Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

If there were no introduction of competing teams, the girls would likely be more relaxed at this time.

After all, the most challenging part is always the first encounter; having successfully conquered the Mysterious Realm for the first time, the second time would seem easier with experience—not to mention that this time the Mysterious Realm is smaller in scale, so everyone's mindset would naturally be more composed.
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But to compete against other teams... who can stay calm about that!

"Don't be afraid, everyone," said Yan Yu with a smile, noticing the downtrodden mood within the team, "I've fought Li Zhaojiang before, he's weak; his team, even though I haven't fought them, won't be difficult to deal with as long as we have good plans. Chen Lingyun?"

"Just a moment," Chen Lingyun started working on the computer, secretly amazed.

We didn't discuss this in advance, so how did he guess that I already had information on our opponents?

It seems that in a past life, we must have cooperated many times like this, which explains the high level of unspoken understanding between us.

Chen Lingyun had a "personality profile database" for everyone she knew, but the amount of information on Yan Yu alone was nearly three times more than anyone else's, and the trend showed no signs of being fully unearthed.

Is this the substance that qualifies him to be my husband?

She thought to herself with delight, her face blooming with smiles as she opened the prepared intelligence file, projected it, and said aloud:

"Their team has a total of five people; Captain Li Zhaojiang, Vice-Captain Li Minghu—they are siblings. The other three members are Tao Xingyuan, Wang Haoran, and Jiang Hong."

"First up is Li Zhaojiang. He has unquestionably the strongest ability in the team, otherwise, he wouldn't be the captain. He's well-rounded in all aspects: he can fight and run, do long-range and close-range combat. If I were to make a comparison, he's like a weaker version of Yan Yu, but he's still fit to be the core of a team."

"Next is the Vice-Captain Li Minghu. She is the brains of the team, responsible for devising training plans and tactical arrangements—she's essentially more like the captain in some respects. However, she suffers from a severe lung disease that prevents her from engaging in intense activities for long, or her health will deteriorate."

"As for the three members, their roles and responsibilities are also very clear."

"Jiang Hong, his father is a registered criminal officer in Jiangcheng Guanggu's Public Security Bureau. Initially, his father wanted him to pursue the family vocation, and he planned to attend the local college for public security; it was only later discovered that he had a Spirit Root and he went to the Annan Cultivator College instead.

He has trained for several years in criminal officer combat techniques and, after becoming a cultivator, also specialized in Wood Bending Charm. His role is probably that of the team's hard hitter, meant to punch through the enemy's line."

"Wang Haoran, from Liuzhou Prefecture in Lingyou Province; Tao Xingyuan, from Zhucheng Prefecture in Qian'an Province. These two have relatively balanced abilities and can be tentatively identified as the team's assistants, aiding Jiang Hong in further tearing apart the line and executing the corresponding tactical missions."

"So," Su Yunjin quickly honed in on the key point, "What you mean, Ling Yun, is that their team has two attack cores."

"Exactly," Chen Lingyun said with a smile, "Initially, Jiang Hong should be the spearhead to break the defense, but once the formation is disrupted, Li Zhaojiang will swiftly take over the core position. I suspect the other teammates will coordinate with him to single out a target from our team for a focused attack."

"Once we're down a member, the opponent will have a numerical advantage," Lin Ning realized suddenly, "So who would be the target?"

"There are two possibilities," said Chen Lingyun calmly, with a hint of a smile, "Either Yun Jin or me."

Everyone fell into thought upon hearing this.

The team usually trained at the college without specifically setting up isolation belts or warning lines, so the surrounding students could see more or less everything.

Chen Lingyun was able to gather intelligence on the Annan Army, so naturally, the opposite side could also investigate their team's composition. That Su Yunjin was the weakest link in the team wasn't a secret.

"If they choose me as the point to break through, I can understand," sighed Su Yunjin, "but why might they also choose you, Ling Yun?"

"Because I'm Yan Yu's partner," Chen Lingyun responded with an unwavering smile, "If they get rid of me first, then Yan Yu would have to take up command."

Su Yunjin was also very clever and immediately grasped her meaning.

Targeting the weakest, Su Yunjin, to hopefully reduce the Zhendong Army's numbers first and thus create a numerical advantage was a quite rational tactical approach.

But with Captain Yan Yu's notorious reputation and a Cutting Spell speed three times that of an ordinary person, the Annan Army surely couldn't ignore his presence—if they truly left him to move freely, who would be down a member first was still up in the air.

Therefore, another line of thought is to attack Deputy Team Leader Chen Lingyun first.

If Yan Yu chooses to save Chen Lingyun, then the Annan Army can switch targets at any time and kick Su Yunjin out of the game; if he doesn't save her, then they'll take the opportunity to eliminate Chen Lingyun, and her command duties will fall on Yan Yu's shoulders, inevitably distracting part of his attention.

Command work is not as simple as "charge with me" or "follow me into battle," but involves making a lot of detailed adjustments according to the changing situation on the field. This requires the commander to pay constant attention to the battlefield situation and not casually rush into enemy lines to fight.

Looking at the current four teams, the fact that the command work is unanimously handled by the deputy team leaders makes it clear that it's not an easy task.

"Let's make a contingency plan," Chen Lingyun said with a leisurely smile. "If they attack Yun Jin first, I think Yun Jin, you can just run away, so at least they have to assign someone to chase you."

"If they give chase, it'll be 4 vs. 4, and we still stand to gain; if they don't chase, you can shoot at them from a distance with the Impact Curse, catching them off guard."

"Oh," thought Su Yunjin, that could work. If I can exchange one for one, then I'll have made the most significant impact possible.

"No," Yan Yu suddenly said.

"Why?" asked Chen Lingyun with a smile.

"It's not beneficial for her growth," Yan Yu said. "We must look at the bigger picture and not focus on a single victory or defeat."

"Hmm, then I'll follow your lead," Chen Lingyun went with the flow and tossed the responsibility for devising tactics over to him.

Now, Su Yunjin had been practicing her movement and evasion for quite a while, but not a single Attack Spell Technique, so she definitely wouldn't be able to beat anyone in a matchup. Chen Lingyun's idea of having her run if she's targeted to directly exchange for someone on the opposing team was indeed a guaranteed profit when carefully calculated.

After all, if you consider it as a 4v4, with Yan Yu and Zhao Yuanzhen being two strong individuals on this side, it's uncertain whether Li Zhaojiang and Jiang Hong on the other side could hold their ground.

However, as the team leader, Yan Yu considered the entire game and naturally thought more deeply.

Miss Su Yunjin is also a person, after all, already a bit self-conscious due to lagging behind the rest of the team in terms of strength. If you then turn her into a disposable piece in a decoy tactic, aren't you afraid of causing her psychological distress?

If the strength isn't enough, there's still hope for improvement; but if the spirit breaks, rebuilding it becomes much more troublesome.

"Whether the enemy focuses on Su Yunjin or Chen Lingyun, it doesn't really matter anymore," Yan Yu said calmly. "The core principle in making a counter-tactic is that we can't let the enemy's strategy lead us by the nose."

Meanwhile, Annan's chartered plane took off from the Imperial Airport and flew towards Jiangnan Province.

"I'll make a final summary," Li Minghu said as he pulled up the last slide. "The Zhendong Army team has relatively clear role divisions, making them quite predictable. Lin Ning is likely the assault trooper, while Zhao Jiuzhen will probably act as the main attacker. The former is responsible for disrupting formations, while the latter leads the attack rhythm."

"Chen Lingyun is the commander, but her close defense is said to be quite strong. Su Yunjin seems to have no strengths and is the team's weak link, but I tend to think this is a trap—they will definitely be prepared for us to focus on Su Yunjin," he said.

"Lastly, Team Leader Yan Yu." Li Minghu paused for a moment and said in a grave tone, "Whether we can constrain him is the key to deciding the outcome of this confrontation."

"Whether we strongly attack Su Yunjin or Chen Lingyun, it doesn't change one fact—that as long as we can't restrain Yan Yu, any tactical advantage we manage to gain early on can be taken back by him at any moment."

"So, do we focus our attack on Yan Yu first?" Li Zhaojiang asked thoughtfully.

Even though he appeared very arrogant in the chat, Li Zhaojiang was actually very aware of Yan Yu's skill level.

"No," Li Minghu said with a slight smile. "If we could deal with him quickly by surrounding him, that would be one thing, but what if we can't? Wouldn't that be the same as allowing him to tie up multiple opponents by himself?"

"After we encounter each other, Jiang Hong, you focus on Lin Ning. Whether she takes the initiative or remains as backup support, you must completely tie her down. Xingyuan and Haoran, pay close attention to Zhaojiang's movements; if he fights Zhao Jiuzhen, you split up to take on Chen Lingyun and Su Yunjin.

But if he turns his attention to Chen or Su, you must extract yourselves immediately and join Zhaojiang in concentrated fire, aiming to quickly reduce their numbers."

"As for Yan Yu... leave him to me," he said.

"I'll hold him off."