Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Dangling Zhao Yuanzhen with a hairpin was actually not Yan Yu's original intention.

The main reason was that if this Demonic Sect Enchantress wasn't disciplined every three days by ripping off roof tiles, it was necessary to temper her character to prevent her from being too rebellious and disobedient. It's a very normal educational method, no need to make a fuss over it.

As the saying goes, "What comes easily won't be treasured."

First pique her appetite, wait until the hairpin is exchanged from the Dingbei Army before giving it to her. Only then will she cherish the kindness someone has shown her... If it was promised to her from the beginning, she'd take it for granted, paying it no heed.

When Yan Yu arrived at the team's training ground, he saw Chen Lingyun casting the Wood Bending Charm, holding her beloved record player with one hand, looking for a place to set it down.

"What are you doing?" Yan Yu asked, baffled.

"I'm looking for a suitable spot to put my gramophone," Chen Lingyun said with a smile.

"Why do you need to place a gramophone?" Yan Yu asked with a frown, then showed a mischievous expression, "I get it, you want to use it as a target for sword practice, right?"

"Hehe." Chen Lingyun put down the gramophone and suddenly asked, "Have you heard?"

"I haven't, please tell me."

"The higher-ups are planning to expand the team soon," Chen Lingyun said with a smile, "The preliminary plan is to double the numbers."

"Pfft, just doubling?" Yan Yu said disdainfully, "Why not do it right and directly implement a mercenary system: allowing all cultivators to form teams freely, changing military tasks to a bidding system, rewarding success with payment, and penalizing failure with fines."

"That does sound somewhat interesting," Chen Lingyun pretended not to notice his sarcasm and considered it seriously, "If the control over the lower ranks collapses entirely in the future, such measures could indeed be taken, using wealth and power to win over the hearts of civilian cultivators."

Of course, the cost goes without saying. Civilian cultivators fully reliant on mercenary work are definitely the biggest factor in social instability.

The reason for adopting such a system is that there is no other choice left—the collective strength of civilian cultivators is too great to control, so it's only possible to cede some power to them, letting them fight amongst themselves to prevent uprisings.

In the West of my previous life, many developed countries later adopted this mercenary system.

The top-tier Transcendents were employed by multinational corporations and nations, the second-tier by local councils and big businesses, the third-tier formed private security companies to take on jobs everywhere, the fourth-tier worked for security companies as independent fighters and mercenaries, and the lowest-tier mingled with local gangs to extort protection fees from civilians, and so on.

In these countries, the social strata did not turn upside down; the upper class solidified their status by employing top-tier Transcendents, while middle-class communities could hire Transcendents to ensure the safety of their property...

This era of "coexistence" lasted for about a decade until certain top-tier Transcendents realized "starting your own business is better than working for others, better to take what you want than wait to be paid."

With Chen Lingyun's intelligence, there was no need to elaborate on these matters, so Yan Yu did not intend to delve further into discussion. Instead, he asked about the task at hand:

"How's your ghost summoning technique coming along?"

"Not bad." Chen Lingyun snapped her fingers, and suddenly five large dogs appeared on the ground, circling Yan Yu in chaos.

Yan Yu looked closely and found that these five dogs were of different breeds: a Border Collie, Golden Retriever, Samoyed, Husky, and a domestic yellow dog from Lu Country.

"Why dogs?" Although these five ghosts had the ability to transform into anything, Yan Yu genuinely didn't understand Chen Lingyun's intention behind "making ghosts turn into dogs."

"Because I don't like cats," Chen Lingyun said lightly, smiling, "You know the reason, don't you?"

"I wasn't asking that... never mind." Yan Yu decided not to pry any further.

After all, since the five ghosts had turned into five dogs, it showed that she indeed had completely refined and controlled them at will.

To advance the five dogs would require more than just everyday training.

"Alright then," Yan Yu nodded, "The five ghosts are very useful for control-type ghostly entities. However, a regular Necromancer should also have an attack-type ghost and a self-protective type ghost... We'll talk about the rest later. For now, just focus on perfecting your command routines for the ghostly entities."

"Got it." Chen Lingyun snapped her fingers again, and the Border Collie ran to the gramophone with a record in its mouth, placed the record on the player, wagged its tail a few times, then pushed the stylus onto the record with its paw.

Yan Yu: .........

I told you to practice your combat skills! Not to be pampered and served by ghosts!

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Thinking about it carefully, if it can be applied effectively in daily life, there shouldn't be any issues in combat, right?

Just as Yan Yu was pondering, he saw Lin Ning, Su Yunjin, and Zhao Yuanzhen, three girls, also entering by swiping their cards.

"What are we practicing today?" Seeing the team captain was also in the training area, Lin Ning came over to ask directly, "I've been having some problems with my swordsmanship lately; Yan Yu, can you take a look for me?"

"Of course." In his previous life, Yan Yu was a Sword Immortal. Although in this life he had turned to become a Puppet Master, his expertise in swordsmanship was still intact, so it was no problem to give Lin Ning some pointers. "Show me a few moves so I can see where the problem lies."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ning nodded and then controlled her Green Bamboo Sword to attack Yan Yu, who easily blocked it with his Huang Tingjian.

After a few exchanges of offense and defense, Yan Yu immediately spotted that Lin Ning's problem was a lack of variety in her swordsmanship.

It wasn't just because she hadn't learned any advanced sword techniques; rather, it was that she lacked the basic ability to adapt. For example, if her frontal attack was blocked by the opponent, she wouldn't immediately think to switch to side attacks, but would stubbornly keep trying to power through from the front... displaying a kind of steadfast, unwavering beauty of tenacity.

Perhaps this was due to always solving problems from a young age.

Yan Yu engaged her in a swordsmanship duel, providing nearly an hour of guidance in the form of battle, leaving Lin Ning with dazzling eyes, trembling limbs, a pounding head, shaky hands, and full of thoughts that she was an idiot who couldn't handle a sword and that she would probably say goodbye to Sword Control Technique forever.

Seeing Lin Ning's condition was really too poor, and guessing that no amount of cram teaching would continue to infuse her with experience, Yan Yu asked her to sit and rest for a while.

Looking at the others:

Chen Lingyun was sitting on a single sofa opposite, leisurely sipping her coffee, with five dogs sitting quietly behind the sofa in a row, not making a sound.

Su Yunjin was sitting on a bench at the edge of the training area, her straight legs tightly together. A paper book was spread out on her lap, which she was reading intently.

Zhao Yuanzhen was seated beside her, watching funny videos on her phone with her earphones on, occasionally letting out a boisterous laugh that sounded rather simple-minded.

Yan Yu: .........

Why does this feel like stepping into a slice-of-life daily girls' love anime?

We are the strongest team of this era, Yan Yu's Team! Each and every one of you is so languid and tranquil; what kind of a look is this?!!

Without a hint of sound, he pointed his sword, and the Huang Tingjian suddenly struck towards Chen Lingyun.

Chen Lingyun was completely relaxed, savoring her coffee, and not good at dealing with sudden incidents. By the time she reacted, the sword light had already reached her face, causing her to instinctively close her eyes, duck, and summon a Barrier Charm, lifting her coffee cup like a shield to block the sharp edge of the Huang Tingjian.

But the Huang Tingjian was just a feint. After circling in front of her, it turned and attacked Su Yunjin next to her.

Su Yunjin sprang up from the bench, quickly activating her Shifting Technique to flee, making sure to tuck her novel under her arm while dodging.

Zhao Yuanzhen was originally watching a video when suddenly the person beside her disappeared. By the time she looked up, the Huang Tingjian was already upon her—but as a seasoned fighter of the Demonic Sect, she wasn't frightened by such tricks.

She casually threw aside her phone, rolled on the ground, and when she got up, she had already prepared the Sword Control Technique. The Yin Wind Sword quickly unsheathed, blocking the pursuing Huang Tingjian!

"What are you doing!" Zhao Yuanzhen shouted angrily.

"This is a training ground!" Yan Yu showed not the slightest bit of remorse for the sneak attack and justified firmly, "Once you enter the training ground, you have to train!"

"If I see anyone drinking coffee, reading novels, or playing with their phones again… I'll take that as a lack of training and give you some real combat experience!"

Zhao Yuanzhen was so annoyed she could die. Muttering an incantation, she spurred her Yin Wind Sword to charge directly at Yan Yu, calling out:

"Don't be afraid, sisters! Let's gang up on him!"

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