Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

If Yan Yu had a "Rebirth Revenge List" in his heart, Chen Lingyun's name would definitely top the chart, without any doubt.

The reason was simple: this despicable woman had mocked his identity more than once, "Oh, it's such a pity you're not a cultivator."

She said it during meals out, she said it during post-dinner walks, she said it during movie outings, she even said it before the cultivators went off to war... Yan Yu remembered clearly. This despicable woman had mocked him a total of 137 times across various occasions, as if lacking a Spirit Root made him less of a person.

As a reborn individual, it's only normal for me to have a better memory, right? It's not because I'm holding a grudge!

However, wasn't this despicable woman an Olympiad exchange student at Jiangnan High School during her senior year? Yan Yu had never heard of this.

Upon reflection, when Zhao Yuanzhen first transmigrated to Lin'an Prefecture, she killed several bystanders just to keep her mouth shut. That must have been why Jianghai High School, where the despicable woman attended, deemed the exchange unsafe and thus canceled the original plan.

Now that the enchantress has been subdued and no killings have occurred, there were no violent security incidents, so naturally, she was sent over as originally scheduled.

"Are you in the Olympiad class, classmate Sun Ziyi?" Chen Lingyun took the initiative to ask.

"No," Yan Yu replied. "I'm just an ordinary student."

"Oh, is that so?" Chen Lingyun said with a smile. "My apologies, I've got it wrong."

Yan Yu didn't respond; he knew she was looking for an excuse to get him to talk. The more he said, the more information he would reveal, and the clearer the "personality portrait" she painted in her head would become. He opted instead to play the part of the silent, cool character.

"Here we are," Yan Yu said as he personally escorted her to the bottom of the laboratory building. "This is the place, goodbye."

Without any hesitation, he turned and left, while Chen Lingyun didn't seem to be in a hurry to go upstairs, just smilingly watching his retreating figure.

————————

School was out.

As Yan Yu walked home, he noticed that there were many more uniformed officers at the intersections than the day before, checking IDs of people on the streets.

Although he carried a student ID in his backpack, the officers merely glanced at him and waved him on— it seemed they were specifically looking for young women of a certain age to check.

Upon arriving home and swiftly closing the door, Yan Yu was promptly greeted by Zhao Yuanzhen. He asked her seriously:

"How has it been? No one came to the door, right?"

"No one," Zhao Yuanzhen answered honestly.

Yan Yu tossed his backpack aside and collapsed onto the sofa, motioning with his hand:

"Come here, my back is hurting; give it a rub for me."

Inside, Zhao Yuanzhen seethed with resentment. Although they were Taoist companions, it was only in terms of cultivation. Massaging and kneading like a maid or servant—wasn't that something for subordinates to do?

She wanted to slap him right there, to kill this wretch who humiliated her, but remembering the powerful master behind him, she forcibly suppressed her rage. She went over to massage Yan Yu's spine while silently noting this new grievance:

"Today, upon his return, that scoundrel Yan Yu called me over like a common servant to press his shoulders and knead his back, utterly detestable!"

"I shall note this debt for now. The day I find the opportunity, I will make him toil like an ox and horse for my bidding, to soothe the hatred in my heart!"

"How is it, is the pressure alright?" Zhao Yuanzhen relished her thoughts, yet her hands did not cease, and with a sugary voice, she asked, "Should I use a bit more strength?"

"It's fine," Yan Yu grew suspicious.

The Empress Yuanzhen was always cunning and paranoid, so why wasn't she probing about what I did all day outside? Instead, she's obediently massaging me here. What's going on?

Hmph, she must be planning some vicious scheme while pretending to be submissive on the surface, aiming to lull my vigilance!

As Yan Yu leisurely enjoyed the massage from the beauty, he suddenly said:

"Speak."

"Speak what?" Zhao Yuanzhen was puzzled.

"Speak of the thoughts in your heart," Yan Yu said calmly.

The thoughts in my heart? Zhao Yuanzhen was startled, and her movements halted.

Did this wretch learn of the grudges I hold in my heart?

No, he must have "calculated" it!

Even though he didn't follow his master in Qi Refinement, he must have learned his master's method of divination—otherwise, how could he possibly know what I'm thinking?!

Feeling the sudden pause of the hands on his back, Yan Yu knew his conjecture was spot on, and he sneered:

"What, you have the guts to think it but not the guts to admit it?"

Zhao Yuanzhen's body shook at the words, increasingly certain that his thoughts had been secretly calculated by this little thief. He quickly feigned composure as he explained,

"I was merely indulging in wild thoughts, not actually planning to act on them. Why do you care so much? As Taoist partners on the path to enlightenment, our glory and losses will be shared in the future. Could you really worry that I would harm you and sever my own path to Taoism?"

Heh, that's hard to say.

Yan Yu certainly knew that Empress Yuanzhen was very suspicious and would never completely trust anyone in the world.

If she knew that there was no powerful master behind her, she might as well decide to snap her own neck in an instant and switch from a dual cultivation to a solo practice—one that, despite injuring her foundation, would completely eliminate the future risk of "Betrayal by a Taoist partner." With Empress Yuanzhen's character, she was definitely capable of doing such a thing.

While it was necessary to bide one's time like taming a hawk, it was also crucial to have the power to protect oneself, because even a peck from the hawk shouldn't be fatal.

Yan Yu was noncommittal about Zhao Yuanzhen's defense and said indifferently,

"Whether you will act on your thoughts or not, do you think I wouldn't know? But let's not talk about that for now. Recite the Three Arts and Five Spells to me first."

"The Three Arts and Five Spells?" Zhao Yuanzhen frowned, "What do you want to learn that for?"

The so-called "Three Arts" refer to the long-distance high-speed movement of the "Shifting Technique," the short-range teleportation of the "Cloud Ascension Technique," and the "Wall-Penetration Technique," which allows one to move through obstacles.

As for the "Five Spells," they are the Five Elemental True Character Curse of moisture, flame, bending, image, and surge, each with its unique wonders.

However, the Three Arts and Five Spells are almost like basic arithmetic in the modern world, regarded as introductory spells that 'every cultivator knows' in the Cultivation World. Why did the thief specifically ask to learn these?

Seeing the perplexed expression on her face, Yan Yu chuckled and said,

"With the current level of spiritual energy in this world, even if you learned those super Taoism Methods capable of moving mountains and re-channeling seas, could you actually use them?"

"Zhao Yuanzhen, I advise you to practice the Three Arts and Five Spells well. They will be more useful than anything else this year."

————————

In a secret military base in Jianghai Prefecture.

Mei Yingxue stood in the spacious hall, wearing Taoist robes, and meditating with her eyes closed.

At the top of a wall on one side of the hall, behind several layers of thick bulletproof glass, the relevant officials had all arrived.

Not only that, multiple cameras were filming from various angles, transmitting the data in real-time over a secure link to Pingjing—where higher-ranking individuals were watching a live broadcast.

"Daoist Mei," the loudspeaker in the corner of the room sounded, "you may begin."

"Fine," Mei Yingxue opened her eyes and spoke indifferently, "The spiritual energy in your world is far too sparse. Many spells I cannot use, so I can only demonstrate the 'Three Arts and Five Spells' for you."

"This is the Shifting Technique." Her figure disappeared abruptly, then reappeared at the end of the hall.

Behind the bulletproof glass, the officials wore impassive faces as though their minds had gone blank.

After a prolonged silence, the Governor of Jianghai, Chen Tianming, was the first to speak,

"Did you capture all that?"

"Captured," someone hastily operated the computer, slowing down the footage for projection display.

Through the slow-motion replay, everyone got a clearer view this time: Mei Yingxue stepped forward with her left foot first, then lifted her right foot off the ground, suddenly accelerating towards the hall's end, putting her left foot down followed by her right foot, and finally taking a few steps to stop the momentum.

From the movements alone, it looked like she had simply taken one step.

But according to the motion sensor data, her speed after the step momentarily reached 16 meters per second.

This super acceleration, almost impossible for a human body to achieve, shattered everyone's worldview and understanding.

"She…" Liu Zhenyuan, the Prefect of Jiangnan, struggled to steady himself and asked for confirmation, "She isn't wearing any equipment, right?"

"No," someone immediately presented a security inspection report, "She's only wearing a silk robe; there's no concealed equipment inside."

"Don't forget," Huang Wenqing reminded from the side, "Is there any high-tech equipment that can accelerate a person to 16 meters per second in an instant? And she seemed to be perfectly normal."

"Let's not rush to conclusions," Governor Chen Tianming said, "Have her demonstrate all the Three Arts and Five Spells."

After all, with the dark history of the qigong craze in the 1980s, it was essential to be extremely cautious, cautious, and even more cautious in acknowledging non-natural phenomena.

It would be best if they could find evidence of fraud. If not...

...they would have to send the person to Pingjing to let the experts in the capital study her because Jianghai Prefecture could definitely not come to any conclusions.