Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

After playing basketball, the four brothers returned to the villa and went downstairs to observe the girls' swordsmanship training.

As they watched, they couldn't help but feel that something was off: the intensity of the training seemed a tad high.

There was no need to mention Yan Yu, who had Lin Ning and Zhao Yuanzhen running all over the place; although Li Minghu was up against three, Chen Lingyun, Su Yunjin, and Xie Ruoxi did not use Taoism Method or command ghosts but fought her with Sword Control Technique, exchanging blows back and forth.

"How is it?" Li Zhaojiang turned his head to ask Jiang Hong.

In the Zhenghai Team, aside from Li Minghu, Jiang Hong was the only professional Sword Immortal. After watching carefully for a moment, he said:

"Their level isn't up to par."

Exactly! Three against one in swordsmanship combat, and they still couldn't break through Li Minghu's defensive sword circle; their level obviously isn't up to par!

"So, what's the purpose of this training?" Li Zhaojiang asked again.

"They're probably practicing the Sword Control Technique," Jiang Hong said seriously.

Li Zhaojiang was momentarily speechless, complaining:

"Swordsmanship combat, if they're not practicing Sword Control, what else could they be doing? What I mean is, none of the three of them are Sword Immortals, so why practice the Sword Control Technique?"

"Could there be a possibility that Vice-Captain Li only knows Sword Control?" Tao Xingyuan pondered and said, "If you ask Vice-Captain Li to practice Taoism Method or command ghosts, she wouldn't know how."

"Then she shouldn't be the one sparring," Li Zhaojiang became suspicious, "Yan Yu must have some ulterior motive."

So, Captain, this is what you're fixated on... Everyone was speechless.

But that's the way Li Zhaojiang was, seemingly a normal person, with no abnormalities in his behavior—provided you didn't mention his sister or Yan Yu to him.

Last month, when someone in school pursued Vice-Captain Li, Li Zhaojiang went asking for a duel, saying, "If you want to be my brother-in-law, you at least have to beat me," scaring the other party into deleting Li Minghu from their phone on the spot and swearing never to pursue his sister again.

Later, Li Zhaojiang explained to the team members: "That guy didn't deserve it!"

At the time, Tao Xingyuan couldn't help but ask, "Does Yan Yu deserve it?" and was chased and beaten up by Li Zhaojiang everywhere... As for the answer, it goes without saying; do you think he dared to make Yan Yu delete Li Minghu as a friend? Impossible.

At most, he'd sarcastically say that Yan Yu "keeps a harem in Jinling and forgets to return home," or delude himself by saying, "Sister is not interested in him."

Your sister is willingly helping your brother-in-law train the team! How long are you going to fool yourself with your eyes covered?

"I don't think there's any ulterior motive." Jiang Hong, too, couldn't see it clearly, "Why don't we ask?"

Just then, Yan Yu and Li Minghu finished a round of training and each found a place to rest. The crowd gathered around Li Minghu and began to inquire.

"It's just Sword Control Technique training," Li Minghu said as she wiped sweat with a towel, coughed a few times, and took the water bottle her brother handed her, gulping down the water.

"They're not Sword Immortals, why practice the Sword Control Technique?" Li Zhaojiang asked with a frown. "Could it be a ruse to probe your current true swordsmanship level under the guise of practicing sword technique?"

"What are you thinking?" Li Minghu looked surprised and chuckled, "My swordsmanship level, after so many battles in the Southern Border, isn't it already crystal clear to everyone?"

"Perhaps Yan Yu suspects you're hiding your true strength," Li Zhaojiang speculated.

"I'm starting to wonder if your brain has taken in water," Li Minghu sighed, "Ah Jiang, the Zhenghai Team is known for seeking my help to train teams, and what about you? Spending all day either gaming or playing basketball... Don't you feel any sense of urgency?"

"I'm sorry, big sis," Li Zhaojiang immediately raised both hands in surrender, "I'll organize training right away!"

He turned to call out to Yan Yu:

"Old Yan, take us for training, will you? How about the four of us spar with you?"

One should know, Li Zhaojiang's Yuan Magnetic Divine Light had a miraculous effect on all things made of metal in the world, and most flying swords were no exception. Considering that Yan Yu was publicly known as a Sword Immortal, the cunning intent behind his suggestion was obvious.

"Sure," Yan Yu said with a smile, "pure Sword Control Technique sparring, huh."

"Pure my foot!" Li Zhaojiang immediately retorted, "I'm a spell caster, and you want to spar with me using the Sword Control Technique? Do you have no shame?"

"Why would I be ashamed?" Yan Yu asked in surprise, "Didn't you say you wanted to take me on four against one? Doesn't your team still include Jiang Hong?"

Everyone's eyes instinctively turned to Jiang Hong, who frowned slightly and said in a low voice:

"I suggest we not fight."

Because Sword Immortals lacked diverse tactical methods, if two Sword Immortals were not much different in strength, and one of them had the help of other teammates, the chances of victory were quite high... The question was, considering the gap between Jiang Hong and Yan Yu's swordsmanship, could Li Zhaojiang, Tao Xingyuan, and Wang Haoran make up for it?

Jiang Hong himself didn't think it was likely.

Li Zhaojiang was also speechless, mainly because the idea of four against one was rather disgraceful. Even if they won, it wouldn't be well received—the only benefit would be the chance to give Yan Yu a good thrashing.

But seeing Jiang Hong also lacked confidence, what if they ganged up on Yan Yu and still lost? Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?

"Not coming, huh," Yan Yu said with a chuckle, "Then let's continue training."

"Forget it, forget it," Li Zhaojiang decisively chose to back down. Mainly because although his own level of Sword Control Technique was decent, he wasn't just behind Yan Yu, but also couldn't compete with Lin Ning or Sister Zhao.
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Wait, hold on. Isn't Zhao Jiuzhen an Assistant Officer? Her Sword Control Technique is that strong?!

After resting for a few minutes, Yan Yu's side resumed training.

Li Zhaojiang looked over at Yan Yu's trio. Zhao Yuanzhen was using the Sword Control Technique to face off against Yan Yu directly, as the Yin Wind Sword and Huang Ting Sword clashed again and again.

Lin Ning, meanwhile, stepped lightly and continuously on the ground, using some sort of mysterious stepping technique that made her move unpredictably as if she were a nimble kite drifting in the breeze, attacking from various directions in conjunction with the Yin Wind Sword.

What was that?

The Qing'an Team had never encountered steps like those before and were quite fascinated by Lin Ning's graceful movements.

"That's the Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step," Li Minghu explained, having finished discussing the previous round with the three young ladies, now sharing with his teammates.

"Step technique?" Li Zhaojiang asked.

"Right, similar to a higher-order version of the Cloud Ascension Technique," Li Minghu replied briefly. "It ignores inertia and gravity and is much faster than the common Cloud Ascension Technique. Its compatibility with the Sword Control Technique should be very high."

"Since it's highly compatible with Sword Immortals, we'll have to develop a stepping technique of our own," Li Zhaojiang made a mental note.

The group trained until 11 p.m. before returning to their respective rooms to rest.

As per their usual practice, Yan Yu and Zhao Yuanzhen dual cultivated, sitting cross-legged on the bed facing each other and circulated their breath for a while, until Zhao Yuanzhen suddenly said:

"After entering the Marrow Cleansing Stage, the speed at which you circulate the Microcosmic Orbit has indeed increased a lot. Unlike before, you're not dragging me down anymore."

Speaking of which," Yan Yu suddenly remembered something. "After Marrow Cleansing, can we use puppets to assist in cultivation?"

"Yes," replied Zhao Yuanzhen. "But the speed of Qi Refinement depends on the grade of the puppet itself. The more heavenly and earthly treasures it contains, the faster it can absorb Spiritual Energy."

"Our current grade of puppets isn't high, although they have Celestial River-fixed Treasure Iron as their cores and limbs made of Hundred-Year Divine Dragon Wood, the rest of their parts are still mundane materials. The cultivation enhancement might not be significant."

"Even the smallest mosquito is still flesh," Yan Yu mused. "Shall we try?"

The two summoned their puppets, Ah Mi and Ah Zhen, a pair of tall and slender twin beauties—three if including Zhao Yuanzhen themselves.

The two puppets extended their arms and each supported Yan Yu's and Zhao Yuanzhen's shoulders, forming a square formation, and began the process of breath circulation and Qi refinement.