Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Once Li Zhaojiang and the others brought chairs in, everyone sat there eyeing each other, and they suddenly had nothing to say.

The four girls on Yan Yu's side were each more beautiful than the last. Aside from Li Minghu on Li Zhaojiang's side, all were young male college students with robust vitality. They had no problem talking tough, but to do so with pretty girls they'd just met, needlessly losing their good impression of them, wouldn't make them look impressive but rather like they were having a fit of hysterics.

But if they didn't talk tough, what should they say? After all, the other side was their competition in the upcoming contest. Being too friendly could easily be mistaken for sucking up.

Nobody wanted to be a brown-noser, nor a Sigma male, so they simply kept silent, crossed their arms, and tried to look like cool, aloof guys.

Li Zhaojiang also sensed that the atmosphere was a bit off. That Yan Yu was truly devious, having assembled a team of four beautiful girls, while his own team was all guys. The battle hadn't even started, and they were already at a disadvantage in terms of morale.

When they entered the Mysterious Realm later, he hoped his teeming teammates wouldn't start thinking, "I can't hit a beautiful girl," and sneakily go easy on them without telling him!

"Nice one, Yan Yu," Li Zhaojiang decided to call out his sinister intentions with a sneer, "A beauty trap, huh? You think we'll fall for that?"

"Nicely said," Yan Yu responded coolly, "Just for that comment, you're bound to be defeated by these beauties."

"Let's not talk about that now," Li Minghu quickly signaled her brother to shut up. After all, it wasn't fair to label them as mere showpieces just because they were attractive, right?

She stood up and said with a smile:

"This is your home field, so you go into the Secret Realm first. We'll follow afterwards."

According to military experiments with Secret Realms, it has been confirmed that if different groups enter at different times, they are randomly transported to different starting points (the "entrances" designed by the master of the Secret Realm). The interval for determining different groups is about 1-2 minutes.

To be safe, if they enter 3 minutes apart, they will certainly be considered different groups.

Of course, 3 minutes is ample time for the team that enters first to get familiar with the terrain, or even to readjust their tactics.

So, although it's not an official rule, the four major military regions have a mutual agreement: the visiting team, coming to compete on someone else's territory (equivalent to raiding their resources), consciously waits 3 minutes behind the home team before entering the Secret Realm.

Yan Yu didn't play coy and decline, but gathered the girls and headed outside the tent.

Once everyone left the tent, Lin Ning finally huffed:

"What beauty trap! Why are there always people like this? Just because you're a little prettier, they assume all your success is due to your looks!"

"Well said," Yan Yu spoke calmly, "So, you have to fight well next. Otherwise, if by any chance we lose, we won't be able to clear things up with them afterward."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I will definitely win this time!" Lin Ning pumped her fists, her fighting spirit high.

Chen Lingyun thoughtfully wondered if Yan Yu was deliberately cultivating Lin Ning's competitive spirit, harboring some far-reaching and unspeakable plan. Or was it because…that was his particular fetish?

Well, she'd keep an eye on that going forward~

The teams arrived near the entrance to the Secret Realm, where the medical teams accompanying each side were already in place and on standby.

Once in the Secret Realm, the military's medical teams wouldn't directly intervene in the team battles but would wait on the periphery—until the victor was decided, and then they'd go treat the injured from their own team.

Of course, beyond preventing unnecessary casualties, these people might also serve as "monitors" for the military. For example, to ensure the winning team goes to refine and control the central hub, to prevent deliberate damage to the Secret Realm, or to prevent any items from being taken or hidden...

Although the military hadn't confirmed this, some things don't need to be stated explicitly, as long as everyone understands.

The person in charge of the Zhendong Army's medical team was a lady in her forties named Lou, wearing glasses and with a no-nonsense demeanor—Chen Lingyun had confided to Yan Yu that this woman was actually one of her father's people, and by extension, hers, and thus could be trusted.

Yan Yu nodded at her, then led the team into the Secret Realm.

As soon as Yan Yu's team stepped into the Secret Realm, the Annan Army's medical team took out a stopwatch to begin timing.

Countdown: 3 minutes.

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After entering the Secret Realm, Yan Yu quickly surveyed the surroundings.

The area of Longquan Mountain Secret Realm wasn't large; it was one of those small Secret Realms where you could see the boundary at a glance, probably not even a quarter the size of the Wuyi Mountain Secret Realm. The perimeter was made up of steep, towering mountains, and trying to fly over them would encounter spatial air walls.

In the central valley surrounded by mountains, there were countless broken swords stabbed into the ground.

There were no trees, just a large number of Flying Swords. Most of them were damaged, chipped, or worn, as if they had been through fierce battles, with both blade and hilt battered and punctured.

Amidst the multitude of broken swords was a small stream running through the valley and a thatched cottage beside the stream.

As the team entered the Secret Realm, the Annan Army started timing them. After three minutes, Li Zhaojiang and the others would enter the Secret Realm.

Consequently, Yan Yu didn't hesitate and quickly gave the order through the channel:

"Head towards the cottage, go!"

The team swiftly activated their Shifting Technique, bypassing the surrounding forest of broken swords, rushing toward the direction of the cottage.

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The environment of this mysterious realm was a valley in the mountains, a flat expanse with the only high ground being a thatched hut. When everyone arrived at this building, they saw a stone stele standing next to the hut's door.

There was no writing on the stele, only countless intersecting sword marks. However, if one concentrated on it, four characters would quickly emerge in one's mind:

Secluded Cottage.

"Do we go in?" Lin Ning pointed to the entrance of the thatched cottage.

The control center should be inside, but it was unlikely that there was no guardian watching over it.

Considering the short three-minute interval between the two teams entering the mysterious realm, if they entered the cottage and alerted the "guardian," and did not manage to deal with them before Li Zhaojiang's team arrived, they would find themselves in a difficult predicament.

"No." Yan Yu quickly glanced around and said, "Ling Yun, the roof."

"Okay." Chen Lingyun employed the Cloud Ascension Technique and swiftly leaped onto the roof, reaching the highest point in the entire mysterious realm.

"Tactics." Yan Yu continued speaking.

Chen Lingyun quickly surveyed her surroundings and said:

"Yun Jin, come to my side."

Su Yunjin immediately ascended to the roof and stood beside Chen Lingyun.

"Sister Zhao, guard the door."

Zhao Yuanzhen positioned herself by the door of the cottage without attracting attention.

"Ningning, the stele."

Lin Ning quickly moved to the side of the stele and, together with Zhao Yuanzhen, guarded the entrance of the cottage from both sides.

"Yan Yu," Chen Lingyun paused for a moment, "behind the house."

At Chen Lingyun's words, Yan Yu gave a slight start before quickly running to the back of the cottage, disappearing from everyone's view.

He understood what tactics Chen Lingyun intended to use.

With Chen Lingyun and Su Yunjin on the roof, they could comfortably use the Impact Curse to shoot at a distance, not needing to worry about their line of sight being obstructed by various oblique Flying Swords.

With Lin Ning and Zhao Yuanzhen standing below, it would seem as if they were guarding the main entrance of the cottage. So, if Li Zhaojiang's team were to teleport in and notice two people on the roof shooting and two guarding the door, with the vital Yan Yu nowhere to be seen, what would they think?

They would most likely conclude that Yan Yu had already dashed into the cottage at the center of the mysterious realm, trying to deal with the guardian by himself or even secretly refining the control center.

In that case, if they decided to use their numerical advantage to quickly eliminate the four outside the cottage, Yan Yu could, depending on the situation on the battlefield, suddenly enter from any direction and give Li Zhaojiang's team a little surprise attack.

Of course, if the opponents were more aggressive and also sent people into the cottage, possibly alerting the guardian, then that would be very advantageous for Yan Yu's side.

However, this ambush strategy had a flaw, due to the mysterious realm's random teleportation mechanism, you did not know where Li Zhaojiang's team would appear.

If they came from the direction facing the main entrance of the cottage, and could not see Yan Yu hiding at the back, then this tactic could work; but what if the teleportation spot was behind the cottage?

If they entered and the first thing they did not see was Lin Ning and Zhao Yuanzhen, but Yan Yu instead... then they would have to adjust their tactics, and it would depend on whether Chen Lingyun's quick thinking was sufficient.

Princess, it's up to you!

Yan Yu silently counted seconds in his heart, and when he felt it was about the right time, he suddenly heard Chen Lingyun say in the channel:

"Coming from 2 o'clock direction."

Good, they're coming from the front!

Yan Yu sneered internally, remaining hidden at the back, biding his time.

Meanwhile, Li Zhaojiang and his team entered the mysterious realm and, with a sweeping glance over the flat valley, immediately noticed the cottage at the center and the four girls guarding it.

Where was Yan Yu?

"Where is Yan Yu?!" Li Zhaojiang was instantly alarmed.

Could this guy have already entered the cottage, taking on the guardian in a one-on-one fight?

No, surely he hadn't already defeated the guardian and begun refining the control center?

"Don't panic." Li Minghu said calmly, "Refining the center in 3 minutes is definitely not enough time."

"Xingyuan, you circle around and check behind the house."

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