Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Near the competition venue, Chen Lingyun took a seat on the bench and asked Yan Yu in a low voice,

"How come I didn't know that someone had arranged a dinner with Liu Longtao for me tonight?"

"Idiot." Yan Yu immediately realized what was happening and mercilessly mocked her, "That Ye Jun was clearly tricking you. You didn't actually believe her, did you?"

"I don't believe her." Chen Lingyun revealed a smile, "But I think that girl is quite interesting. It would be nice to get to know her."

"Quite interesting?" Yan Yu asked in surprise.

At this point in time, Ye Jun probably only had one advantage, being eloquent, which wasn't worth Miss Chen's special attention, right?

"No, I'm just very curious about how she can tolerate Liu Longtao, that fool." Chen Lingyun said with a smile, "If it were me, I would probably get irritated after just a few sentences."

"Oh, so that's why." Yan Yu suddenly had an epiphany and laughed heartily, "I happen to know the secret to dealing with that: just hit back hard when the other person shows an annoying fake smile."

Chen Lingyun seemed thoughtful and suddenly asked,

"Who did Liu Longtao end up marrying in his previous life?"

"It wasn't Ye Jun." Yan Yu immediately saw what she was suspecting and denied it, "Those two had no affair, just a very ordinary colleague relationship. In the end, Liu Longtao didn't go for a family-arranged marriage; he found someone on his own. His wife seemed to be a grassroots civil servant from Pingjing, I remember she worked in the financial and tax sector."

"I see." Chen Lingyun suddenly understood.

Which meant that the future Liu Longtao, with his "top cultivator" status, had completely freed himself from family constraints and could choose a spouse according to his own wishes.

Good. With that being the case, my chances are even better...

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While Chen Lingyun was pondering, Zhou Hongyu and Li Zhaojiang had already started their fight on the stage.

Li Zhaojiang had no confidence in comparing martial skills with Zhou Hongyu, so he could only use the Shifting Technique to dodge around throughout the match, creating distance and taking opportunities to cast Impact Curses at her.

However, Zhou Hongyu had just been hit in the chest by an Impact Curse from Yan Yu that morning. She was still in a state of "Impact Curse PTSD." Seeing Li Zhaojiang's Metal-Element Impact Curse coming at her, she immediately became angry like a reflex response, and her Shifting Technique was activated to its fullest extent.

As is well known, the faster you mobilize your True Yuan while using the Shifting Technique, the greater the speed you can achieve — even to the point of far surpassing what you can control.

Then you would lose your balance, fall to the ground, and brake with your face, wiping the floor clean, which is why the textbook emphasized that "True Yuan output must be within controllable limits."

Of course, that did not bother Zhou Hongyu in the least. If she wasn't afraid of death, why would she fear losing control of the Shifting Technique?

The moment she charged out, Li Zhaojiang already sensed something was amiss. But she increased her speed so drastically that before he could even make a dodging maneuver, she had already crashed into his abdomen.

The two of them were instantly thrown out of the arena, and the medical team waiting outside became frantic. But Li Minghu was quicker; he charged towards the edge of the field with the Shifting Technique and immediately checked on his brother's condition.

Li Zhaojiang was unconscious, the weapon being Zhou Hongyu's high-speed headbutt.

Zhou Hongyu was also lying on the ground, alive or dead unknown.

The Annan Army medical team hurried over and carried Li Zhaojiang off to the medical room.

As for the Pingxi Army medical team... although they arrived at Zhou Hongyu's side, they did not rush to treat her but opted to observe her condition from a distance.

After about ten seconds or so, Zhou Hongyu indeed staggered to her feet, standing up by her own strength.

The penultimate match, Pingxi Army, Zhou Hongyu wins!

To tell the truth, even though Zhou Hongyu was declared the winner, it was a close victory that was almost akin to a draw. Just look at her, wobbling like a weebly-wobbly, on the verge of falling at any moment, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she had lost the ability to move.

But after all, this was a competition, not actual combat. Now that you have fainted, and I'm still standing, it's clear that I'm the winner.

The Annan Army did not raise any objections. Instead, it was Sun Rongxing, the commander of the Pingxi Army, who clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction on the stands.

Clearly, the only lesson Zhou Hongyu learned from her defeat that morning was "I didn't hit hard enough."

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As long as I start off with a big move, I can take the opponent down with me—I won't lose (at worst, it'll be a draw)!

This Xiao Zhou… why is he stubborn like a yak, is his temper beyond help?

"Interesting," Chen Lingyun said with an amused smile. "Using Shifting Technique as a booster to ram into people, what a genius concept… It would be even better if a circle of timed explosives could be strapped to the body."

"Hmm, when you get back, you should study this thoroughly," Yan Yu spoke earnestly. "Donate the patent to the nation, we'll just take the naming rights, and call it 'Chen Lingyun Tactics'."

"Be careful when you go on stage later, watch out for Liu Longtao using this tactic on you," Chen Lingyun said leisurely.

"No way, he still cares about his face." Seeing Liu Longtao stepping onto the stage, Yan Yu also stood up, ready to participate in the final round of confrontation.

——————

Let's digress a bit here: Why is Liu Longtao called Lord Master?

Because the man is a true-blooded Pingjing native, and even tracing back three generations, his family were all from Pingjing. His grandfather was a noble military officer who commanded the Kaifeng campaign and the Hejian campaign, thwarting the last counterattack of the restorationist forces.

The old man is still kicking today, and he can even hold his own in a conversation in front of the Elders, a feat that easily outclasses Chen Lingyun.

Chen Lingyun is called Princess Jiang Hai, but it's only because of her formidable father. Her ancestry beyond her father were merchants—her grandfather rose to prominence through donation, a common occurrence in the commercially developed South at that time, but to the old folk of Pingjing, "Isn't that just selling offices and titles?", "It's nothing to be proud of."

So for Liu Longtao and his group of buddies, it's not just a simple resentment towards Chen Lingyun's standoffishness, but there's also an underlying scorn from the subconscious level of "What are you bragging about with a merchant background?"

Yan Yu was well aware that albeit Liu Longtao was arrogant to the bone, he was just like his father and grandfather, belonging to the establishment, or what the Western evaluation system would term as "conservative."

Chen Lingyun, however, was an unequivocal radical, and an extreme one even among radicals. Once such a person became defiant, they were lawless, bold enough to cross any red line… To be honest, there were things from his past life that he didn't even want to recall, so alarming that speaking of them now would scare people to death.

Anyway, with me here in this life, Chen Lingyun, whether you're a dragon or a tiger, you're going to coil or lie down for me. Don't even think about stirring up any storms again!

I declare that the world line has changed! Little Ling Yun, you are no longer the protagonist of the era!

Of course, as her archenemy, Liu Longtao, the same goes for you. Both of you better face reality soon.

Yan Yu walked onto the competition field, facing the unruffled Lord Master.

"Would you like to go first?" Liu Longtao gestured gallantly.

This Lord Master had a peculiar way of speaking, always keen on addressing others as "you" in a very formal manner. Don't get it wrong, it's not a sign of respect or politeness, but just a hollow social custom—similar to Chen Lingyun's perpetual fake smile—it's about sweet talking "you" up high first, then deciding whether to take a jab at you depending on the situation.

There was a classic instance in the past, concerning a junior Cultivator from the Dingbei Cultivation Academy challenging Liu Longtao to a private duel, blatantly stating he wanted "to experience the prowess of the number one of the Dingbei Army."

Before the fight commenced, the Lord Master disingenuously said, "Please hold back a little; don't make me lose too badly."

Then they started clashing, with Liu Longtao totally overpowering his opponent, while toying with him as well. Enjoy new stories from empire

He even taunted mid-fight, saying, "That move of yours is superb," "Whoa, I almost got hit there," "Your stance is quite elegant, you wouldn't mind if I learn a thing or two, right?"

After concluding, he added, "Thank you for going easy on me, I was nearly defeated," which infuriated the challenger to the point of fleeing in shame.

Having no tolerance for Chen Lingyun's duplicity, Yan Yu certainly didn't favor Liu Longtao's behavior either, so without bothering with niceties, he bluntly said:

"Not taking the first move, huh? Don't blame me if you get taken down in seconds later."

Liu Longtao was momentarily stupefied, as the image of Zhou Hongyu defeating Li Zhaojiang flashed through his mind.

Is he also going to fully charge Shifting Technique? And then perform a "suicidal charge"?

So, you too have a "hard head"?

He concealed his reaction and cast an Earth-Element Sturdiness Curse, then said with a benevolent smile:

"No problem, you go ahead. I'll do my best to catch."

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