Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

The next morning.

The third round of the competition was scheduled for 10 a.m., so Yan Yu and Zhao Yuanzhen left the hotel early to have breakfast at the Town North Defense Academy's cafeteria.

The Dingbei Army's recruitment range includes the three northeastern provinces along with Qilu, northern Hebei, Central Plains, Mongolia, as well as Jinmen Prefecture and Pingjing Prefecture, so the cafeteria was full of northerners, both men and women, who slurped their noodles with gusto.

Yan Yu leisurely savored his wontons while Zhao Yuanzhen seemed to have little appetite, taking only a light sip of the noodle soup before losing interest in eating anything else.

"Is there any vinegar?" she started looking around for it.

"Morning," Chen Lingyun greeted with a tray in her hands and a cute smile on her face.

"How was it playing with that man last night?" Zhao Yuanzhen asked with ill intentions.

"We parted ways after dinner." Chen Lingyun, not falling for it, replied with a smile, "Though he seemed quite interested in you, he kept asking me 'The girl you're traveling with, she looks familiar, what's her background?'"

Yan Yu knew this cunning woman all too well and could tell she was exaggerating, but Zhao Yuanzhen didn't know that and coldly retorted:

"How could a mere mortal have ever seen me? He should weigh his thoughts before spouting nonsense."

"I don't know." Chen Lingyun intertwined her fingers, propping up her delicate chin, and chuckled, "Maybe he thought you looked similar to someone he heard described in conversations."

"Described in conversations? Who?" Zhao Yuanzhen said disdainfully, her heart suddenly skipping a beat.

Mei Yingxue?

She immediately tensed up, scanning the surroundings more frequently, worried that the celestial being from the Demonic Sect might be hidden in the crowd, ready to jump out and shout, "Die, demoness!" before striking her down with a sword as if descending from the heavens.

"Calm down," Yan Yu said, pressing her shoulder, "she's not here."

There was no way Pingjing would let Mei Yingxue out. Such a valuable human information source would naturally be assigned to the research department to be thoroughly mined for cultivation knowledge.

In her previous life, Mei Yingxue was only sent out when the pressure from enemy cultivators had pierced through the borders and directly threatened Pingjing itself, which was when the higher-ups were willing to have her appear officially as a cultivator.

In plain terms, they were still wary of her status as a visitor from another world.

But this was something he couldn't tell Zhao Yuanzhen. Without the looming threat of the celestial being, he couldn't even begin to imagine how unrestrained and self-indulgent the Demonic Sect Enchantress would become.

After breakfast, everyone headed to the underground training ground to wait for the 10 a.m. competition to start.

Spectators, mostly cultivators from the military, had already sparsely filled the seats around the field.

On the competitors' side, Liu Longtao and Zhou Hongyu hadn't arrived yet, but the Li siblings from the Li Family were there early, casually seating in the Annan Army's reserved area and chatting.

Yan Yu and Chen Lingyun also took their place in their own camp's reserved area, battling boredom by playing with their phones.

A moment later, Li Minghu came over and sat next to Yan Yu.

"Morning, Yan Yu," she greeted, her gaze shifting to Chen Lingyun before hesitantly adding, "Morning, Chen Lingyun."

"Good morning," Chen Lingyun responded with her eyes smiling.

"You guys came so early?" Yan Yu asked casually.

"I have to fight later, so I needed to have an early breakfast to digest a bit," Li Minghu answered.

Not eating breakfast could lead to low blood sugar, and it wasn't advisable to exercise right after eating, so it was important to get the timing of breakfast just right.

From this, it can be seen that Li Minghu's attention to detail is quite meticulous, which may be one of the factors contributing to her future status as a Valkyrie.

"By the way," Li Minghu asked again, "do you think my brother has a chance against Liu Longtao?"

"Of course," Yan Yu replied, "Liu Longtao's strength definitely isn't at the point of overpowering everyone, so there's always a chance to win."

His eyes followed Lord Master as he entered the arena, and he continued:

"Whether in tactical sense, spell-casting techniques, or True Yuan intensity, Liu Longtao is above average across the board, meaning he has no weak points. As for how to beat him, Zhou Hongyu already demonstrated that yesterday."

"...Put enough pressure on him, and then go for a surprise tactic to win, right?" Li Minghu mused.

Against cultivators well-balanced in all aspects, a direct confrontation offers no chance of victory; only surprise attacks create an opening to defeat them.

"You see," Yan Yu said without answering, turning instead to speak to Chen Lingyun, "The Annan Army also has such clever female cultivators."

Chen Lingyun gave a slight smile, took out her phone and said:

"Li Minghu, shall we add each other as friends?"

"Sure." Li Minghu seemed flattered, hastily taking out her phone.

After the girls exchanged contact details, Li Minghu returned to her team's bench to start devising tactics for Li Zhaojiang.

Chen Lingyun watched the Li siblings from a distance and suddenly asked:

"Does Li Zhaojiang really stand a chance at victory?"

"No," Yan Yu replied.

Enjoy new tales from empire

"But you didn't say that just now," Chen Lingyun couldn't help but laugh.

It wasn't an elegant, forced laugh, but a joyful smile borne of finding amusement.

"Defeating Liu Longtao is not impossible," Yan Yu said calmly, "But Li Zhaojiang can't do what it takes."

"You mean..." Chen Lingyun pondered, "Li Zhaojiang isn't Zhou Hongyu, he can't go to such extremes?"

"He lacks a strong desire to win," Yan Yu answered, "To go to extremes and fight desperately, one must adopt aggressive strategies. Not everyone can do this; it implies susceptibility to injury, and the majority of humans instinctively avoid harm. Any hesitation at the critical moment, and the opportunity silently slips away."

Across the field, Li Zhaojiang bid farewell to his sister and stepped up to the arena.

Observing his expression, Chen Lingyun asked:

"What about you then?"

"I'm different from him," Yan Yu replied.

"You're also the kind who fights desperately?" Chen Lingyun laughed again, "Like Zhou Hongyu?"

"No, I've undergone professional training," Yan Yu stated indifferently, "Making the right choices in combat has become an instinctual reflex for me, just as you all naturally make choices to avoid injury."

After a moment of silence, Chen Lingyun ventured:

"It seems your past life's profession was no simple matter."

Avoiding pain is a basic human instinct. What kind of profession would seek to obliterate such an instinct through training?

Assassin.

Only assassins would need the resolve to "kill their targets even at risk of death"... so what scenario had arisen in the future that forced training cultivators into assassins?

"Guess away, dear Ling Yun," Yan Yu saw right through her intentions and said smugly, "Even if you guess right, I won't tell you."

Chen Lingyun wasn't upset, she even found it rather interesting.

Very well, I will gradually uncover the secrets you hold... my dear.

The situation on the field quickly became clear. It seemed that Li Zhaojiang wanted to emulate Zhou Hongyu's strong offensive from the day before, but he visibly lacked her fierce resolve. Plus, Liu Longtao was already prepared for it, so Li Zhaojiang soon fell behind. His defeat was just a matter of time.

"It looks like this match won't last long," Chen Lingyun said with a smile, "In the next round, your opponent is Zhou Hongyu. Are you confident?"

"What?" Yan Yu glanced at her sideways, "Do you have to ask me every time before I go into a match?"

"I just want to hear how you sharply critique your opponents," Chen Lingyun said, beaming.

"I've already critiqued thoroughly," Yan Yu watched calmly as Li Zhaojiang was brought down by Liu Longtao's Curved Curse Whip kick and was then carried off by the medical team, he stood up, ready for his own match.

"Zhou Hongyu... is nothing but a mace pretending to be a spiked club."