Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Rikoku Cultivators have the "Sword Flight" technique, and sorcerers also possess a similar spell, called "Krahang".

As of now, the Privy Council hasn't provided an accurate translation, but it is known that it involves a Yin sorcerer activating a spell to command a certain type of Yin ghost to lie on a comrade's back, which enables them to be as light as a feather and take off from the ground, where they pass, there's always a burst of cold wind—In a previous life, Rikoku called this spell "Ghost Walking Technique".

The weakness of the Ghost Walking Technique is quite obvious. For instance, the sorcerer who is possessed can't control their flight, as the possessing Yin ghost's movement only follows the commands of the Yin sorcerer. Some sorcerers cleverly use large fans to try to influence the direction of their flight, but it's actually not very effective.

That is to say, by simply killing the team's Yin sorcerer, one could break everyone's flying spell. Of course, the enemy is surely well aware of this and would definitely focus on using various concealment methods.

At Yan Yu's command, everyone immediately launched into action with Sword Control, engaging in a melee with the opposing sorcerers.

Lin Ning, Li Minghu, and Jiang Hong are all Sword Immortals, the fastest in reaction speed, employing their Sword Flight slashing technique, transforming it into a formidable sword light that instantly killed three opponents.

The rest of the group also used their divine abilities, hurling spells and magical artifacts at the enemy haphazardly. Only Yan Yu did not join the attack, instead controlling the Huang Tingjian to patrol the battlefield, specifically intercepting threatening attacks from the opposition, to prevent any danger to their own side.

With the Longcheng Flying General personally providing cover, the others were free to act, and soon the battlefield turned one-sided. Chen Lingyun, positioned at the rear and lazily casting the Impact Curse, suddenly heard Yan Yu transmit a message:

"Ten o'clock direction, 70 meters, a hidden enemy is trying to escape, with the Prison Banner."

Chen Lingyun's eyes lit up, and she quickly activated the Nine Heavens Yin Demon Prison Banner, exerting her full power to employ the Heart Capturing Technique, sweeping forcefully towards the ten o'clock direction.

Sure enough, in the seemingly empty space between the trees, as soon as the Prison Banner's radiance swept over, a staggering figure was revealed.

"Kuntilanak," a former translation in Rikoku for the "Ghost Transformation Technique," is used to let a Yin sorcerer be possessed by a Yin ghost, thus turning into a spirit shadow difficult for the naked eye to discern. Even if discovered by a Cultivator's Divine Sense, it can still be immune to most physical damage, and its life-saving effect is undeniably strong.

Unfortunately for him, he was the least lucky to encounter the Nine Heavens Yin Demon Prison Banner, which was the most effective against Yin ghosts. The semi-transparent Resentful Spirit possessing him, hit by the Heart Capturing Technique, suddenly let out a pitiful howl of pain as it was forcibly ripped from the body of the Yin sorcerer and sucked into the Prison Banner.

Suddenly bereft of the possessing Yin ghost, the Yin sorcerer plummeted unprepared from the sky, only to be pierced through the skull by a White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin fired by Zhao Yuanzhen, falling then and there, as dead as one can be!

The Demonic Sect Enchantress used to control her physical body with Sword Control for remote puppet killing, and the puppets, known as "the most complex magical artifacts to operate," require meticulous direction for every movement, posture, and attack method.

Now, with the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin, the difficulty of operation had dropped more than a notch, making the Demonic Sect Enchantress's killing spree all the more thrilling!

Su Yunjin trapped the opposite target with the South Dipper Star River formation, kill!

Li Zhaojiang absorbed the enemy's magical artifact with the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light, kill!

Chen Lingyun shook the Prison Banner, causing some distant enemy to fall? Never mind the details, just kill! Not a single head would escape my finishing blow!

Zhao Yuanzhen just focused on finishing off the enemies, but didn't expect that the death of this Yin sorcerer would trigger a domino effect over the entire field, with all the still alive sorcerers falling from the sky like wing-broken crows, rapidly plummeting into the morass.

The Sea of Corpse Birth was notoriously poison-filled to the extreme, and those sorcerers, falling helplessly into it, were dissolved by the mud sea within mere moments, reduced to sinister white skeletons.

"Let's go." Yan Yu saw the battle's end and nonchalantly waved his hand, leading the group away from the area.

There was no need to evaluate the performance in this battle; the opposing sorcerers were just too weak, almost on par with local military manor Cultivators in Rikoku; pitted against the top-tier Cultivator team from the same country, the outcome was naturally one-sided.

In fact, even without the others' intervention, just the three Sword Immortals—Lin Ning, Li Minghu, and Jiang Hong—given more time, could also have killed all the opponents without injury.

But if the number of adversaries had been several orders of magnitude greater, and the difficulty of the melee had increased accordingly, relying solely on the Sword Immortals would hardly be enough to handle such a large-scale battle, which is why coordination with other magic Cultivators, assistant officers, and envoys was necessary.

As they continued to seek the next group of sorcerers, Li Minghu took advantage of the calm before encountering new enemies to reflect on the battle, as was the habit of the Qing'an team, saying:

"Everyone did well just now, but there are a few points to take note of."

"Jiang Hong, don't just focus on attacking; a Sword Immortal must have a good overall perspective. There were many attacks you could have intercepted but missed. Yan was the one who had to step in to intercept them. You must adjust your offense and defense rhythm in time according to the overall situation on the battlefield."

Jiang Hong nodded seriously, indicating he would take it to heart.

"Haoran, your Qing Shi Chang Jian is a strong control type, it's not just about waiting for others to coordinate with you, you also need to be aware of providing others opportunities to coordinate with you," Li Minghu continued, "You could learn from Sister Zhao's ability to seize the right moment."

Why are you also calling her Sister Zhao? Yan Yu wondered, but then saw Wang Haoran laughingly say:

"Sister Zhao's talent in targeting with her artifacts is indeed formidable, and I would appreciate more guidance from her in the future."

"Naturally," Zhao Yuanzhen, secretly thrilled by the praise, maintained a senior's posture, and said indifferently.

"Tao Xingyuan," Li Minghu pondered for a moment, "I'm not very knowledgeable about spells, so you can keep taking advice from Li Zhaojiang on the details. My suggestion is not to panic too much on the battlefield. It's better to be prepared and wait for the right moment than to strike recklessly without achieving any feats. Observe how Yun Jin selects her targets and gradually learn."

"Alright," Tao Xingyuan replied earnestly.

After commenting on the performance of all three team members, Li Minghu did not criticize his younger brother (after all, he needed to maintain his authority as the team leader) but instead turned his gaze to Yan Yu and asked softly:

"Does Captain Yan have any opinions?"

"Nothing much," Yan Yu responded, "The enemy is too weak. It's like the test questions being too simple; you can get a high score even by haphazardly answering them, so it's meaningless to nitpick and analyze mistakes."

Daring to say that my sister is nitpicking? Li Zhaojiang was just about to retort when he heard Li Minghu laughingly say:

"Indeed, I was perhaps too anxious."

"Everyone else has had their say, but I do have a question for you," Yan Yu suddenly shifted the tone, continuing, "You're both engaging in Sword Flight across the battlefield and keeping an eye on everyone's performance. Doesn't that tire you out?"

"Discussing whether it's tiring or not is meaningless," Li Minghu replied tactfully, "Both the team leader and deputy team leader, apart from leading the charge, must also take on the responsibility of leading the entire team. Captain Yan, weren't you also saving the day throughout the battle?"

"No, I was just slacking off," Yan Yu earnestly denied, "Just like Li Zhaojiang."

"How was I slacking off!" Li Zhaojiang immediately became furious, "I was focused on the attack, okay?"

His Yuan Magnetic Divine Light would interfere with his teammates' Flying Swords, so he couldn't use it frequently. Most of the time, he deployed his Sword Control Technique to harm the enemy. Yet now, Yan Yu had described it as "slacking off," which was unbearable for him.

"Perhaps it's because the enemy is too weak, and there's no need for you to go all out," Li Minghu mused.

"Of course," Yan Yu concluded indifferently, "If a lion had to use all its strength to fight a rabbit, how many rabbits could it catch in a day? Would it be enough to fill its belly?"

Li Minghu fell silent in thought.

She discerned the implication of Yan Yu's words—the trashy enemy was not worth exhausting herself over; it would be better to rest properly.

Li Zhaojiang had wanted to quarrel some more, but even Yan Yu's statement left him at a loss for words.

In a way, he agreed with the perspective of "not letting sister overexert herself"... although he did not want to openly agree with Yan Yu.

The group continued on their journey via Sword Flight, when suddenly someone sent a voice transmission to Yan Yu—it was Lin Ning, who couldn't help but ask:

"How come you only commented on them? What about me?"

"Didn't I already say it?" Yan Yu asked, puzzled.

"Say what?"

"The enemy is too weak, so there's no need for you all to go all out, and hence no point in a detailed analysis."

"Then why did you still help Deputy Team Leader Li with his analysis to find issues?" Lin Ning continued to question.

"What, are you jealous?" Yan Yu countered.

"I just can't stand you playing favorites!" Lin Ning promptly got angry.

"Shh, don't make a fuss," Yan Yu soothed her patiently, "I'll teach you a few powerful moves later."

Lin Ning wanted to stay annoyed for a while longer, but she couldn't help breaking into a smile soon after.

But she didn't expect her subtle expression to be fully observed by Su Yunjin beside her.

Although she couldn't hear their secret voice transmission, the literary girl with a delicate disposition could guess some of it and decided to test Yan Yu by asking:

"What did the team leader promise Ningning? As the team leader, you treat all team members equally, right?"

Yan Yu suddenly felt a heavy sense of suffocation and hastily plucked up the courage to say:

"You too!"