Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 317: Chapter 14 Xie Ruoxi’s Character Design Collection
 

Lin Ning and Yan Yu arrived at the second hall and rejoined their team.

If Su Yunjin were still in the team, she would have definitely been the first to come forward and ask how Sister Lin was doing. With her taking the lead in showing concern, setting a shining example, the other girls naturally wouldn’t find it easy to pick a fight, and perhaps the matter would have just blown over.

Regrettably, Yun Jin was not in the team.

Zhao Yuanzhen’s expression turned unpleasant as she was the first to pick a fight:

“Ningning, what did your clone mean by saying ‘hoping Yan Yu will one day see you for what you really are’? What does that even mean?”

Her words were laced with jealousy, causing Lin Ning to feel a bit uncomfortable subconsciously.

But Sister Lin had already prepared her excuse and was ready to use it. She calmly replied:

“How should I know? That clone was spouting nonsense, trying to make us distrust each other. The more seriously you take her words, the more you’ll be deceived… Don’t tell me you believe her, Sister Zhao?”

Zhao Yuanzhen, seeing her expressionless face, started having second thoughts.

As for believing Lin Ning’s words, of course, she didn’t—after all, Lin Ning had previously lost her composure and lashed out in a frenzy, defeating the woman in green and storming off in tears. Everyone saw it clearly.

Wasn’t such abnormal behavior the best proof that she had a guilty conscience and the clone had hit a nerve?

If it were before she had traveled through time, the Demonic Sect Enchantress wouldn’t have bothered asking so many questions, she would have simply killed this little harlot with a palm strike.

Yet now, having spent a long time together, their relationship was passable, and if she really attacked Lin Ning, not only would Yan Yu and the others not stand by, but the imperial court outside would also be greatly enraged, possibly affecting her own pleasurable life… So she thought better of it.

Anyway, the genuine partner of the thief can only be me!

As for Ningning, let’s wait and see if what she says is true. If it is, all is well; if she’s lying to me…

Humph!

Zhao Yuanzhen kept quiet, much to Chen Lingyun’s disappointment, who had been hoping to enjoy the drama.

Yan Yu, on the other hand, was very satisfied. It seemed the Demonic Sect Enchantress had finally been tamed. Comparing her to the “dangerous enchantress” who killed countless people at the same time in his past life… Ha, he truly was tremendously virtuous.

“Alright, alright, the clone was just rambling on, and the Huofeng Team had already warned us about this,” he said with a chuckle, trying to smooth things over. “If you really believe their nonsense, we would start infighting before we’ve even finished the Mysterious Realm, wouldn’t that mean we have a problem with our brains and intelligence?”

Zhao Yuanzhen didn’t respond but squinted at Lin Ning.

Lin Ning appeared calm and composed on the surface but was inwardly nervous.

“Since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, let’s get going,” Yan Yu said with a grand gesture, about to lead the way, when suddenly he saw Xie Ruoxi squat down on the spot, clutching her stomach, making a grimace.

“Ouch! My stomach hurts so much! I can’t walk!”

“Do you have diarrhea?” Yan Yu asked blankly.

“I must have eaten something bad yesterday,” Xie Ruoxi complained, but then saw Lin Ning’s eyebrows shoot up in anger as she interrogated her:

“How could you have eaten something bad? The ingredients were fresh and bought this morning, washed clean, without heavy oil or spice. How did it become that my cooking made you sick?”

“Ah… Sister Ning is right, it must have been because I kicked off the covers while sleeping last night and caught a cold,” Xie Ruoxi quickly revised her previous statement. “Let’s hurry and find a restroom. Otherwise, I really can’t continue fighting! It feels like there’s a knife twisting in my intestines right now!”

“Hmm,” Yan Yu extended his hand towards Lin Ning, who took out the packet of napkins she had used to wipe her tears earlier and handed it to him.

Handing the napkins to Xie Ruoxi, Yan Yu showed a tender and kind expression, and said:

“Going out is out of the question. The Pingxi Army is waiting outside. What would they think if they asked you why you were going out and found out it was just to use the restroom? Wouldn’t that be losing face for our Zhenhai Team and make them think we’re unreliable and frivolous?”

“Why don’t you go to the hall where we fought Ling Yun’s clone and find a corner to settle it there?”

“I…” Xie Ruoxi stammered, “I’m not used to going to the bathroom in places that aren’t restrooms.”

“Should I make one for you right now?” Yan Yu rolled up his sleeves and asked. “If you have other issues like constipation, speak up now. Don’t waste our time.”

“Alright then…” After a moment of silence, Xie Ruoxi, realizing her scheme had been seen through, reluctantly stood up, “My stomach doesn’t hurt anymore. Let’s go.”

The girls didn’t say anything. Both Lin Ning and Chen Lingyun saw through her act. Only Zhao Yuanzhen frowned and asked:

“How come your stomach was hurting just now and suddenly it’s not? Make sure you don’t start hurting again when we’re fighting the clones, risking us being down a person, okay?”

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Everyone: ………..

“What are you looking at?” Zhao Yuanzhen, seeing everyone’s speechless expressions, inexplicably said, “It’s totally normal for me to be worried, okay…”

“Alright, alright.” Chen Lingyun said with a smile, trying to smooth things over, “Sister Zhao does have a point, but I have more faith that Ruoxi knows her own body best, right? When the battle starts in a bit, Ruoxi won’t let us down, right?”

Xie Ruoxi really wanted to say that if she encountered her clone, she would definitely screw up big time… but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Feeling faint-hearted before the battle is one thing, but admitting it is another. Although she was still essentially a timid and frightened big bunny at heart, after being trained by Yan Yu for so long, she had developed a little bit of a cultivator’s sense of honor and shame, and she simply couldn’t bring herself to admit her fear.

Moreover, based on past experience, even if she shamelessly knelt and begged for mercy, Yan Yu wouldn’t be understanding. He would only mercilessly mock her, and then, like herding a duck to the shelf, force her onto the battlefield.

She might as well bite the bullet!

“I… I’m fine.” Xie Ruoxi closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, as if she were a hero bravely facing execution, and said determinedly.

“That’s great then.” Yan Yu clapped his hands and said, “Let’s go!”

The group left the second battle hall and moved down the corridor.

Yan Yu led the way, with Zhao Yuanzhen following closely on his right, Lin Ning quickly caught up with three steps merging into two, walking side by side with Yan Yu on his left.

Chen Lingyun trailed behind, smiling as she watched the three, blinking and seemingly lost in thought. When she turned her head, she saw Xie Ruoxi next to her, her body trembling slightly, walking stiffly like a puppet, oblivious to her own awkward coordination.

If one listened carefully, holding their breath, they could hear her whispering prayers as faint as a mosquito’s buzz:

“Please, not me next… I beg you, not me next…”

“Ruoxi.” Chen Lingyun quietly transmitted her voice, “Actually, if the next clone is you, it would really be the best scenario for you~”

“Why, why would that be?”

“Because the further we go, the stronger the clones become, and the harder they are to defeat,” Chen Lingyun explained with a smile, “Since they are harder to defeat, the battle will last longer, and more of your dark history will be exposed!”

Upon hearing this, Xie Ruoxi was taken aback and after giving it some thought, realized that Chen Lingyun was right.

The five-person team would definitely have to face their own clones. The later it was, the harder the fight, the longer the battle dragged on, the more dark history would be revealed… It was like taking one chop to the head if you stretch it out, but two if you shrink back, so why not just stretch out your neck and take one less chop?

With that in mind, Xie Ruoxi immediately changed the content of her prayers, muttering silently:

“Please, let the next one be me… I beg you, let the next one definitely be me…”

The group passed through the long corridor and entered the third battle hall, where they saw a life-sized bronze mirror standing in the center of the hall.

Without any need for words, everyone quickly positioned themselves in the Five Elements Formation, ready to gang up on the third clone as soon as it emerged, in the name of justice.

After a short while, a figure stepped out of the mirror.

The person had their hair done up, dressed in a light cyan long robe, with a jade pendant and prayer beads hanging at the waist, continuously fanning themselves with a folding fan in the left hand, and the right hand rested on the hip, smiling at the crowd.

Through clever makeup and costuming, her appearance looked quite handsome, as if she were truly a refined scholar from a classic novel, but everyone present could barely recognize through the makeup:

It was Xie Ruoxi, cosplaying.

“Yay! It’s me…” Xie Ruoxi reacted with an instinctive cheer, then her pupils contracted, her mouth slightly open, her body trembling like she had the shakes, pointing at the handsomely dressed beauty, too horrified to utter a word for quite a while.

“Greetings to all.” The refined scholar bowed to the crowd and said with a smile, “I am Qiu Changtian, and I would like to ask for the honor of learning from everyone’s exquisite moves…”

“Aaaaahhhhhhhh!” Xie Ruoxi’s face turned red, as if possessed. She didn’t wait for Chen Lingyun or Yan Yu to speak up, just clenched her left hand into Jade Pivot Thunder and her right hand into Shifting Technique’s lightning, and went berserk against “Qiu Changtian,” shouting madly, “Die, die, die, die, die!!!”

The handsome scholar activated the Shifting Technique and nimbly dodged the two bolts of lightning, starting to recite the backstory fluently:

“I am the peerless Immortal Venerate Qiu Changtian, who has traversed from the highest heavens of the Nine Skies. Now, incognito among mortals, I spent some time as a special agent for the Dragon Group, with beloved ladies in every corner of the world. Later, tired of fighting with others, I chose to dissolve my form and secretly reincarnated in Jingnan Province, Baoqing Prefecture, taking on the life of a simple countryside girl named Xie Ruoxi.”

“However, as I grew older, the memories of my past life gradually awakened! The cultivation of a peerless Immortal Venerate, the skills of a special forces king, and all my memories of slapping faces of villains and showing off before others slowly started to emerge from within me…”

“Ah, ah, ahhhh…” Xie Ruoxi, seeing the enemy easily evade her attacks, her own Thunder Method not even grazing the other’s clothing, at first stood dumbfounded, stuttering for a moment, then realizing she couldn’t finish off the opponent quickly, decisively turned and clung to Yan Yu’s arm, tearfully pleading:

“Captain, please help me take her down quickly!”

“I’ll do anything!”@@novelbin@@

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