Ji Yang raised his head and looked up through the mountain crevice. Between the two walls of rock, he could see brilliant starlight unobstructed by the trees.
Confusion washed over him.
Could the brightest star in the night sky hear clearly?
The loneliness and sighs deep in the heart of the person gazing up at it.
After pondering quietly for a while, he finally muttered in bewilderment, "Fuck! What the hell is going on?"
Until tonight, he had always felt that, objectively speaking, even if he wasn't among the best in the world, he should at least rank among Jiangcheng City's top young cultivators, right?
Encountering a monster he couldn't beat hadn't shaken his confidence, either. It was normal for the production team to make a few mistakes. Maybe they had accidentally let in a monster whose cultivation exceeded the limit.
But other people had encountered them too, and they had all won easily. That was a little bizarre.
That Muntjac Demon had nearly killed him in an instant, yet Yue Wen had nearly killed that Muntjac Demon in an instant. By that calculation, couldn't Yue Wen kill him sixty times in the time it took to fart?
If he were being compared to Liu Yuanjun, he could just about accept it. After all, he had heard since childhood about the boy with an immortal physique at the Mysterious Wind Temple. But Yue Wen was just an unaffiliated cultivator! After all those years spent diligently practicing the Shadow-Mystic Divine Ability, he had been trampled underfoot by some wandering cultivator-and hundreds of thousands of viewers in the livestream had seen it...
Maybe I should just die?
As soon as that thought appeared, his heart trembled, as though he had faintly resonated with someone far away.
But he wasn't someone who gave up easily.
After a while, his spirits rallied again.
Combat changed in an instant, and all sorts of crucial factors could determine victory or defeat. Perhaps that Muntjac Demon simply had keen spiritual perception that happened to counter his divine ability. And perhaps Yue Wen had some divine ability that happened to counter that Muntjac Demon.
It was also possible that, although the Muntjac Demon had looked uninjured during their fight, he had actually inflicted internal injuries on it, reducing its combat strength a hundredfold.
Who could say?
The sample size was too small to support a conclusion.
"Phew..." He exhaled a stale breath. "I can't lose heart. I have to prove myself."
Proving himself would be simple, too. He just needed to slaughter his way forward and crush every Demon Beast he saw. That would prove the earlier incident had been nothing more than a fluke.
With that thought, he walked out of the mountain crevice.
Just then, the new bee-insect dispatched by the production team arrived. The yellow spirit insect's wings vibrated rapidly without making a sound as it flew over, carrying a capsule-sized camera.
He remembered how badly the Muntjac Demon had been beating him before the camera disappeared. Plenty of viewers must have seen it.
Ji Yang lifted his head and pointed at the camera.
"Viewers, there was a minor mishap earlier. Sorry for giving you a scare." His expression was ice-cold. "Give me one more chance, and I'll show you my full strength. Younger viewers, please watch with a parent... because now it's killing time!"
With that, he strode forward.
He imagined this recording circulating online, followed by a montage of him absolutely slaughtering Demon Beasts.
I'm going to look so damn cool.
He had only gone a few steps when he felt a foul-smelling wind blow toward him. Leaping onto a high ledge, he saw a half-transformed tiger in a suit emerge around a bend in the mountain path below.
"A Tiger Demon?" Ji Yang narrowed his eyes.
A monster dressed in a suit and leather shoes did look a little odd, but after seeing a Muntjac Demon in work clothes carrying a wrench, he wasn't surprised anymore. Some Demon Beasts in the Wasteland Zone did wear human clothing. Cultivators died out there, after all, and monsters naturally looted their belongings.
This suited Tiger Demon was Huang Dahu, who was searching for Yue Wen.
He had heard the muntjac brothers' cries from afar and decided to check what was happening. Passing through here, he happened to sense a living human nearby, so he came over to see whether it was his target.
When Ji Yang approached him of his own accord, Huang Dahu realized he wasn't one of the targets and spoke first. "No offense intended. Let's each go our own way."
"Heh." Ji Yang sneered. "If I'd met you earlier, I might have let you leave. But you've run into me as I am now, so you can only blame your bad luck."
He had already resolved to kill.
He had to personally restore the honor he had cost the Hidden Dragon Pool!
With that, he spun, transforming into a skyful of fiery rain. His opening attack was spectacular, a roaring barrage hurtling toward Huang Dahu!
Huang Dahu frowned deeply. He wasn't afraid of this human cultivator. Rather, from what he had learned about humans over the years, a young cultivator like this probably had a whole string of sects and clans behind him. Killing him rashly could easily lead to a situation known as "beat the youngster, and the elders come running."
That was why he didn't want to attack.
But since Ji Yang had attacked right away, he couldn't simply bare his neck and await execution. Feeling Ji Yang's fiery rain filling the sky, Huang Dahu assumed a fighting stance and suddenly closed his eyes.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen sparks struck his body and exploded. Huang Dahu's suit tore apart on the spot, and his striped fur scorched and burned.
Only after enduring that round of attacks did Huang Dahu suddenly open his eyes and let out a roar. "Raaah!"
Crackle-
After charging up for a while, he unleashed a surging mass of lightning around himself, covering a ten-meter radius. Silver dragons darted through it, leaving nowhere to escape.
The fiery rain fell into it, and the sparks exploded one after another. Amid the swirling shadows of flame, a figure suddenly appeared.
Forced back into his true form, Ji Yang was still dazed, but his first reaction was to retreat and create some distance. This Tiger Demon actually knew a Martial Arts Technique! That was even more outrageous than the previous Muntjac Demon, which had only carried a wrench.
But Huang Dahu gave him no chance. His right foot stamped down, unleashing the force of his punch, and the tiger shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!
Boom-
A fist wrapped in electrical arcs slammed into Ji Yang's chest, sending him flying dozens of meters and smashing through several large trees!
He crashed down in the distance amid a cloud of dust, his fate unknown.
Huang Dahu glanced over but didn't go to finish him off. He had come here to kill Yue Wen and didn't want unnecessary complications. By comparison, this passerby was unimportant.
After dealing with Ji Yang, he turned and hurried toward the place where the muntjac brothers had cried out.
Meanwhile, the muntjac brothers were having a miserable time.
Big Muntjac was being hunted by Yue Wen, while Second Muntjac was being hunted by Zhao Xing'er. The brothers had both roared for help, and ended up reuniting.
But now there were two powerful enemies as well.
One in front and one behind, blocking every escape route.
This was where the importance of sophisticated language became clear. A roar was convenient and could convey simple emotions, but it couldn't explain anything about the enemy.
If they had been using Dragon Tongue, one shout could have described the enemy's height and build in perfect detail, with room for a last will and testament besides. Had the brothers known each other's circumstances, they might have gone their separate ways. At least they would each have had a chance to escape.
Yue Wen caught up with Big Muntjac and discovered that one Muntjac Demon had become two. Just as he was hesitating over whether to keep fighting, he saw dust billowing on the other side, and Zhao Xing'er came charging out.
Only then did he realize that Second Muntjac had also been chased here.
The sight of Zhao Xing'er, with red light flickering around her, immediately reassured him.
He turned to look behind him. He had covered this stretch too quickly, and his Bee-Insect Cameras seemed to have fallen behind. He wasn't sure whether they could catch up. Rather than rush to attack, he stood where he was and waited for Zhao Xing'er to come over.
"What do we do, big brother?" Second Muntjac sounded close to tears. Zhao Xing'er's earlier hammer blow had left cracks all over its body and utterly terrified it. "This woman's vicious! She said I disturbed her sleep, then one hit with her hammer smashed me up like this."
Big Muntjac was drenched in blood, but its injuries still weren't as severe as Second Muntjac's. Seeing its brother's condition gave it some idea of the approaching enemy's strength.
"Don't panic. Let me negotiate." It forced itself to remain calm and steadied Second Muntjac.
Then, ignoring Yue Wen for the moment, it stepped forward to intercept Zhao Xing'er as she charged toward them.
"Go on, run. Why'd you stop?" Zhao Xing'er braked to a halt and looked up. Seeing that there were now two Muntjac Demons, she immediately said, "So there are two muntjacs this stupid."
She had also moved so quickly that the Bee-Insect Cameras behind her had been left far away, who knew where.
At this point, all the viewers could see was a wildly jolting stretch of forest. Clearly, the little bee-insects were thoroughly panicked after losing their targets, their six wings beating so hard they were practically smoking. It wasn't that they couldn't fly fast enough. These humans were simply too fast.
"Hmph..." Hearing Zhao Xing'er's words, Big Muntjac's eyes flashed red, and it was about to bare its teeth.
"Big brother." Second Muntjac immediately showed it its wounds.
"Phew." Big Muntjac took a deep breath and smiled. "Hello, beautiful young lady."
"What?" Zhao Xing'er frowned, looking at them, then at Yue Wen over on the other side, unsure what was going on.
"I'm truly sorry that my younger brother disturbed your rest. As its elder brother, I apologize on its behalf." Even Big Muntjac's manner of speaking had become refined. "We have no intention of making an enemy of you. We only came here to kill that man!"
As it spoke, it pointed at Yue Wen behind it. "And his assistant."
"So, could you refrain from interfering in our feud?"
Its plan was simple. If it could first persuade one powerful enemy to leave, the two brothers could join forces against their target.
Situations like this were common in the Wasteland Zone. When three Demon Beasts faced off, they had to prioritize their threats and avoid getting surrounded. Zhao Xing'er hit harder, but they had less of a grudge against her, so she naturally became the one he tried to persuade to leave.
At Big Muntjac's question, a confused expression appeared behind Zhao Xing'er's mask. "Do you have a grudge against that man... and his assistant?"
"Of course!" Big Muntjac knew it needed to win her sympathy now, so it lowered its voice. "Those two are rotten to the core. They killed our parents and relatives, and didn't even spare the baby muntjacs that were barely a month old!"
"They even stole my food-a half-eaten chicken drumstick I'd just found in a trash can!" Second Muntjac named what it considered the tastiest thing in the world.
"And they violated my wife, a beautiful female muntjac!" Big Muntjac said.
"And they took our antlers, ground them into powder, and sold them as deer velvet," Second Muntjac said.
"And they chopped off the old muntjacs' arms, then smeared itching powder on their backs!"
Zhao Xing'er: "..."
"So we'll fight an enemy like that to the death." After showing weakness, Big Muntjac now displayed some toughness. "Even someone as powerful as you wouldn't want to face two furious Demon Beasts fighting for their lives, would you? So perhaps leaving is your best option?"
Zhao Xing'er looked at them, a faint, peculiar smile appearing on her face.
Before she could speak, a delighted cry suddenly came from the other side.
"So you two really are here!" A Tiger Demon covered in black fur climbed up from the woods below. "You scared me to death. Now that I've found you, I can relax. Huh? Why do you two look so badly beaten up?"
Before you continue