Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest-Chapter 772 - 32: Support Valkyrie (5k)_2

"If it hadn’t been for the help of the Huofeng Team," Yan Yu asked himself, "I would still be able to arrange individual training improvement programs for everyone, but the effectiveness would definitely take a hit—after reaching the Hua Fu Stage, other professions gain more enhancement, while the combat style of Sword Immortals increasingly resembles that of assassins, focusing on surprise attacks and swift kills. Unless we spar with each other to compete in Sword Control skills, we’re basically aiming for quick battles against other professions, and such combat is hardly instructive in leading battles."

"So, let’s just throw a victory banquet to thank them."

The Huofeng Team did owe the Zhenhai Team some favors before, such as Tang Xiaolian’s Hundred Poison Golden Silkworm Gu, and Zhou Hongyu’s rescue mission at the Thousand Buddha Temple. Now, a part of these favors had been repaid, but this kind of thing couldn’t really be settled clearly. It’s like an endless cycle of you scratching my back and I’ll scratch yours, eventually both teams becoming brothers in arms, unable to keep score.

Yan Yu was of course delighted to deepen the cooperative relationship with the Huofeng Team, especially since Hongyu and Xiao Lian had already become his loyal followers... It was necessary for the two teams to strengthen their ties going forward.

Upon arriving in the private room and sitting down, Zhou Hongyu immediately fixed her gaze on Yan Yu and said,

"Old rules, you drink however much I drink, no using True Yuan to refine away the alcohol."

"Let’s not," Yan Yu immediately saw through her intentions. "This girl surely wants to pretend to be drunk in front of the team members, then be escorted back to the hotel room with a ’Do Not Disturb’ sign hung on the door, waiting to sneak out later at night to find me for some romance!"

"No way!" Zhou Hongyu cut him off forcefully, "You have to drink!"

"Captain Yan," Zhang Huaide chuckled from the side, "it’s only fair to reciprocate. It’s not difficult to help again. We’ve come all this way to be your sparring partners; you should at least save some face for Captain Zhou at this drinking event, right? If our relationship improves, we’ll be more willing to accept your invitation next time based on our emotional ties."

"That’s right, that’s right," others echoed.

Yan Yu was left speechless by their antics. Oh my god, could you stop egging her on without knowing the full story! Am I worried about getting drunk? I’m worried about preserving my Primordial Yang!

"Maybe I can drink for the captain," offered Su Yunjin, seeing him in a pinch and immediately stepping forward.

"Inter-captain toast, you’re a captain?" Zhou Hongyu asked with a playful and mocking smile.

"I’m not," Su Yunjin replied calmly, "but I received Captain Zhou’s care as a sparring partner today, wouldn’t it be alright to toast a few cups to you?"

This girl sure knew how to talk! All members of the Huofeng Team showed their respect.

Zhou Hongyu wanted to get Yan Yu drunk under the pretext of "captain’s mutual toast," and naturally, Su Yunjin had no right to drink on Yan Yu’s behalf. So she quickly changed her phrasing, claiming to reciprocate Captain Zhou’s sparring effort with a toast. Consequently, Zhou Hongyu had to deal with two people, significantly reducing the pressure Yan Yu would have to bear.

Seeing the captain thwarted, Qin Meng could no longer sit still and, lifting his glass, said,

"What’s the sense in you few closing the door to drink among yourselves? Come on, I’ll drink with all of you!"

Body Cultivating Cultivators, even without refining away the alcohol with True Yuan, had strong resistance to alcohol, and Qin Meng was confident that even if he got all the opposite members drunk, he would still be able to sit upright, undisturbed.

Just as Chen Lingyun was about to speak, she suddenly saw Yan Yu take out his phone, glance at it, and his expression immediately seemed off.

"Excuse me for a moment," he stood up and said, "I have something to do."

"Official business?" Zhou Hongyu raised an eyebrow.

"Official business," Yan Yu replied.

Since it was official business, there was nothing to be done.

Zhou Hongyu had nothing more to say and watched Yan Yu rush out the door, quickly losing the mood to continue drinking. Qin Meng then awkwardly held his glass, sweeping his gaze over the crowd with mixed expressions and after a long pause, he sheepishly asked,

"Shall we continue drinking?"

——————————

Yan Yu swiftly flew on his sword to the principal’s office. Upon knocking and entering, he saw Chen Tianming and Li Weiguo there.

"Has something happened to Li Minghu?" he quickly asked.

"Yes," Li Weiguo said gravely, "there’s been a change at the Southern Border."

In this life, the strength of Lu Country was overwhelming, and thus Ascetics didn’t dare invade the border from the Qingzang direction as they had in the previous life. Instead, they changed their target and sent a large force to attack the Southern Border. The Witch King willingly sought help from Lu Country, and Annan Army’s Qing’an Team was ordered to reach the frontlines to scout for enemy intelligence, closely monitoring the warfare between Tianzhu and the Southern Border, to determine the best time for intervention.

Lu Country’s approach of sitting on the hill and watching the tigers fight, hoping for internal conflict among others, was clearly understood by the Witch King. But he had no other options. If he didn’t want to become a lapdog to Ishana, he had to wait until the day Lu Country chose to kindly extend a helping hand. Historically speaking, Tianzhu’s dogs often ended up slaughtered for meat, with not even bones left intact (reference to Sikkim), whereas Lu Country’s dogs could enjoy a relatively comfortable existence for a time (reference to the Northern Border).

From this perspective, the Privy Council’s judgment was not wrong. However, man’s plans are no match for heaven’s. Just yesterday, around 12:30 p.m., the Qing’an Team suddenly lost contact with the Annan Army’s headquarters.

In the past, losing contact could mean many things, but in the Era of Spiritual Energy Resurgence, the most likely scenario was being swept into a Mysterious Realm... Indeed, after urgent front-line military reports, it was confirmed that across the current frontlines between Tianzhu and the Southern Border, particularly near Ma Gui, Qin State, large-scale disappearances were occurring. Entire towns and surrounding village populations vanished without a trace, leaving a hundred-mile area in an instant uninhabited.

It could be concluded that the largest Mysterious Realm to date had descended upon the warzone between Tianzhu and the Southern Border.