Deep in the jungle, the light was dim, blurring all sense of time.
He Caihua glanced at her watch. The sports watch on her wrist had a black case and a pink interior, styled with considerable elegance.
The female commentator asked right on cue, "After such an intense battle just now, He Caihua's watch hasn't suffered the slightest scratch, remaining as beautiful and precise as ever. I wonder what brand it is?"
The male commentator declared with rhythmic cadence, "Why, it's our Pear-brand sports watch, of course! Up to the heavens, down to the earth, running, playing ball—no matter how hard you push yourself, Big Pear won't break! If our viewers would like the same model as He Caihua, you can grab one from the link below."
The camera shifted, cutting briefly to Yue Wen for two seconds.
The footage showed him instantly slaying a demon with a single sword strike.
Once out of combat, the broadcast director cut away from him again, switching to Li Feixia, who had discovered a treasure chest in a corner.
The two commentators immediately grew fired up once more. The female commentator gasped, "Is she the first explorer to find a treasure chest? Little Sister Feixia truly possesses the luck of a koi fish!"
The male commentator chuckled. "Whether it's lucky or unlucky is something we'll only find out after opening the chest. She's opening it, and inside is..."
As Li Feixia popped open the chest, both commentators cried out in unison, "Whoa, it's actually a pair of height-increasing slippers!"
"Little Sister Feixia looks quite perplexed," the female commentator said with a laugh. "Though I personally think these platform shoes look gorgeous. They'd suit me so well!"
"These are platform shoes from the Jiuli Clan, so naturally, they catch the eye at first glance," the male commentator added. "If our viewers feel the same way, you can click the link below..."
When the commercial wrapped up, the camera cut back to Yue Wen brandishing his sword.
*Ssh!*
With a flick of his sword-control art, he decapitated a three-headed monstrous serpent pouncing at him amid a foul, bloody gale.
"Yue Wen one-shots another demon beast with a single stroke!"
Having dispatched it, Yue Wen simply continued pacing forward slowly without any superfluous motion, and the camera promptly cut to someone else.
"Su Renxue has also found a treasure chest! Will she be the lucky one this time?" the male commentator said.
"Oh dear, what a shame. Her chest isn't the real thing either," the female commentator said. "Inside is a pastry that looks absolutely delicious."
"Hey, when it comes to pastries from Fragrant Rice Pavilion, do we even need to sing their praises? A three-hundred-year-old time-honored brand!" The male commentator slipped right into his pitch. "Viewers who'd like a bite, click the link below! Remember: for pastries, choose Fragrant Rice Pavilion!"
The screen flashed, and the female commentator shouted, "Yue Wen one-shots another demon beast with a single stroke!"
After that single strike, Yue Wen lost the camera once again.
"Liu Yuanjun actually found a treasure chest hidden high atop the mountain! What sharp vision!" the female commentator marveled.
"That must be the strength of divine sense from Xuanfeng Temple's ace disciple! What kind of treasure will emerge from this chest?" The male commentator paused, then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh—!"
Beneath a low cliff, Liu Yuanjun had spotted a chest hanging directly under a protruding rock on the cliff face. He vaulted upward and swung the chest open.
From the interior sprang a tiny crimson flying squirrel, morphing into a streak of bloody light that shot straight toward him like lightning!
Gasps erupted from everyone watching.
Just before he opened the chest, the bee insect seemed to have anticipated the moment, angling its lens right in front of his chest to provide a first-person perspective of the unboxing.
Though tiny, this blood-lightning rat was notorious across the wasteland zone. Its diminutive body contained immense power, allowing it to turn into a streak of bloody light and bore straight into the flesh of colossal demon beasts, devouring them from within.
A demon beast invaded by a blood-lightning rat often lingered for several days in unending agony before its life force was utterly drained.
To unpack such a monstrosity completely unprepared would make anyone break into a cold sweat on Liu Yuanjun's behalf!
Yet his expression remained calm, the light in his eyes showing not the slightest tremor. A foot before his chest, that streak of bloody light slammed into an invisible barrier with a sharp *clang*, stirring ripples of spiritual power.
Repelled backward, the demon rat showed a flicker of panic, appearing ready to turn tail and flee. But Liu Yuanjun gave it no such chance. With a swipe of two fingers, six overlapping barriers materialized in the air, forming a cube-shaped restriction. Trapped within, the demon rat instantly became a beast in a cage.
Liu Yuanjun pressed down with his hand. *Whoosh—*
The entire invisible restriction, along with the demon rat inside, vanished into thin air as though evaporated.
"What an exquisite technique! Could this be the legendary secret art of Xuanfeng Temple, Universe Grasp?" the male commentator gasped.
"That is Xuanfeng Temple's signature art! It's said one needs decades of bitter cultivation just to grasp it!" The female commentator was equally stunned. "Just how young is Liu Yuanjun?"
"Ah, while we're still marveling at Liu Yuanjun's secret art, Yue Wen has one-shotted another demon beast," the male commentator chimed in quietly.
"Huh?" The female commentator suddenly frowned.
"Ji Yang's Shadow Profound supernatural power! Relying on his nimble escape art, he squeezed through an extremely narrow crevice in the rocks! He found a treasure chest! How marvelous!"
"Yue Wen has one-shotted another demon beast!"
"Star Heroine found... a tree branch and went to sleep?! It's barely gotten dark, and she's already going to bed? What a... regular schedule!"
"Yue Wen has one-shotted another demon beast!"
"He Caihua has opened another chest! Let's see what's inside together!"
"Yue Wen has one-shotted another demon beast!"
"Wait." The female commentator finally couldn't help but say, "Haven't we said that line way too many times?!"
***
Night had already fallen, yet the explorers hadn't done all that much.
If one looked at each participant's individual movement during this broadcast, most of their time was actually spent advancing slowly, only occasionally doing something notable.
After all, their primary objective was to find treasure chests. Demons were merely obstacles along the way. Thus, they focused their energy on searching, sometimes even avoiding battles just to locate chests. Over time, the broadcast inevitably grew a bit dull.
The main stream prioritized showing whoever was engaged in active motion.
The broadcast director would cut to someone whenever they opened a chest or fought a battle. When nothing was happening, the focus remained predominantly on high-traffic cultivators like He Caihua, Liu Yuanjun, and Li Feixia.
Gradually, however, they noticed something strange.
The director had ordered not to give Yue Wen screentime unless he was in combat, yet that rogue cultivator seemed to get just as much screen time as anyone else!
Why was he constantly fighting?
He literally never stopped!
"This guy..." The broadcast director scratched his head. "He's lousy at finding treasure chests, but he's ridiculously accurate at finding demon beasts."
***
If Yue Wen heard that remark, he would probably reply inwardly—*no kidding, of course I'm accurate.*
He was using his demon-revealing mirror alongside the spirit-probing needle, first heading toward areas dense with demonic aura and then following the needle's guidance to hunt them down. It would be bizarre if he wasn't accurate.
To keep his act from being too obvious, he even restrained his pace, pretending to wander around searching for chests and merely running into demon beasts during slow exploration. If he didn't need to put on a show, he would have swaggered right through and cleared out the entire park in no time.
*Who would have thought such a sweet deal existed in this world...*
Yue Wen mused quietly to himself. He had long cast the task of searching for chests to the back of his mind.
What treasure chests?
No matter how valuable the treasures Wangyou Media hid inside were, they were goods one could buy on the market. There was no way they could beat the secret treasures he traded for with Da Long.
From the start until now, using his sword-control art to blaze a path of instant kills, he had slaughtered around ten demon beasts. Even with varying strengths, combined they yielded over a hundred evil-suppressing coins.
What kind of concept was that?
It had only been half a day. With a little more effort over these three days, he wouldn't just farm enough to pay off his loan for the Gang Realm chapter of the True Dragon Dao Method—he might even hoard enough for the fifth realm's Xiang Realm chapter!
It truly was as the saying went: *a man grows not rich without windfalls, just as a horse grows not fat without midnight grass.*
Even if he went to the real wasteland zone in the future, it would be impossible to farm evil-suppressing coins so comfortably. Some demons and evil entities out there were terrifyingly strong, demanding utter caution.
Here, however, the demon beasts had all been pre-screened. There was no need to worry about provoking some colossal horror, and since every single one was bloodthirsty by nature, there was no fear of slaying an innocent creature.
A pure, uninterrupted farming session.
If only the folks at Wangyou Media had nothing else to do and spent every day picking out demon beasts to deliver to his doorstep for evil-suppressing coins. Unfortunately, someone as broke as him, who struggled even to buy materials, could never afford to hire so many people. It was nothing more than wishful thinking.
*Roar—*
From beneath an earthen mound ahead, an earth-burrowing crocodile suddenly burst out, gaping its maw as it lunged toward Yue Wen. Looking at those layered, blade-like teeth, a solid bite would instantly crush even a man of iron into scrap.
Yet Yue Wen was already prepared. In an instant, his flying sword flashed out and returned.
*Thud!*
The earth-burrowing crocodile collapsed back into the dirt, blood gushing from its forehead where a clean hole had been pierced straight through.
Yue Wen stole a glance at the spirit-probing needle, then continued toward his next target. Naturally, he still put on a show, glancing left and right before scratching his head. "Still no treasure chest, huh."
As night fell on the first day, more and more viewers in the bullet comments began noticing something was off.
[Why isn't this rogue cultivator saying a word, just nonstop slaying demon beasts?]
[Right? One strike per kill, what a ruthless guy!]
[It looks like he has some personal vendetta against demon beasts! Up until now, he's the only one who hasn't found a single chest, but he must've run into dozens of beasts already! It's almost like he's tracking them down on purpose! Hahaha...]
[Hahaha, strong, handsome, yet so unlucky. I'm actually starting to feel for him.]
[If Ruthless Bro keeps killing like this, none of the surrounding demon beasts will dare show their faces, right?]
[Can this place even compare to the wasteland zone? It feels like his personal hunting ground.]
[Who cares about treasure chests? He just holds pure hatred for demon beasts!]
[Hahaha, not a single chest found? Talk about the 'gorgeous, strong, yet tragic' trope! Absolutely love him, I'm sending him a flying saucer!]
[...]
"Director, Yue Wen's popularity is climbing higher and higher." A staff member monitoring the metrics stepped forward with a report. "His personal stream traffic is about to overtake Liu Yuanjun's, and the gift count is surging too. Viewers are calling him 'Ruthless Bro,' laughing at how he does nothing but silently grind mobs."
"He actually turned it into a viral meme?" The director chuckled and shook his head.
In the internet era, spawning a single meme was enough to ride a huge wave of traffic. Even if it didn't last forever, it would easily carry him through the three days of this stream.
It was hard to say whether the man's luck was good or terrible.
The director knew where all the real and fake chests were hidden. Yue Wen had passed at least four chests along his route just now—one of which was actually authentic—yet he hadn't uncovered a single one. Instead, he managed to collide with every demon beast on the path.
Talk about rotten luck to the extreme.
Yet that was precisely what the viewers found so hilarious.
"Since the audience loves him, give him more screen time on the main broadcast as well," the director said, reversing his earlier instruction. "Place a few chests with sponsor promotions along his route too... Put them somewhere obvious. His eyesight isn't very good."
"There's one more thing though, Director." Another staff member hurried over.
The director turned to look. "What is it?"
The staff member wore a troubled expression. "It seems... we're running out of demon beasts we released."
The director gave a start. "Already?!"
Chapter 39