Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

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Inside the airport, Anna and her two sisters ordered their food and sat in a Kaifeng cuisine restaurant, casually chatting with each other.

The eldest sister was named "Sofia," and the second sister was named "Maria," both were the biological daughters of Anna's aunt and had now all become witches.

The two cousins were not only over 1.8 meters tall, with large bone structures and especially broad shoulders, but they also had dark purple eyeshadow on their faces, wore silver enchanted nose rings, and had dense tattoos of spells on their arms, necks, and around their belly buttons, which made many men who wanted to come over and chat think twice.

Only Anna, standing just over 1.7 meters, had put on only bright lipstick and bore no jewelry or tattoos on her body, looking like the naive little sister following her two rebellious elder siblings... although that was far from the truth.

If someone asked her two cousins, they would certainly argue that "Actually, it's Anna who's the most ruthless killer among us."

"Has he arrived yet?" Sofia asked in Rakshasa language.

"Not yet," Anna played with her smartphone, "he'll let me know when he arrives."

"Natasha has replied," Maria suddenly spoke, "the Northern Army of Lu Country's attitude is very firm, the likelihood of them changing their mind later is slim, our only hope now lies with the Dragon Slayer."

Anna said nothing upon hearing this, just stared at the fries in her hand, quietly counting their number.

In the initial stage of the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, Amur City was just like most cities in Siberia: With the official powers ousted, many Transcendents began to join forces to carve up the vacated power cake.

Then came the ruthless infighting and conquest.

By early September, the Amur witch coven had finally eliminated nearby gang forces and successfully took control of Amur City and the surrounding areas.

What followed were even more severe problems: a significant threat from the east.

Black Dragon Isle, what the Rakshasas called "Sakhalin Island," lay about three hundred kilometers east of Amur City on a large island, now completely overrun by werewolves—or more precisely, a group of werewolf Transcendents known as the Gilyeri Bear people.

Having taken over the entirety of Black Dragon Isle, the Gilyeri Bear people began attempting to expand toward the mainland.

They established many strongholds throughout the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, and had clashed with the Amur witch coven over a dozen times, with significant casualties on both sides, hence a deep-seated vendetta was formed, and a full-scale war seemed to be just a matter of time.

The Amur witch coven didn't feel confident about securing a victory, so they sent an envoy to the south to seek help from Lu Country. The official witch delegation, led by "Snow Eye" Natasha, engaged in preliminary diplomatic talks with the Dingbei Army, hoping that Lu Country would send Cultivators to join the battle, "resisting the bears, aiding the witches, and forming an eternal alliance."

As for Anna, it was her initiative to ask to return to the country, under the pretext of seeking aid, but really just to hang out with Yan Yu.

The Amur witch coven supported this because Yan Zhanlong, known as the Dragon Slayer, was by now a renowned figure internationally. The Rakshasa witches, using their own perspectives to judge, believed that a Transcendent of Yan Zhanlong's caliber must hold a high and influential position within Lu Country, so having Anna give it a try seemed a good idea.

This was no fault of the witches for assuming so.

After all, the social structure of Lu Country, where "immortals and mortals are distinct, each manages their own affairs, and they do not interfere with one another," was simply unimaginable in Rakshasa-dominated societies where might makes right, and the witches had no idea that Rikoku Cultivators only fought and did not concern themselves with matters of state.

Due to her frequent "international communications" with Yan Yu, Anna was vaguely aware of the situation in Lu Country, but she pretended not to know in order to be able to "travel on public expenses back to her homeland."

Knowing now that Natasha's diplomatic mission for aid had failed, and everyone was counting on her to "make a difference," she felt a hard-to-express sense of shame and guilt.

"Help." She silently sent a message to Yan Yu.

"I just got off the plane, what's up?" Yan Yu's reply came back quickly.

"Can you come with me to Amur City?" Anna asked earnestly.

"Nope," Yan Yu answered without hesitation.

"I'll give you a big ear flick!" Anna fumed secretly, continuing to type, "At least say 'I'll consider it'!"

"Then I'll consider it," Yan Yu replied.

"So how about now?" After about half a minute, Anna typed again, asking.

"Nope," Yan Yu responded.

Anna quietly crushed the fries in her hand. Sofia and Maria exchanged glances, each reading the concern emanating from the other's heart.

According to Natasha, the Dingbei Army's initial attitude was rather ambiguous; they hosted the witch envoys in a local hotel in Pingjing, saying they would arrange for the Rites Department's diplomats to discuss matters as soon as possible.

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The people from the Rites Department didn't show up, but the reception staff of the Dingbei Army changed their attitude, saying the Privy Council believed it inconvenient to deploy military force to interfere in the north and only wished to engage in regular trade and material support—and this time their stance was much tougher, giving off a "take it or leave it" vibe.

Trade and material support were indeed what the Amur witch coven needed, but the key to defeating the Gilyak bear people lay in transcendent powers. Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

If your people couldn't beat them on the front lines, no amount of supplies in the logistics warehouses would be of use, so Natasha decided to make another effort to reach out and strengthen relations, and to also urge Anna to push harder, hoping to get Yan Zhanlong's help as well.

However, watching Anna's clenched teeth as she sent messages, her two older cousins couldn't help but feel that something was off. It didn't seem like she and Yan Zhanlong had a close relationship!

After typing for what seemed like forever, Anna finally stood up and said,

"Let's go, he took a taxi at the airport entrance and is now waiting for us to head over."

The three witches left their unfinished food behind and stood up, leaving the restaurant under the curious gazes of the Lu Country's citizens.

Walking on the road, Sofia couldn't help but ask again,

"Anna, what exactly is your relationship with Yan Zhanlong?"

"I told you, we're just friends," Anna said, expressionless.

"Anna, please be honest with us," Maria asked, frowning. "What are the chances that you'll be able to persuade him this time?"

"Maria," Anna sighed, "I'm his friend, not his girlfriend. Whether I can persuade him to help or not depends on what he thinks, not on whether we are close enough—there's no such relationship between us."

"But what if you established a more intimate relationship with him?" Sofia's eyes sparkled. "Lu Country men all like virgins, and I remember you've never been in a relationship before, right? If you could seduce him into bed..."

Anna nearly sprayed her iced cola all over her face, choking back furiously,

"I am not that kind of person!"

"Don't be foolish, Sofia," Maria chimed in. "Yan Zhanlong probably isn't lacking in beautiful women, and besides, Anna won't be able to stay in Lu Country long-term to be with him—this plan wouldn't work."

That comment immediately petrified Anna.

Amur City was far from Jinling Prefecture. If Yan Yu had been a cultivator from the Dingbei Army, maybe they could have occasionally met up in a small border town in the north of East Sea Province for a romantic date, but in Jinling Prefecture... video calling seemed more realistic.

To say Anna had no feelings for Yan Yu would be utter nonsense. Why else would she message and call him every so often, insisting on maintaining the contact for several months without letting go?

But the problem was Anna's intuition about men was too accurate. In less than half a year since she had met him, Yan Yu had transformed from "a man" to "a god among men," now a Lu Country household name, the superhero Yan Zhanlong. He was undoubtedly outstanding as a man, so outstanding that she almost felt unworthy of him. What was she to do?

Sometimes, when she thought about it carefully, she realized, oh no, he's out of my league!

Of course, she couldn't bear to give up hope just like that. Deep down, Anna even harbored some unrealistic wishes—if he had absolutely no interest in me, why would he always take my calls? Why would he patiently chat with me?

But no matter how much affection was nurtured online, it couldn't fully replace meeting in person, which was why Anna seized the opportunity to return to her homeland this time, to see if she could somehow take this relationship to the next level... or more accurately, to hint at Yan Yu to take it to the next level.

Despite her fair hair and high nose, she was still a traditionally-minded Lu Country woman at heart, unable to take the initiative to chase after a man or even to express love.

Too thin-skinned! If she got rejected, she wouldn't be able to show her face, the thought alone was so embarrassing she'd want to jump into a river.

But no matter, everytime I call him, he never hangs up, he must have feelings for me...

Anna quietly cheered herself on, arriving at the airport entrance with her two cousins, soon spotting Yan Yu's business taxi.

The moment she opened the car door, her heart skipped a beat as if covered by a severe Siberian cold front.

Yan Yu was sitting in the passenger seat, and in the second row, she recognized Chen Lingyun and Zhao Yuanzhen, but there were three other girls of the same age that she didn't know, seated in the back. They seemed vaguely familiar (she had actually seen them in the Three Isles Treasure Ship Secret Realm live stream), but she couldn't remember who they were at the moment.

All she could tell was that each of them was stunningly attractive.

With a last sliver of hope, Anna approached the window on the passenger side and quietly asked Yan Yu,

"Are they carpooling with you?"

Yan Yu: ???

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