Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest-Chapter 481 - 77: You’re Not Secretly in Love with Me, Are You?
Chapter 481: Chapter 77: You’re Not Secretly in Love with Me, Are You?
In the Mysterious Realm, the two were still intensely battling.
Zhou Hongyu tried to take the offensive, but Yan Yu’s attack rhythm was too overpowering. His Two-handed Sword Control Technique released one attack after another—the previous sword technique had not yet aged before the next sword strike was already assailing, forcing her to focus solely on maneuvering the Chi Yu Sword to defend.
A slight misstep, and her defenses would be breached, resulting in direct defeat.
At this moment, she vaguely realized that the corridor environment, devoid of any cover, might be disadvantageous for Yan Yu, but it certainly wasn’t favorable for her either.
Follow current novels on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.
When Sword Immortals and Magic Cultivators duel at close to mid-range, the latter often find themselves at a disadvantage because Sword Immortals attack very frequently, forcing Magic Cultivators to defend with swordsmanship, unable to afford any distractions.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible to repel Flying Swords with a spell. The issue was, how much True Yuan does one use for a spell compared to the amount Yan Yu uses for a Sword Control attack?
...
Unless one could kill the opponent with a single spell, using more would be more costly. It’s not as economical as using swordsmanship for defense.
But a Magic Cultivator persistently using Sword Control Technique, how could they possibly match a professional Sword Immortal? In defending, once the rhythm gets disrupted, the True Yuan depletes, concentration lapses, and ultimately, the outcome is still defeat.
A Magic Cultivator without teammates’ support, even in circumstances unfavorable for the opponent, is still no match for the one known as the “King of Duels,” Sword Immortal.
No, she had to retreat!
Zhou Hongyu’s mind raced, and her steps had already begun retreating, retreating while fighting.
If it had been the Zhou Hongyu of the past, even knowing she was outmatched, she would have fought on stubbornly, never considering a strategic retreat. Now, after having fought too many battles, she had finally become wiser, aware that she couldn’t withstand Yan Yu’s ultra-fast attack speed and needed to use the terrain.
She retreated behind a corner, vanishing from Yan Yu’s view, and her hands already forming the incantation for the Great Bright Fire, poised and ready to unleash.
If Yan Yu pursued and turned the corner, he would immediately come within three steps of her, and she’d give him a nasty surprise with the Phoenix Sword.
If Yan Yu didn’t dare follow but maintained his perception with Divine Sense from around the corner while sending Flying Swords to pursue, then the efficiency of his Sword Control attacks would inevitably decrease.
She just needed to guard against close-range attacks within her line of sight, thus consuming less mind energy and True Yuan than Yan Yu, which would still be more advantageous for her—and Yan Yu would not allow the situation to develop this way, so he would definitely pursue eventually.
When he comes, I’ll crush him!
Zhou Hongyu was silently calculating when she suddenly noticed that his two Flying Swords hadn’t turned the corner and appeared in front of her.
She hurriedly extended her Divine Sense forward… Had he run away?
How could he run?
Zhou Hongyu was dumbstruck, then had an epiphany, clenched her teeth in silent rage and was so furious she wished she could immediately rush over, find Yan Yu, and chop him into two hundred fifty-six pieces for roasting!
I’ll chase him to the ends of the earth!
On Yan Yu’s end, he sped away from Zhou Hongyu, chuckling to himself.
Nervous, that cramped corner environment, you expect me to pursue into your trap? Do you think I’m out of my mind knowing your Phoenix Sword is fierce?
He sped along the corridor, unconcerned whether Zhou Hongyu was chasing him or not, simply exploring freely.
If the previously mentioned area was the ‘residential area’ of the monks living in this Mysterious Realm, then this should be the ‘Quiet Meditation Area’.
Instead of bedding and incense tables, the meditation rooms along the corridor housed meditation mats and Buddha statues, and rows of bookshelves embedded in the walls, filled with numerous pages of scriptures.
The entrances to the meditation rooms were no longer unguarded but were marked with clearly engraved formation runes. Without the correct method of passage, one would have to take the trouble to forcefully break the formation before entering.
Yan Yu was not interested in exploring the rooms but continued straight down the corridor, his Shifting Technique unceasing.
In the live broadcast, the audience could see through the director’s screen that Zhou Hongyu was persistently chasing Yan Yu, two turns behind him, as they ran from the north at 12 o’clock to nearly north-west at 10 o’clock.
The chat suddenly came alive again because it had been 4 minutes since Yan Yu’s appearance.
The Huofeng Team, entering the battle later!
Unfortunately, they teleported to the 2 o’clock direction, near the monks’ residential area where Yan Yu first entered, quite a distance away from both Yan Yu and Zhou Hongyu’s current positions.
“Xiaolian,” Zhang Huaide quickly instructed.
Tang Xiaolian, without a word, took out the Mother Gu.
The Mother Gu resembled a golden tortoise larva, plump and white, and it raised its head and wobbled for a moment before quickly fixing its gaze towards the true west.
“Move,” said Zhang Huaide, concise and clear.
The Huofeng Team members rapidly advanced. Qin Meng led the way, Hou Qing covered the rear, Zhang Huaide positioned in the middle, with Tang Xiaolian and Meng Qingxi ready to provide tactical support for both directions.
But Yan Yu did not suddenly emerge from a corner to ambush them, nor did the Mysterious Realm’s own defenses initiate, allowing the group’s journey to proceed without any obstruction.
Upon reaching a corridor turn, Zhang Huaide suddenly said,
“Stop.”
His Divine Sense swept over the floor tiles and walls, quickly noting obvious signs of burning.
The captain’s Great Bright Fire… The walls were still warm, indicating that the battle here happened not long ago.
“Keep chasing,” Zhang Huaide ordered.
They set off once again, with no one questioning, trusting Deputy Captain Zhang completely.
Finally, Yan Yu reached the western direction of the Underground Palace, where the cave in the mountainside opened into a broader space.
This part of the mountain cave seemed naturally formed, with few signs of human alteration. A small hole in the ceiling allowed bright light to shine through, illuminating much of the cave interior.
Where the sky light fell, there was a small pond, dotted with a few Treasured Lotus Flowers.
Behind the Treasured Lotus Flowers, there was a simple Buddhist temple built on the cave wall. There were no signboards, the gates were open, and inside a Buddha statue was enshrined.
Strangely, the Buddha statue was not portrayed with a kind face and golden body, but with a green face and fierce fangs, its entire body painted black, its expression eerie, seemingly smiling but not smiling.
Yan Yu glanced at the strange Buddha statue once and immediately realized this was a heretical Mysterious Realm.
The Taoist sect was divided into Orthodoxy, Sideline Sect, and Heretical Path, while the Buddhist Sect distinguished between Greater and Lesser Vehicle Buddhism and heretical Buddhist teachings. The Greater Vehicle aimed to save mankind, and the Lesser Vehicle to save oneself, both fundamentally about salvation.
The heresies of Buddhist teachings varied widely, such as the past life’s four Zen branches: Red Lotus Zen, Subjugation of Demons Zen, Pure Land Zen, and Joyful Zen, famously known as a breeding ground for illegal cultivators, constantly suppressed yet persistent, and often dealt with by mortal warriors.
With Yan Yu’s experience from his past life, how could he not recognize this as the statue of Subjugation of Demons Zen? Named for subjugating demons, it was, in reality, about using people as offerings to demons, twisting the allegory of “cutting flesh to feed eagles” into murdering as a form of salvation, undeniably heretical from any perspective.
Because of this, the Mysterious Realm related to Subjugation of Demons Zen would definitely not be a “test-type realm”; encountering anything extremely vicious would be no surprise. However, coming along the way with Zhou Hongyu, having met no danger was an extremely abnormal phenomenon…
Wait, could it be?
A possibility flashed through Yan Yu’s mind, and the Huang Tingjian immediately flew out, smashing the cliff’s Zen master and the buddha statue inside into smithereens.
Upon impact, the statue shattered into countless pieces, falling into the pond below, causing large splashes.
Seeing that there was nothing unusual about the statue, Yan Yu’s expression turned discontent rather than relieved.
This was troublesome.
There was likely something enshrined within this statue, and it had now escaped.
That thing, like a virus, couldn’t survive independently for long outside; it had to dwell within a cultivator’s Sea of Consciousness, leading to two possibilities now.
One, it lurked within the body of a Military Manor cultivator sent by the Pingxi Army earlier to investigate the Mysterious Realm.
However, the Pingxi Army probably used drones, which couldn’t host such a thing.
Two, it was lurking inside Zhou Hongyu or my own body.
Yan Yu stood silently by the pond, introspectively observing his Sea of Consciousness.
Nothing.
Since this Mysterious Realm had already activated at this stage, the thing’s level couldn’t be high, and it shouldn’t be able to elude my detection. Since it was not in my Sea of Consciousness, then it must be…
He suddenly recalled the cold yet gorgeous smile Zhou Hongyu had flashed when she blocked him in the corridor.
Not right! When did little Zhou ever smile?!
Upon this realization, Yan Yu quickly turned around, only to see Zhou Hongyu charging into the cavern, her smile becoming increasingly enchanting, carrying a bewitching, sinister beauty – completely at odds with her original fiery temperament.
“Why don’t you keep running?” she said with a grin.
Yan Yu didn’t respond, merely narrowing his eyes as he observed her.
Little Zhou… was she controlled? Before engaging with her, he had to make sure of this.
“Your smile is quite beautiful,” Yan Yu tentatively asked, “Did something happy happen?”
“What nonsense are you spouting…” Zhou Hongyu’s smile took on a chill, her expression suddenly softened, and she touched her face with her hand.
Am I, smiling?
What’s going on? Why was I smiling at him? This smile… as if I couldn’t help but display it without even noticing, it just appeared on my face…
Zhou Hongyu was initially inexplicably terrified, but soon a thought emerged in her heart:
Finally, I might have a chance to fight him, thoroughly defeat him, and redeem my past humiliations. What’s wrong if I feel a bit happy?
Thinking this way, it all seemed quite reasonable. So, she didn’t restrain her smile, instead issuing a stern challenge:
“Flattery won’t help. If you want to beg for mercy, though, I might listen.”
“No flattery, your smile truly is beautiful,” Yan Yu provocatively replied, “Being so pretty, it’d be a shame not to smile more. If you don’t believe me, ask our live audience watching right now.”
True enough, the chat room was instantly flooded by the fans, with comments like “Divine General Dinghai doesn’t forget to flirt even during matches,” “Brother Yan, teach me your flirting manual,” “Matches are boring, emotional drama is the real deal,” and so on.
Zhou Hongyu naturally couldn’t see the comments, but she suddenly remembered they were still live, exposing her smiling at Yan Yu to the entire nation.
She had fought many battles, never once revealing a trace of smile on camera before, yet now she was smiling so brightly at Yan Yu, which surely would fuel rampant rumors and slanders about a possible romantic involvement between them post-match…
Upon this thought, Zhou Hongyu could no longer bear it. A boundless rage surged up quickly, subduing all uninvited joy and pleasure and twisting her facial smile into a spasm.
Seeing her obvious outrage yet her beautiful smile still lingering, Yan Yu knew she had deeply succumbed to the demonic influence, and time was short, so he quickly gave her another provocative blow:
“You don’t usually smile, but now you do at me so sweetly. Could you be secretly in love with me?”
Zhou Hongyu: !!!
The smile finally vanished from her face.
In its place came her uncontrollable fury breaking forth, delivering a hateful strike.
Great Bright Fire, burning mountains and boiling seas!
