Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Yan Yu briefly inspected his Dantian and realized that not much True Yuan remained. He sighed inwardly.

In my previous life, I relied on others' True Yuan and repeatedly faced the peril of running out; now that I've cultivated my own, to still experience exhaustion of True Yuan is truly speechless.

No choice, being habituated to turning the tides is just like this, not encountering numerous enemies and dangerous situations is no fun.

Yan Yu continued to muster his spirits, urging the Huang Tingjian to repeatedly launch assaults against Suo Wen.

Now no longer conserving his True Yuan, his speed and force were both enhanced from before. Suo Wen was being pressed so hard he was sweating profusely; unable to keep up with his Golden Light Taoism Method, he had to frequently throw out the Nine Heavens Yin Demon Divine Evil Prayer Beads to block the flashes of the sword.

The distant sorcerers hadn't noticed yet, watching Suo Wen fend off faster and faster and thought to themselves, could it be their leader was about to use his killer move? To behead the Longcheng Flying General on the spot?

But soon, some of them realized something was off. It was the Longcheng Flying General who was speeding up the pace, Suo Wen was being forced to quicken his rhythm on the defensive and ultimately, was falling behind.

Should they go and support him?

So the question arose. If everyone went to help, Longcheng Flying General would turn and flee, and they'd be back to the previous scenario: hundreds of people chasing after the enemy's tail, being led around like walking a dog. Furthermore, the Rikoku Cultivators hiding in the forest below might also take the opportunity to escape.

But if they did not rescue, what if Suo Wen couldn't hold out?

The disadvantage of the uncultured civilian routes was exposed again. Once there was a difference in opinions, unless there was a powerful individual who could override everyone's voice, forget about them arriving at a consensus spontaneously.

Very quickly, the different Witchcraft Squads started to disintegrate. Those inclined to rescue Suo Wen promptly broke away and rushed over to his side; those who felt it was unnecessary stayed where they were to observe, and yet others continued to patrol the original route... causing the scene to become chaotic at once.

The opportunity had arrived!

Hiding in the shadows, Chen Lingyun gave the command, and everyone urged their sword lights forward, killing out of the forest and charging towards the sorcerers above.

The Rikoku Cultivators, who had been lurking in the dark all along, suddenly appeared and did not choose to flee; instead, they charged at them, causing even more panic amongst the sorcerers.

The brave and daring did not hesitate to meet the charge head-on; the timid and cowardly quickly retreated to find teammates to regroup; the tactically minded swiftly went to inform their respective small leaders since numerical superiority also needed to be exercised through team command… But where were the small leaders? They had run off to save their leader Suo Wen! What to do now?

And so, several others tried to take the place of the small leaders to command the team, and there were quite a few of them. Some said, "Form a rank first, Tattooed Charm Masters to the front," others said, "Yin Sorcerers activate the Ghost Walking Technique and start maneuvering," while others without any strategic mindset just bellowed, "Charge!

Kill!", with commands utterly conflicting with one another, leaving no one knowing whose orders to follow, so they simply did their own thing.

Chen Lingyun's side, however, was an example of efficient command. Su Yunjin and Tao Xingyuan wielded large-scale Taoism Methods to scatter the enemies who were grouping together; Lin Ning and Li Minghu controlled their swords to strike everywhere, further fragmenting an already fragmented formation.

Jiang Hong and Li Zhaojiang were responsible for intercepting attacks; the Magnetic Divine Light could attract most magic treasures related to metal, while scattered attacks were intercepted by Jiang Hong's Sword Control.

If they were Resentful Spirits or Yin Ghosts, Chen Lingyun would simply wave the Nine Heavens Yin Demon Prison Banner, and the Heart Capturing Technique would immediately draw the opposition into the banner.

Zhao Yuanzhen and Wang Haoran were on standby the whole time, following Chen Lingyun's commands to behead the enemy.

Whenever someone from the opposition stuck their head out and started to integrate the surrounding sorcerers, they would quickly immobilize them with the story of history, and then the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin would strike their vital points—this method was tried and true, without fail.

If the White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin didn't finish them off, then Xie Ruoxi would come over, and one blast of Thunder Method would pulverize everything—no matter whether it was a magic treasure or Flying Sword for protection, all would be shattered.

Although the sorcerers outnumbered them by more than seven or eight times, they were routed by the Rikoku Cultivator squad, and soon people began to flee, rushing towards the forest below.

The situation was increasingly favorable for Chen Lingyun's side, but for Yan Yu, it was becoming ever more perilous. The sorcerers who had come to support Suo Wen had already begun their assault on him.

Dodging these attacks was not difficult, since most were straight-forward Curse Techniques and the like, but with a few Yin Sorcerers shielding him, Suo Wen took the opportunity to attempt an escape with the Ghost Walking Technique; this was unacceptable.

To knock on the mountain to alarm the tiger, and to alert the Witch King, the Golden Light Sorcerer Suo Wen had to die there!

Yan Yu swiftily dodged the barrages of attacks and continued the pursuit of Suo Wen, then suddenly glanced towards the distant Chen Lingyun.

Chen Lingyun also looked over at the same time.

There was no eye contact or secret communication, but the tacit understanding built over two lifetimes was enough to leave everything unsaid.

Chen Lingyun quietly waved the Nine Heavens Yin Demon Prison Banner, directing the Heart Capturing Technique at the fleeing Suo Wen, instantly sucking away the flight-enabling Yin Ghosts from him.

Suo Wen suddenly plunged towards the forest below, his guard squad promptly attempted to save him, and they managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

Yan Yu's sword light entered the thick of the forest, scanning the thickness of the foliage with his Divine Sense as he passed through.

Good, it would definitely block satellite surveillance.

As the sword light reached the bottom of the forest, in an instant, Sword-Human Unity was achieved, and the sword light surged!

The sudden burst of majestic sword light swept over three sorcerers, cleanly bisecting them in one stroke.

Leading the escape, Suo Wen turned his head and saw Yan Yu's Sword-Human Unity move, and he nearly spewed blood:

So you've been holding back all along, haven't you! Treacherous Lu Kingdom Sword Immortal!

This feeling was indescribable. To give an analogy, it was like you believed your opponent had played all his cards, then they slap down another card. That should be the last card, right? And then slap, another one...

He flung the Golden Light Taoism Method backward, and Yan Yu merely sidestepped in an instant, dodging the method before charging forward, killing two more sorcerers without any obstruction or delay, his rhythm undisturbed.

The movement speed of Sword-Human Unity was far faster than that of Sword Control slashing.

Suo Wen quickly realized that if he kept running like this, he would eventually be killed one by one by the opponent's sword light, so he quickly ordered everyone to stop, turn around, and fight a decisive battle with the Longcheng Flying General!

This was exactly what Yan Yu intended: his remaining True Yuan could no longer support extended Sword-Human Unity.

However, the essence of war is mutual deception. The less endurance you have, the more you must appear to be at ease, the more you must make the opponent think you are rich in True Yuan.

Now that Suo Wen had fallen for the trick by ordering his troops to stop and turn back for a desperate fight, decapitating them became much easier.

Yan Yu flicked his sleeve and shook out a Silver Pellet, which quickly transformed into a slender-legged beauty with bright eyes and a gleaming smile, her expressions vividly lifelike.

Suo Wen's eyes widened in disbelief and he couldn't help but ask:

"You... how many more tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

"Haha!" Yan Yu laughed, "I have far too many cards in my hand!"

He and the puppet Ah Zhen stood side by side, activating the Shifting Technique simultaneously.

Charge!

The Curse Technique Master spurred the Curse Technique, aiming at him, but puppet Ah Zhen rushed forward, her arm blades gleaming coldly, exerting tremendous force from her heart, swiftly severing them all with a swish.

A Tattooed Charm Master charged from the side, summoning a Vajra Body several meters tall, swinging down his demon-subduing staff fiercely.

Puppet Ah Zhen instantly sidestepped horizontally to dodge urgently, relying solely on her physical endurance without the Cloud Ascension Technique, dragging two long grooves with her feet on the ground.

Yan Yu united with his sword in the blink of an eye as well, soaring out of the range of the demon-subduing staff's strike, driving his sword light into the Tattooed Charm Master's throat, his head falling to the ground.

Suo Wen once again raised the Nine Heavens Yin Demon Divine Evil Prayer Beads to strike at Yan Yu but was intercepted halfway by puppet Ah Zhen!

The Divine Evil Prayer Beads locked onto Ah Zhen's arms, fiercely permeating them with the Yin Demon Qi.

If it were any ordinary puppet treasure, just the slightest touch of Yin Demon Qi would immediately damage its essence, losing all spirituality.

But Ah Zhen's body contained the Divine Dragon Wood, which deterred all evil, and she did not suffer from the erosion at all. Instead, she firmly held on to the Divine Evil Prayer Beads, rendering them immobile, unable to advance or retreat, futilely rattling and shaking violently as if in a death struggle.

Suo Wen never expected that after unleashing this treasure, it would be "confiscated" by the opponent. Without time to consider a counterstrategy, he could only display the Golden Light Taoism Method again to force Yan Yu back.

Yan Yu, in Sword-Human Unity, suddenly rose, narrowly grazing the upper boundary of the Golden Light's attack range, then swiftly descended at full speed with a diagonal piercing strike, a quick and precise thrust like a rainbow penetrating the sun, viciously piercing through Suo Wen's chest!

Separating from the sword, he landed steadily. Puppet Ah Zhen stepped quickly, throwing down the out-of-control Nine Heavens Yin Demon Divine Evil Prayer Beads on the ground, and then dashed off to chase down the remaining scattered sorcerers, with screams occasionally echoing from the depths of the woods.

Yan Yu quietly took out his phone and snapped a photo of the dead Golden Light Sorcerer Suo Wen's body, sending it back to the command post at the rear.

The enemy general has fallen!

To be honest, taking Suo Wen's head amid thousands of troops wasn't difficult, but if he had started with that approach, the remaining sorcerers would have scattered like birds and beasts, and it would have been good to kill even ten percent of them.

Suo Wen had to die, and so did his sorcerers - all must die!

Only with substantial deaths could the Witch King be deterred, could he be persuaded to halt his northern campaign and instead turn to quelling internal strife. That was Yan Yu's strategic goal for this mission!

Now the goal had been achieved—at the cost of his True Yuan nearly being depleted.

Well, before the news reaches the Witch King, I can finally have a good rest.

Yan Yu stayed by Suo Wen's body until Lin Ning and the others landed. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire

On the other side, the news once it reached the Privy Council, stirred up waves like a stone causing ripples, creating a massive shock and outcry.

The Golden Light Sorcerer Suo Wen might be unfamiliar to the combat team's cultivators, but in the intelligence agency, his name was notorious. This man was one of the Witch King Long Po Ming's chief lieutenants, playing a significant role in the Witch King's ascension, and was the largest supporter of the "pro-invasion faction" within the Witch King Allied Forces.

Among the numerous sorcerer lords second only to the Witch King, only Suo Wen was an unwavering supporter of the Witch King. United with the Witch King, he could suppress the other great lords from daring to rebel.

With Suo Wen's death, the Witch King's foundation of rule is unstable. It's an excellent opportunity to contact other sorcerer lords and incite them to rebel.

And the first on the intelligence agency's list is another of the Witch King Long Po Ming's lieutenants—Ajarn Meng.