Set Up by Capital

"This is..." As the gates of the wasteland zone base swung wide open, unconscious demon beasts were dumped one after another into the open mountain woods, with Huang Dahu and the roe deer brothers slipping in alongside them. It was already the dead of night. The media company staff knew the explorers' locations precisely; so long as they steered clear of wherever the cameras pointed, no viewer would notice anything amiss. Consequently, the release of demon beasts was quite crude: cultivators hovered through the air carrying giant iron cages to designated spots, the bottoms of the cages sprang open automatically, and the demon beasts crashed down onto the ground with a resounding thud. Taking in his surroundings, Huang Dahu drew a deep breath, feeling his long-lost wild nature coursing back into his body. This place was practically identical to the wasteland zone outside the barrier! "I overheard those humans talking just now," he said coldly. "They said young cultivators are exploring and hunting for treasure in here. These demon beasts being dropped in are meant to be obstacles for them. If that's truly the case, then this is a golden opportunity for us." Seeing the roe deer brothers staring blankly at him, Huang Dahu realized he had used an idiom again. He simply fished out his phone, pulled up the photos of Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er secretly snapped by the Flying Bird Group, and showed them to the two roe deer. "We split up to search right now. These two are our targets. If you catch them alone and there's a chance, kill them on sight." "Heh heh." Er Pao gave a sinister grin. "No problem." If they were in the city, they might occasionally feel lost. But in this familiar jungle, they would fully revert to their bloodthirsty demon nature! That was also why Huang Dahu had called it a "golden opportunity." This place could unleash the combat prowess of demons like them to the utmost while placing constraints on humans—it was practically a hunting ground prepared just for them! "Right, there's one more target," Huang Dahu added. "My younger brother was thrown somewhere by those humans, I don't know where. Help me look for him along the way." Er Pao asked, "If your brother is alone, do we kill him on sight too?" Huang Dahu's fists clenched hard, but after a moment of consideration, he kept his voice down and said, "Of course not! When you find him, protect him well. Those human cultivators are dangerous, and Xiao Hei's cultivation isn't up to par. I'm worried he might be in danger." "Alright," Da Pao agreed. "Leave it to us. Rest easy." *Rest easy my ass.* Huang Dahu thought to himself, *If I could find even a third powerful demon willing to help me kill cultivators, I wouldn't be using you two idiots...* *Beep!* The phone in his pocket chimed. Huang Dahu pulled it out and saw a push notification from a video app, recommending a "livestream watched by hundreds of thousands nearby." "Trash app," Huang Dahu muttered, frowning as he closed it. "What kind of time is this? How could I be in the mood to watch a livestream?" Looking up, he waved at the roe deer brothers. "Go!" The roe deer brothers turned around, darted forward, and vanished into the boundless jungle. With deep woods, dense foliage, and dim moonlight, the ferocious hunters set forth at this very moment! *** Ji Yang was anxious. In the dead of night, most of the explorers chose to carve out a safe zone to rest and recuperate. After all, having explored for most of the day, everyone was worn out. Furthermore, at night, a human's spiritual senses would diminish, whereas the senses of demon beasts grew even sharper. Heading out to fight at such a time put oneself at a disadvantage. Ji Yang, however, did not rest. He held his right hand high, a cluster of flame blazing from it, marching forward as his own torch. He was searching for demon beasts. As the most outstanding... male disciple of this generation in Hidden Dragon Pool, he possessed immense pride. He had come to participate in this project for nothing other than to make a name for himself and gather a legion of loyal fans. Like Qi Dian of the Linjiang Sect, these young men—who could be considered standouts within their respective immortal sects—all believed they could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the paragons of the current age, second to none among their peers. Hearing that his personal livestream room had the lowest popularity had dealt a crushing blow to his pride. To be fair, he could accept being below He Caihua—Sister Cai was, after all, a big influencer with millions of followers. Being below Li Feixia was acceptable too; she came with her own built-in traffic. Being below Liu Yuanjun was nothing to be ashamed of either—that was a natural immortal physique, the ace disciple of Xuanfeng Temple, practically guaranteed a qualifying spot in the upcoming City Hero Battle next year. As for being below his senior martial sister, he accepted that even more readily; she might be shorter than him, but she was stronger, having beaten him up since childhood. What he genuinely could not stomach was being ranked below those two rogue cultivators. What was a rogue cultivator? In the minds of immortal sect disciples, to put it bluntly, weren't they just a bunch of vagrant cultivators who scavenged scraps? Their cultivation methods and supernatural powers were cobbled together from bits and pieces; they had no magic implements; they couldn't afford heavenly treasures; and even if they had a stroke of luck, it wouldn't sustain them across multiple realms. Even though Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er had demonstrated formidable strength to secure their spots, they were at most higher-pedigree stray cultivators who might eventually be domesticated and adopted into a sect. The problem was, hadn't anyone adopted them yet? How could he possibly rank below them? Worst of all, if he couldn't even beat them, he would be dead last! He had worked so hard trying to win by opening treasure chests, yet the director had actually told him to learn from that Yue Wen, who spent the whole time slaying demon beasts because the audience loved watching it. *Heh.* *Scheming bastard.* *He really did find a trick to hog the camera.* While everyone else was searching for chests, Yue Wen was over there ruthlessly slaying beasts like a badass—of course it caught people's eye! Well, now that I'm hunting demon beasts too, how can you compete with me? Do you have any idea how prestigious Hidden Dragon Pool is? Ji Yang was determined to show off Hidden Dragon Pool's Shadow Profound supernatural power in front of the camera, give the audience a real feast for their eyes, and make them realize there was a fundamental difference between an immortal sect disciple like him and some rogue cultivators! Yet his current problem was... he couldn't find any demon beasts. After Yue Wen's plow-like purge, the vicious, menacing demon beasts across vast stretches of land had all been transformed into warm, heartwarming evil-suppressing coins. The newly released beasts had yet to become active, leaving the entire park steeped in dead silence under the cover of darkness. So Ji Yang simply lit a fire. Wasn't lighting a flame in a wasteland zone considered extremely dangerous? It was supposed to draw demon beasts from all directions to surround and attack. *Come on, swarm me!* Ji Yang fantasized internally. The new batch of beasts had likely been dropped a while ago; while everyone else rested and recuperated, he would sweep the entire park clean! Wouldn't that drive the viewers wild? Come morning, the popularity of his personal stream would soar to the peak—punching down Liu Yuanjun, trampling Li Feixia, and sending those rogue cultivators packing. *Whoosh—* With a flicker of flame, a hulking, upright silhouette actually materialized ahead of Ji Yang. It looked like a demon beast half-taking form, sporting what seemed to be a deer head. Rather ugly, it was even wearing an ill-fitting pair of overalls. "Oho." Ji Yang's eyes lit up, and he muttered to himself, "The newly released demons really are something else, huh? Not only is it half-taking form, but it's even wearing clothes." The beast across from him also seemed to be searching for something, initially passing by in a rush. But upon catching sight of the dancing flame in Ji Yang's palm, the creature bared its teeth. Its face twisted with clear fury, as if triggered: "Fire—!" "It can even speak human tongue?" The fighting spirit in Ji Yang's eyes burned hotter. "Slaying a beast like this must be worth ten of the earlier ones!" With that, he flicked his wrist, hurling the fireball in his palm with a booming blast. *Bang—!* The demon opposite him dodged with blinding speed. The fireball struck the ground and exploded violently, scattering into a dozen-odd individual flames. Ji Yang's figure flickered as he merged into one of the flames, driving all dozen-odd fires to converge in a pincer attack! *Bang, bang, bang!* That creature was none other than the elder of the roe deer brothers. He had been scouring the mountain for Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er when he ran into a strange human cultivator. If nothing had happened, he might have just brushed past. But this human kept provoking him with fire! Da Pao's eyes turned crimson. Swinging the wrench in his hand, he smashed the three fireballs in front of him to bits, leaving only the flame containing Ji Yang right in front! Caught completely off guard, Ji Yang spun around to flee. The beast became all the more certain this was his real body. Lunging forward in a giant stride, he brought the wrench down with savage force! *Clang—!* The wrench slammed squarely into Ji Yang's spine, battering him right out of the flame. He tumbled and rolled over a dozen meters away, immediately coughing up a mouthful of blood. "Wait, what..." Paler than a ghost, he cried out in horror, "Wasn't I promised we could definitely handle them? Isn't this beast a bit too fierce?!" *No, no, no!* Thoughts raced through his mind. He must have underestimated the opponent. Every single demon in this park had been purchased by Wangyou Media from the city defense army; they would strictly regulate the strength of each beast. They were guaranteed to be at a level that demanded serious effort, but not insurmountable. There was no way an unbeatable foe could appear. In other words, the demon across from him wasn't actually that strong; he had just been careless. The essence of his Shadow Profound supernatural power was stealth—shifting form and trading shadows so that enemies could never guess where he hid, forced to endure endless harassment. Just now, he had simply exposed himself too quickly. *That has to be it.* Thinking this, Ji Yang kipped up, springing back onto his feet, and charged straight at the demon beast ahead. Mid-sprint, his figure abruptly detonated into a burst of bright flame, scattering midair into dozens of dazzling blazes! In his haste, however, the little bee insect camera diligently orbiting him was suddenly engulfed by the flames. With a hiss, the tiny bee insect perished in the line of duty. *Now I'm on the left, now I'm on the right! Haha, you'll never guess where I am!* Ji Yang chuckled wickedly in his mind. As dozens of fireballs converged in attack, Da Pao shifted side to side, casually smashing a few fireballs apart. Then, with a sudden forward burst, he unerringly located Ji Yang's hiding spot once more. *Clang—!* "Ah! You guessed right again?!" Ji Yang wailed in agony. This wrench strike carried staggering weight, shattering his technique on the spot and sending him crashing down. The skyful of flames showered down like rain. After slamming heavily into the ground, Ji Yang felt the world spinning around him. Staring in utter horror, only one thought remained in his head: *Is this right?!* *Why is he beating me like an errant grandchild? Something has to be wrong!* *Is he too strong, or am I too weak?* *Neither makes any sense!* Should a demon of this caliber even be here? There was no way Yue Wen was fighting monsters like this—if someone could slay dozens of these in a row, he'd eat that wrench whole! Even a Gang Realm expert couldn't pull that off, could they? Yet a demon that had no business being here had appeared right before his eyes, shattering his dreams of fame with two swings of a wrench. This could only be described as bizarre. Shock, fury, grief, helplessness... As his mind slowly cleared, countless threads converged in an instant, and Ji Yang deduced the most likely explanation at lightning speed. *Is Wangyou Media out to get me?* *I've been set up by capital!*