Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Actually, if one really delves into it, the collaboration between the Northeast and Lord Master's team was the first time they all officially dealt with foreign cultivators.

Of course, the subsequent battle of the Three Isles Treasure Ship, in terms of intensity, ferocity, and attention, far surpassed the previous Mysterious Realm war.

Therefore, as Chen Lingyun had anticipated, the girls began to shoulder a lot of psychological pressure.

Su Yunjin was still on the phone with her family, having been on the call for almost an hour and twenty minutes by now. Although the entire conversation was in encrypted dialect, her tone and demeanor clearly indicated the conversation was not going smoothly.

Lin Ning had already hung up her phone and was now checking the news on her mobile, her expression growing more troubled the more she read.

Chen Lingyun was lying on the sofa, feigning sleep, with a curl of hair playfully resting on her fair neck.

Perhaps only in this state of genuine tranquility, without any false smiles, could her inherent exquisite beauty shine forth endlessly like the sun radiating warmth and light.

The carefree Zhao Yuanzhen was still rambling on, trying to console Yan Jing. The Demonic Sect Enchantress, though deceitful and cunning, actually liked the pure-hearted girl like Yan Jing, not because of her being the little thief's younger sister.

Yan Jing's eyes were still somewhat red, but her emotions had clearly stabilized considerably.

She was of course aware that her brother's name had made the news, and there was basically no chance of that changing, so she had no choice but to accept it, however reluctantly.

"Brother," she called out, sounding aggrieved.

"What?" Yan Yu immediately became vigilant.

Every time his sister spoke in that tone, it was almost certain she was about to ask for something, and he had to be cautious.

"Can we sleep on the living room floor tonight?" Yan Jing asked carefully.

"Sleep on the floor?" Yan Yu was first taken aback, then he understood.

In the past, when his sister had watched a particularly terrifying horror movie and was too scared to sleep alone at night, she would forcibly drag him to sleep on the floor in the living room.

In other words, his sister feared that he might not return tomorrow, so she wanted to spend the night together with him... Actually, Yan Yu wanted to say no, but considering it stemmed from their strong sibling bond, his heart softened and he nodded in agreement.

"That's great." Yan Jing immediately beamed with joy and turned to coax Chen Lingyun, "Sister Lingyun, can we all sleep on the floor in the living room tonight?"

Yan Yu: ?

"Sure," Chen Lingyun said nonchalantly.

"Sister Zhao..." Yan Jing turned to persuade another person.

Soon, she managed to ask everyone, and in the end, all the girls were included in a large living room slumber party, leaving Yan Yu completely dumbfounded.

Sister, you're essentially setting up a harem for me… Well, not really, because each of us will have our own quilts; it won't be a communal blanket, but at most it's just sleeping in the same room. Considering the size of the living room, it doesn't feel much different, and maybe the only change is the ability to talk to each other before falling asleep.

So, everyone started getting busy again. Su Yunjin got up listlessly and cleaned the living room floor once more; Lin Ning went upstairs to help bring down everyone's spare bedding; Zhao Yuanzhen opened the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a bunch of snacks, preparing them for breakfast tomorrow... Discover more stories at empire

That person didn't plan to help at all, the Demonic Sect Enchantress simply had no intention of lending a hand.

Quickly, the furniture in the living room was all moved aside, and six quilts were placed in a circular pattern like petals. Yan Jing even purposefully positioned the pillows on the inner side of the circle so everyone could be closer and talk.

With the lights turned off, darkness soon enveloped the surroundings.

Yan Yu turned over in his quilt, yawned, then heard his sister not far away say:

"Brother."

"What is it?"

"I suddenly remembered: it's said that in ancient times, when men were conscripted to go to war, their parents would arrange for them to sleep with their wives the night before leaving, fearing they might die on the battlefield and leave the family without an heir..."

Although she might not have meant anything else (after all, she was just a middle school girl), the other girls felt a bit strained upon hearing this, and Yan Yu immediately interrupted her:

"I've also heard that on the eve of battle in ancient times, if someone spoke words that could confuse the soldiers' hearts in the camp, they'd be dragged out and beheaded immediately, did you know that?"

"Hehehe." Yan Jing burrowed into her quilt, laughing, "Big brother wouldn't bear to behead me."

"You two siblings have such a good relationship," Su Yunjin remarked.

"I just don't bother arguing with her," Yan Yu sighed.

That was the plain truth. The siblings from his past life, like many other families, didn't have a great relationship when they were young—especially since Yan Jing often got into trouble and then used her acting skills to make Yan Yu take the blame in front of their parents. It would be surprising if they got along well.

Only after struggling in the cold and harsh society do people tend to remember the warmth of family. Yan Yu, having lived a second life, certainly did not bother to hold grudges over trifles with his sister. And although Yan Jing didn't become some strange sibling-controlled creature like Li Zhaojiang, the affection between the siblings was indeed quite strong, and they hardly ever had problems.

"How come you like quarreling with me so much?" Zhao Yuanzhen's voice suddenly rang in her ear.

"I'm educating you," Yan Yu replied earnestly, "Sisters will eventually get married and are therefore allowed to make mistakes and be foolish. But as my partner for life, you need to be whipped and beaten severely to ensure you don't rush down the wrong path—understand? I'm doing this for your own good; don't be ungrateful!"

Zhao Yuanzhen was immediately so angry she was practically smoking, her beautiful eyes cold as snow, her lovely face frosted over, silently holding a grudge in her heart:

"What a little thief! To think he's saying I'm to be his partner for life... huh, that kind of sounds sweet? No, no, no, what he's talking about is whipping and beating me severely! This is an outrageous insult; I'll note it down for now, and when I find the opportunity, I'm going to retaliate fiercely and make you weep and wail for that last remark, regretting your words!

Just you wait, you stinking little thief!"

"Damn!" Huddled under the covers looking at her phone, Lin Ning suddenly couldn't help but curse out loud.

"What's wrong?" Chen Lingyun asked from beside her.

"Someone online is slandering us!" Lin Ning complained indignantly.

"No way?" Su Yunjin also seemed puzzled, "With the national team roster officially announced by the Privy Council, how dare they insult us?"

"But there are people speaking badly about us!" Lin Ning huffed, "And there are those praising Miti's superheroes; let me read it to you!"

"...Miti's superheroes come from all over the world, and just being able to enter the preliminaries is already a one in ten thousand chance. Then they have to survive eighteen rounds of deadly combat—those who live are battle-hardened ultimate veterans. Our domestic cultivators simply don't have the experience of life-and-death fighting.

It's like the armchair general Zhao Kuo going up against the mass-murderer Bai Qi; we all know what the outcome would be, only brainless nationalist little pinks would think cultivators could win..."

"They're not wrong," Yan Yu suddenly said, "We've mainly focused on simulated confrontations in the past; we really don't have as much experience in life-and-death fighting as Miti's superheroes, and we have to admit that."

"Captain!" Lin Ning called out, frustrated, "Whose side are you on?"

"It's not surprising to see these kinds of comments," Yan Yu continued, "Miti's superheroes are broadcast globally, so everyone can see their strength. Our domestic cultivators' confrontations are strictly confidential, and the public doesn't know our level, so it's inevitable that some blindly hype their power."

"As long as we win in the Three Isles Treasured Ship battle, these comments will crumble by themselves. Until then, there's no need to argue with them."

"But still!" Lin Ning could not let it go, questioning, "Even if they don't know our strength level, as people of Lu Country, shouldn't they support us instead of siding with Miti?"

"How do you know they're from Lu Country?" Yan Yu countered.

"Uh..." Lin Ning was stumped.

"Sister Ningning might not know," Yan Jing joined in, "but outside the wall, there are giants at large, all sorts of strange creatures exist."

"I also support the captain on this," Su Yunjin spoke, "Ningning, let it go. You can't expect everyone to support us. Just prove yourself with results when the time comes."

"But these comments really irritate me!" Lin Ning understood the logic, yet she couldn't suppress her frustration, and soon she began furiously typing on the screen, joining the online discussion fray.

"Ningning..." Su Yunjin wanted to persuade her further, but then she heard Chen Lingyun transmit a message:

"It's fine, let her go. Little Ningning has always had a strong personality. Having these comments to stir her up before the battle can help her maintain her fighting spirit."

Su Yunjin was bemused but thought that Chen Lingyun was not wrong.

"I'm so mad, so mad!" After a while, Lin Ning suddenly shouted again.

"Why are you still fighting?" Zhao Yuanzhen asked in confusion.

"Because they are being unreasonable!" Lin Ning said, cheeks puffed with anger.

"Send me the link." Zhao Yuanzhen declared boldly, "Her Ladyship requests to enter the fray! Scumbags, your horse is going to die!"

As the mention of "Sima" came up, Yan Yu suddenly remembered another incident from his past life.

It was a much later point in time. Soon after Empress Yuanzhen boasted of her documentary airing, it caused a strong reaction in the realm of public opinion.

People had seen arrogance before—after all, it's a traditional practice for autobiographers to glamorize themselves, but such shameless self-aggrandizement was unprecedented.

The Lu Country internet was extraordinarily lively, with the "Empress Yuanzhen's Knights" and the "Sober and Rational People of the World" constantly bickering, pulling, and alternating between praising and criticizing, debating "just what level is Zhao Yuanzhen's combat power on Earth," dominating major discussion platforms, with classic quotable lines emerging incessantly, people constantly amused or infuriated, many utterly breaking down.

The conclusion of the event was completely unexpected. It turned out that the leader and the number one fan of those Empress Yuanzhen's Knights was none other than the Demonic Empress herself running the account.

After battling with the internet trolls for days and nights and being aggravated by the collective chanting of the Bible from the other side, she actually abused her cultivator powers to coerce the internet regulators into tracking down IP addresses for doxxing and to relieve her anger through murder...

The exact number of deaths remained unclear, nor was it allowed to be discussed; after all, the authorities didn't want to offend Empress Yuanzhen over this. The usually overly protected citizens of Lu Country finally realized the harsh reality of "the difference between immortals and mortals," and wisely opted to collectively shut up.

The fearsome reputation of Empress Yuanzhen could be seen from this alone!

Yan Yu's wariness towards Zhao Yuanzhen and his opposition to cultivators ruling the country were not because of an extreme and peculiar disposition; rather, his past life was indeed filled with countless bizarre occurrences...

Of course, the current Empress Yuanzhen had already been disciplined early on by him and was now as tame as a kitten; there was no longer any worry about her lashing out and murdering when she couldn't win an argument.

"Don't stay up too late," he scolded Zhao Yuanzhen, "You have to put down your phone before midnight or I'll confiscate it for a month!"

"Got it, got it," Zhao Yuanzhen, who was busy helping Lin Ning drive a bulldozer to destroy the opposing side's entire family, had no time to bear a grudge against Yan Yu, and replied impatiently, "Can I set an alarm, okay?"