Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 329: Chapter 25 Kill You
 

Everyone teleported out of the Mirror Lake Divine Palace and saw the five members of the Huofeng Team sitting by Mirror Lake, wrapped up like mummies, waiting for the Zhenhai Team to come out.

“Is the fight over?” Zhang Huaide was the first to speak.

The reason they recognized Deputy Captain Zhang was that he was the only one among the five mummified figures wearing glasses, which made him look utterly out of place.

“It’s over,” Yan Yu nodded, turned his head to look at the other four mummies, quickly identified the one with the fiercest eyes, and smilingly spread his arms, “Xiao Zhou, I’ve avenged you, come here for a hug!”

“Idiot.” Zhou Hongyu said coldly, “What revenge? Did you fight my replica?”

“Haha, they’re all generated by the Mysterious Realm, don’t be so particular about it,” Yan Yu laughed, “How are your injuries?”

“Almost healed, just need to keep an eye on them for a bit longer,” Tang Xiaolian suddenly asked, “You guys didn’t get hurt?”

“Sustained some minor injuries, nothing serious,” Yan Yu replied.

“Any dark histories revealed?” Meng Qingxi asked with a smile, “Did any dark histories come out?”

His careless remark not only caused the Zhenhai Team’s girls to become alert but even his own Huofeng Team members gave him sharp looks—Qin Meng elbowed him from the side, sending him doubling over, holding his stomach, and gasping for air.

“Nope,” Yan Yu laughed heartily, “They were just unsubstantiated rumors that didn’t really affect our morale; nobody believed them.”

“Really?” Tang Xiaolian asked doubtfully.

She noticed that apart from Chen Lingyun, who always had a fake smile, the other three girls seemed uncomfortable.

“Of course it’s true,” Yan Yu said calmly, “You’ve fought a replica yourself, don’t you know? What did your replica say?”

“It said she had a secret crush on her sixth-grade homeroom teacher… Ouch!” Meng Qingxi, always straightforward, barely got half the sentence out before Tang Xiaolian elbowed him again, promptly shutting him up with the pain.

“My replica was quite honest,” Yan Yu laughed, “It pointed out the flaws and gaps in my tactical thinking and even served as a target for us to practice and improve on the spot.”

The members of the Huofeng Team looked at each other, falling into silence involuntarily.

Something’s not right here!

Why are our replicas breaking us down mentally, and physically beating us half to death, while your replicas are helping you pinpoint your thought processes and serving as practice targets, helping you refine your strategies?

Everyone wanted to look for signs of lying on Yan Yu’s face but found none… Yan Yu showed no other signs of damage aside from a wound on his shoulder, and his spirit seemed high, not at all like someone who had just gone through a fierce battle.

So everyone turned their eyes to the Zhenhai Team’s girls.

Lin Ning and the others wanted to say “it’s not true,” “it’s only the captain’s word,” “we’ve been severely tortured too,” but then they remembered that admitting to the torture would be akin to confirming the replicas’ words as truth. Thus, they could only force a smile and agreed with Yan Yu, saying:

“Our replicas didn’t say much, just some trash talk not worth mentioning. After all, it’s a test-type Mysterious Realm, once it’s over, it’s over.”

Everyone fell silent. Zhang Huaide held his glasses with his middle finger, his eyes becoming sharp behind the lenses.

With his meticulous observation skills, of course, he could tell that Lin Ning and the others were not speaking their minds, whereas Yan Yu was genuinely unaffected.

Indeed, Yan Yu is impressive.

A person with great strength is strong in all aspects, which is why they can overcome the challenges in the Mysterious Realm that we cannot.

Captain Zhou’s combat power is not bad, but her psychological endurance really needs work. That needs to change.

But that’s not easy to change. Once a person reaches their twenties, their core values are already set, and from there, they only accumulate life experiences. Hoping for changes in character is extremely difficult.

Zhang Huaide thought quietly to himself when he heard Yan Yu say:

“Well then, we won’t stay any longer; you all take good care of your injuries.”

The two teams bid each other farewell. The Zhenhai Team left the Mysterious Realm and went for further medical examinations in the infirmary.@@novelbin@@

Lin Ning had a cracked rib, Yan Yu had a shoulder injury, and Zhao Yuanzhen had several burns and corrosive injuries, but none were particularly severe.

Xie Ruoxi was the most seriously injured, with the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin piercing her chest. Although it was promptly treated with True Yuan to prevent bleeding, there was still a risk of pneumothorax. The medical team performed a simple surgery to clean the hematoma and instructed her not to practice Sword Control, to rest for a week before a follow-up exam.

The only one unscathed was Chen Lingyun, whom Yan Yu teased by saying, “If the sky falls, we tall ones will hold it up.” She wasn’t really angry, just took out her phone to arrange flights.

They had arrived with the grandeur of Sword Control, but now they had to return by plane. In the airport’s VIP lounge, Yan Yu received a call from Su Yunjin.

“Ningning told me you guys were injured in the Ailao Mountain Mysterious Realm?”

“Just some minor injuries,” Yan Yu replied, “not a big deal.”

“Ruoxi has to recuperate for a week, and you say it’s not a big deal?” Su Yunjin retorted.

“Ah, her injuries are severe because she’s too weak,” Yan Yu said nonchalantly.

“So you’re weak too, since you injured your shoulder?”

“It’s because my clone is too strong,” Yan Yu paused, then explained, “It’s just a flesh wound. It didn’t even touch the bone.”

“I’m planning to Sword Control back to Jinling Prefecture tonight,” Su Yunjin said seriously. “You don’t have to say more, I’ll come over and see for myself.”

Yan Yu suddenly felt a bit sweaty. It was typical of the Gravity Mage Su Yunjin, a few words from her could make it hard to breathe.

It’s like she would call her husband casually outside a hotel room if she ever had to catch him cheating, and after listening to his excuses, she would suddenly say, “I need to verify it myself,” then the door handle would start rattling frantically…

Scary.

“Let’s not talk about this now, hang up,” Su Yunjin hung up.

Yan Yu paused for a moment, then silently turned his gaze toward the whistleblower, Lin Ning.

Lin Ning immediately looked out the window, observing the planes taxiing in the distance.

Xie Ruoxi chuckled on the side, then suddenly her phone rang.

She answered the call, murmuring a few “mm-hmms,” her complexion turning pale all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” Yan Yu asked.

“My parents found out about me becoming a Cultivator,” Xie Ruoxi said numbly.

“Oh, wasn’t that bound to happen sooner or later?” Yan Yu said.

Not to mention anything else, the rosters of the major martial arts teams were publicly available, and with a bunch of fans following them all the time, it was impossible to keep it a secret. It was really more surprising that her parents had just found out now, suggesting that perhaps information was indeed scarce back in Xie Ruoxi’s hometown.

“They want to come to Jinling to see me,” Xie Ruoxi said, her face ashen.

“That’s great,” Yan Yu said. “I’ll give you a day off to take good care of your parents and send them back happy.”

“Aren’t you coming?” Xie Ruoxi hesitantly asked.

“Your parents are coming to see you, what does that have to do with me?” Yan Yu countered.

“Um,” Xie Ruoxi struggled to speak and after a long pause, she said, “After my brother went back, he seems to have… misunderstood our relationship. I don’t know what he told them, but the main reason my parents are making the trip is to meet you.”

Everyone: ………

“Xie! Ruoxi!!” Zhao Yuanzhen clenched her teeth and her grip on the armrest creaked.

If it were before, she might not have minded so much. But now, coming out of the Mysterious Realm and knowing that the other’s clone wanted to “forcefully marry Yan Yu,” the sudden mention of a “parent’s visit” made it hard not to suspect Xie Ruoxi’s intentions.

“Sister Zhao, you’ve got to believe me!” Xie Ruoxi quickly hugged her arm, pleading, “This really has nothing to do with me! Plus, when my parents come, I will definitely explain everything to them!”

Zhao Yuanzhen narrowed her eyes and after a long while, she let go of her anger and said with a smile:

“If you don’t explain it clearly, I’ll kill you.”

Xie Ruoxi’s cold sweat poured down instantly.