Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 324: Chapter 20 I, Yan Yu, am Open and Aboveboard
 

Zhao Yuanzhen collapsed like that, and the girls immediately became flustered.

Xie Ruoxi fed her water, Lin Ning pinched her philtrum, and Yan Yu sent his Divine Sense into her body for a probe, only to be greatly shocked and horrified.

Feigning unconsciousness!

When did this Demonic Sect Enchantress evolve her intelligence? She even mastered the skill of playing unconscious without speaking!

Lin Ning was still pinching her philtrum, trying to forcibly wake her as she cried out,@@novelbin@@

“Sister Zhao! Don’t sleep! You mustn’t fall unconscious!”

But while you can wake up someone who is truly unconscious, how can you wake someone who’s pretending? No matter how hard she tried, Zhao Yuanzhen just silently endured, her eyes tightly shut, her arms hanging down, completely motionless.

Yan Yu held her hand down and said gravely,

“I’ve checked. She’s probably suffered severe injuries, gotten battle stress, and lost her memory. If she wakes up later, nobody should mention anything about the clones. Pretend nothing happened, to avoid further aggravating her injuries.”

Lin Ning: ???

Just as she was about to ask “How did it become battle stress” “How do you know” “Should we not bring it up now or also not in the future,” Zhao Yuanzhen, who had been unresponsive to the pinching, finally came to slowly and said,

“It hurts so much!… Uh, what happened? Did we win?”

“Yes, we overcame the fourth clone too.” Yan Yu nodded calmly, “How about you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Zhao Yuanzhen said casually, “I just need to heal up a bit; it’s nothing serious, I can continue on in a moment.”

Seeing she had returned to normal, Lin Ning felt it was not appropriate to ask too much, but Xie Ruoxi didn’t care about that and asked curiously,

“Sister Zhao, do you not remember anything?”

“Remember what?” Zhao Yuanzhen asked curiously.

At this moment, her eyes were clear, and her expression was innocent, as if truly nothing had happened.

Xie Ruoxi wanted to ask more, but Lin Ning pulled hard on her arm, and she suddenly realized and said obediently,

“As long as Sister Zhao is fine.”

Everyone begin meditating, checking for injuries on themselves.

The conditions of Xie Ruoxi and Zhao Yuanzhen were not very good; the former had been nailed through the chest by the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin, barely missing her heart. It could be considered a stroke of luck—but considering the Mysterious Realm is a test, it’s possible that hitting this spot was intentional, not accidental.

Zhao Yuanzhen had foregone defense in order to exchange injuries with Empress Yuanzhen, and her body had been hit by two or three sinister spells, requiring her to expel the foreign True Yuan with her own.

Both of their conditions weren’t ideal. They could still fight, but how much of their original strength they could exert was really hard to say.

Besides the main injuries, there were various minor external wounds and the depletion of True Yuan in the Dantian, which there is no need to mention in detail.

After nearly half a month of drawn-out warfare in the Southern Border, everyone had gained experience in how to treat their injuries to avoid affecting their strength.

They consumed Elixir Medicine, sat in meditation, absorbed the medicine’s strength, and recovered their True Yuan. Those with severe injuries like Zhao Yuanzhen and Xie Ruoxi had to take another Elixir, dissolve it in water, and smear it around the wounds, letting them absorb it before reapplying, repeating this process.

Elixir Medicine reserves were abundantly supplied and served as a powerful guarantee for the first group of Cultivators to engage in good battles. In contrast, second and third-tier Cultivators, even those from the Military Manor and civilian Cultivators, had a limited quota for the Elixir Medicines they relied on for daily assistance with their Qi Refinement—it was very limited. Thinking about using them for healing? Forget about it.

It took nearly half an hour to finally adjust things to a satisfactory level.

Thinking about having to deal with the team captain’s clone at the end, the girls were three parts curious and apprehensive, and seven parts helpless and even afraid.

To be honest, even if they faced Yan Yu himself, they couldn’t beat him even if they ganged up together. Now that they were about to fight Yan Yu’s strengthened clone, they had a clear and strong premonition of seeking their own death.

Of course, since Yan Yu himself was on our side, it wasn’t impossible to fight, but it was definitely going to be very difficult.

“Which brings us back to the point, captain,” Xie Ruoxi asked curiously, “do you have any dark history?”

“Indeed,” Chen Lingyun said with a mischievous smile, fanning the flames, “Now’s your chance to come clean, otherwise your clone will spill the beans later, and then you’ll really have no way to talk your way out of it and lose face!”

“What dark history could I have?” Yan Yu scoffed, “Aside from anything else, two words describe me—honest. Whatever I think in my heart, I say with my mouth, never beating around the bush with you guys. What kind of dark history could I have?”

“Humph,” Zhao Yuanzhen also wore a mischievous smile, “You’re being offered a chance, and if you don’t take it, don’t blame us for mocking you mercilessly later.”

“What, you remembered something?” Yan Yu glanced at her sideways.

Zhao Yuanzhen immediately played dead, pretending to be admiring the surrounding scenery.

“Heh,” Lin Ning also spoke up with a laugh, “I’m very curious about what dark history our captain could have. Could it be that you hid some ‘interesting’ books at home, and your parents found them while cleaning?”

“What, you also want to see me drop my little pearls of wisdom?” Yan Yu asked with raised eyebrows.

Lin Ning immediately pretended to be concerned about Sister Zhao’s injury and went over to join the Demonic Sect Enchantress.

“Um,” Xie Ruoxi fell silent for a moment, then said with a forced smile, “Captain, how about we make a gentleman’s agreement? Whatever your clone says, I promise to act as if I never heard it and won’t speak of it afterward, but in return, I ask for the same treatment, deal?”

“Not a good deal,” Yan Yu responded, “Whatever my clone says, you can tell anyone freely.”

“But my issues…” Xie Ruoxi’s face paled.

“What issues?” Yan Yu asked, puzzled, “You mean when you were a kid and you wrote a novel where you fantasized about being the reincarnation of an Immortal Venerate named Qiu Changtian, and you wrote more than half a book full of settings spanning urban, Xianxia, and fantasy genres, even wildly spreading this setting in front of teachers and family members? You want me not to mention this to anyone after I leave here?”

“Uh, uhhhh, ahhh ahhh ahhh ahhh ahhh,” Xie Ruoxi’s soul seemed to leave her body, and she couldn’t say a word for a long time, so she quickly pretended to heal with her eyes closed, secretly feeling distressed.

Chen Lingyun stopped talking, but Yan Yu, having already killed three people metaphorically, certainly didn’t plan to spare her, and said coldly:

“So, the little girl who pursues perfection, is stubborn and fears loneliness, do you have anything else you’d like to say to me?”

“You’re not afraid of offending so many of us at once, afraid your clone will reveal something that would embarrass you if we knew and talked about it later?” Chen Lingyun asked, puzzled.

“Of course, I’m not afraid,” Yan Yu said, “Like I said, I don’t have any dark history that can’t be brought up. If you dare to ask, I dare to answer.”

Really?

Based on his expression, he didn’t seem to be lying, and besides, they were about to face his clone any minute now, so there wouldn’t be any point in lying right now, right?

Chen Lingyun silently came to a conclusion, her face blossoming into a cheerful smile:

“Alright then, shall we set off?”