Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

In the previous life, the Annan Army had seen its share of bizarre incidents, like the Sacrifice of the Valkyrie, the Rebellion of Li Zhaojiang, and the life of Xie Ruoxi... These three could be ranked as equally bizarre, with Xie Ruoxi's life even more so than the first two.

Who was Xie Ruoxi? Rumor had it she was "Rikoku's number one in cultivation talent," even surpassing Lord Master, dubbed "Rikoku's top cultivator," in pure natural aptitude for cultivation—though this claim was never officially acknowledged.

She wasn't part of the first cohort of cultivators, nor the second, or even the third; strictly speaking, she was actually from a non-official cultivator background.

It wasn't until Li Minghu and Li Zhaojiang were long gone that Xie Ruoxi, due to an accident that revealed her existence, was discovered by the Annan Army and drafted as an official cultivator; you could say she started quite late in the game.

Then, by the age of thirty, her cultivation realm astonishingly caught up with the first generation of cultivators... Considering the awkward relationship between the Annan Army and the imperial court after the Li Zhaojiang incident, Xie Ruoxi's cultivation definitely didn't rely much on Elixir Medicine resources, so perhaps the rumors had some credibility.

Another oddity was that Xie Ruoxi didn't enjoy cultivation, much like a peerless swordsman who has no love for the sword.

This girl hailed from a farming family in Baoqing Prefecture, Jingnan Province. As everyone knows, Baoqing Prefecture itself is a key town for poverty alleviation in Jingnan, and her rural family created a bit of resistance to the local poverty alleviation efforts.

Logically, she should have taken the college entrance exam during the second half of her senior year, been identified as having potential, and then become a cultivator... But Xie Ruoxi's life was never short of surprises: her brother was also in his senior year, and the family plainly said they could only afford one college student, "you two decide."

Xie Ruoxi sensibly said, "Brother has better grades than I do, let him go to college."

So, the family was very touched and didn't make her take the college entrance exam (nor the blood test, of course); instead, after she got her high school diploma, they scraped together a sum of living expenses, pulled some strings in the village, found a few girls who were going down south to Xin'an Special Economic Zone to work, and had them take Xie Ruoxi along to find a job.

Several people took a bus to the Xin'an Special Economic Zone, searched for jobs for a while, and found them to be too much work for too little pay; ultimately, the others got employed at KTVs or bath centers, while Xie Ruoxi was still out of work, hanging around aimlessly.

Logically speaking, a girl with only a high school diploma would likely resort to these survival tactics: receptionist, salesperson, customer service representative, working at a flower shop, pet shop, or coffee shop, becoming a nail artist, eyelash technician, or beautician—these could easily fill a three-by-three chart.

But Xie Ruoxi never did follow the beaten path; she started by saving up for a camera and infiltrated the Cosplay circle as a private photographer for female cosplayers.

Later, she discovered many female cosplayers not only welcomed male photographers but could even get them to work for free. She immediately exclaimed, "This is a dead end!" and switched careers to become a cosplayer herself. Eventually, she was promoted to a video website's up-and-coming host, and then she started live-streaming with plans to make a fortune from the anime fandom.

Xie Ruoxi was quite pretty and had a good figure, so after entering the live-streaming arena, at the peak of her career, she once had over fifty captains.

But soon she realized the live-streaming industry was far too competitive. With makeup and beauty filters, whether you're a four or a six on the attractiveness scale, everyone gets boosted to an eight. The audience's threshold for beauty had been raised, and without pushing the envelope, it was hard to gain popularity.

Any ordinary female streamer would feel pressured to push boundaries to make money, no shame in that.

But Xie Ruoxi once again took the path less traveled: she discovered something called "virtual streamers" from Sakura Country. Female streamers would create an anime character avatar and use "motion capture software" to let this 2D character replace the real person in the stream.

Thus, she was reborn as a virtual streamer, just in time to catch the rising wave of the virtual streaming industry in her own country... By the time the Annan Army found her, Xie Ruoxi had already become a major streamer with over a million fans, not only receiving regular tributes from countless captains each month but also generous gifts from top supporters.

She would stream only when she felt like it, otherwise spending her time watching shows and playing games, living a rather carefree life.

As for how she stumbled into cultivation by some fluke, Xie Ruoxi claimed she had no clue, since she spent her days holed up in her rental room streaming, cloaked in the skin of an anime character, telling her fans, "Ruoxi is a little dragon girl who has been cultivating for a thousand years." She relied completely on online shopping for daily necessities and hardly ever went outside—then suddenly, she realized she hadn't eaten for a month.

She had the potential to become a top cultivator, yet she chose to struggle in society for years, and indeed carved out an unconventional path for herself. That was Xie Ruoxi, truly unique among cultivators.

Yan Yu suddenly jumped down from the dragon's head (causing a stir of gasps and frenzied camera flashes) and landed in front of Xie Ruoxi, scrutinizing her face closely.

Hmm, even though the makeup on her face was heavy enough to alter her ethnicity, the facial contours and voice were indeed highly consistent with Xie Ruoxi... But at this point in time, shouldn't she still be working in Xin'an?

Being scrutinized so blatantly, the pink-haired girl seemed to shrink back a bit, but probably sensing that there was no malice, she soon regained her composure and revealed an unblemished smile.

"What's your name?" Yan Yu decided to verify.

"Me?" The pink-haired girl immediately extended her arms and formed a heart shape in front of her chest, beaming with vitality as she smiled radiantly, "I'm the guitarist of the Mygo band, Chihaya Aine!"

Yan Yu almost kneeled in shock, promptly widening his eyes and rebuking loudly,

"I didn't ask about the anime character you're playing! I'm asking for your name!!!"

"Thank you… Xie Ruoxi." The pink-haired girl was obviously frightened by his sternness and hurriedly responded in a stammering, quiet voice.

"Mhm." Yan Yu finally confirmed everything, and his expression eased.
Your next journey awaits at empire

Although from his past life's experience, Xie Ruoxi's level of education was not high, she was subconsciously a bit insecure, even inferior, and she also had a high concentration of 'two-dimensional otaku', but one couldn't deny that her talent for cultivation was overwhelmingly impressive!

And she was also very beautiful.

Snatch her up?

After all, the Valkyrie of this life was definitely not going to die, and the Annan Army wasn't lacking top-notch cultivators now, so it should be okay for me to poach Xie Ruoxi, right…

Wait a second, why am I poaching her?

To be a secretary or an assistant, honestly, she was just not cut out for it. Neither Su Yunjin's delicate considerations nor Ye Jun's organization were within Xie Ruoxi's abilities. Fundamentally, she was like Li Zhaojiang and Zhou Hongyu, those who trade intellect for martial strength, concerned with fighting more than thinking, and her educational level was even lower than the two of them.

Even after she became a cultivator for the Annan Army in the future, this girl's approach to cultivation was sporadic: three days fishing, two days drying nets. In his previous life, it was said that the imperial court once sent a team of psychologists to analyze her personality traits and concluded that she was basically unlikely to rebel.

Because Xie Ruoxi was the kind of ultimate homebody who, as long as she had a bite to eat, could happily live her whole life at home with just a computer and a phone, never entertaining the active thought that "my life should be lived with more meaning."

Combining these memories, Yan Yu quickly concluded: due to her upbringing and social experience, this girl had developed a carefree and lax character; it was no longer possible to employ her in any practical job.

As for treating Xie Ruoxi as a pure fighter like how the Annan Army used her in his past life, while that might be making the best use of her, Yan Yu's side didn't lack for fighters at all—after all, I'm the strongest military force in this world! Even if Xie Ruoxi were strong, could she ever be stronger than me and my team members? Hilarious.

Sigh, what a chicken rib of a girl. (Note: "chicken rib" is a Chinese idiom meaning something of little value or interest; too good to discard but of little use)

Having her as a secretary wouldn't be helpful; using her as a fighter wasn't necessary; and even if considering her as a lover, she wouldn't be the first choice. I have plenty of beautiful girls living together in that villa, those who are great at cooking, diligent in housework, providing top-tier resources, assisting in Qi Refinement… what place could Xie Ruoxi possibly take?

Besides her looks, this girl has nothing to offer, a pure beauty with no substance!

After pondering, Yan Yu felt that Xie Ruoxi only held some kind of collector's value for him.

What is collector's value? It's the idea that "She can be useless, but I can't be without her."

After all, she was the cultivation prodigy who in his previous life replaced Li Minghu and became the Annan Army's top cultivator; keeping her at home as a decorative figure who just needs to eat was not a problem. If she really got used to him, he could even try to correct her personality—after all, she can't keep on being this reclusive forever, right?

With such exceptional talent for cultivation, why would you think about slacking off all the time?

Of course, not now.

In his past life, Xie Ruoxi faced many temptations while working, but she never chose to give up her principles, possibly because she steadfastly believed in pure love triumphing over all in her two-dimensional worldview.

If he wanted to interfere with her fate, he first had to gain her trust, and then wait for an opportune moment—inviting her rashly upon a first meeting would only scare her off.

Having made up his mind quickly, Yan Yu immediately took out his phone:

"Add as a friend?"

"Oh, sure." Xie Ruoxi was somewhat flattered. After all, she spent all day surfing the internet intensively and, of course, knew what "Cultivator" meant.

The two exchanged contact information, and then Xie Ruoxi eagerly added:

"I'll send you the graphic after it's finished."

Yan Yu's vision went dark for a moment: Did I add you as a friend to get your photograph? Such a useless piece of garbage, not even daring to skirt the edges!

"No need!" He refused, speaking with righteous indignation.