Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

"Wuuu wuuu waaaah!"

By the time the girls arrived at the scene, they saw Xie Ruoxi bawling her eyes out, tears streaming down her face, a sight that evoked pity.

Around her neck was a board full of holes, reminiscent of an ancient prisoner's pillory, and behind her was a partially dismantled machine.

Yan Yu stood aside with an impatient look, arms folded across his chest, talking to the person in charge of the venue.

"What happened?" Lin Ning asked hurriedly.

Yan Yu nodded toward Xie Ruoxi and said,

"Her head got stuck in a Whac-A-Mole machine hole, and now it can't be pulled out."

"How did it get stuck there?" Lin Ning was still confused.

Xie Ruoxi pointed at Yan Yu and wept,

"He bullied me harshly!"

The girls turned their gaze to Yan Yu, whose expression remained unchanged as he said coldly,

"Harsh times call for harsh laws; the lazy need strict punishment. Cultivators are military professionals. Do you not know the crime for leaving the military academy without approval? And you even dared to stroll around the anime convention. Take her away!"

Indeed, it was really Xie Ruoxi's fault to begin with. The girls had no choice but to comfort the sobbing Xie Ruoxi while escorting her out of the anime convention to avoid further public ridicule.

Finding a secluded corner nearby, Su Yunjin tried to pull the board off.

It really was stuck and wouldn't come out.

"I don't want to go back wearing this thing..." Xie Ruoxi was still sniveling and crying, and Lin Ning quickly reassured her,

"It's okay, I'll chop it down with Flying Sword."

Xie Ruoxi immediately stopped crying out of fear: What, chop it down with Flying Sword?

"Isn't that a bit risky?" Su Yunjin hesitated, "Flying Sword is too sharp, if we're not careful we could injure her neck..."

"It's fine," Chen Lingyun said while checking her phone, smiling, "There's a hospital nearby, very close. It'll only take a few minutes for an ambulance to get here."

Xie Ruoxi's face turned completely pale as she stammered,

"Actually, wearing it for a while is not a problem, maybe we should call the firefighters with the proper equipment to deal with it."

"Why not use the Earth-Element Sturdiness Curse?" Zhao Yuanzhen suddenly asked, "Afraid of being cut by the sword's edge, just use a Barrier Charm, right?"

The girls all fell silent.

"Now you see the importance of the Three Arts and Five Spells?" Yan Yu, who had been watching with a detached gaze, finally spoke up, "Keep it on and go back the way you are. Lin Ning, continue teaching her the Three Arts and Five Spells, but teach the Barrier Charm last! Break the board only after she's learned to use it!"

The girls were about to speak when they suddenly heard Yan Yu's voice transmitted into their ears,

"Shut up, all of you! You're not her mother; why play the overindulgent parent routine? She's a cultivator now. If she doesn't change her habit of giving up at the slightest obstacle and being afraid of hardship, it will one day cost her her life!"

"Well, I should say that I am in favor of strict training," Chen Lingyun immediately made her stance clear, "Ruoxi really can't keep going on like this."

"Training... Education should still consider the methods used, right?" Su Yunjin gently advised.

"Indeed, I think it's too lenient," Zhao Yuanzhen stirred the pot, "Why not just beat her up?"

"Hitting someone directly is too extreme!" Lin Ning complained excitedly, "Even in the army, it's not like they hit people directly!"

As they started to argue back and forth again, Yan Yu put his foot down and said,

"Stop arguing, just take her back and we'll discuss it there!"

Chen Lingyun called for another minivan. When it arrived, everyone got in one after another. Su Yunjin and Lin Ning sat on either side of Xie Ruoxi in the back row, sandwiching her in the middle, holding her hands and whispering words of comfort.

The driver glanced at them through the rearview mirror and said with a chuckle,

"Heh, are you taking a prisoner to the execution ground or what?"

"Kids being kids," Yan Yu said offhandedly from the passenger seat, "She bet she could fit her head in and now she can't get it out."

"Oh," the driver nodded, thinking he had a new story to share with his colleagues. Xie Ruoxi, sitting in the back, wanted to say something, but Su Yunjin quickly silenced her.

This middle-aged uncle clearly wasn't familiar with the internet, so he didn't recognize Yan Zhanlong. He drove skillfully back to the Jinling National Defense Academy. Letting everyone out,

Qi Changping stood at the school gate, looking puzzled at Lin Ning and Su Yunjin helping Xie Ruoxi out of the car,

"What are you playing at... Truth or Dare Play?"

"Even you know about Truth or Dare?" Yan Yu was surprised.

"I also know that showing off gets you struck by lightning," Qi Changping said with profound meaning, "Yan Yu, as team captain, managing the team is also your responsibility. It's no good if a teammate goes missing."

"Of course," Yan Yu turned to Xie Ruoxi and said coldly, "It won't happen again."

Xie Ruoxi shivered involuntarily and began to despair.

Dad, Mom, I was wrong, I want to go to university.

If I hadn't given up on the college entrance exams, I would probably be in a normal university campus now, skipping classes, watching anime, and staying up all night...

Wuuu wuuu, I don't want to be a cultivator anymore!

——————————

"Have her practice the Three Arts and Five Spells, and remember to teach her the Barrier Charm last," Yan Yu instructed Lin Ning once more, "If she does well, break the plank for her; if not, let her wear the plank around her neck and continue practicing until she masters it."

"Mm-hmm." Lin Ning nodded.

"Ah," Yan Yu sighed deeply and went out to use the restroom.

Waste is like this, the more pressure you apply, the more potential emerges; without any pressure, it's directly discarded.

After using the restroom and washing his hands at the sink, Yan Yu leisurely walked back to the training ground, and upon entering, he noticed Xie Ruoxi's plank was gone.

"Lin Ning," he beckoned Lin Ning over, "Where's the plank?"

"I split it," Lin Ning said.

"Didn't I tell you?" Yan Yu's expression became slightly angry, "You're taking my words as a breeze past your ears?"

"She knows all of the Three Arts and Five Spells," Lin Ning paused briefly before explaining, "She got them all on the first try."

Yan Yu: ...............

He looked at Xie Ruoxi again, the pretty waste first startled, instinctively hugging her chest and shivering, but soon enough she recovered, wrinkling her nose at him with effort.

I haven't done anything wrong now; you can't keep bullying me, can you? All my sisters are watching!

Yan Yu walked to her side with an emotionless face, which frightened Xie Ruoxi into cowering again, trembling in fear.

"With such great talent, why would you choose to slack off?" Yan Yu asked her with a complex tone.

Xie Ruoxi couldn't speak; all she saw was him waving his hand again, saying:

"Never mind, don't answer me. Lin Ning!"

"What's up?" Lin Ning came running over.

"Since she knows all of the Three Arts and Five Spells, take her to practice the wall charge."

"Mm-hmm, alright."

The wall charge, namely using the Shifting Technique to rush towards a wall, and using the Cloud Ascension Technique to stop abruptly before hitting it, is a subject matter that Yan Yu "originated" and that all Cultivators must practice, possessing the triple effects of "cultivating courage," "cultivating reflexes," and "cultivating control."

Leaving Xie Ruoxi to Lin Ning for training, Yan Yu left the training ground. After some deliberation, he dialed Liu Longtao's phone number.

"What's up, Old Yan?" Lord Master picked up quickly.

"I want to borrow a sword."

"What?"

"The Heavenly Yuan Qi Sword, it's with you, right?" Yan Yu said impatiently, "Stop pretending, your Liu Family has been secretly developing the Mysterious Realm, and you've acquired quite a few treasures, right?"

There was silence on the other end for more than a minute, until Liu Longtao finally spoke:

"You shouldn't believe and spread rumors; you'll take responsibility if something goes wrong."

"Give me the sword, and I'll neither believe nor spread rumors."

"How much did Chen Lingyun tell you?"

"Not much."

"It's like this," Liu Longtao sighed and explained, "There's no such thing as developing it in secret. Some Mysterious Realms weren't even due to be opened yet, but we forced our way through by other means, which made the development extremely difficult and dangerous. Most explorations are sacrificial, so we're temporarily not open to the public.

Besides, this has nothing to do with my family; the projects are managed and supervised by special appointees from the Privy Council."
Experience more tales on empire

"Mm, I believe that the Privy Council is supervising," Yan Yu said, "But the Privy Council isn't just your family? Rounded up, doesn't that still mean your family is secretly developing it?"

"You're getting more and more outrageous," Liu Longtao hurriedly explained, "My dad retired long ago and doesn't manage affairs anymore, okay?"

"Ah? Retirement means not managing anymore? Then let's have a good talk about that," Yan Yu chuckled, "Let's start by analyzing the resume of the current Privy Councilor..."

"Enough, enough, enough, I beg you!" Liu Longtao couldn't take it anymore and called for a stop, "All right, Old Yan, we're friends, aren't we?"

"Of course, we're friends."

"Solid ones, right?"

"Pure iron."

"A friend in need is a friend indeed, and I'm bound to help, but you have to tell me the whole story. Don't you already have that Dragon-slaying Heavy Sword?"

"It's not for me; it's being prepared for Xie Ruoxi."

"The girl you recently brought in?"

"What do you mean 'recently'? Just today," Yan Yu paused, then added, "You already know about this, so you should also be aware of her extraordinary talent, right? That Heavenly Yuan Qi Sword is the most suitable for her."

"I really didn't know about the extraordinary talent," Liu Longtao chuckled, "I just heard people say that your harem team got a new member... Hey, I didn't say this, it's what others were saying, that the girl is really good-looking."

"Stop your gossip," Yan Yu said impatiently, "Come on Liu, be quick about it, are you going to give it or not? Just say it."

"I can only say I'll try," Liu Longtao sighed, "Obviously, it has to go through an application process, and I also have to explain to my family how you got to know about this since it's a highly confidential project..."

"Just say Chen Lingyun let it slip, and that's how I found out."

"That makes sense."