Tough Guy Bro

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

He Caihua glanced at her watch. The sports watch on her wrist had a black casing and a pink interior, with a rather elegant design.

The female commentator asked right on cue, "After such an intense battle, He Caihua's watch hasn't suffered a scratch. It's still just as stylish and accurate. I wonder what brand it is?"

The male commentator answered with theatrical emphasis, "Our Pear Brand sports watch, of course! Up in the sky or down underground, running or playing ball, nothing can damage this big Pear! If you'd like the same model as He Caihua, check out the link below."

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

The footage showed him killing a monster with a single strike.

Once the fight was over, the director stopped showing him and switched to Li Flying Rosy Clouds, who had discovered a chest in a corner.

Both commentators immediately perked up again. The woman exclaimed, "Is she the first explorer to find a chest? Flying Rosy Clouds really is a lucky charm!"

The man laughed. "Whether that's good luck or bad luck, we'll only know once she opens it. She's opening it, and inside is..."

As Li Flying Rosy Clouds opened the chest, both commentators cried out, "Wow, it's actually a pair of height-boosting slippers!"

"Flying Rosy Clouds looks rather confused," the female commentator said with a laugh. "But I think those height-boosting slippers are lovely. They'd really suit me."

"These are height-boosting slippers from the Ninefold Separation House. Of course they're love at first sight," the male commentator added. "If our viewers feel the same way, click the link below..."

With the ad over, the camera switched to Yue Wen as he attacked with his sword.

Hiss-

With one use of the Sword-Controlling Technique, he slew another three-headed serpent that lunged at him on a foul-smelling gust.

"Yue Wen has killed another Demon Beast in one strike!"

After the kill, Yue Wen continued walking slowly forward without making any unnecessary movements, and the camera switched to someone else.

"Su Renxue has found a chest too. Will she be the lucky one this time?" the male commentator asked.

"Oh dear, unfortunately, hers isn't a real treasure chest either," the female commentator said. "There's a very tasty-looking pastry inside."

"Hey, it's a pastry from the Fragrant Rice Hall. Do we even need to tell you about the quality? A trusted name for three hundred years!" The male commentator repeated his usual line. "If you'd like a taste, click the link below. Remember, for pastries, choose the Fragrant Rice Hall!"

The feed switched, and the female commentator exclaimed, "Yue Wen has killed another Demon Beast in one strike!"

After that one strike, Yue Wen lost his screen time again.

"Liu Yuanjun has actually found a chest high up on a mountain. What sharp eyes!" the female commentator said.

"Is this the strength of the Mysterious Wind Temple's star disciple's spiritual sense? What treasure will he find inside?" The male commentator paused, then suddenly exclaimed, "Whoa-"

Beneath a low cliff, Liu Yuanjun had discovered a chest hanging below a protruding rock on the cliff face. He leaped up and opened it.

A tiny crimson flying mouse sprang out of the chest, turning into a streak of bloody light and shooting straight at him!

Everyone watching gasped.

Before he opened the chest, the bee drone seemed to have anticipated what would happen and moved the camera directly in front of his chest, giving viewers a first-person view of the opening.

Though small, Blood Lightning Mice had a fearsome reputation in the Wasteland Zone. Their tiny bodies held tremendous power, allowing them to turn into streaks of bloody light and burrow directly into enormous Demon Beasts to devour their flesh and blood.

A Demon Beast invaded by a Blood Lightning Mouse would often endure several days of endless agony before its life was drained away.

Seeing something like that spring out without warning, anyone would have broken into a cold sweat for Liu Yuanjun!

Yet his expression remained calm, the divine light in his eyes utterly undisturbed. A foot from his body, the bloody streak struck an invisible barrier with a clang, sending ripples of spiritual power spreading outward.

The demonic mouse bounced back, slightly panicked, and seemed ready to turn and flee. But Liu Yuanjun gave it no chance. He swept two fingers through the air, and six barriers appeared, overlapping to form a box-shaped seal. Trapped inside, the demonic mouse was instantly reduced to a caged beast.

Liu Yuanjun pressed his hand down again. Whoosh-

The entire invisible seal vanished into thin air along with the demonic mouse inside, as though they had evaporated.

"What an exquisite technique! Could this be the Mysterious Wind Temple's legendary secret art, the Heaven-and-Earth Grasp?" the male commentator exclaimed.

"That's the Mysterious Wind Temple's signature art. They say it takes decades of arduous cultivation just to comprehend it," the female commentator said, equally astonished. "How old is Liu Yuanjun?"

"Ah, while we're still marveling at Liu Yuanjun's secret art, Yue Wen has killed another Demon Beast in one strike," the male commentator quietly slipped in.

"Hmm?" The female commentator suddenly frowned.

"Ji Yang's Shadow-Mystic Divine Ability! Using his agile movement art, he slipped through an extremely narrow crack in the rocks and found a chest. Amazing!"

"Yue Wen has killed another Demon Beast in one strike!"

"Star Girl has found... a tree branch, and she's gone to sleep? It's only just gotten dark, and she's already going to bed? What a... regular sleep schedule."

"Yue Wen has killed another Demon Beast in one strike!"

"He Caihua has opened another chest. What's inside? Let's take a look together!"

"Yue Wen has killed another Demon Beast in one strike!"

"Wait," the female commentator finally couldn't help saying. "Haven't we said that line an awful lot of times?!"

Evening had arrived, but the explorers hadn't actually done very much.

Watching each person's route individually during this livestream, most of their time was spent moving slowly forward, with only the occasional burst of activity.

After all, their primary task was to find chests. Monsters were merely obstacles along the way, so they focused their energy on searching. Sometimes they even avoided fights to look for chests, which made the footage rather dull after a while.

The main livestream gave priority to whoever was doing something.

Whenever someone opened a chest or fought, the feed would switch to them. When nothing was happening, it mostly focused on popular cultivators such as He Caihua, Liu Yuanjun, and Li Flying Rosy Clouds.

But gradually, the crew also noticed something was off.

The director had told them not to show Yue Wen except during fights, yet that independent cultivator seemed to be getting just as much screen time as everyone else.

Why was he always fighting?

He hadn't stopped!

"This guy..."

The feed operator scratched his head. "He's hopeless at finding chests, but he sure knows how to find demonic beasts."

Had Yue Wen heard that, he might have silently replied, No kidding. Of course I do.

He was using the Demon-Detecting Mirror together with the Spirit-Searching Needle, first heading into areas thick with demonic aura, then following the needle's guidance to kill his way through. It would have been strange if he couldn't find them.

To avoid making his intentions too obvious, he even restrained his pace, pretending to search for chests and encounter Demon Beasts while slowly exploring. If he hadn't needed to put on an act, he would have simply swaggered through slaughtering them, and probably cleared the entire park in no time.

To think there could be something this good...

Yue Wen silently marveled. He had long since put the task of finding chests out of his mind.

What chests?

No matter how valuable the treasures Carefree Media had hidden were, they were things available on the market. They couldn't possibly be worth more than the secret treasures he could trade for from Da Long.

From the start until now, he had carved a path with his Sword-Controlling Technique, killing everything in one strike. He must have slain a dozen or so Demon Beasts. Though their strength varied, together they could drop over a hundred pieces of Evil-Suppressing Money.

What did that mean?

Only half a day had passed. If he worked a little harder, these three days wouldn't just let him grind out the loan payment for the True Dragon Method's astral realm section. He might even save enough for its fifth-realm appearance realm section!

People really couldn't get rich without a windfall, just as horses couldn't grow fat without extra feed at night.

Even if he actually went to the Wasteland Zone in the future, he could never farm Evil-Suppressing Money this comfortably. Some of the demons and evil spirits there were genuinely powerful, so he would have to proceed cautiously.

But the Demon Beasts here had all been screened. He didn't have to worry about provoking some formidable creature, and since every one of them was bloodthirsty, he didn't have to worry about killing any good, harmless Demon Beasts either.

Pure, satisfying grinding.

If only the people at Carefree Media would do nothing but pick out Demon Beasts for him to farm Evil-Suppressing Money every day. Unfortunately, he could barely afford materials, let alone hire so many people. He could only dream.

Roar-

An earth-burrowing crocodile suddenly burst out of the ground beneath the slope ahead, opening its huge jaws to bite Yue Wen. With those overlapping rows of blade-like teeth, a solid bite would have instantly crushed even a man of iron into scraps.

But Yue Wen had been ready for it. His flying sword shot out and returned in an instant.

Thud!

The earth-burrowing crocodile fell back into the dirt, blood pouring from the hole pierced through its forehead.

Yue Wen stole a glance at the Spirit-Searching Needle and continued toward his next target. Of course, he still made a show of looking around and scratching his head. "Still no chests, huh."

By the first evening, more and more viewers in the scrolling comments had noticed something was off.

[Why does this independent cultivator never say a word and just keep killing Demon Beasts?]

[Yeah, one strike per kill. What a tough guy!]

[It's like he's got some huge grudge against them. He's the only one who hasn't found a single chest yet, but he must have run into dozens of Demon Beasts, right? It's almost like he's deliberately looking for them! Hahaha...]

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

[If Tough Guy Bro keeps killing like this, won't all the nearby Demon Beasts be too scared to show up?]

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

[Who cares about chests? He just hates Demon Beasts, plain and simple!]

[Hahaha, he hasn't found even one chest? Handsome, strong, and tragic. I love him! I'm sending him a flying saucer gift!]

[...]

"Director, Yue Wen's popularity keeps climbing." A staff member monitoring all the figures came over with a report. "His Personal Livestream's traffic is almost overtaking Liu Yuanjun's, and his gifts are increasing too. The viewers are calling him Tough Guy Bro. They think it's hilarious that he does nothing but keep his head down and kill monsters."

"He actually managed to turn himself into a meme." The director smiled and shook his head.

In the internet age, creating a meme was enough to ride a wave of popularity. There was no telling how long it would last, but it would at least carry him through the three days of this livestream.

Who knew whether his luck was good or bad?

The director knew where all the real and fake Treasure Chests had been hidden. Yue Wen had passed at least four chests along his route just now, including one real one, yet he hadn't found any of them. Instead, he had run into every Demon Beast along the way.

His luck was downright terrible.

Yet that was exactly what the viewers found so funny.

"If the viewers like him, give him more screen time on the Main Livestream too." The director changed his earlier instructions. "Put a few sponsored chests along his route as well... somewhere obvious. His eyesight isn't great."

"There's one more thing, Director," another staff member said as he approached.

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

The staff member looked troubled. "We seem to be running short of Demon Beasts."

The director was startled. "Already?!"