Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Zhao Yuanzhen ate a few bites of the stretched noodles and seemed to find them lacking in flavor, so she grabbed the vinegar pot and poured it vigorously over her noodles.

Chen Lingyun, however, had the typical tastes of the south, preferring light and savory flavors, and took a spoon to slowly sip her soup.

Yan Yu put on disposable gloves and began to gnaw on a chicken carcass, only to have Zhao Yuanzhen grab his arm and say,

"Leave some of that chicken for me, will you?"

"So embarrassing, you!" Yan Yu impatiently shook off her arm, disdainfully saying, "Miss Chen is treating us, we can just order more if it's not enough, what's the hurry?"

Zhao Yuanzhen glanced at Chen Lingyun with ill intent and then turned to look at the menu on the wall, about to make an outrageous order when Yan Yu knocked her on the head:

"Don't be dumb!"

Tens of yuan for a bowl of noodles, no matter how many you order, trying to make Chen Lingyun go broke was simply a pipe dream.

Besides being mocked as a "country bumpkin," it wouldn't have any other effect.

"It's fine, Yan Yu," Chen Lingyun said with a delighted smile. "Let her order whatever she wants."

Zhao Yuanzhen caught on, realizing that this young lady was actually rolling in money, just waiting to see her make a fool of herself! She immediately kept quiet.

The siblings from the Li family opposite had finished their dinner and were getting ready to leave. Chen Lingyun stared at their departing figures, only to hear Yan Yu suddenly ask,

"Aren't you going to catch up and add them as friends?"

"No need," Chen Lingyun said with a smile. "There will always be opportunities to get acquainted."

She was probably referring to tomorrow's exchange competition.

After a satisfying meal and stepping out the door, the cool breeze outside made Yan Yu immediately feel sweaty.

But that aside, it was time to take care of serious business.

"Where are we staying tonight?" he asked Chen Lingyun.

"Rumi Hotel," Chen Lingyun replied languidly. "But I'm not in a hurry to go back."

"What, planning to hang around outside despite the late hour?" Yan Yu glanced at her sideways.

"Not really," Chen Lingyun said with a smile. "I'm accompanying you to take care of business."

Yan Yu: ......

It was really annoying not being able to fool this trashy woman.

"I'm coming too!" Seeing Yan Yu's gaze turn her way, Zhao Yuanzhen assertively wrapped her arms around his arm.

"Alright, alright!" Yan Yu said helplessly. "I'm making it clear—fine to follow, but no revealing your identity, and definitely no interrupting and talking nonsense! If you mess up my plans, you're on your own."

"Sure thing/No problem." The two ladies agreed very readily.

But with one trashy heiress and one Demonic Sect Enchantress, the reliability of these promises was something that merited serious consideration.

Sitting in the taxi, Yan Yu again organized his thoughts, reviewing his existing memories in his mind.

The future Eclipse Queen, the Dark Monarch of Siberia, who was now just an ordinary high school student at Shengjing No. 3 Middle School, with a name common overseas, "Anna."

Anna was from a single-parent family, a mixed-race child, with a father from Lu Country and a mother from Rakshasa Country. After they divorced when Anna was seven, her mother settled back in her home country, while her father stayed in Shengjing to raise his daughter alone.

Two years ago, when Anna was in her first year of high school, the Shengjing Transportation Trade Association laid off employees due to poor performance. Anna's father lost his job, and driving cabs wasn't paying the bills. So, he started contemplating moving overseas to Rakshasa Country to be with his ex-wife.

However, since Anna didn't want to go abroad, he gave her two years to decide. If her college entrance exam results were good and she got into a decent school, she could stay in Lu Country; otherwise, she would go to university in Rakshasa Country.

Considering that Anna's academic performance was not promising, her father made preparations. He started processing her immigration documents—and that's where the trouble began.

During the physical examination for the college entrance exam in May, Anna was discovered to have a talent for cultivation, and the Dingbei Army's recruitment office sent her an enlistment agreement according to policy. After discussing it with her father and consulting some relatives in the system, she decided to sign the agreement and enroll in school.

A monthly salary of 40,000 yuan, coveted by Northeasterners for being a system job, not signing up would have been foolish, right?

However, when Anna went to find the recruitment officer again, she received devastating news:

She failed the background check and was rejected for enrollment.

The university's admission policy for the first batch of student cultivators did not "veto" applicants based on their family background, but background checks were certainly necessary.

The issue with Anna mainly lay in three aspects: first, her mother was a foreigner; second, during the home visit, it was discovered her father was a Run Country national (and had expressed similar sentiments); and third, the most damning was that her family was already arranging for immigration, which to the authorities signalled that this young lady was ready to leave for foreign shores at any moment.

Although cultivators were scarce, information security was equally vital. If someone who received complete cultivator training within the country suddenly defected abroad a few years later and handed over all intelligence pertaining to cultivator training to the Rakshasa Country, that would be an absolute disaster for the Dingbei Army.

After the case was reported up the chain of command, the final decision was to deny her admission.

Of course, this was also reasonable: after all, it's easy to know a face, but not a heart. Who could tell whether this young girl was truly loyal? With a starting salary of 40,000 a month, it's not just Run Country nationals who'd become super loyal; even nationals from other countries might as well.

But what if a few years later, Moska offered you double the price? What if they used your Rakshasa mother to play the kinship card and turn you? Who would dare take the risk, gambling that your pledge of unwavering fidelity would always hold?

Since there was already an intention to emigrate, the sense of national identity wasn't strong, making one unsuitable for receiving official cultivator training.

Purely based on the documentary evidence, the conclusion was quite clear. Anna's background crossed a red line, leaving no room for negotiation, and not even pleading with the commander-in-chief of the Dingbei Army would help.

The only issue here was that, in his previous life, the Dingbei Army hadn't restricted Anna from emigrating.

However, at present, no country in the world, including Lu Country, had enacted any laws restricting such "citizens with cultivation talent" from emigrating.

Looking abroad, European countries weren't even managing their own Transcendents migrating to Mitchi Country, so it seemed strict enough that Lu Country could manage and restrict its own cultivators from moving abroad, and it seemed unreasonable to demand control over those with a Spirit Root.

Yet, what if the "Spirit Root bearer" planning to leave was the future ruler of Siberia, the "Eclipse Queen"?

So, many times, neither side made any mistakes; if there's the need to blame, it's that this world lacks a "foresight".

The young girl who believed herself abandoned after many years of fighting in Siberia eventually became the grudge-holding, petty Eclipse Queen. Although she did not turn against Lu Country, she also didn't consider her former country's sentiments enough to restrain her subordinates.

As a result, the Dingbei Army paid a hefty price, and the entire north was under unprecedented defensive pressure until the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement at the border.

The reason Yan Yu made a special trip to Shengjing at this time was to build a good relationship with the Eclipse Queen in advance.

In the long term, due to the poor civil governance capacity of the Rakshasa Country, the fall of the entire Siberian territory was inevitable.

If the Eclipse Queen was eliminated in advance, it would just lead to someone like the Werewolf King Belinsky or the Dark Monarch Ivanov taking her place; the threat and pressure on the north would not change whatsoever.

However, if it was possible to invest in the Eclipse Queen in advance and once she managed to subdue the Spirit Communicators of Siberia, the returns from this long-term investment could be exceedingly fruitful—at the very least, she could be persuaded to instruct her subordinates not to fixate on battling the Northeast but to shift their focus to the Bering Strait and develop ties with Mitchi Country, which shouldn't be a problem.

Of course, these potential returns were a separate issue; Yan Yu's main motivation was to protect the Dingbei Army and avoid future unnecessary sacrifices.

To the Dingbei Army at this point in time, the significance of his current efforts was likely beyond their comprehension, but Yan Yu didn't care about that.

After going to great lengths to subdue the Demonic Sect Enchantress in advance to protect the southern people from harm, he certainly wouldn't mind recruiting the Eclipse Queen to ensure the safety of the northern populace.

When asked why he was doing this, Yan Yu would probably only be able to say, "Because my love for this land and its people runs deep"…

There's no time for shedding tears, as the destination had already been reached.

The taxi pulled up at the entrance of the residential community, and the three of them got out one after another. Chen Lingyun surveyed the entrance to the community, noticing the property management appeared quite run down, with a retired old man sitting at the guard booth playing with his phone.

Zhao Yuanzhen, however, kept her gaze fixed on Yan Yu, in dread that he might vanish from her sight at any moment.

"The rest of you, back away a bit more," Yan Yu reiterated. "You may observe, but don't interfere with my business, or I'll show no mercy!"

"Back away to where?" Chen Lingyun asked.

"Not too far," said Zhao Yuanzhen.

"Retreat to that bench behind the flower bed over there," Yan Yu pointed toward the distant municipal green space.

The two girls moved back as told, their eyes still glued to him, eager to see what trick he was going to pull.

Yan Yu didn't mind their presence, he just turned his attention to the distance.

By the riverside, a stranger girl sat on the embankment, lost in thought. Her blonde hair and the deep, aesthetically pleasing profile of her face revealed her distinct mixed heritage.

The future ruthless ruler of Siberia, known for her cold-bloodedness and iron fist, was at this moment merely a high school girl, somewhat unable to come to terms with being rejected by a university.

So it seems, fate truly is wonderful... huh?!

Before Yan Yu could react, he saw that the girl's figure had already disappeared from sight, accompanied by a "plash" sound of someone falling into the water.