Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest-Chapter 453 - 49 Preparations for the New Year

Chapter 453: Chapter 49 Preparations for the New Year

Lu Country has a vast expanse of coastal and land borders.

In the past, due to the surrounding geopolitical situation, the focus of national defense construction was mainly on the maritime direction. However, with the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, everything has turned upside down—the pressure on land border defense has drastically increased, particularly on the Northeast and Southwest borders, which directly adjoin a vast number of “chaotic forces.” The annual casualty reports from my previous life were always shockingly alarming.

So why is the Eclipse Queen so important? Because under the circumstances of the Northern Border being utterly lost beyond salvation, having the Amur Witch’s Group maintain a basic level of occupation and rule, “regularly undertaking bandit suppression” in the vicinity, greatly alleviates the border defense pressures on Lu Country.

To speak bluntly, suppressing bandits means shedding blood, and those rebellious Transcendents among the common folk certainly won’t line up to let you chop off their heads.

To have the Amur Witch’s Group bleed for the governance of the region is of course preferable to having the border defense troops and civilians of Lu Country bleed. So even if Anna has ulterior motives toward Yan Yu, considering her genuine beauty… no, her extreme importance to Lu Country, Yan Yu might still allow her to spout audacious nonsense.

Let this young lady continue dreaming then!

...

“By the way, how are things going with the Rakshasa?” Yan Yu brought up a serious topic.

“Are you talking about their expedition?” Anna said with a scoff, “It was stillborn, of course. Their army didn’t even cross the Yenisei River, I heard their supply lines were torn to shreds.”

Yan Yu wasn’t surprised, because during the Era of Spiritual Energy Resurgence, the most formidable aspect of Transcendents among the populace is that when they are not causing trouble, they blend in seamlessly with ordinary people, impossible to distinguish—armed militants still need to carry guns, while they don’t even require military equipment. Even seemingly harmless old folks, women, and children could unleash a spell that takes down fully armed soldiers by surprise.

Unless you eradicate the population but leave the land, as long as the army pushes forward, the occupied territories behind will erupt in chaos. This is also why Lu Country, even when it forced the Witch King to retreat, had not attempted to occupy the Southern Border: the cost of governance was simply too terrifying, utterly not worthwhile.

Yet, Yan Yu actually thinks it might be feasible to establish a buffer force similar to the Amur Witch’s Group in the Southern Border, helping to block those insanely competitive Sorcerers to prevent Nanjiang and Lingyou from facing the direct pressure of defending the border against the Southern Border.

As for why the Privy Council doesn’t do so and what other concerns they might have, he doesn’t know, nor does he care.

After all, we Cultivators are all very loyal, naturally born for battle, and at the current stage, apart from improving our own strength, there’s indeed no need to worry about anything else.

“Right now, the Witch’s Group is discussing whether to push northward or expand westward,” Anna continued to disclose internal secrets without a care for Yan Yu being an outsider, “Moving northward is safer but less profitable due to sparse population; expanding westward would mean a big war, and while it seems profitable, if the Rakshasa launches a second round of witch-hunts, the farther we settle westward now, the more directly we will face the brunt of war later on.”

“Expanding westward as far as the Outer Khingan Range is still acceptable,” Yan Yu generously offered some insights, “Judging by this witch-hunt expedition, their next attempt will reach at most the Lena River, which is their limit, and they won’t be able to hold it.”

“Mmhmm,” Anna didn’t doubt this and merely sighed, saying, “But I don’t have any real power now, and even if I make suggestions, they would only be questioned by the Elders.”

“So it’s still because your strength is too weak,” Yan Yu advised earnestly, “If you were the most powerful in the Witch’s Group now, and could kill an Elder witch with one punch, who would dare to contradict you? So, you should still focus on cultivating; let them deal with the time-wasting affairs of governance.”

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“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll become strong and actually take you by force to marry me?” Anna asked in surprise.

“So what you said before was actually just to scare me?” Yan Yu asked back in surprise.

Anna suddenly realized she had misspoken, and grinding her molars furiously, it took her a while to respond:

“It’s to scare you for now, but if one day I really reach the level of power you mentioned, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to restrain myself from acting.”

The innate robber nature of Rakshasa bloodlines is showing! Yan Yu just laughed and said:

“I’ve already answered this: I’m looking forward to it. To witness the ascension of the Queen of the Northern Desert, even if I were bound and taken to become a bandit’s consort, it wouldn’t be a life lived in vain!”

“Hmph,” Anna said coldly, “Then just wait and see! Hanging up.”

She ended the video call with Yan Yu and intended to sulk for a while longer, but soon calmed down strangely.

That’s right… what he said is correct.

Whether it’s about protecting oneself, seizing control of the Witch’s Group, or… wanting to be with him in the future.

More strength is necessary.

————————

Although he encouraged others to grow stronger with his words, Yan Yu himself hadn’t trained much recently.

After all, New Year’s was approaching, so slacking off a bit was forgivable.

His parents had finally returned from a trip to the Great Northwest, reportedly bringing back an abundance of specialty mutton ribs, all frozen and stored in the fridge. His sister Yan Jing had been eating plain boiled mutton every meal for several days, and complaining to their parents was useless, so she had no choice but to turn to her older brother for comfort.

“So those mutton ribs smell gamey?” Yan Yu inquired.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Yan Jing complained, “but it’s unbearable to eat it meal after meal. I’m not just sick of it, I’m about to throw up.”

“That’s great,” Yan Yu said, “You just put in some effort and finish them all off, then your older brother won’t have to eat mutton every single meal when he comes back.”

“Hmph, I’ve already told Mom to save some for you,” Yan Jing typed in her reply.

“I don’t like mutton,” Yan Yu said.

“For your sister, you will eat it,” Yan Jing said.

The siblings fell silent together and suddenly, and simultaneously, they both got a certain feeling: This guy really does share my genes!

“By the way, big brother,” Yan Jing suddenly asked, “which sister are you planning to bring home for the New Year?”

“Guess,” Yan Yu replied.

“I guess it’s Sister Zhao,” Yan Jing answered, “Lingyun said she doesn’t have any family, so there’s a high chance she’ll be spending it with us.”

“Hmm, that’s right,” Yan Yu fell silent for a while before suddenly saying, “She should like mutton. She’s not picky at all; she eats everything.”

“That’s perfect!” Yan Jing said, moved, “Can I give all the things I don’t like in the fridge to Sister Zhao to eat all up?”

“You’re planning to treat her like a trash can, aren’t you?” Yan Yu sighed and massaged his forehead, “You can, but don’t make it too obvious. That would seem like bullying.”

“Understood,” Yan Jing said, “I’ll use the hunger marketing strategy. I’ll eat deliciously in front of her, and then pretend that I can’t bear to part with the food as I offer it to her. Then, I’ll put it back in the fridge right in front of her and leave as if nothing happened.”

“…You should really spend less time with Chen Lingyun. She’s not someone you should be taking as a role model.”

“No, the one I always learn from is you, big brother.”

“You are truly ‘filial’ then.”

“Filial isn’t the word for a brother, it should be ‘brotherly love and sisterly respect’,” Yan Jing said.

“Hmph,” Yan Yu selected the part of the conversation above, specifically the part about “giving all the unwanted food to Sister Zhao,” and silently forwarded it to Mother Yan.

After a moment, Mother Yan replied:

“Don’t worry, your sister still eats vegetables at home, but as for you living outside, I can’t control you eating takeout every day.”

“We have someone who cooks over here,” Yan Yu replied.

“Is it that Ningning Sister that Jingjing mentioned?” Mother Yan actually named the person, which quite surprised Yan Yu.

Chen Lingyun, how much have you meddled in my family!

“It’s indeed good to have someone for cooking,” Mother Yan continued, “But you living with a bunch of young ladies is not appropriate. Their parents are bound to have opinions.”

“No worries,” Yan Yu replied, “Their parents don’t know.”

“They will find out eventually,” Mother Yan asked, “What will you do then?”

“I’ve recently met the parents of Lin Ning and Su Yunjin, and they haven’t raised any objections,” Yan Yu said.

“Perhaps they have objections in their hearts, even if they don’t say it out loud,” Mother Yan commented.

“No problem, their daughters are in my hands,” Yan Yu typed back, “No matter how many objections they have in their hearts, they’ll just have to hold it in.”

“Hmm,” Mother Yan sighed from the other side of the phone. My son has such a rebellious and quirky character, I don’t know who he gets it from… His father is definitely not like this, and Jingjing is also very well-behaved and sensible.

“Be careful not to cause any trouble,” she warned him in the end.

“Mom doesn’t want to hold her grandchildren sooner?” Yan Yu asked.

Mother Yan nearly threw her phone.