Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Everyone hastily activated their Shifting Technique and began to retreat from the vicinity of the stone gate, wishing desperately they could tap into all their True Yuan for an insane burst of speed.

Behind them was a vast swath of dark shadows sweeping across the snowy ground, with each leap covering a distance of over ten meters. The overall posture was agile and nimble, yet the movements were rigid and mechanical, as if the figures were puppets being jerked about on strings from above.

If there had been only a single Iron Corpse, the group might have relied on their numerical advantage for a fight; but now, with the numbers entirely reversed, a single human faced the challenge of combating three Iron Corpses... No risk assessment was needed to know that certain death was the only outcome.

As they fled, Yan Yu silently dropped to the rear of the main force and exchanged a nod with Liu Longtao at his side.

Both of them were acutely aware of their terrain: a gentle slope allowed them to maintain high speed.

But further ahead lay a narrow mountain trail where the Shifting Technique was prone to missteps and falls off the cliff. Should one fall, they would need to use the Cloud Ascension Technique, but that was much slower. The Iron Corpses needed only to make one high-speed leap to bring down and devour anyone flying in the air.

They had to stop the tide of corpses here!

In the haste of the moment, Liu Longtao had no time for restraint. He halted abruptly, turned to face the enemy, and his hands were already forming seals.

Red Dragon Patrols the Heavens!

In the sky above, a sudden emergence of crimson flames soon shaped into a dragon, approximately twenty meters long and over a meter wide. Its eyes like lanterns, its whiskers like long whips, scales all bristling backwards, covered in intense flames that heated the air around it, causing a slight distortion in the light.

Narrowing his eyes, Yan Yu watched as the dragon circled momentarily before diving down, crashing right into the midst of the horde.

Where the dragon struck, it was like the sun falling to the earth! The ground within the blast radius sunk in instantly, the thick layer of snow sublimated into vapor, revealing the blackened, melted earth underneath. As for the Iron Corpses within, they were evaporated utterly, not even fragments remained.

The shockwave and solar wind continued to spread outward, incinerating, tearing apart, and throwing the nearby Iron Corpses into the air, along with trees that snapped and fell all around, becoming torches... what a horrific sight!

Liu Longtao remained composed as he retracted his seals, calmly folding his hands behind his back amidst the shocked and awed looks from those behind him, and said tranquilly:

"Heh, it's fortunate that these Iron Corpses are weak to fire, otherwise they would be quite troublesome to deal with."

Seeing him stand with his hands behind his back, Yan Yu knew right away that Lord Master, in order to show off, had drawn nearly all the True Yuan from his Dantian to unleash that seemingly earth-shattering blow... He really couldn't muster a second attack of equal power, which was why he subconsciously ceased his attack.

As the saying goes: A brother can forgive a debt unpaid, but must never get in the way of an attempt to show off. Not paying back the money might at most end the brotherhood, but preventing the act of showing off could turn buddies into sworn enemies.

Therefore, Yan Yu didn't immediately speak out, allowing him a few seconds to bask in his moment, before reminding him:

"Old Liu, you missed the mark."

"Hmm?" Liu Longtao raised an eyebrow, finding it somewhat amusing.

My Red Dragon Patrols the Heavens was so perfectly executed, so devastatingly powerful, it stopped the horde in their tracks. How could I have missed? Tell me, where did I go wrong... Holy shit!!!

Suddenly, within that sea of fire, a corpse emerged anew to fight.

It was tall, with a green face and fierce fangs, moving as swiftly as if flying. Although its appearance closely resembled the Iron Corpses, its speed was significantly faster than the typical ones.

The residual flames of the Red Dragon licked over its corpse body but only charred its skin black; its movements weren't slowed in the least – in contrast to the burning and melting Iron Corpses, this Corpse General's strength was clearly far superior.

This time, Lord Master finally realized the mistake: he had indeed missed the mark! He hadn't seen this Corpse General before; otherwise, he wouldn't have had the Red Dragon crash into the horde. It should have been aimed at this Boss all along.

Now, with most of his True Yuan spent on the lesser foes, and the main enemy unharmed, and being unable to unleash a second strike with equal force, what was he to do?

Liu Longtao glanced silently at Yan Yu, wanting to say "help me out, Old Yan," but couldn't bring himself to utter the words. After all, even Lord Master had his pride; he had just made a grand show of his strength before everyone. To ask for help now would be too demeaning—he'd rather die on the spot than speak such words.

Yan Yu, however, didn't hold it against him. He simply thought that Lord Master had unleashed an ultimate move in all its glory, only to hit the rank-and-file – truthfully, it was kind of funny.
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Well then, it looks like it's up to me.

Activating his Shifting Technique, Yan Yu moved with astonishing speed to confront the Bronze Corpse, closing the distance in a flash.

But faster than his approach was the Huang Tingjian!

The Huangting Heavy Sword, as a heavy sword, didn't show much brilliance, but its presence was overwhelming. The edge fell like a mountain bearing down, with tremendous force that was hard to withstand.

The Bronze Corpse let out an earth-shattering roar, and its thick arms formed fists to strike upward, like two cannons firing in rage.

Sword and fist collided with a thunderous boom. The Bronze Corpse staggered back half a step, and the Huang Tingjian was sent flying backward from the rebound – judging from the extent of their recoil, the Bronze Corpse's strength was overpowering the Sword Control Technique.

Before the sword could stabilize and return, Yan Yu had already rushed forward, his right fist clenched, his muscles bulging.

Curved Curse Punch.

In a fair fight, even with Curved Curse activated, a Cultivator's physical strength couldn't match that of the Bronze Corpse. But as his opponent was reeling from the exchange with the Huangting Heavy Sword, Yan Yu's punch was impeccably timed, causing the already unsteady Corpse to further lose balance and unable to counter or block.

Before the Bronze Corpse could regain its footing, another flurry of sword light slashed down—the Huang Tingjian was relentless! The Corpse General, out of options, could only roar in rage as it tried to lift its arms in defense.

But how could it block in such a staggered state? The heavy sword struck for the second time, sending the Bronze Corpse flying, its body leaning heavily backward. Yan Yu seized the moment to close in again and unleashed another Curved Curse Punch.

This time, the Bronze Corpse couldn't even muster a defensive stance; its robust form was sent flying sideways.

Having broken through the enemy's defense, Yan Yu did not pursue further, but instead snapped his fingers and called out:

"Release!"

The Bronze Corpse collapsed to the ground with a thud, rolling several times before coming to a motionless stop.

Unknown when, a grey and dim hairpin was embedded in its forehead, locking away the clouded consciousness within its spiritual platform for good.

White Bone Heart-locking Hairpin.

"Hahahahaha!" Zhao Yuanzhen, standing behind with hands on his hips, burst into laughter, triumphantly shouting, "How about that for my killer move, spot on, wasn't it?"

"Not bad," Yan Yu also offered rare praise, "Your aim this time was quite good."

Liu Longtao's face looked a bit unsightly. After all, if Zhao Yuanzhen's killer move was spot on, then whose wasn't?

But this wasn't the first time that Liu Longtao had dealt with Yan Yu and come up short. As the saying goes, "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence," Liu Longtao didn't wallow in his negative emotions for too long and promptly urged:

"Let's get out of here fast!"

Although the Bronze Corpse was nailed on the spot, and many of the corpse horde had been burned, there were still quite a few burning Iron Corpses on the periphery, now trying shakily to get up.

These Iron Corpses had great strength, speed, and were impervious to swords and spears... Coupled with their numbers, a head-on battle at this moment would undoubtedly lead to significant casualties.

Considering that the cultivators from Goryeo had been eradicated, there was of course no need to force a fight here and suffer losses. A more cautious approach would be to clean up slowly afterward—Lord Master, although he liked to show off too, was fundamentally a cautious and prudent man. Any fool would have ordered a retreat to probe and attack at this point.

Upon receiving the command, the Rikoku Cultivators quickly continued their escape, swiftly withdrawing along the narrow cliffs.

Yan Yu and Liu Longtao stayed behind to block the remaining tide of corpses. After depleting most of their True Yuan, Lord Master also refrained from using his impressive Taoist Methods, merely batting away the approaching Iron Corpses with brute force, as if playing baseball.

"Speaking of which, Old Yan," he casually asked as if making small talk, "that move you used on the zombie a moment ago, could you talk about it?"

Considering the collision between the Huang Tingjian and the Bronze Corpse, it was clearly outmatched in strength; if he had used the Sword Control Technique against it, he would have been at a great disadvantage, so Yan Yu's technique was definitely worth studying.

"Oh," Yan Yu replied, "It's quite simple. All you need to do is time each of your attacks for when the opponent's center of gravity is most off-balance and hit it. It's like pushing a swing—it's easiest to push further when it's at its highest point."

"I see," Liu Longtao nodded.

Even though Yan Yu explained it lightly, the actual execution was quite difficult. Without further questioning, Liu Longtao continued:

"I'm sorry we didn't secure the Mysterious Realm this time, making you come here for nothing."

If the two teams had cooperated and taken down the Mysterious Realm, the subsequent gains would have likely been split evenly. However, since they failed to conquer the realm and gained nothing, that effectively meant they had come in vain.

"Oh, it's fine," Yan Yu said nonchalantly as he took out a bell from nowhere and casually tossed it in a parabolic arc, "Here, take this, Old Liu."

"What's this..." Catching the bell, Liu Longtao looked closer and was instantly dumbfounded.

The core of the Mysterious Realm?

Having personally led teams to take down several realms and having refined several of their cores, he could tell immediately that the bell was indeed a core Magic Artifact... But where did it come from?

"You got it from that corpse general?" Liu Longtao asked incredulously.

"Yes," Yan Yu nodded, "It was hanging by his waist."

"And you took it while making your move?" Liu Longtao still couldn't believe it.

"Right, why else would I bother getting so close to him?" Yan Yu asked rhetorically, "Couldn't I have just smashed him from a distance with my Sword Control Technique?"

"I thought you were just..." Liu Longtao started to say "I thought you just wanted to show off" but quickly held his tongue as he realized (that would've been embarrassing), offering a dry chuckle, he corrected himself, "Ahem, since you obtained the core of the Mysterious Realm, that means you win this time. You should refine it."

"I'd rather not," Yan Yu waved dismissively, "It reeks of corpse stench, too nauseating. You can have it."

Liu Longtao: .........

So I'm the one who doesn't mind getting dirty and smelly?

Well, it's fine... at least we took down the Mysterious Realm.

Yan Yu, you've bested me this time, and I concede, for now.

Next time, after more training, I'll come to learn from your expertise again.

Though Liu Longtao thought so, he didn't verbally concede defeat but instead extended an invitation:

"After we get out, shall we stay here a few more days?"

"Of course," Yan Yu laughed heartily, "After all, it's a national tourist site. It would be a pity not to enjoy it properly for at least a day—they'd never agree to that."

"Old Yan, I have to say something about that," Liu Longtao immediately said seriously, "We, as esteemed men and team leaders, should be authoritative both at home and in our teams. How can we act just to please our women? You haven't even started a relationship and the troubles are already brewing.

If you actually married them, wouldn't that force you to kowtow to them in everything, lest they turn the household upside down and leave no peace?"

Yan Yu: ????

"Marry who?" he asked, utterly confused.

"Of course, you'd marry a virtuous and kind woman," Liu Longtao earnestly advised, "Those who stir up trouble over nothing are fine for a fling. But for a lifelong companion, you need to find a sincere girl."