Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

The high school physical examinations soon arrived.

The majority of seniors were having their first medical checkup, so students could be seen everywhere, holding their examination forms, looking around, and unsure about which queue to join.

Of course, there were also those who followed their close friends en masse to a spot, utterly clueless about what was being examined there.

Yan Yu's goal was clear as he headed straight for the "Liver Function Testing Point," where the queue for blood tests was the shortest.

When it was his turn, he sat on the chair, exposing his right arm, his gaze fixed on the blood centrifuge behind the nurse.

Indeed, the centrifuge was already affixed with special talisman paper that had been added to "detect spiritual energy."

The nurse used alcohol cotton to disinfect him, and Yan Yu immediately circulated his qi in secret, directing the True Yuan he had cultivated recently towards his right arm.

Those with a Spirit Root who had never cultivated would have blood infused with a trace of "Innate Energy," also known as "Embryonic Breath." As long as the equipment detected this essence, it would prove that the person had a Spirit Root within and was qualified to become a cultivator.

Of course, spiritual energy and Spirit Root were not entirely bound together. For instance, those who had colds, allergies, or menstrual irregularities, even if they possessed a Spirit Root, the Innate Energy in their blood would temporarily weaken to a degree undetectable by the equipment.

Then there were exceptional cases like Yan Yu, who, despite not having a Spirit Root, managed to step into cultivation early with some "extraordinary means." His natural talent for cultivation was not as good as the former, but because his blood contained spiritual energy, he could still be detected by the equipment.

Hence, an individual's success often depended more on opportunity and fate. The times when heaven and earth work in unison, and the times when heroes are no longer free to act, are also brutally factual.

Yan Yu, who had attempted to turn the tide in his previous life, ultimately had to admit to the undeniable power of circumstance and no longer wished to consider so much.

After all, in this life, I'm also a cultivator, and anyone who dares stand in my way must die!

The nurse shook the blood she had drawn and placed it in the nearby centrifuge.

The machine hadn't even started yet, but the talisman paper on it suddenly lit up slightly.

A meme suddenly popped into Yan Yu's mind:

"Dou Qi, third stage!"

The nurse glanced at it, her expression remaining calm, and merely said,

"Please wait, there are a few more tubes."

The needle wasn't removed yet, and the nurse took three more test tubes, drawing three tubes of blood in succession, placing them one by one into the centrifuge.

The talisman paper clearly became brighter. Yan Yu watched from behind, but the nurse quickly stood up, blocking his view.

She took the blood out of the centrifuge, placed it into a sealed box beside her, and turned around to remove the needle and apply a hemostatic patch to Yan Yu, saying,

"Press down for five minutes."

Yan Yu held the needle site as he got up, only to see the nurse had already left the window and gone to make a phone call.

After the physical examination, everyone gradually returned to their classrooms to continue studying.

In the afternoon math class, the math teacher had been waiting at the podium for a while and asked the class president to distribute the math papers.

Solve-problems mode, activate!

Yan Yu had just finished the multiple-choice questions when the class teacher's voice suddenly rang from outside:

"Yan Yu, come out for a moment!"

The class teacher nodded to the math teacher, and Yan Yu put down his pen and went out to find the class teacher.

The class teacher took him to the director of teaching's office, where three people were already standing:

The principal, the director of teaching, and a man in casual clothes but looking very well-built and efficient with a buzz cut.

"Hello, student Yan Yu," said the principal and director of teaching, who didn't speak, clearly just accompanying, while the buzz-cut man introduced himself crisply, "My last name is Qi. You can call me Qi Changping. I'm a recruitment officer from the Zhendong National Defense Academy stationed in Lin'an Prefecture."

"Our academy is a national defense college directly associated with the military, and we are responsible for recruiting 'talents with special gifts.' After reviewing and confirming, you have met the qualifications for admission; therefore, we will provide you with a guaranteed spot. As for the specific enrollment terms and the detailed enrollment agreement, they are all here.

You can have a look, and if you have any questions, you can ask me."

Yan Yu picked up the agreement and started reading. It was many pages long, a full 35 pages, but most of it was lengthy legal jargon. The real key content was printed on the first page and was especially circled in red.

Having the qualifications for cultivation, Party B, ________, responded to the national conscription, voluntarily choosing to study at Zhendong National Defense Academy. After graduation, it is presumed that one will enlist in the Zhendong Army Zone and be commissioned as a ninth-rank military officer.

The Lu Country military implements a sixteen-rank military system. After graduating from the military academy, officers are usually commissioned as twelfth-rank military officers, but what level is a ninth-rank military officer? It is known as the "military officer ceiling."

The majority of military officers spend their careers fighting to be promoted from a twelfth-rank officer after graduating from the military academy to a ninth-rank officer by their thirties, after which they retire and return to their hometowns—promotions consider age; unless exceptionally outstanding and favored by superiors, attaining the rank of ninth-rank officer is the limit after thirty.

This means, if Yan Yu signs this agreement and chooses to study at Zhendong National Defense Academy, he will obtain a very high starting point upon graduation.

And this starting point is already the career endpoint for many military officers.

Of course, considering high school students might not understand the value of this, there is another even more sensational clause below:

After enlistment, basic monthly salary: 40,000 yuan in total. Subsidies calculated separately.

This salary is truly frightening. It should be noted that currently, across all military branches and units, the vast majority of ninth-rank military officers earn a salary of about 10,000 to 14,000 yuan... That's a starting salary four times that of one's peers—isn't that impressive?

But Yan Yu was very clear in his mind that the real income a cultivator could get in the future was not measured in "ten-thousands."

"How about it?" Qi Changping confirmed, asking.

"I just have one question," Yan Yu asked with a calm expression.

There was no hesitation in agreeing to enroll, but he had a question hidden in his heart from his past life that he wanted to take advantage of the present to ask.

"Hmm, you ask," Qi Changping wasn't surprised.

Today, in every prefecture of Jiang Hai Province, there were academy enrollment office teachers stationed in urban areas, for the purpose of real-time statistics and estimation of enrollment numbers.

Up to now, out of the three hundred thousand high school graduates in the province, only 20 students with a Spirit Root had been identified, and after most of them received the enrollment invitation, the most common question they asked was:

"Is Zhendong National Defense Academy a 985 or 211 institution?"

The standard answer provided from above was:

"It is not, but we are more suitable for you than 985 or 211, because we can offer you an institutional position with a starting salary of 40,000 yuan per month."

Once this sentence was said, the vast majority of students and parents no longer hesitated. At most, they would later leverage their connections to inquire whether the school was truly as claimed.

However, the question Yan Yu posed made everyone in the room tense up instantly:

"May I ask, if one doesn't have a girlfriend after graduation, will the unit arrange a marriage for one?"

Qi Changping fell silent because this question was not included in the enrollment plan. The principal wanted to speak up beside him but was interrupted by Qi Changping raising his hand. He answered with a smile:

"Young student, our country does not have arranged marriages."

"However, if you truly have this need after graduation, the military can arrange social mixers for you."

"I believe by that time, many excellent girls will be interested in you."

This answer was perfectly watertight.

Although the state does not have arranged marriages, as long as you have a cultivator status and are willing to start a family, the authorities will certainly mobilize efforts to find a girl who matches your tastes, traditional thinking, love for the country, and willingly marries you—since it's voluntary, it naturally counts as free love, not arranged marriage.

After all, a family man is less likely to defect abroad.

"Okay, I have no more questions," Yan Yu said as he picked up the pen, ready to sign.

"Won't you ask your parents?" Qi Changping asked in surprise, finding the young man quite interesting—not seeming like he was only eighteen.

"Can you back out after signing?" Yan Yu counter-asked.

"You cannot," Qi Changping replied, "Once you have signed your name, even if you fall ill and are hospitalized, you must complete your studies at the school hospital."

"I'm asking if you could back out," Yan Yu corrected him.

Qi Changping fell silent again for a moment before replying:

"We cannot."

"Then all the more reason to sign on the spot," Yan Yu laughed heartily and nimbly signed his name on the enrollment agreement.