directly across from the main entrance would be the central estate," Chen Lingyun said leisurely, "Further back would be where the family lived."

"Let's go take a look," Yan Yu said with a wave of his hand.

The group passed through the main estate and after a long, narrow garden, they finally found two rows of neat and tidy side-rooms that led to a small chamber with steaming hot springs inside.

This region of Xiaotangshan was indeed famed for its hot springs.

The ladies exchanged glances, then suddenly spoke in unison:

"Captain, you haven't had a good rest yet, have you? You should go to bed early today and not stay up late."

Yan Yu: ???

Before he had time to say anything, he was picked up by the group and forcefully thrust into a guest room.

"Alright!" Lin Ning clapped her hands satisfactorily, "Let's go soak in the hot springs!"

"But I didn't bring a swimsuit," Su Yunjin said hesitantly.

"Who needs a swimsuit?" Zhao Yuanzhen said carelessly, "There's no one else around, just go naked."

The idea of bathing without clothes made the ladies visibly uncomfortable.

It was only Chen Lingyun who calmly went to the door of the hot spring chamber, checked the lock, and announced:

"No problem, it can be locked from the inside."

"If we use Divine Sense to scout, we'll definitely be aware if someone approaches, right?" Xie Ruoxi added, "How about I do the scouting? I have an abundance of True Yuan."

After thinking it through, everyone seemed to agree with the logic and, holding hands and cheerfully, headed towards the hot spring room.

Their conversation outside, of course, was overheard by Yan Yu loud and clear.

Lucky me, it's as if someone might really come and peep at you.

He lay on the bed playing with his phone when he saw in the cultivator group chat someone saying:

"If Captain Yan is getting a medal, shouldn't Captain Zhou get one too? They both fought against foreign enemies equally, right?"

"How could they be the same? Captain Yan killed almost a few hundred people, while Captain Zhou is still in the hospital. The authorities will definitely take strength into account when dishing out recognition..."

"What happened to Xiao Zhou?" Yan Yu asked in the group chat.

"Salute to Captain Yan!" A crowd immediately flooded with emoticon packs, most nicknames belonging to students from the other four institutes that Yan Yu didn't recognize, likely having joined the group after the team system was fully implemented.

The previous speaker replied:

"Hello Captain Yan, I'm from Pingxi Academy. Captain Zhou was fighting with a Transcendent from Tianzhu on the highlands, and apparently, she got seriously injured and was rushed to Huaxi for emergency treatment."

"@Zhang Huaide, is she dead?" Yan Yu directly called out the name.

"No," Zhang Huaide responded quickly, "she was brought back from the brink."

Almost simultaneously, a message appeared at the top of the screen:

"Zhang Huaide" is inviting you to a video call.

Once Yan Yu accepted the invite, the video showed the background of a hospital's intensive care unit with a gravely injured Zhou Hongyu wearing an oxygen mask and hospital gown, staring at the camera, eyes locked with Yan Yu's in a silent confrontation.

"Uh," Yan Yu felt he should say something and inquired with concern, "Xiao Zhou, where are you hurt? Is it your brain? Did you have any brain damage? Will it affect your intelligence?"

"Lung penetration injury," Zhang Huaide's voice came from the side, "Debridement surgery is already done, and it's not a big problem. For a cultivator, it won't leave any sequelae. A week of rest should suffice."

"Captain Zhou can't speak right now; I'll translate for her," Tang Xiaolian entered the frame from the edge, exchanged a look with Zhou Hongyu, nodded, then turned and said, "Captain Zhou says, 'What are you looking at? I'll gouge your eye out.'"

"Haha, that's not Nanchuan dialect at all," Yan Yu couldn't help but chuckle.

Zhou Hongyu narrowed her eyes as Tang Xiaolian spoke:

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"I'm not a professional translator, Yan Team Leader, you figure out the idea,"

"How did she get injured?" Yan Yu asked again.

"Moved too fast," Zhang Huaide said indifferently.

Although it was only four words, Yan Yu instantly understood and wanted to mockingly say, "Why is Zhou Hongyu in such a hurry again," but decided against it—after all, she'd just been rescued from the ICU, and it wouldn't be good if she fainted from anger again.

"Zhang, why didn't you stop her?" Yan Yu asked.

"I did," Zhang Huaide said in a melancholic tone.

Just three simple words, yet they conveyed endless bitterness and exhaustion. Such was the fate of being Zhou Hongyu's deputy team leader.

Zhou Hongyu blinked again, only to hear Tang Xiaolian saying:

"I freakin' feel like bombing anything with that shitty skin color, can't stand it."

"That's enough," Yan Yu said exasperatedly, "Your translations are all wrong. Zhou Hongyu was trying to say 'none of your damn business' and 'mind your own issues'."

Zhou Hongyu closed her eyes, adopting an attitude too lazy to speak.

"Get lost, do you understand Captain Zhou, or do I?" Tang Xiaolian suddenly burst out in rage, "Take this slap!"

"All right, all right," Yan Yu lost interest and said, "Glad Zhou is okay, I'm leaving, bye~"

No sooner had he hung up the video than he got up to push the door and go to the bathroom.

In the hot spring room, the girls were chatting happily when suddenly Xie Ruoxi screamed:

"Yan Yu is coming!"

Everyone immediately went into a frenzy, grabbing clothes, diving under the water, and screaming:

"Ningning, quickly check if the door is locked!" Su Yunjin hastily exclaimed.

"It's locked...But it's useless! Doesn't he have the Wall-Penetration Technique?" Lin Ning rushed to the door to check and soon started panicking.

"If he dares to come in, I will slap him to death!" Zhao Yuanzhen gritted her teeth.

The girls hastily covered their chests and thighs, nervously eyeing the room's door.

"Wait." Xie Ruoxi suddenly spoke, "He went to the bathroom."

The girls instantly breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Xie Ruoxi speechlessly:

Ruoxi ah, can you not be so panicky? He just left the room to go to the bathroom, and you made it seem like he was about to invade our space.

"Cough cough." Lin Ning felt she'd been silly just before and quickly laughed it off, "Going to the bathroom, haha, I knew the Captain wasn't that type of a person, the door lock wouldn't stop him if he really wanted to barge in."

"Of course," Su Yunjin also hastily smoothed things over, "The Captain's character is very proper, he wouldn't do those despicable acts."

"He's heading this way!" Xie Ruoxi shouted again.

"He must be going back to his room," Lin Ning was still skeptical, how could the same mistake be made twice by someone who solves problems, but to give Yan Yu the benefit of the doubt she added, "Going back to his room is in this direction too, it's totally normal, Ruoxi, don't make a big deal out of nothing."

"It's not!" Xie Ruoxi quickly said, "He already passed the room's door, and he's still walking this way!"

The hot spring room went quiet for a moment and then became noisy again, with frantic scrambling for clothes, bath towels, diving, and body-covering.

Yan Yu arrived at the door and knocked, saying loudly:

"What's the noise about? Everything okay in there?"

The noises inside immediately quieted down. After a few moments, Lin Ning's shy and timid voice came through the door:

"Do...Do you need something?"

"Nothing," Yan Yu said, "You were yelling so loudly, I came to see what happened. No one's gotten heatstroke from the hot spring or suffocated from sitting too long, right?"

"No, just go back!" Lin Ning yelled.

"If it's nothing then keep it down! Making such a fuss for no reason." Yan Yu grumpily said and sauntered back to his room, "Really, what a racket..."

Inside the hot spring room, everyone gradually calmed down.

"He's gone back to his room," Xie Ruoxi whispered.

The girls silently stared at her.

After a while, Su Yunjin gently said:

"Ruoxi, I know you've only joined us recently, but the Captain really isn't a lecherous and indecent man. Aren't you being a bit too defensive?"

"Exactly," Lin Ning quickly passed the buck, "See? The Captain only came by because he heard us screaming; he thought something was wrong, he never had any other intentions."

"I was too nervous," Xie Ruoxi laughed it off, yet she was dismissive in her heart:

Not lecherous? If he wasn't lecherous, would he have gone out of his way to send a message and fetch me back all the way from afar without knowing I had spiritual cultivation talent? Handing me 200,000 in cash upon meeting?

Hmph, when I become a gem in his palm, it'll be too late for any of you to cry!