Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

In early November, the Lingyan Pavilion was opened again to hold a collective award ceremony for the cultivators who had participated in the defense battle of the Southern Border.

The medals were made of pure gold, and considering the current price of gold, they were probably worth a significant amount of money. The medals featured a tropical rainforest background with a soldier holding a gun standing steadfastly in the center of the jungle, his expression solemn and his gaze resolute.

At the same time, all the cultivators received national certificates and honorary titles: Guardians of Nanjiang.

Additionally, there was a cash reward of twenty-five million for each person—this was merely a drop in the bucket for the treasury, since these cultivators actually had very limited spending power. Most of the money would be saved up, kept in the bank vaults; rounding up, it was almost as if this money hadn't been distributed at all.

Everyone cherished the pure gold medals and took pride in their honorary titles, but they were indifferent to the cash rewards.

After all, they really weren't short on money.

Investing? No one at home knew how to do business; buying property? Their relatives were all living in the military manor's compound, there was no need; purchasing luxury goods? They spent all day, every day, cultivating—when would they have the time to go shopping and flaunt their wealth?!
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This was a common problem worldwide: Transcendents generally did not participate in the economic production activities of human society.

They were either cultivating or getting stronger from start to finish, yet they required a large amount of resources… In every country or region where the Transcendent's regime was dominant, the living standards of ordinary mortals were rapidly declining, with no bottom in sight.

After the award ceremony had ended, everyone went back to their respective homes.

Considering that no war tasks would be assigned in the short term, Su Yunjin went to collect the first melt of snow water again, taking a temporary leave for a period.

Yan Yu also needed to stay in Pingjing for a few days. As one of the country's only two cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level, he had to go through the same scientific research treatment that Lord Master had previously undergone.

Having blood drawn, hair taken, undergoing machine scans...

As the examination went on, the researchers started to feel that something was off.

What is the Spirit Root? The Spirit Root is not an actual physical organ but an "affinity of the body towards Spiritual Energy."

Yan Yu's affinity for Spiritual Energy was extremely poor, so poor that there was almost no spontaneous qigong effect in a high-density Spiritual Energy environment, leading researchers to repeatedly verify the data... They even brought in another cultivating researcher as a control group for comparison.

Still, there was no issue; Yan Yu's cultivation aptitude, according to the instruments, indeed wasn't great.

Of course, the results of the instrument tests didn't represent everything, otherwise, they couldn't explain the fact that he had already reached the Marrow Cleansing Stage.

The technical level of instruments is constantly progressing. Take the blood test for the college entrance exams in May of the previous year, for example. A cold, allergies, the female period... all of these things led to an inability to detect Spiritual Energy, which was only slowly discovered and gradually improved upon later.

Therefore, everyone could only treat Yan Yu as a kind of cultivation aptitude that "the instrument temporarily couldn't detect," conveniently using it to enrich the database of scientific research cases.

After today's research was finished, Yan Yu left the experimental base and saw Liu Longtao and Ye Jun waiting outside for him.

"Old Yan, you're quite something," Liu Longtao chuckled, "I heard your cultivation aptitude is average, did you evolve to Foundation Establishment by using 'Wind Spirit's Shadow'?"

"That's about it, you give me a cheat and see," Yan Yu responded.

"Haha, I don't need one," Liu Longtao said proudly, "I can level up faster than you without cheats."

Ye Jun sighed helplessly beside them. Usually, the team leader was a very mature and steady character, but every time he met Yan Yu, he became like a fisherman who often went fishing, always trying to compete and outdo the other, making it hard to know which one of them actually had the issue.

"Out to eat?" Liu Longtao opened the car door.

"Let's go," Yan Yu said.

The three of them went to a hot pot restaurant to enjoy mutton slices cooked in a copper pot and drank over a dozen little cups of liquor, and with a hearty laugh Liu Longtao said:

"I remember the first time we had a meal together, you gave me a good scolding, telling me that my personality wasn't suitable to partner with Ye Jun. What do you think now?"

"I still hold the same view," Yan Yu said bluntly. "Ye Jun is completely wasted on you."

Ye Jun, standing to the side, weakly pressed his forehead, having no desire to get involved in their childish conversation.

"Forget it." Liu Longtao chuckled, "Why don't you try pursuing her? If you can win her over and make her follow you willingly, I won't stand in your way."

"That's enough." Ye Jun, developing a headache, explained to Yan Yu, "He's had too much to drink, doesn't even use 'you' anymore."

"I know." Yan Yu narrowed his eyes, looking at Lord Master who was still pouring his own drinks, and suddenly said, "Looks like Lord Master has been under a lot of pressure lately."

"The Civil Cultivator Management Regulations just came out," Ye Jun explained. "He's quite annoyed by it."

Civil cultivators, in the previous Lu Country, were unrecognized. First, you couldn't come forward, and I would pretend there were no civil cultivators; second, once you did come forward, those who broke the law were killed, and those who didn't were taken away for management, then we'd continue pretending there were no civil cultivators.

As time passed during the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, more and more civil cultivators accidentally stumbled upon the path of cultivation. The upper echelons of the Privy Council could no longer turn a deaf ear and were forced to roll out the Civil Cultivator Management Regulations, essentially formalizing what had been discreetly managed before.

"What's so annoying about that?" Yan Yu asked in surprise. "Wasn't it always managed this way before the regulations came out?"

"It was like that," Ye Jun said. "At the end of last month, a murder occurred in Pingjing. The whole family of the victim was killed, and the murderer was a civil cultivator. Later investigations revealed that this person had excellent qualifications for cultivation, so the Dingbei Army discussed with The Judicial Department and decided not to go through the lawsuit process.

Instead, they made a compensation agreement with the victim's family for understanding and then secretly recruited the murderer."

"Weren't the whole family killed, where did the family come from?" Yan Yu asked, frowning.

"He had a distant cousin," Ye Jun sighed.

If it was a distant cousin, then the relationship was certainly not close, so naturally, they would choose to take the money for peace. Who was going to fight for justice for the deceased family?

Therefore, that civil cultivator's cultivation talent must have been genuinely exceptional to the point that the Dingbei Army was even willing to intervene criminally to make The Judicial Department drop the lawsuit.

"Who is the murderer? What's his name?" Yan Yu continued to ask.

"Fan Wentang," Ye Jun replied. "Originally a jobless thug, he was acting as a bouncer in a nightclub. After being splashed in the face with drinks by a patron, he held a grudge, followed the patron home, and then killed him. However, I heard that the patron was not a good person either, having been involved in several fights and arrests..."

Before she could finish speaking, Liu Longtao, who had been silent, suddenly said:

"Even if he had a criminal record, his children were innocent, right? To not even spare the kids, he's fucking worse than a beast."

Yan Yu also fell silent.

He had heard of Fan Wentang's name in his previous life. Perhaps because the Dingbei Army had suppressed the case, he hadn't known that the other party was discovered by the Dingbei Army because of committing murder.

This person really did have a poor character, an arrogant and unyielding personality, but his combat strength was indeed formidable. He was an Envoy by profession, the same as Chen Lingyun, playing with Necromancers, and was known as the country's number one Necromancer. If one set aside his character, his capabilities indeed warranted the Dingbei Army's efforts to protect him.

"I can't take it anymore," Liu Longtao suddenly put down his wine glass, stood up, and said, "Young master is going to teach him a lesson!"

"Hey, don't get worked up..." Before Ye Jun could dissuade him, Lord Master had already left the shop with large strides, transforming into a beam of sword light shooting into the sky.

"Follow?" Yan Yu asked.

"Of course!" Ye Jun grabbed the satchel beside her and swiftly stood up.