Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

The tree demon, towering over ten meters high, finally collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash under the combined attack of the fully charged Impact Curses.

This tree demon had withstood three rounds of combined attacks in total, truly tough as nails—had it been a human cultivator, two or three Impact Curses would have blown their head apart.

But what could it do? The consequence of undeveloped intelligence was that, like a beast that had escaped from the zoo, it was killed by humans using simple encirclement tactics.

Three military cultivators quickly approached, both to confirm whether the enemy was truly dead and to prevent any feigned death and counterattack from the tree demon.

The result of the inspection was satisfactory: it seemed to be dead.

The last round of Metal-Element Impact Curse attacks had pierced into the heart of the tree, delivering the fatal blow.

"Sorry." Su Yunjin approached Yan Yu and whispered, "I got scared just now and didn't react properly."

"It's okay, it's normal for the first time," Yan Yu said with a comforting smile. "The fact that you didn't turn and run is already commendable."

Secretary Su and the spoiled princess alike, actually have somewhat subpar reflexes in an emergency, but it wasn't to the extent of being beyond hope.

"Why aren't you praising me?" Zhao Yuanzhen interjected proudly from the side. "The final Impact Curse that killed it was launched by me."

"What kind of praise do you want?" Yan Yu looked at her, puzzled. "Should I give you a little red flower?"

"I want a little red flower," Chen Lingyun said, smiling. "The Flame Curse I adjusted just now was accurate, wasn't it?"

"Alright, alright, we can talk about it after a review of the action!" Surrounded by the girls clamoring to talk to him, Yan Yu, who didn't flinch in the face of the tree demon, now seemed somewhat overwhelmed and simply called out, "We haven't completed our mission yet, so let's not dawdle here chatting!"

Elsewhere, three military cultivators stood beside the body of the tree demon, quietly holding a brief meeting.

"What do you think?" Wei Yun was the first to speak up persuasively, "Old Jiang, at least you have to admit this, right? The reason the Jinling Military Region headquarters sent these people over and stressed that we provide unconditional collaboration is because they are indeed more skilled than us!"

"I think so too," Feng Haiping agreed. "How else do you explain the brightness of a college student's brain? The Flame Curse to entrap, the Impact Curse to kill; this tank-like tree demon was beaten like a dog in a cage. I think this tactic could totally be a case study for a textbook, could be used against other large fire-fearing monsters in the future."

"Stop blowing smoke!" Jiang Weiming couldn't save face and argued. "This tactic isn't that complex, okay? Given some time, I might have come up with it myself."

"Isn't that the problem? We didn't have time, right?" Wei Yun continued to try to convince him. "Besides, could you have lured the tree demon out of the forest yourself?"

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"I'm afraid you'd have ended up as tree fertilizer," Feng Haiping chimed in with a barb. "We would have had to set fire to the forest and dig you out from the ashes of the plants."

"That's enough from you two," Jiang Weiming said resignedly. "I admit I wasn't polite earlier, but I didn't deliberately oppose them! What's the point of critiquing me after the fact?"

"But you definitely need to work on that temper of yours," Wei Yun said bluntly. "Before you became a cultivator, why do you think your military rank never increased in the army? Don't you have any self-awareness?"

"Fine, fine, from now on I'll keep quiet. Will it satisfy you if I just don't speak at all?" Jiang Weiming raised his hands in surrender, saying in exasperation, "Wei Yun, from here on out you handle the communication with them. I'll just be your dumb soldier, keeping my head down and charging forward, okay?"

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"Leave it to me," Wei Yun patted his shoulder, then walked toward Yan Yu.

"Young Master Yan?" He tilted his head towards the body of the tree demon and asked with a smile, "What should we do with this?"

"Dig out the heart of the tree. Leave the body at the scene for the research department to handle later," Yan Yu answered.

"Okay, will do," Wei Yun replied cheerfully, by extension indicating his attitude: From now on, we'll follow your lead.

Chen Lingyun observed the military cultivators' reactions and, with a faint smile, approached the tree demon's body to take a closer look.

The deepest wound was near a burl, within which one could faintly see an emerald hue.

Crouching nearby, Feng Haiping pulled out a military dagger and deftly peeled away the outer layer. Then, turning his head towards Yan Yu, he asked for instructions:

"Should I wear gloves?"

"No need, just take it out," Yan Yu answered, shaking his head. "It's not corrosive."

Following the instruction, Feng Haiping extracted the heart of the tree, weighing it in his hand for a moment—it was like a stone, roughly the length and three fingers' width of a palm, tapered at both ends into sharp cones, with a semi-translucent surface displaying a shade of green, almost like a large piece of high-quality jade.

The girls eyed it intently, and even the well-traveled Zhao Yuanzhen couldn't help but be drawn to it.

"What is this used for?" Chen Lingyun asked with interest.

"For alchemy, crafting artifacts," Yan Yu replied. "You can also eat it directly. One bite, and you need neither food nor drink for three days, nor will you feel any hunger or thirst."

Incidentally, it was said to taste somewhat like celtuce. But the source of that information couldn't be explained, so it was best left unmentioned.

"Oh," the girls said, enlightened.

Mainly for research purposes… which means, essentially useless to them.

"This thing needs to be stored in water for long-term preservation," Yan Yu continued. "Otherwise, it will evaporate clean within a few hours."

"This is easy to handle." Wei Yun took out his military canteen, used the Impact Curse to enlarge the drinking spout, then stuffed the tree core into the canteen before taking out a bandage to wrap and seal it up.

The group continued to advance toward the direction of the cliff. Since the tree demon had rampaged, destroying the environment, a spacious path had emerged in the dense woods.

However, everyone remained extremely vigilant, constantly scanning the surroundings as they moved, fearing that roots might suddenly emerge from any place and drag an unsuspecting victim into their grasp.

Yan Yu, on the other hand, was not worried, as tree demons have a strong sense of territory and do not allow other monsters to survive nearby.

Indeed, until the group managed to pass through the woods without incident, they encountered no second monster.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

When they reached the base of the cliff, Yan Yu looked up.

The entire cliff face was bare, which seemed to present considerable difficulty for climbing, but for cultivators, it was not much different from walking on flat ground.

Everyone used the Cloud Ascension Technique and, controlling their flight, quickly reached the top of the cliff.

The mountaintop was overrun with wild grass but devoid of any trees. Lin Ning looked at the distant scenery and suddenly asked with curiosity,

"If there were no such high points in the terrain nearby, wouldn't one be able to fly high using the Cloud Ascension Technique to observe anyway?"

"Yes," Yan Yu answered patiently, "but there are two problems with that."

"First, even if you hover in midair to observe, the Cloud Ascension Technique will continue to consume your True Yuan.

To ensure comprehensive scouting, the consumption would be four or even five times that of climbing; second, there are no footholds in the air, and since you must maintain the Cloud Ascension Technique, if you encounter an attack from the ground, or a flying enemy, it would be difficult for you to respond."

"That's not to say it isn't feasible. If we come to a place without any high points nearby and also lack cover like forests to conceal the ground, then using the Cloud Ascension Technique to fly high for observation can be a good choice. In summary, there's no absolutely fixed tactic; adaptability and situational judgment are key."

"Understood," Lin Ning noted down solemnly.

The three military cultivators nearby did not speak, but also pondered silently to themselves.

He makes a lot of sense! These college-educated cultivators from the military academy really are smarter than us soldiers!

"Alright, let's analyze the terrain of this Mysterious Realm," Yan Yu said with a clap, "Lin Ning, I'll ask and you answer."

"With the upstream source of the river within our field of vision as the front of our coordinate system, what's to our front right?"

"A large forest, stretching to the end of our line of sight, blocked by a rugged mountain range," Lin Ning responded as she looked out, also recalling the earlier tree demon, "it could be hiding a large number of monsters."

"And to our back right?" Yan Yu asked.

"A plain," Lin Ning peered into the distance and slowly said, "the river flows downstream in that direction, which is also where Captain Jiang previously advocated for exploration. Both sides of the river are plains, and there are rolling hills at the endpoint. There are not many trees, but the grass is lush."

"Our back left?" Yan Yu continued.

"Endless, luxuriant forests," Lin Ning observed carefully, "stretching up to a wide lake. There's no clearing by the shore, and not much detail is visible."

"And the front left?" Yan Yu asked finally.

"The terrain is flat, with relatively sparse trees," Lin Ning tried to distinguish, "further on is a stretch of plain with hardly any trees... Hmm?"

"What is it?" Yan Yu inquired.

"There seems to be a thatched cottage?" Lin Ning said uncertainly, "It's too far; I can't see clearly."

"Then take your time and look," Yan Yu advised.

Jiang Weiming coughed beside them, wanting to remind them that "the cultivators we lost earlier still haven't been found," but under the watchful eyes of Wei Yun and Feng Haiping, he reluctantly held back his words.

"It's fine, it's fine," seeing Yan Yu's inquiring look, Wei Yun quickly said in a pleasing tone, "Scouting is an important part, and thoroughness takes time, we can wait."

These three military cultivators, haughty at first and humble later, were as cold and guarded as they could be when they entered the Mysterious Realm, but now their attitude was as humble and flattering as could be, which made Lin Ning feel somewhat embarrassed. So she quickly held her breath and intently watched the distance for about ten seconds.

"It is indeed a building," Lin Ning concluded promptly.

"Excellent," Yan Yu nodded, "in the future, observe the terrain in this order, and try not to miss any details."

"Based on what we know so far, Chen Lingyun, you analyze what we should do next," he commanded.

"Me?" Chen Lingyun raised her eyebrows, her smile making an obvious statement:

You're training them just fine; what need is there for me to teach?

"Yes, you analyze," Yan Yu intentionally pressured her, "if you make a wrong decision, I'll strip you of your position as vice-captain."

"As you wish~" Chen Lingyun was not at all flustered, she merely stood on tiptoes, straining to see the "thatched cottage" Lin Ning mentioned.