Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

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After getting Xie Ruoxi's friendship, Yan Yu lost interest in continuing the conversation with her.

After all, no matter how much more he talked, it was impossible to quickly increase her affection, so he might as well take it slow.

Ignoring the surrounding female Cosers who squealed "Brother is so handsome, add me as a friend too," Yan Yu flew back to the dragon's head and calmly sat down on the throne at the dragon's horn, adopting the classic think pose of The Thinker statue, calmly waiting under the constantly flashing spotlights for the troops to come collect the corpse.

Photographers outside kept snapping away as if they'd never seen a flood dragon and a dragon-slaying Transcendent before... Well, they probably hadn't.

Xie Ruoxi was bold, perhaps because she had exchanged friendship with Yan Yu and assumed she got the permission to take photos; she even posed in various ways leaning on the dragon's head, asking other photographers to include her in the shots with Yan Yu and the flood dragon.

Yan Yu watched indifferently from atop the dragon's head and decided not to address her presumptuous actions.

It wasn't until the local defense department arrived that all the onlookers who had come to enjoy the show, take photos, and try to talk to Yan Yu were dispersed.

The task of dealing with the flood dragon's corpse was left to them, and the cutting and transportation were expected to continue for several days. Yan Yu took a taxi to the airport and checked the news on the way.

The Lu Country Cultivators had secured the Three Isles Treasure Ship Secret Realm without sustaining any injuries; the Miti Allied Forces suffered a great defeat with 37 superheroes dead, one escaped, and one captured (the Thornbird was probably not included), only one survivor remained on the Southeast Asia side, delivering a perfect report card to the entire nation.

The only drawback was that the authorities had not allowed live broadcasting, so the domestic audience had to watch the Superhero Alliance's illegally broadcasted foreign perspective, and mostly on smaller streaming platforms with less sensitivity to policies, thus limiting the number of viewers who saw the entire event live.

The majority of people only learned the outcome after the official news release.

From his previous life's experience, Yan Yu knew that Lu Country would soon fill this gap. After all, if the Superhero Alliance broadcasts globally, hiding it doesn't make sense, since people can always bypass internet restrictions.

However, topping the hot search list above "Lu Country Cultivators' Grand Victory" was a shorter entry:

Yan Zhanlong.

Clicking into it, indeed, were the photos and videos taken by the onlookers at the riverside park.

In the images, the huge dragon's head lay defeated by the river bank, still fearsome even in death.

Yan Yu sat alone atop the dragon horn, his body covered in golden dragon blood, his gaze still sharp and majestic.

The Huang Tingjian sword was plunged into the ground before the dragon's head, silently proclaiming that its master had fought an earth-shattering, god-weeping battle with the flood dragon, ending with the dragon's demise.

Handsome! Cool! Dominant! Powerful! Absolute! It was the kind of image you could use as your computer wallpaper!

If only they could Photoshop out that pink-haired girl next to the dragon's head, what a beautiful waste cluttering my scene, why are you stealing my spotlight?

Yan Yu silently browsed the news, most of which praised him as a valiant warrior. Initially looking down on this and that, he turned around and slew a flood dragon, proving that Yan someone indeed had the confidence to talk big, deserving the praise of "Brave Warrior of the Country."

Of course, there were also some trolls who popped up on various platforms, voicing some strange and contrary opinions.

Some said that the enemy Transcendents were mainly defeated by other Cultivators, others suggested the flood dragon had already been worn down and Yan Yu had merely snuck in the finishing blow, and still, others simply attacked him without evidence, with comments like "true debasement," "naive believer," and "I feel sick reading his comments," among others.

Facing this chaotic scene, Yan Yu didn't bother to argue online like Lin Ning and Zhao Yuanzhen; he just smiled faintly and swiped the trolls' comments off his screen.

See, they're getting irritated again.

Before the fight, they said you definitely couldn't win, and after you won, they said it was just luck. They can't stand praise, they can't hear the hymns; they must vehemently refute everything to showcase their intelligence and aloofness. Hiding behind their screens, they become invincible, perceiving everyone else as fools.

There's no need to quibble with the trolls; what they think is up to them. For now, I just need to do my job with the team, earn money, train my players, and bring glory to my country. That's all!

So when will I receive my reward money?

Yan Yu was about to send a message to Li Weiguo to inquire when he saw a message from Chen Lingyun had also come through:

[Chen Lingyun]: Feels good to show off in front of the entire nation, doesn't it?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Not bad, I guess. In the end, it almost smashed into the city, but luckily I was more skilled.

[Chen Lingyun]: We all saw that.

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[Yi De Fu Ren]: What do you see? My majestic stance standing on a dragon corpse?

[Chen Lingyun]: I see our dear team leader getting all cuddly and huggy with another team's deputy leader in a video recording.

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

He silently switched his phone to airplane mode, put it back in his pocket, and then stared blankly out of the car window at the scenery.

After the trouble of finishing a secret realm, wanting to rest properly without taking calls is quite reasonable, right?

——————————

The Three Isles Treasure Ship Secret Realm is quite special; its core is the steering wheel at the bow of the treasure ship. Moreover, even after refining it, one can only control entering and exiting the secret realm and cannot obtain other permissions, such as controlling the ship's navigation (it seems that one needs the bloodline of the Long Race for complete control).

Therefore, the people left in the secret realm could only temporarily stay in the South Sea for a few days, cooperating with the Annan Army to continue mopping up the remaining monsters inside the Three Isles Treasure Ship Secret Realm—though there wasn't any danger, as there were enough numbers to have an absolute advantage. The main thing was some tiring and arduous work.

Because Yan Yu left early, the Annan Army didn't call him back, so he simply called Li Weiguo to inform him and then directly flew back to Jinling.

Returning to Jinling Airport and just getting off the plane, he saw Qi Changping waiting outside to pick him up.

"How much is the bonus this time?" Yan Yu asked as he got into the car.

"Why are you always thinking about money?" Qi Changping, who was driving, laughed and said, "The authorities haven't decided yet, but I heard it will probably be twenty million."

Mysterious realms beyond the borders of the land need to be contended over in a life and death struggle with foreigners, so naturally, the reward money would be higher compared to domestic secret realms. This was easy to understand.

Yan Yu didn't dwell on the matter of money, since now money was just a number to him. He continued to ask:

"What does the higher-up plan to do with the captives this time?"

"That's not decided either." Qi Changping spoke frankly, "They might make agreements with those countries for exchanges."

"Thunderbird" Margaret was strong, but not so strong that Lu Country needed to eliminate her to feel at ease. If they killed her and got nothing, it would be a loss, but if they could exchange her with the Superhero Alliance for resources or technology, that would be pure profit.

Of course, whether the other side was willing and what price they were ready to offer was another question.

Looking at the international opinion on the web, the general consensus was that Thunderbird's defeat was an "innocent failure", as she was the last one fighting before she surrendered, and at the time, she would have died if she hadn't surrendered.

Also, martyrdom wasn't popular abroad, instead, a group of leftists and fervent fans were waving flags and shouting, calling for "let our superhero return home alive" — so it seems there would be more negotiations to come.

As for the other one, the Curse Technique master Ajarn Luo, since he wasn't an official cultivator, Siam's attitude was ambiguously unclear, so there might not be much room for ransom negotiations, and what would happen afterward was also unknown.

"Changing the subject," Qi Changping said, pressing the steering wheel with one hand and looking ahead, "Yan Yu, what's your current relationship with Li Minghu, the deputy leader of that Qing'an combat team?"

"What relationship?" Yan Yu looked puzzled. "Of course, we're comrades-in-arms. What else could it be?"

"Comrades-in-arms?" Qi Changping was also surprised. "If it's just comrades-in-arms, would she hug and hold you in front of the camera, in front of a global audience? It doesn't look like she suffered any injuries."

"Psh, Instructor Qi, you're thinking too much." Yan Yu waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "She has a chronic illness and was soaked in cold water. She looked uninjured, but in reality, she was so weak she could barely stand. I went to help her out a bit; there's no need to make a big deal out of it, right?"

"Alright then." Qi Changping nodded and said, "Your reasoning makes sense, but not everyone will believe it. After all, people outside don't know Li Minghu has lung disease. So unless you really want to date her, you should be mindful of your image in the future to avoid being gossiped about—now you're a national hero, and the people of Lu Country are very interested in your affairs."

"Sure." Yan Yu said leisurely, "I just checked the trending searches, and they are all discussing my dragon-slaying exploits; nobody's talking about the gossip anymore."

"In terms of public opinion, we have online commentators to manage the discussion. They will guide conversations away from sensitive topics," Qi Changping pondered for a moment before continuing, "There's one more thing. You're quite showy by nature, which does attract a lot of fans, but it also means some people will dislike your remarks and say strange things. Don't take it to heart. Continue reading stories on empire

Victory is the most powerful rebuttal. We've won, so there's no need to bicker too much with them."

"Instructor, don't worry about it," Yan Yu laughed heartily, "Just a bunch of trolls, they don't deserve my attention, right?"

Qi Changping: .........

Although what he said was indeed correct, for some reason, Qi Changping really didn't want to associate Yan Yu with the phrase "above slander and praise."