Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

The Shuanggui Mountain scenic area was not large, but being shrouded in ghostly mists and howling winds gave it a feeling of unfathomable depth, an endless expanse.

The tourist square in front of the mountain gate was deserted. The main entrance was a small archway, with the ticket office right beside it.

Lin Ning and Qin Meng halted simultaneously, uncertain whether to continue exploring northward or head into the mountains to the northeast.

Suddenly, a low growl was heard!

Qin Meng instinctively activated the Divine Elephant Technique. This method was a "best of both worlds" defensive and offensive maneuver in the path of bodily cultivation, combining the Earth-Element Sturdiness Curse and the Wood Bending Charm, endowing him with boundless strength and immunity to swords and spears.

His muscles swiftly swelled, his bones crackling and stretching, and in an instant, he shot up to two meters tall, his T-shirt transforming into a tight tank top.

With the Divine Elephant Technique fortifying him, his body was as tough as steel, fearless of attacks from any direction!

However, the attacker's target was not him but rather the much slighter—frame Lin Ning at his side—only to see Lin Ning advancing instead of retreating, her Flying Sword turning into a streak of blue light, slashing upward diagonally, clang!

The incoming object was cleaved in two, falling to the ground with a thud, and only then did the pair clearly see it was a bone shard.

The bone had the curvature of a rib but its tip had been sharpened into a lethal spike; should a cultivator fail to activate their Barrier Charm and be struck by it, they would be impaled on the spot.

Lin Ning was belatedly aware and still shaken, her heart pounding with residual fear.

In truth, she had not seen what was flying towards her, but having been thrashed hundreds of times by Yan Yu with the Sword Control Technique, she had long cultivated a habit of striking without thinking—anything crossing her field of vision was immediately met with a counterattack, any hesitation would result in being pummeled to the ground by the Huang Ting Sword.

This forcibly trained "eye-hand coordination" muscle memory actually saved her today!

Zhao Yuanzhen caught up from the side and exclaimed in surprise:

"Dao Lao Ghost?"

"Yes, Dao Lao Ghost," Yan Yu said through the communication channel. "Its bone needles are poisonous. It's vulnerable up close."

No sooner had the voice faded than Lin Ning had already activated the Shifting Technique, charging towards the specter at the mountain gate.

Qin Meng did not linger either, immediately following behind Lin Ning and charging forward.

Tang Xiaolian hesitated for a moment before saying to Zhao Yuanzhen beside her:

"There seem to be ghosts to the northwest as well. I'm afraid this is a diversionary tactic. It would be better if we stayed here..."

Before she could finish, Zhao Yuanzhen ignored her and followed Lin Ning toward the mountain gate.

Angered, Tang Xiaolian stomped her foot and, seeing the others quickly approaching from behind, she could only rush to keep up.

When the others arrived at the tourist square, Chen Lingyun looked towards the mountain gate where a battle was already raging.

"Dao Lao Ghost?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing but a Peashooter," Yan Yu replied.

Chen Lingyun immediately understood—just a long-range weakling, huh? Not worth my effort to subdue and nurture.

By the time everyone reached the mountain gate, the battle there was nearly over.

Many wraith corpses lay on the ground, their emaciated bodies like mountain rocks and their skin a greenish-gray color; lying still on the mountain, they could indeed be easily camouflaged.

Not far away, Qin Meng pinned a Dao Lao Ghost against the rock wall, breaking its bones with a few punches. Its body hung limply, clearly dead.

Beside him, Lin Ning pinched her sword technique, nailing the last Dao Lao Ghost to a tree trunk with a burst of blue light.

Zhao Yuanzhen and Tang Xiaolian were just a few steps slower and did not even manage to claim a single monster before the two efficiently slaughtered them all.

Zhang Huaide swept over the scene unobtrusively, noting that the number of wraiths cut by sharp weapons far exceeded those killed by blunt force.

Clearly, Lin Ning's Sword Control Technique's lethality was on par with Qin Meng's fist strength, but the advantage of attack range was fully exploited.

"Seeing there are so many specters here," Yan Yu pondered, "perhaps the entrance to the Mysterious Realm is on the mountain. Xiao Zhou, what do you think?"

Zhou Hongyu didn't speak but turned to look at Zhang Huaide.

"Yes," Zhang Huaide smiled, "let's head up the mountain steps. If we encounter more and more ghosts, it means we're heading in the right direction."

"We should pick up the pace," Yan Yu nodded calmly. "Otherwise, I'm worried her True Yuan might not suffice if this continues."

Seeing his plan had been seen through, Zhang Huaide deftly went with the flow and commanded through the communication channel:

"Alright. Qin Meng, come back, I'll take your place."

Qin Meng reluctantly returned, complaining:

"It's not that we can't beat them, it's that we can't beat them to the punch. Just saw a ghost, and the next second, she'd dealt with it."

"It's my fault for the way I allocated tasks beforehand." Zhang Huaide patted his shoulder and then proceeded forward.

Everyone continued up the mountain steps and, indeed, the number of ghosts kept increasing—this meant that the entrance to the Mysterious Realm was getting closer.

Zhang Huaide cleaned up the path ahead with his Sword Control Technique, while covertly paying attention out of the corner of his eye. He quickly noticed Lin Ning's style of drawing her sword, which was noticeably "fast".

The "vision" to capture the enemy's target and the "reaction" to make swift judgments—her hardware abilities had already exceeded the standard of a regular Sword Immortal.

By the time it came to actual combat, Zhang Huaide reckoned that if he were to face Lin Ning one-on-one, he would be utterly suppressed by her.

However, now that it had come to this, he could only think of tactical ways to limit her.

As they nearly reached the top of the mountain, the group finally found the entrance to the Mysterious Realm.

It was still the familiar spatial scar, clawing within the pavilion next to the mountain steps, vomiting dense, thick black fog outward like the yin lung of earth veins.

After clearing out the ghosts in the vicinity, an exhausted Lin Ning quickly sat down to breathe and recuperate on the spot, trying to recover as much True Yuan as possible.

"You guys go ahead first," Yan Yu said.

"Mhm," Zhang Huaide nodded and then turned to look at Zhou Hongyu.

Zhou Hongyu didn't utter a word and stepped into the Mysterious Realm ahead of the others.

Following him were Zhang Huaide, Meng Qingxi, Tang Xiaolian, the medical team of the Pingxi Army, and, finally, Qin Meng.

Once Qin Meng, too, had disappeared, Lou Ping from the Zhendong Army medical group took out a stopwatch and started the countdown.

Without the Pingxi Army nearby, Chen Lingyun didn't play games with eye contact anymore, but simply said with a cheerful smile:

"Do you think they'll fall for it?"

"Even if they see through it, what can they do?" Yan Yu said indifferently, "It's an obvious strategy. As long as they can't find a way to break it, they'll have to follow our design."

"What do you mean?" Lin Ning asked curiously.

"It means nothing, just praising how strong you are," Yan Yu said with a chuckle, "Zhang Huaide is probably worrying about how to deal with you now."

Lin Ning immediately felt somewhat proud upon hearing this, but then looked at Yan Yu with suspicion and turned to Chen Lingyun, probing:

"You're not just teasing me, are you?"

"Why would we tease you?" Chen Lingyun said with a grin, "You are the obvious bait we've thrown out. Even if the other side knows there's a problem, they have no choice but to bite. Sister Zhao and Yun Jin are our hidden trump cards; they'll give them a big surprise when the time comes."

Zhao Yuanzhen, who was originally a bit jealous and indignant, heard that she was a "hidden trump card" and immediately perked up, laughing:

"That's right. I think that Zhou Hongyu is just a turkey, and I'll easily take her down when the time comes."

Meanwhile, within the Mysterious Realm.

Zhang Huaide quickly scanned the surrounding terrain and said:

"Follow me."

Everyone followed swiftly behind him, and Zhou Hongyu asked:

"How should we adjust our tactics?"

"You've seen Lin Ning's Sword Immortal strength," Zhang Huaide said while walking, "Quick to react, decisive in action. If we battle her in the open and let her use her Sword Control Technique to assist the entire scene, it will be quite unfavorable for us."

"Can't you handle her on your own?" Zhou Hongyu sharply caught on to the key point.

"It's hard to say," Zhang Huaide hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "Just to be safe, let's move Qin Meng to the front line. As soon as the battle starts, suppress her right away, and don't give her the chance to assist the entire field."

"Leave it to me," Qin Meng responded solidly.

Although Qin Meng had shorter reach, he excelled in close combat and had high resistance to blows. As long as he could cling to Lin Ning and prevent her from comfortably assisting the entire field, that would be problem solved.

"The rest of the tactics, still following Plan C?" Zhou Hongyu asked again.

"Yes," Zhang Huaide said with a grave voice, "There's no surefire way to win against someone at Yan Yu's level; this is our only option."

"No worries, just try your best to plan the tactics properly," Zhou Hongyu's voice grew softer, but the ferocity and murderous intent in his eyes became more intense.

"Leave the desperate fight to me."