Star Heroine

November 7, New Era 4396, 1:00 p.m. "Dear viewers, our long-awaited inaugural simulated wasteland zone adventure livestream has officially begun!" "Who will find the final treasure chest and become our lucky winner? Let's wait and see!" After several days of promotional push, viewership had already surged to an impressive peak. Hundreds of thousands of viewers flooded in the moment the stream went live, and the numbers continued to climb steadily. However, because the trial was set in Jiangcheng City and lacked high-profile prodigies from the most renowned immortal sects, the audience consisted primarily of locals from Tianbei Prefecture. Inside Wangyou Media's main livestream studio, two commentators—one male and one female—were introducing the action on screen. The man spoke with impassioned vigor, while the woman's voice was crisp and melodious. "The camera is panning across the cultivators entering the wasteland zone one by one," the male commentator said. "Each of them has been randomly deployed to a different sector. First up is our very own He Caihua, Sister Hua! Wielding the Ancient Red Lotus Sword that has slain countless demons, her poise remains as alluring and lethal as ever." On screen, He Caihua had already slipped into combat focus. Her hand firmly gripped a crimson sword with a lotus-shaped guard; its luster flowed like liquid fire, its sword qi coiled and primed. Leaning slightly forward, she cast out her divine sense and advanced methodically. Her popularity stemmed from the seamless blend of striking beauty and formidable cultivation strength—neither could be spared. Amidst the wild jungle, she was purely a Third Realm cultivator: resolute in expression, her presence deep and restrained, devoid of even the slightest hint of frailty. Who knew how many fans had been utterly captivated by that icy facade. The camera switched, and the female commentator continued, "Next is Liu Yuanjun from Xuanfeng Temple. Many of our Jiangcheng viewers must have heard his name before. This is his very first time participating in a public event like this. Look at how confidently he moves forward—it's like a leisurely stroll through a garden. Truly worthy of being Xuanfeng Temple's ace disciple! Still, we must remind him that the danger here is no different from an actual wasteland zone, so he can't afford to be careless!" "Huh? Who's this...?" The male commentator let out a surprised gasp. "Did someone show up wearing a mask?" "Hehe, you bet!" The female commentator giggled. "This is our Star Heroine, a genius cultivator of mysterious origin." On the screen appeared a tall girl with a slender waist and long legs. Her silhouette was remarkably graceful, except she was wearing an Ultraman mask over her face, lending the sight an air of comical absurdity. Backstage, the director frowned at the feed. "What's going on? Didn't Sister Hua say she'd pick a pretty mask for her?" A'mei gave a wry smile. "Nothing we could do. The girl insisted on this one." "Ah, Star Heroine has encountered a demon beast! It's a mountain-colliding bear!" the female commentator cried out. "She seems to be the first explorer to run into a demon beast! She's drawing a weapon... she pulled out a... what is that?" "If I'm not mistaken, that weapon should be called... an Eight Trigrams Flowered Broadaxe," the male commentator stammered, equally dumbfounded. In the footage, that slender figure—pristine and delicate as a white blossom—wielded an enormous battle axe several times wider and thicker than her own frame with a single hand. Swung through the air, it whipped up a miniature tempest, creating an intense visual contrast. Facing her was a colossal black bear standing two stories tall. A single roar shook the earth and sent tremors through the ground, kicking up a black gale where it stood. It swung a massive paw capable of cleaving mountains and crushing boulders! Star Heroine simply whirled, delivering strike after relentless strike. Her energy churned like a vortex as she met the blow head-on, brutally chopping down the black bear until blood splattered everywhere. The raw, bloody spectacle played out in full view of the audience. Both commentators shouted in unison, "So powerful!" After a full dozen seconds of stunned silence, the camera cut away again, and the male commentator resumed: "Alright, having witnessed Star Heroine's battle, I'm sure everyone realizes that this place can truly be treated as an actual wasteland zone—it's certainly no playground. Our explorers could face mortal danger at any second. Now, this handsome young man you see is a rogue cultivator from Jiangcheng City named Yue Wen. You might not recognize him, but managing to qualify as an independent rogue cultivator tells you he's no ordinary fellow." "Oh!" the female commentator chimed in. "Yue Wen has run into a demon beast too!" ... The broadcast director switched camera angles with practiced precision. Yue Wen's introduction had originally been slated after the two contestants from Hidden Dragon Pool, but during his advance, he had also crossed paths with a beast. It was an aberrant demon beast resembling a cross between a bat and a wolf. Its body was crouched in the posture of a wolf, but attached to its forelimbs were fleshy wings that spread all the way to its ribs like open umbrellas. Perched on a thick branch, it glared at Yue Wen, baring its savage fangs. Most demon beasts in the wasteland possessed strong territorial instincts, attacking intruders with savage fury. Although these beasts had been placed inside the enclosure not long ago, they clearly already viewed anything moving through their vicinity as a trespasser. That bared snarl dripped with murderous intent. "Let's see how this rogue cultivator confronts his enemy. He's made his move! He's pulling out..." Just as the male commentator raised his voice in anticipation, he suddenly trailed off. "...a pair of sunglasses?" Sure enough, after briefly assessing the demon beast, Yue Wen reached into his pants pocket, retrieved a pair of sunglasses, and put them on. "Haha," the female commentator laughed awkwardly. "Perhaps Yue Wen wants to conceal his gaze so the beast can't read his intentions before he strikes! Look, he's moving again! He spreads his hands and, lightning-fast... strips off his shirt?" A bee insect camera hovered near each explorer, revolving smoothly to find the optimal angle. The bee insect was a specially trained spiritual creature, thumb-sized and exceptionally obedient. Some production crews hired specialized insect tamers to train these bees to carry cameras for follow-up filming. Floating above Yue Wen's head at this very moment was one such tiny yellow flying bug, its six legs clutching a camera. With a sharp rip, he tore off his outer black T-shirt, revealing another black T-shirt underneath. Turning his chest directly toward the bee insect, he displayed the words printed across the front: *Yue Cultivation Agency: The Agency of the Jiangcheng People, for the Jiangcheng People!* "..." Both commentators scratched their heads. Backstage, black lines creased the director's forehead. "Since when did we allow product placement here?" "That's his own agency," A'mei said, covering his face. "Guess he figured he'd do some free advertising for himself." "He certainly knows how to pick his moments," the director snapped crossly. "From now on, don't cut to him unless he's in combat!" ... Only after an awkward pause did the male commentator chuckle. "This rogue cultivator certainly puts a lot of work into his pre-battle prep." "Hehe, but that actually makes me look forward to his fight even more," the female commentator smoothed over. "He must be quite an entertaining character." On screen, Yue Wen casually unleashed his flying sword. With the demon-revealing mirror on, the creature's true nature was exposed in an instant: [Swift Bat-Wolf: That fateful night, both the bat demon and the wolf demon had a bit too much to drink... A rather bizarre hybrid beast; its conception defies imagination. Combining the hearing of a bat with the keen sense of smell of a wolf, it is exceptionally alert; attempting an ambush is virtually impossible. Direct combat capability is weak, possessing strength equivalent to roughly five hundred healthy human grandmothers.] A measly five-hundred-grandmother combat rating was hardly worth glancing at for Yue Wen now. After all, he had previously squared off against tiger demons in the ten-thousand-grandmother bracket. That was precisely why he had taken his sweet time displaying his promotional T-shirt. This entire routine had exhausted the patience of the commentators and the audience alike—and that of the swift bat-wolf. "Roar—!" The beast let out a shrill screech, snapped open its fleshy wings, and lunged forward, talons sweeping outward enveloped in gusts of dark wind! Facing the charging demon beast, Yue Wen did not even blink. His flying sword struck in a flash. *Squelch—* A stream of light pierced clean through, instantly erupting into a cloud of blood. As golden mist flowed into his body, Yue Wen finally felt a spark of enthusiasm. Demon beasts in the wasteland periodically formed massive demon beast tides, surging endlessly against the protective barrier of the city defense formation. At times, the stampede grew so overwhelming that it managed to force a crack or two in the barrier, allowing a few lucky beasts to slip through into the city before the breach could be repaired. Most of the half-taking form beasts found within city borders originated in this manner. The majority of beasts in the tide returned empty-handed, while others were knocked unconscious by the rebounding force when slamming into the formation. Once the main horde retreated, some were left behind, like crabs stranded on the beach when the tide receded. The city defense garrison would capture those stranded demon beasts and sell them off cheaply to various buyers. Wangyou Media's current batch had naturally been acquired this way. To sum up their traits: exceptionally low intelligence, modest cultivation, yet ferociously vicious. In other words, walking evil-suppressing coins. Without lingering, Yue Wen pressed forward. The moment he dispatched the beast with that single strike, the main livestream camera cut away, moving on to the next explorer. The general audience had no way of knowing how many years of mastery were packed into that single sword strike; they only felt the fight was plain and dull to watch. "Wow, as soon as Su Renxue from Hidden Dragon Pool appeared, the bullet comments went wild! She really is a young beauty with plenty of personality!" the female commentator continued enthusiastically. "And wrapping things up as our grand finale is everyone's favorite, Little Sister Feixia! Judging from the scene, she just finished a battle on her end as well. The lovely Fairy Feixia is currently catching her breath—it looks like that beast was quite a handful. Now that our explorers have all been introduced, if you want to support someone in finding the treasure chest, type their name in the live chat! We'll be sure to give the most popular participants extra screen time!" "..." [Fairy Feixia! Fairy Feixia!] [He Caihua!] [He Caihua!] [That Star Heroine is pretty fun too.] [The guy from Hidden Dragon Pool isn't that handsome, but his supernatural powers look so cool!] [I want to see Liu Yuanjun! I want to have his babies!] [Su Renxue! Aaaah, older sister, slay me!] [...] The chat rolled with the names of everyone's favorite explorers, with Yue Wen receiving the fewest mentions by far. Though a few stray comments noted that the rogue cultivator was actually quite handsome, they were quickly swallowed by the flood. Compared to the others, he lacked easy gimmicks to draw eyes. His personal stream channel held only a sparse handful of viewers. Yet he had no time to worry about any of that. Evil-suppressing coins were scattered all across this land, just waiting for him to pick them up!