Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 322: Chapter 18 She Lied About Everything
 

Zhao Yuanzhen, who initially didn’t understand the mechanism, was extremely angry.

Now that she discovered the clone was spouting nonsense, trying to influence her with a heart-demon technique, she instead became calm and composed.

“In fact, although my husband usually scolds me, yells at me, and bullies me, I also secretly keep a little notebook in my heart,” continued Empress Yuanzhen with a laugh amidst the thick fog, “But I actually never planned to seek revenge on him, because I know to evaluate a man, you not only have to look at what he says but also at what he does.”

“His actions have proven that he does treat me with his heart. So no matter how he teases or plays with me in his words, I take it as a little fun between husband and wife, and don’t take it to heart.”

“Bullshit,” Zhao Yuanzhen said with contempt, not forgetting to telepathically tell the other team members (including Yan Yu), “Don’t listen to her nonsense. I’m a person who seeks revenge; a delay of ten years is nothing! You stinking thief, just wait, sooner or later I will settle the score with you!”

Yan Yu couldn’t be bothered with her and concentrated on fighting the deep purple sword light, secretly assessing the swordsmanship level of Empress Yuanzhen.

Zhao Yuanzhen, who had just arrived in this world, had swordsmanship similar to the famed Empress Yuanzhen from her previous life: a typical wild style, aiming for a kill in one strike.

Missed? Strike again. Missed again? Strike yet again… It was basically all offense, no defense, without any fancy feints or deceptions.

The reason for adhering to such an offensive style was partly because Qiansi Sect didn’t boast swordsmanship as its strength, and partly because she never had the chance to spar and learn from enemies who were adept at swordsmanship. She usually dealt with nobodies, naturally opting for the most efficient killing method available to her.

Of course, in this life, having to mix with Yan Yu and face top Transcendents from around the world, that wholly offensive wild swordsmanship was utterly useless. If the enemy presented a fake opening to trap her, and she foolishly charged in, how could that work?

After a brief exchange with Empress Yuanzhen, Yan Yu quickly concluded: there was progress.

But it was not enough.

It seemed he would have to increase her daily swordsmanship training…

Lin Ning retreated to where Chen Lingyun and Xie Ruoxi were. The Green Bamboo Sword flashed suddenly, deflecting a sneak attack from the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin.

Xie Ruoxi struggled to sit cross-legged, channeling her True Yuan to seal the bleeding from her wound; Chen Lingyun, on the other hand, threw out the Divine Evil Prayer Beads to help Yan Yu lock onto the opponent’s deep purple sword light.

Empress Yuanzhen didn’t confront them with her Flying Sword directly, but under the change of the sword technique, the deep purple sword light dodged the Prayer Beads and turned to intercept Zhao Yuanzhen, while the puppet charged towards Chen Lingyun and the others.

Yan Yu immediately stepped back to intercept the puppet’s path, with the Huang Tingjian slashing down overhead.

Zhao Yuanzhen, in turn, released her puppet Ami to confront the clone’s Flying Sword, while she herself charged into the black fog, quietly operating her technique. The black fog immediately surged.

A moment later, the black fog abruptly dispersed, revealing the two Zhao Yuanzhens fighting inside.

The Empress Yuanzhen bit her tongue, spitting out several black blood arrows towards Zhao Yuanzhen, who quickly sidestepped, spreading herself thin, and with a wave of her left hand, a stream of black energy shot from her fingertips, wrapping around like a cord in mid-air, immediately entangling Empress Yuanzhen. However, the latter’s right fingernails suddenly elongated, sweeping away casually, severing the black energy… All sorts of techniques, all kinds of methods, dazzled the onlookers in the distance, making them wonder what kind of Taoism Method Sister Zhao was using—it seemed like she was about to perform some impressive trick.

Yan Yu, watching from afar, knew that these were not Taoism Methods, but instead, Techniques.@@novelbin@@

“Tao” and “Technique” are two different levels; the former almost certainly encompasses the fundamental principles of the great Dao, just to varying extents, while the latter often is merely a superficial application of True Yuan. Although its power definitely couldn’t compare to Taoism Methods, it is advantageous in its diversity and unpredictability, making it extremely useful in combat against others.

The Three Arts and Five Spells are just the most basic spells, not quite considered part of the Taoism Method. As for the dark arts currently used by Zhao Yuanzhen, even if Yan Yu watched very carefully, he could probably only recognize about sixty to seventy percent of them.

For instance, the one where the tongue is bitten is called “Nail Tongue Arrows”; the one where black gas is sprayed from the fingertips is known as “Soul-Snatching Cord”; the one where fingernails suddenly grow long is named “White Bone Claw”… Just by the names, it’s clear they are not on the same level as the “Southern Dipper Galaxy Secret Art,” but at the current stage, purely in terms of killing efficiency, they were actually much faster than the Taoism Method. If it were anyone else standing opposite to Empress Yuanzhen, they would have been killed within minutes by the endless emergence of these sinister and unfamiliar dark arts.

He quickly refocused his attention, allowing Huang Tingjian to present an opening, drawing the opponent’s puppet closer. Then, with a flurry of punches and kicks, he pressed the puppet back, and Huang Tingjian took the chance to strike from behind once again.

Caught between the pincers, the puppet finally couldn’t hold on and was abruptly decapitated by a gap spotted by Huang Tingjian, its head flying off. In the air, however, it turned into wood—it turned out that Empress Yuanzhen had at some point employed a life-substituting wooden dummy using the “cicada shedding” technique, replacing her combat puppet.

In his past life, Yan Yu wasn’t skilled in the String-Pulling Technique, and although Huang Tingjian had struck the opponent, he immediately sensed something was amiss. However, due to his lack of experience, he didn’t react right away.

By the time he realized it was the “cicada shedding” trick, the puppet’s true body had already turned and sprinted away, rushing towards Zhao Yuanzhen’s direction, evidently intending to pincer attack with Empress Yuanzhen from both sides.

Yan Yu was about to go over to help when he saw the deep purple sword light attack once more, tying him down again.

Lin Ning couldn’t leave her spot, as the enemy shot White Bone Heart-locking Hairpins at her from time to time—fast, concealed, and deadly. Xie Ruoxi was seriously injured and couldn’t move; Lin Ning could only defend them while occasionally using the Metal-Element Impact Curse to harass the enemy, but to no avail.

Chen Lingyun threw out her prayer beads, attempting once again to lock down the deep purple sword light, but the opponent immediately switched the Flying Sword with the puppet, evading the Divine Evil Prayer Beads’ blockade. She launched the Five Spells and the mother-child Resentful Spirits, constantly circling around the still fighting duo, patiently looking for possible openings in Empress Yuanzhen.

Suddenly, they heard Empress Yuanzhen laugh and say:

“Ling Yun, there’s no point in wasting your effort. I basically know all your tactical tricks like the back of my hand, and besides, my cultivation realm now far surpasses you all—those little tricks are useless against me.”

“Whether they work or not, we’ll only know after trying,” Chen Lingyun replied calmly.

“Do you know?” continued Empress Yuanzhen, “I have always admired you.”

“Admire me for what?” Chen Lingyun feigned surprise.

“For your intelligence~” Empress Yuanzhen said with a cheerful laugh, “I didn’t read much when I was young, and my educational level wasn’t high, I always felt inferior around you. Although I was often harsh to you, it was just out of fear that you’d see through me and look down on me.”

“What a load of bullshit!” Zhao Yuanzhen started to get annoyed and communicated with Chen Lingyun via a secret message, “Don’t you dare believe her nonsense! Admire you? What a joke, with your toothpick height and bean sprout figure, why would I envy you?”

Chen Lingyun: ………

“Ningning,” Empress Yuanzhen turned her head, smiling radiantly, “I absolutely adore your exquisite cooking skills. I always say I want to order takeout, but it’s not because I don’t like what you cook, it’s just that I don’t want you to become too tired or too busy and grow to disliking it, then refuse to cook for me in the future.”

Lin Ning was quite touched, but Zhao Yuanzhen grew increasingly angry and said disdainfully:

“What nonsense! You’re too stingy to even add oil and refuse to use MSG, acting as if one extra spoonful would kill you. You’re always fussing over your nutritious meal plans, what’s that compared to the deliciousness of stir-fried dishes from the culinary world outside? Ningning, if you think you can use your cooking skills to tie me down, you’re hopelessly deluded and wildly dreaming!”

Lin Ning: ………