Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest-Chapter 981 - 30 Enchantress Core Formation_2

```

"Indeed." Li Zhaojiang chimed in from the side, "Just look at your team captain Yan Yu, with cultivation talent so poor it’s rarely seen in the world, and his True Yuan is so meager it’s pitiful, like a scrawny dog. He relied on precise calculation to get through the Crossing Tribulation, and yet it was still fraught with danger, wasn’t it?"

"Minghu." Yan Yu said with a smile, "Tell your brother to shut up, adults are talking, no place for kids to butt in."

"Eat shit! My sister’s not gonna listen to you..."

"Ah Jiang, stop talking," Li Minghu interrupted him.

Li Zhaojiang felt a heart-wrenching pain and was dragged back by Li Minghu. Xie Ruoxi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the sight, and just as she was about to speak, she saw on the screen the clouds from the tribulation finally slowly dispersing, revealing the ground below torn and tattered, and Zhao Yuanzhen lying flat on the ground in the shape of the character ’大’—her physical strength and True Yuan were both completely exhausted.

Twenty minutes later, Zhao Yuanzhen had already been rushed back to the base’s emergency room. Upon examination, it was found that the internal injuries she suffered were even more severe than they appeared, mainly because she had been forcefully squeezing out True Yuan after her True Yuan was depleted, causing a significant portion of her Dao Foundation’s origin to be overdrawn.

Although she succeeded in Core Formation, considering the damage to her origin, her combat power could only be considered half of a Golden Core True Man until her injuries fully recovered.

"How can you be so weak!" Yan Yu walked over to her bedside and teased, "Lord Master and I didn’t end up in such a sorry state as you."

"Go away! Peel an apple for me." Zhao Yuanzhen didn’t even have the energy to get angry and could only roll her eyes and say, "Then slice it and feed it to me."

"You want apple slices? Why don’t I just juice it for you?" Yan Yu scoffed.

"Sure." Zhao Yuanzhen gave him a sidelong glance, "When I’ve recovered, I’ll definitely make you juice it, just you wait."

Even though her face was pale and her expression weak, presenting a different kind of beauty seldom seen in the Enchantress of her past days, as soon as she spoke, it still carried the Demonic Sect’s distinct tough-girl sass. Yan Yu didn’t bother to argue with her and sat down beside her, casually picking an apple to peel.

Back when I finished my tribulation and lay here, it was Ye Jun who peeled an apple for me; now that the Enchantress lies here, me peeling an apple for her could be seen as passing on this kindred spirit. In the future, it might be Zhao Yuanzhen’s turn to lie here, I wonder for whom she’ll end up peeling an apple?

"No knife, can’t slice it." Yan Yu handed her the peeled apple, "Make do and eat like this."

"No knife? Didn’t you have your Flying Sword?" Zhao Yuanzhen said.

"My Flying Sword coming down would chop your entire apple into nothing," Yan Yu sneered, "If you don’t want it, I’ll just eat it myself..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhao Yuanzhen struck out like a snapping turtle and bit off a piece of the apple from Yan Yu’s hand, crunching noisily.

"If you want to eat..." she spoke with her mouth full and unclear, "eat with my saliva then, slurp slurp slurp..."

"Not like I haven’t eaten it before." Yan Yu didn’t care and took a bite from the apple, likewise chewing.

For a moment, a blush of embarrassment seemed to flit across Zhao Yuanzhen’s delicate face, but she quickly made a goofy face, pretending to spit, and said:

"If you want to eat, I’ll spit it out for you, open your mouth wide!"

Yan Yu stuffed the apple into her mouth and gently said:

"Be good, hold it tight, else it’ll fall."

"Wu wu wu wu wu wu!" Zhao Yuanzhen bit into the apple, emitting a very aggrieved whine.

"The two of you really have a great relationship." Mr. Mei emerged from the medical office inside.

"How is she doing?"

"The origin is overdrawn," Mr. Mei answered while looking at Zhao Yuanzhen on the hospital bed, "It’s not the first time, right? When you first arrived in this world and escaped from under my sword with a cicada-shedding shuffle, it was the result of forcing an overdraw on your origin."

"Hmph!" Zhao Yuanzhen removed the apple from her mouth and retorted, "But I have a husband, and you don’t."

"Reckless spending of True Yuan at the start of your tribulation, and then desperately struggling when it proved insufficient," Mr. Mei shook his head, "Brave but witless, you’ve been on Earth for so many years now and still haven’t made any progress."

```

"Humph, but I have a husband, and you don’t," Zhao Yuanzhen said smugly.

"Your husband can’t protect you for a lifetime," Mei Yingxue said seriously, "The path of cultivation is long, and there are some things you can only rely on yourself for."

"But I have a husband, and you don’t," Zhao Yuanzhen laughed heartily.

Mei Yingxue’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she fell silent.

Yan Yu saw everything clearly. Mr. Mei simply wanted to remind the Enchantress that her reckless and rash style of fighting needed to change, or she would struggle in situations that required prolonged battles. However, Zhao Yuanzhen seemed to take it as a form of personal offense.

Of course, Mei Yingxue had no intention to insult her. With the greater good of the nation at stake, she had long put aside past grievances. Even though she didn’t understand why having a husband was worth showing off, she could tell that Zhao Yuanzhen’s hostility towards her was still strong, and she sighed inwardly.

"I want to eat a pear," said Zhao Yuanzhen, ignoring her, finishing the apple in a few bites and then spoke again.

"How can you never be full?" Yan Yu stood up.

"None of your business! Eating more fruit helps wounds heal faster," Zhao Yuanzhen said petulantly.

"We’re all fasting, why would we need to take nutrients from food?" Yan Yu started peeling the pear.

Mei Yingxue looked at the two flirting and couldn’t help showing a look of envy on her face, thinking that if she were in the Emei Sword Sect, there definitely would be fellow disciples to peel fruits for her when she’s ill and craving something. But here on Earth, there’s no one like that for her.

After transmigrating here, she threw herself into her work. She knew many colleagues, but none she could call a close friend—after all, they weren’t from the same world, and there were cultural barriers to overcome.

"Being able to eat is a good thing," Mei Yingxue corrected Yan Yu, "Cultivators can still take nutrients from food, it’s just that they’re not wholly dependent on food for energy. Fruits are rich in wood-type spiritual energy and eating some indeed helps in recovery."

"If it really helps, I’ll buy a ton of fruits for her to eat," Yan Yu remained skeptical.

"Then you have to go buy them quick," Mei Yingxue said with a smile, "Otherwise, before she gets to finish them, her origin might have fully recovered."

Zhao Yuanzhen pouted, ready to retort when she suddenly heard Yan Yu ask in astonishment:

"Mr. Mei, you’ve learned to joke?"

In the past, Mei Yingxue could understand jokes from others, but she was always solemn and taciturn, strictly businesslike, never engaging in playful banter to lighten the mood. Now, she was even able to banter!

"Haha," Mei Yingxue felt puzzled within but spoke warmly, "I’m not that stiff and boring. Is that what you thought of me before?"

Zhao Yuanzhen couldn’t grasp what the two were talking about, but she suddenly felt an intense unease, as if something precious was about to be taken from her, and she quickly clung onto Yan Yu’s arm, saying:

"You manage me! It’s me who’s just finished Crossing Tribulation and got my origin damaged, not her!"

"Don’t get pear juice all over me!" Yan Yu said annoyed.

"The pear juice is flowing into my chest, help me wipe it!" Zhao Yuanzhen cooed.

"Wipe it yourself!"

Mei Yingxue watched the two’s intimate interactions and briefly snickered in her heart. She stood up and suddenly heard someone knocking at the door.

"Sister Zhao!" Xie Ruoxi ran crying into the sickroom, knelt by the bed and exclaimed, "I’m so glad you’ve successfully undergone Core Formation!"

Yun Jin and others followed her in and saw Xie Ruoxi sobbing intensely, showing somewhat awkward expressions.

After receiving a telepathic message from Yan Yu, Zhao Yuanzhen hurriedly comforted Ruoxi:

"It’s okay, with our strength, Crossing Tribulation should be a breeze, shouldn’t it? I only got hurt because of a mistake at the end, give me another chance, and I’m sure Core Formation would be easy!"