Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

About one or two hours before the scheduled meal, Yan Yu took this time to teach Anna the Three Arts and Five Spells in detail.

"Do you have any difficulties with it?" he finally asked to confirm.

"Yes," Anna said helplessly, "I don't get any of it... I'm just memorizing the theory here, and I have nowhere to practice!"

"As long as you understand the theory thoroughly, why be afraid you won't be able to practice later?" Yan Yu said indifferently.

Zhao Yuanzhen: ?

How do I remember someone saying before: The most important thing for a cultivator is actual combat?

"I want to go outside and practice," Anna said eagerly, "but I'm afraid of being discovered and then not being able to explain myself."

"Then don't practice outside," Yan Yu said.

Once we go to Siberia, you'll have plenty of time to practice.

Anna immediately felt a bit depressed. This man really didn't know how to comfort a girl. Shouldn't he usually say, "Then I'll help you figure something out"?

"Speaking of 'helping,'" she suddenly remembered another matter, "about the background check by the Dingbei Army..."

"Not likely anymore," Yan Yu shook his head, "The situation is going to become stricter. Those who haven't signed yet probably won't be allowed to sign."

Anna fell silent for a while before asking:

"So on what basis? Just because my mother is a foreigner?"

"That's not it," Yan Yu waved his hand, "The main issue is that the first batch of cultivators recruited were too many, and it turned out that there weren't enough resources for subsequent training; they can't afford to keep everyone. Next year, they'll probably cut down on the second batch of cultivators and recruit fewer."

Anna: .........

"You're not fooling me, are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nonsense, if anyone's to blame it has to be you," Yan Yu said bluntly, "Shouldn't you have just signed the enrollment agreement on the spot? Instead, you had to go home and ask your father and relatives... This delay, didn't it just cause unnecessary complications?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Anna said angrily, "That was about going to university! It's not like picking a restaurant to eat at, who would make a decision on the spot?!"

"Me," Yan Yu said confidently, "I signed on the spot."

Anna: .........

"I'm not going to argue with you," the blonde girl said impatiently waving her hand, "If Lu Country doesn't want me, I'll just go to Rakshasa Country, and I'll become a cultivator there."

"The enrollment requirements for Spirit Communicators in Moscow, it seems, include having Rakshasa citizenship for three generations including parents and grandparents," Yan Yu said slowly, "So you'd better start fabricating your family tree now.

For example, your grandfather participated in the Red Square uprising, overthrew the Tsar or something, and then, due to a mix-up, ended up in the Northeast. Body in Lu Country, heart in Rakshasa. Living in Shengjing for twenty years, speaking fluent Rakshasa."

Anna suddenly looked as deflated as a wilted eggplant, and after a long while, she said:

"I was joking. Isn't it because I have no other choice? If the Dingbei Army doesn't accept me, then I can only emigrate with my dad. It's not like I can stay in the country while he goes to Amur alone, right?"

"Indeed," Yan Yu said, "But if you look at it from another angle, if you can't practice spells at home, can't you practice once you're in Amur? It's a vast and sparsely populated place, and besides, Rakshasa people don't recognize the Three Arts and Five Spells."

"So are you really clueless, or just pretending?" Anna, crossing her arms, tapped her foot in annoyance, "I don't want to become a cultivator! My goal is to convince my dad to stay in the country by becoming a cultivator, you get it? I don't want to go abroad!"

Of course, Yan Yu was pretending to be clueless. But what else could he say?

Even if Anna truly became a cultivator in the Dingbei Army, what then? Could she compete with people like Liu Longtao for cultivation resources? Could she win?

Even if she could, her developmental ceiling in the country would only be at the level of someone like Liu Longtao. How could that compare to being "the Queen of Siberia"? That was the height her original life trajectory was meant to reach!

Seeing Yan Yu remained silent, Anna realized that she had lost her composure.

In the end, the whole thing was a problem with the Dingbei Army's political review system. How could Yan Yu be at fault? He had saved her when she was in trouble, helped her inquire about information, and even taught her the Three Arts and Five Spells. What reason did she have to take her anger out on him?

"That...," she sighed dejectedly and spoke softly, "I'm sorry, I... I had a bad attitude, and I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."

"It's fine," Yan Yu said magnanimously, waving his hand, "After all, I wasn't able to help."

"But you did teach me the Three Arts and Five Spells," Anna said sheepishly, "How about I treat you guys to dinner tonight?"

Zhao Yuanzhen really wanted to agree when he heard Yan Yu say:

"I have a dinner engagement tonight, you two go ahead."

"You have a dinner and you're not taking me?" Zhao Yuanzhen immediately got anxious.

"Chen Lingyun and Liu Longtao will be there," Yan Yu said calmly, "Imagine, while you're eating, having two Chen Lingyuns talking to you without stop."

Zhao Yuanzhen immediately lost his appetite and quickly said:

"Anna, where shall we have dinner tonight?"

"Some barbecue?" Anna suggested uncertainly.

"Great, great, let's have barbecue," Zhao Yuanzhen immediately perked up, glaring triumphantly at Yan Yu, "Let's not take him!"

Yan Yu was also at a loss for words. Were we there just to eat? No, we were there to get to know each other and network with cultivators from the Dingbei Army!

————————

Network my ass!

What Yan Yu hadn't expected was that, just an hour later, he would start to regret it somewhat.

At a table for four, the boys on one side, and the girls on the other. A copper pot bubbled away in the center, filled with high-quality slices of lamb, yet everyone hesitated to reach in with their chopsticks for the moment.

"So, Ye Jun, you don't have a boyfriend now?" Chen Lingyun asked with a smile, "And no secret crush?"

"Nope," Ye Jun, sensing something off about the atmosphere, quickly took over the conversation and chatted with Chen Lingyun, "It's not that I don't want to find someone... it's just that... I don't really feel anything, you know? I, personally, prefer someone with a more mature personality, but all the guys around me are pretty childish.

They don't speak properly, they're like cats that just loiter around you, primping and posing to get your attention, which I find... uh, uninteresting."

"Oh, childish?" Chen Lingyun laughed, "Does that include Liu Longtao as well?"

Ye Jun immediately realized she had fallen into a trap. You're setting this up for me to fall into, huh! But she kept her cool and laughed off the implication,

"Him? No, he's not childish. He's just too damn mature and steady. Even though we were in the same class when we started, I've always thought of him as my senior! Right, senior?"

The girl effortlessly navigated the dangerous topic. She clarified that she had no relationship with Liu Longtao without emasculating him, and also made the trap Chen Lingyun set with her words fall flat.

"That's right," Liu Longtao responded without missing a beat, then began his counterattack, "Yan Yu, do you have a girlfriend right now?"

Yan Yu was already getting tired of it. Did you two really have to butt heads like this? Couldn't you just speak straightforwardly?

"No, I don't." He began to help himself to some lamb in the pot.

"Hey, Yan Yu, you're single too?" Ye Jun asked in feigned surprise, "No way! You're hiding it well. With your qualities, I'm sure a lot of girls are after you, right?"

"He must have high standards," Liu Longtao chuckled looking at Chen Lingyun, and said, "If I were Yan Yu, I wouldn't settle for just any girl either."

"Just any girl" surely wasn't Ye Jun. So who could it be? Might as well give out the social security number.

Ye Jun finally realized something: Liu Longtao, you've got a private grudge against Chen Lingyun, haven't you!

Talking about "let's have a dinner to get acquainted", but in reality, you came specifically to mess with her!

"Cough, actually, dating isn't all about conditions," Ye Jun said, trying hard to smooth things over, and quickly signaled to Yan Yu with her eyes, asking him to help persuade Chen Lingyun as well, "Even if someone isn't interested, it doesn't mean they're not good enough. It's usually just that fate hasn't come knocking.

There's an older female cousin across the street from my house, she's over thirty and not yet married, until..."

Yan Yu picked up some lamb with his chopsticks, chewed it slowly, and then suddenly asked,

"So, Ye Jun, how did you come to know Liu Longtao?"

Ye Jun paused for a moment, then replied,

"We were in the same class..."

"It's the higher-ups who are planning to team up cultivators, right?" Yan Yu didn't bother waiting for both sides to continue their probing and went straight to the point, "Whether it's for an experiment or some other purpose.

Anyway, in this team, they must have planned for Liu Longtao to be the lead and for you to be his deputy, which is why you got to know each other in advance—although you clearly stated that you are not related to him, the way you speak is very careful about preserving his dignity. That doesn't sound like friendship, it seems more like a subordinate relationship between colleagues."

Ye Jun was somewhat at a loss for words, while Liu Longtao fell silent for a moment before laughing,

"Impressive, you actually guessed it."

Chen Lingyun also quickly caught on: the Dingbei Army had started implementing a team system, and the Zhendong Army would likely follow suit soon, with a high chance of Yan Yu being the team leader and Chen Lingyun the deputy leader.

So that was why Liu Longtao had arranged this dinner, not purely to get on good terms with Yan Yu, but more so to observe the relationship between Yan Yu and Chen Lingyun.

Considering Chen Lingyun's strategic capabilities and robust background, if she chose not to follow Yan Yu, there would be significant risks within the team.

"What's so hard to guess?" Yan Yu continued eating his lamb, casually saying, "We don't need to keep testing each other like this anymore. Let me put it this way: Chen Lingyun, though she can have a nasty temper, is still responsible, and will follow orders when it counts. And you? Stay tuned with empire

Liu Longtao, you hold great authority and have a sufficiently assertive personality; the team will definitely become an echo chamber for you. If you make a mistake, would Ye Jun dare to point it out to your face?"

"Why wouldn't she dare?" Ye Jun immediately spoke up, "The deputy's duty is to devise strategies and fill in the gaps for the team leader."

"Let's hope so," Yan Yu replied nonchalantly with a smile, as he stood up, "I've got a bit more business to attend to, so let's call it a day for this meal. Thanks for the invitation. I must be going."

"Bye-bye~" Chen Lingyun also stood up, waving her hand with a beaming smile.

Having failed to probe successfully and being counter-attacked by Yan Yu, Chen Lingyun couldn't be happier at that moment. She almost wanted to catch up to Yan Yu and hug him tightly, kissing him fervently.

Ye Jun quickly stood up, unsure whether to call them back but then saw Liu Longtao sitting silently in his seat, seemingly lost in thought.

It was then that she suddenly realized—Yan Yu mentioned that the purpose of the meal was probing, and Liu Longtao did not deny it.

However, when Liu Longtao asked her to contact Yan Yu before, he did not tell her the real reason.

Ye Jun suddenly felt an urge to confront Liu Longtao with, "Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

But after thinking it over, she never asked the question.

Because she agreed with what Yan Yu said: Liu Longtao's personality was too domineering.

If he decided not to disclose it in advance, then her asking about it after the fact, without understanding the situation, would likely just annoy him.