Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Back at the Zhendong National Defense Academy in Jinling Prefecture, the girls first scattered to their own activities.

They needed some time to digest the good news—for instance, now that they had this large sum of money, what should they do with it? Should they tell their families?

Yan Yu, however, didn't hurry to leave, as he noticed that Instructor Qi Changping hadn't left either.

"The higher-ups are looking for you, let's go," Qi Changping said with a smile.

When they arrived at the office, they saw Li Weiguo typing on the computer.

Contrary to the stereotype that "old people are not good with electronic products," this elderly leader typed slowly but steadily, using all ten fingers instead of just two, occasionally stopping to confirm something, and then clicking the mouse a few times.

Then, he noticed the two people who had walked in and slowly swiveled his chair around to face them.

Having delivered the person, Qi Changping immediately took his leave.

Li Weiguo, pointing at the chair in front of the office desk, said with a smile:

"Sit."

Yan Yu sat calmly on the chair and said:

"I've handed over the control center of the Mysterious Realm to the person in charge of the local troops."

"I know, I have received the report," Li Weiguo nodded in approval and asked with a smile, "How did it feel to lead the team and fully explore a Mysterious Realm this time?"

"It was very interesting," Yan Yu candidly said, "I am quite curious, what exactly is the origin of the Mysterious Realm?"

"The academic world has not yet confirmed it clearly," Li Weiguo answered, "There are two possibilities: one is that it was left by our predecessors, but then we must explain why they did not leave enough records in the vast historical material; the other is that they come from another world, just like the suddenly appearing... Spiritual Energy."

Yan Yu knew that beneath his pause lay a hidden name.

Mei Yingxue.

As for the source of the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, there were also two prevailing guesses in his previous life, named "Prehistoric Theory" and "Otherworld Theory."

"Prehistoric Theory" posited that the era of Cultivation took place before the Xia Dynasty, in a so-called "Prehistoric Age," when cultivators widely used Jade Slips capable of storing Divine Sense as information carriers. As the Earth's Spiritual Energy concentration steadily declined entering the Age of Dharma Decline, Divine Sense became increasingly limited, and Jade Slips began to malfunction.

As a result, there was an urgent need to invent writing to save the texts.

This theory did explain some issues, such as why after the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, many families in East Asian countries began to gradually discover objects related to the Lu Country's cultivation system—these were left by the ancestors of the Rikoku Cultivators in prehistoric times, which turned into ordinary antiques due to the Age of Dharma Decline.

However, this theory also has many flaws, which I won't elaborate on here.

"Otherworld Theory" speculated that our world and the world Mei Yingxue came from are actually symmetrical and interconnected at a higher dimensional level. Once the passage between these worlds begins to widen, the Spiritual Energy, Mysterious Realms, and various cultivation items from the other side would continuously project and transfer over.

This theory could also explain another set of issues, such as why every country in the world has a unique extraordinary cultivation system that corresponds exactly to each country's mythological legends. In fact, it should be the other way around—ancient myths and legends existed because of the symmetry and connection with an extraordinary world.

However, once it involved travel between worlds and otherworldly domains, the inexplicable contradictions become even more numerous, and this will not be further discussed here.

Of course, compared to "where does the source of Spiritual Energy Resurgence lie," the question of "where will the Spiritual Energy Resurgence lead the world" is far more important...

Yan Yu pondered for a long while in silence, only to hear Li Weiguo speak again:

"The Wuyi Mountain Secret Realm has been taken over by the Minhai troops. After the expert group's preliminary exploration and study, it seems to be divided into three layers: the first layer for planting Spirit Grass, the second layer for concocting Elixir Medicine; and the third layer is the cave dwelling where the original owner of the Mysterious Realm lived."

"What you explored was only the first layer of the Mysterious Realm. The entrances to the other two layers have not been opened to the public for certain reasons, so let's leave it at that for now."

Your next chapter awaits on empire

"Understood," Yan Yu pretended to have an epiphany, "So the Mysterious Realm we captured is actually for planting Spirit Grass. After all, it's rich in Wood-type Spiritual Energy and there are many monsters... no wonder the Wuyi Mountains have such a suitable environment for growing tea leaves."

"Exactly," Li Weiguo said succinctly, "The Wuyi Mountain Secret Realm is very important to the nation, and you've done a great service this time."

"If you're referring to the matter of rewards, Instructor Qi has already informed us," Yan Yu replied.

"Yes, I know," Li Weiguo pondered for a moment, then asked suddenly, "Have you ever thought about a question? It's fortunate that this Mysterious Realm appeared within our borders, so there were no rival cultivators competing with you. What if it appears overseas next time? For instance, near the Nansha Islands, what would happen?"

"Then we'll have to wrestle with some countries," Yan Yu said with a smile, "Forget about the Nansha Islands, even if the Mysterious Realm were to appear in Ryukyu, as long as the nation gives the order, I wouldn't hesitate to lead a team there."

"Being willing to fight is good," Li Weiguo nodded in satisfaction, took a sip of tea, and said, "But don't underestimate the opponent. According to some of our intelligence, Chongying Country is carrying out a cost-ignoring elite cultivator cultivation program.

You can simply understand that in the future, their overall number of cultivators might not compare to ours, but the top-tiered cultivators among them may well become the greatest adversaries of our Zhendong Army."

"I understand," Yan Yu put away the smile on his face.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Of course, I already knew that.

Those top Chongying cultivators you mentioned, I can not only recite their names, their cultivation schools, their preferred combat methods and strategic weaknesses, but I even know their innermost secrets that they dare not reveal.

For instance, who is the militarist that harbors an extreme hatred for Lu Country, who is the leftist anti-war activist that pretends to be an aggressive right-winger, who is the nationalist seeking normalization, and who is the separatist wanting to govern the country with cultivators… They are nicknamed "The Four Great Demon Kings," causing shock among nations, each one being exceptional, and certainly bringing unexpected surprises to Chongying!

Yan Yu adopted a strategically disdainful attitude towards Chongying Country cultivators from his high vantage point as a seer. Li Weiguo, of course, wasn't as learned and well-informed, but fortunately, the elder had held high office for many years and quickly ceased to worry about these troublesome matters, continuing instead:

"Therefore, there are going to be some changes to the current policy of allocating mysterious realms."

"Originally, whichever province a mysterious realm appeared in, it would belong to the corresponding stationed military area for exploration. However, this method of allocation results in a lack of competition, and I worry that you all might lack the combat experience needed to deal with overseas mysterious realms and enemy country cultivators in the future."

"Taking this into consideration, some mysterious realms with higher concentrations of spiritual energy will be designated by the higher-ups going forward. Two teams will be arranged to explore them, simulating hypothetical confrontational competition."

"After entering the mysterious realm, you will have to deal with the realm's own defense mechanisms as well as the competing team of cultivators—of course, even though you'll be playing enemies, you are essentially allies, so you can't kill.

However, there will be no True Yuan suppressing bracelets this time, so the intensity of the battle will become very high and won't strictly avoid bloodshed like the last inter-academy exchange competition."

"I understand," Yan Yu said seriously, "I will adjust our upcoming training schedule to ensure that everyone can 'defeat the opponent without endangering their lives'…"

"No, no, no, no, that's not what I mean." Li Weiguo was shocked for a moment and hurriedly corrected, "That's not the point! *cough* What I mean is, because there are no True Yuan suppressing bracelets, you must take adequate measures for your own safety.

It's fine if you lose, after all, no matter who wins, the mysterious realm will ultimately belong to the nation, but we cannot afford the loss that would come from casualties during internal competition. Remember, the most precious resource of the Zhendong Army is not some powerful manuals, elixir medicines, or treasures, but you, the young cultivators!"

"I understand," Yan Yu said with emotion, "I will prioritize the safety of the team above all else. As for winning or losing, I'll just let it be."

"It's not that you should just let winning or losing be," Li Weiguo said exasperatedly, quickly correcting himself, "A soldier should strive for victory and honor! You can't shirk battle just to save personnel… Damn it, how did I get wrapped up in this again?"

"Alright, let's drop it!" The old chief stuttered for a moment, and then, not bothering with particulars, sternly ordered, "Yan Yu, I'll just give you a military command."

"No one should die, and we must win the battle! Do you understand?!"

"Understood!" Yan Yu immediately responded with solemnity, "But there is also something I need to do."

"Go ahead," Li Weiguo said with an increasingly stern and austere expression, thinking you better not start going in circles with me again, or I'm really going to lose it.

"I need to request a resource allocation," Yan Yu stated.

"What resources?" Li Weiguo, upon hearing it was a matter of requisitioning resources, immediately relaxed.

"It's about the materials we gathered from the Wuyi Mountains Secret Realm exploration…" Yan Yu began to ponder, what should I ask for first?

"Ah, there's no need to make it so complicated." Seeing him start to deliberate, Li Weiguo simply pulled out a piece of paper from a folder beside him, slapped it on the desk, and pushed it towards Yan Yu, "This is the first list that came in from Nanping Prefecture this morning.

It's the inventory of materials they initially explored and collected after taking over the Wuyi Mountains Secret Realm yesterday. Take a look."

Yan Yu glanced at the list.

Since it had only been explored for about a day, the list wasn't long, and most items were some harvested spirit grass or remnants of magical creatures.

The Green Bamboo Sword that defeated the final puppet was also conspicuously on the list.

"I want this," Yan Yu pointed at the Green Bamboo Sword.

"Alright," Li Weiguo took back the list and circled it with a pen, "Once they're done studying it, it will be approved for you. What about the rest?"

"I don't need the rest for the time being," Yan Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, "By the way, would this be considered a loan? Is there a time limit?"

"Of course it's not a loan; it's considered an authorization to use national resources," Li Weiguo responded, "There's no time limit."

"Of course, even if it's an indefinite authorization, that doesn't mean it's given to you. If your strength severely declines or even collapses in the future, I can't guarantee that the nation won't reclaim these resources and grant them to other cultivators who need them more. Understand?

After all, strength speaks here, and even if I want to look after you, some matters aren't mine to decide alone."

"Of course I understand," Yan Yu said with a smile, "Please rest assured."

"While I don't often boast, I must make a stance here: I will definitely not cause you any discomfort in the future."

Li Weiguo raised an eyebrow: Oh? Don't often boast?

Yan Yu ignored his expression and continued with a smile:

"Because the team I lead must be the strongest in the country… no, the strongest team in the world!"