Ruthless Brother

The jungle was dimly lit, and it was impossible to tell the time of day.

He Caihua glanced at her watch. The sports watch on her wrist had a black casing and pink interior, and its design was quite refined.

The female commentator asked at just the right moment, "After such an intense battle, He Caihua's watch hasn't suffered the slightest damage. It still looks beautiful and keeps perfect time. I wonder what brand it is?"

The male commentator spoke with practiced enthusiasm. "It's none other than our Pear sports watch! Whether you're running or playing ball, going up to the skies or down to the earth, this Big Pear won't break no matter how you exercise! If viewers watching at home would like the same model as He Caihua's, you can buy one through the link below."

The camera moved, briefly cutting to Yue Wen for two seconds.

The shot showed him killing a demon with a single sword strike.

With the fight over, the director stopped showing him and switched to Li Feixia, who had discovered a treasure chest in a corner.

The two commentators immediately got excited again. The female commentator exclaimed, "Is she the first explorer to find a treasure chest? Fei Xia really is a lucky charm!"

The male commentator laughed. "Whether she's lucky or unlucky, we won't know until she opens it. She's opening it now. Inside is..."

As Li Feixia opened the chest, the commentators cried out together, "Wow! It's a pair of height-increasing slippers!"

"Fei Xia looks confused," the female commentator said with a laugh. "But I think these platform shoes are lovely. They'd suit me perfectly."

"These are height-increasing shoes from the Jiuli Family, so of course they're love at first sight," the male commentator added. "If viewers feel the same way, click the link below..."

The commercial ended, and the camera switched to Yue Wen, sword in hand.

Whoosh—

With a single Sword Control Art, he killed another three-headed monster snake lunging at him through the stench of blood.

"Yue Wen has killed another demonic beast with one sword!"

After the kill, Yue Wen continued forward at an unhurried pace, making no unnecessary movements. The camera switched to someone else.

"Su Renxue has found a treasure chest too. Could she be the lucky one this time?" the male commentator said.

"Oh, what a pity. Her chest isn't real either," the female commentator said. "It's a pastry that looks delicious."

"Hey, pastries from the Fragrant Rice Pavilion speak for themselves, don't they? Three hundred years in business—a time-honored brand!" The male commentator used the same line again. "Viewers who want to try them, click the link below. Remember: for pastries, go to the Fragrant Rice Pavilion!"

The camera switched again. The female commentator cried, "Yue Wen has killed another demonic beast with one sword!"

After that single strike, Yue Wen disappeared from the screen again.

"Liu Yuanjun actually found a treasure chest hidden high in the mountains. What keen eyes!" the female commentator said.

"This must be the strength of a Xuanfeng Temple ace disciple's Spiritual Sense, right? What treasure will be inside?" The male commentator paused, then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh—"

At the foot of a low cliff, Liu Yuanjun spotted a treasure chest hanging beneath a jutting rock on the cliff face. He leaped up and opened it.

A tiny, scarlet flying rat sprang from inside. Its body turned into a streak of blood-red light and shot straight toward him!

Everyone who saw this scene let out a cry of alarm.

Especially since, before he opened the chest, the camera drone seemed to have anticipated what was coming. It had switched to a view from his chest, showing the opening from a first-person perspective.

Though the Blood Electric Rat was small, it was infamous in the Wasteland Zone. Its tiny body held immense power: it could turn into a streak of blood-red light and burrow straight into the bodies of enormous demonic beasts, devouring their flesh and blood.

Demonic beasts invaded by a Blood Electric Rat often took several days to die, their life force drying up amid unending agony.

To find something like this in a chest without any warning—anyone would have been worried for Liu Yuanjun!

Yet his expression remained calm, his gaze undisturbed. The streak of blood-red light hit an invisible barrier a foot in front of him. With a clang, ripples of spiritual energy spread outward.

The rat, flung back, seemed somewhat panicked and tried to turn and flee. But Liu Yuanjun gave it no chance. He swept two fingers through the air, and six barriers appeared one after another, overlapping to form a box-shaped seal. Trapped inside, the rat became a beast in a cage.

Liu Yuanjun reached out and pressed down again. Whoosh—

The invisible seal and the rat trapped within disappeared into thin air, as if they had evaporated.

"What a profound technique! Could this be the legendary Qiankun Control, Xuanfeng Temple's secret art?" the male commentator exclaimed.

"That's the mountain-guarding art of Xuanfeng Temple. They say it takes decades of painstaking cultivation to comprehend," the female commentator said, equally shocked. "How old is Liu Yuanjun?"

"Ah, while we're still marveling at Liu Yuanjun's secret art, Yue Wen has killed another demonic beast with one sword," the male commentator slipped in.

"Hm?" The female commentator suddenly frowned.

"Ji Yang's Shadow Profound Supernatural Power! With his nimble Escape Technique, he slipped through an incredibly narrow gap between the rocks! He's found a treasure chest! How incredible!"

"Yue Wen has killed another demonic beast with one sword!"

"Starry Heroine found... a tree branch, and went to sleep? It's only just gotten dark, and she's already going to bed? She really does have... a regular sleep schedule."

"Yue Wen has killed another demonic beast with one sword!"

"He Caihua has opened another treasure chest. Let's take a look and see what's inside!"

"Yue Wen has killed another demonic beast with one sword!"

"Wait." The female commentator finally couldn't help herself. "Haven't we said that a lot of times?!"

Night had fallen, but the explorers hadn't done all that much.

Watching the livestream, you could see that each person spent most of their time moving slowly, with only the occasional bit of action.

After all, their main task was to find treasure chests. Demonic creatures were merely obstacles along the way. So they focused their energy on searching, and sometimes even avoided fights in order to find the chests. After a while, the footage could get a little dull.

The main livestream prioritized showing people in action.

Whenever someone opened a treasure chest or got into a fight, the director switched the camera to them. When nothing was happening, it focused mainly on popular cultivators like He Caihua, Liu Yuanjun, and Li Feixia.

But gradually, they started to notice something odd.

The director had said not to show Yue Wen unless he was fighting, but that rogue cultivator seemed to be getting just as much screen time as everyone else.

How was he fighting all the time?

He never stopped!

"This guy..." The director scratched his head. "He's terrible at finding treasure chests, but he's damn good at finding demonic beasts."

If Yue Wen had heard that, he might have quietly replied, Well, obviously.

He was using the Demon-Slaying Mirror and Spirit Seeking Needle to head for areas thick with demonic energy, then following the needle's guidance to hunt down his targets. Of course he was finding them.

To avoid making his intentions too obvious, he'd held back a little and pretended to be searching for treasure chests as he made his way forward. That way, it looked as though he was exploring at a leisurely pace and happened to run into demonic beasts. If he didn't have to play along, he'd just stride straight over and kill them. At this rate, he could probably clear out the whole park in no time.

Who knew there could be such a good deal...

Yue Wen marveled to himself. He'd long since forgotten about the task of finding treasure chests.

What treasure chests?

No matter how valuable the treasures Wangyou Media had hidden inside them were, they were still things you could buy on the market. They certainly couldn't be worth more than the secret treasures he'd traded for from Big Dragon.

Since the start, he'd been carving a path forward with his Sword Control Art, killing demonic beasts with a single strike. He'd taken down at least a dozen. Even with some much weaker than others, that still added up to over a hundred Demon Suppressing Coins.

What did that mean?

It had only been half a day. If he kept at it, in these three days he could not only earn enough to pay off the loan for the Gang Realm chapter of the True Dragon Dao Method, but maybe even save up enough for the Phase Realm chapter of the Fifth Realm!

It really was true: people didn't get rich without a windfall, and horses didn't get fat without night grazing.

Even if he went to the Wasteland Zone in the future, there was no way he could earn Demon Suppressing Coins this easily. Some of the Demonic Evils there were genuinely powerful, and he'd have to be careful.

But the demonic beasts here had all been screened. He didn't have to worry about provoking some giant monster, and they were all bloodthirsty, so there was no risk of killing some kindhearted, decent beast.

This was a blast.

It would be great if the people from Wangyou Media did nothing but pick out demonic beasts and bring them to him every day so he could earn Demon Suppressing Coins. Unfortunately, he could barely afford the materials he needed, so there was no way he could hire that many people. He could only dream.

"Roar—"

A Ground-Burrowing Crocodile suddenly burst from beneath the slope ahead, opening its huge jaws to bite Yue Wen. Its teeth were stacked in layers like blades. If that bite landed, even a man of iron would be crushed to pieces in an instant.

But Yue Wen had been prepared. His Flying Sword shot out and returned in the blink of an eye.

Thud!

The Ground-Burrowing Crocodile fell back into the dirt. Blood gushed from its forehead; the sword had pierced straight through it.

Yue Wen secretly glanced at the Spirit Seeking Needle and continued toward his next target. Of course, he still pretended to look around, scratched his head, and muttered, "Still no treasure chests, huh?"

The first night arrived, and more and more people in the chat were beginning to notice something strange.

[Why is this rogue cultivator killing demonic beasts without a word?]

[Yeah, one sword each. What a ruthless guy!]

[He seems to have some serious grudge against demonic beasts. He's the only one who hasn't found a single treasure chest, but he's run into dozens of demonic beasts by now, right? It's like he's looking for them on purpose! Hahaha...]

[Hahaha, he's strong and handsome, but so unlucky. I'm starting to feel sorry for him.]

[If Ruthless Brother keeps killing like this, won't all the demonic beasts nearby be too scared to show up?]

[Can this place really compare to the Wasteland Zone? It feels like his hunting ground.]

[Forget treasure chests. He just hates demonic beasts!]

[Hahaha, he hasn't found a single treasure chest? Strong, beautiful, and tragic. I love him! I'm sending him a flying saucer!]

[...]

"Director, Yue Wen's popularity is climbing fast." A staff member monitoring the data from every platform came over with a report. "His personal livestream is about to overtake Liu Yuanjun's, and his gifts are increasing too. Viewers are calling him Ruthless Brother. They say he doesn't do anything but silently kill monsters. They find it hilarious."

"He's even turned himself into a meme." The director laughed and shook his head.

In the internet age, once you came up with a meme, you could ride it for a while. It didn't matter how long it lasted; at least it would carry them through the three days of the livestream.

It was hard to tell whether his luck was good or bad.

The director knew where all the real and fake treasure chests were buried. Yue Wen had passed at least four on his way here, and one of them was even real, but he hadn't found a single one. Instead, he'd run into every demonic beast along the way.

He really couldn't have been any unluckier.

And yet, that was exactly what made the viewers laugh.

"If the viewers like him, give him more screen time in the main livestream too." The director changed his earlier instructions. "Put a few promotional treasure chests along his route as well... Somewhere obvious. His eyesight isn't the best."

"But there's something else, Director." Another staff member came over.

The director turned to look. "What is it?"

The staff member looked troubled. "We seem to have run out of demonic beasts to release."

The director was startled. "Already?!"