Definitely next time

"Your three-day expedition through the Simulated Wasteland Zone is over. How do you feel right now? Would you like to share your thoughts with everyone?"

In front of the cameras, He Caihua turned to Yue Wen with a smile.

Three days had flown by. After the trouble with Huang Dahu's monsters had passed, the livestream project had gotten back on track. As everyone methodically hunted for treasure chests and killed demonic beasts, the question of "just how weak is Ji Yang?" had also become a favorite topic among the viewers.

Whatever else could be said, Ji Yang had gotten the fame he had wanted before coming here... though perhaps not in the way he had hoped.

They hadn't met up much over the past few days of streaming, but the production team had kept He Caihua informed about things, including Yue Wen's modest rise to fame as "Tough Guy Bro." So, as soon as they left the Wasteland Zone, she brought the reporter interviewing her over and pulled Yue Wen into the brief closing ceremony.

Facing the many cameras, Yue Wen said from the heart, "I really don't want to leave. I really want to stay."

After three days of adventuring, everyone was a little worn out. Only Yue Wen remained bright-eyed and energetic, with an expression that even suggested he hated to leave.

"Hehe." He Caihua smiled. "Are you disappointed? I heard you didn't find a single treasure chest in all three days. But it couldn't be helped. Life always has its regrets."

"Yes." Yue Wen wore a smile he couldn't suppress. "I'm full of regret."

The production staff gave him strange looks. They were thinking, Serves you right. Wearing those battered old sunglasses from dawn to dusk-what could you possibly find?

The director looked at Yue Wen as though he were her sworn enemy.

She had arranged for at least seven or eight treasure chests containing sponsored promotions to be placed along his route. A few had practically been set in the middle of the road, yet Yue Wen hadn't even glanced at them. He had headed straight for the gullies where demonic beasts were hiding.

It was as though he had come here solely to kill demonic beasts.

The staff, who had been sneaking around out of camera view and panting with exhaustion, had circled the treasure chests in a panic. Despite becoming a popular contestant whose viewer traffic rivaled Li Flying Rosy Clouds' toward the end, Yue Wen hadn't opened a single sponsored promotion for Carefree Media. Instead, the clothes he wore had advertised his Shabby Old Agency the whole time.

Passing up their promotional opportunities was one thing, but his slaughter of demonic beasts had reached deranged levels.

The production team's second batch of demonic beasts had run out on the second day. They had even started reminding Yue Wen through his earpiece that, while viewers loved watching him fight monsters, he didn't have to give them quite so much value for their time.

Did he think monsters cost nothing?

They had rushed in another batch on the third day. Right up until the livestream ended, Yue Wen had scoured the entire Wasteland Zone for demonic beasts to kill, as though he had X-ray vision.

He wasn't even pretending anymore!

The director had all but begged him in tears to stop killing them.

His ability to draw in viewers had admittedly been a pleasant surprise, making the livestream more entertaining, but he had killed far too many demonic beasts. Thanks to him alone, the production team's beast-buying budget had tripled!

When all was said and done, Carefree Media had definitely lost a fair amount of money on him.

Apart from Yue Wen and Ji Yang, who had withdrawn midway through, the others had all been earnestly searching for treasure chests.

Liu Yuanjun had found a real treasure chest containing a prize, but he had quietly put the treasure back. Then he had gone out to find his junior sister and brought Li Flying Rosy Clouds over to open it.

The girl had been delighted, and viewers had showered the pair of fellow disciples with likes. The screen was filled with one phrase: "Senior brother, junior sister-I'm shipping them so hard."

The diligent He Caihua had also found a treasure chest, giving all her fans something to celebrate.

Her performance throughout the expedition had actually been fairly unremarkable, but her established fan base was there. Her personal stream had consistently had the most viewers, and comments about her in the main stream had outnumbered everyone else's by a mile.

Su Renxue hadn't found the final treasure chest until the afternoon of the third day. In fact, the production team had only just placed it there. The third chest also contained the most valuable prize, so she had been quite lucky.

Yet she wasn't happy as she stood on the awards podium. Her face was cold, and she even looked a little dejected.

Throughout the expedition, everyone had killed demonic beasts on sight with virtually no difficulty. Only Ji Yang of their Hidden Dragon Pool had been severely injured by such a weak beast and forced to withdraw, all in full view of the audience.

There was no telling how badly their sect would be mocked once they left.

Yue Wen hadn't found a treasure chest either, but his brilliant smile had never faded. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would hum something about how wanting to stay but being unable to was the loneliest feeling.

Of everyone there, only Zhao Xing'er was stamping her feet in anger. "Argh! I'm so mad! Why were all the treasure chests I found fake? I won't accept this! Was it rigged?"

The staff beside her were angry but didn't dare say anything. What's wrong with the people from your agency?

One can't spot treasure chests sitting beside the road, and the other can't find them if they're hidden with the slightest bit of care.

Your neural pathways are like a perfectly straight highway.

I don't even want to talk about your search methods. Once you got frustrated, you took that huge mountain-cleaving axe and chopped down every tree on a hillside. If the production team hadn't stopped you, you would have set the mountain on fire. Even if there had been a real treasure chest, you would've destroyed it.

And every time you fought a demonic beast, you blew up a mountain. Every fight blasted a whole area apart. With you around, even the scenery budget had to go up.

It's only because that beast-killing brat beside you was worse that your problems seemed minor.

And now you're accusing us of rigging it?

At the end of the interview, Yue Wen smiled at the camera. "Speaking from the heart, I didn't find a treasure chest on this expedition, but I had a great time. I'm looking forward to the next one."

After asking a few brief questions, He Caihua led the reporter away to chat with the next adventurer.

Just then, Liu Yuanjun and Li Flying Rosy Clouds walked over to Yue Wen together.

"Brother Yue." Liu Yuanjun greeted him with an exceedingly old-fashioned clasped-hand salute. These days, it seemed only disciples of ancient Immortal Sects still observed such courtesies. "Flying Rosy Clouds told me you lent her a hand when a monster ambushed her. We came especially to thank you."

When Big Muntjac had ambushed Li Flying Rosy Clouds, there was no telling what might have happened if Yue Wen hadn't stopped him with his Flying Sword. She must have taken that kindness to heart.

Li Flying Rosy Clouds also bowed obediently from behind her senior brother. "Thank you, Brother Yue Wen."

"Hey, it was nothing," Yue Wen said. "Anyone would have helped in that situation."

"Whatever the case, you saved a disciple of our Mysterious Wind Temple. If you ever need help in River City, Brother Yue, please don't hesitate to ask us," Liu Yuanjun said generously.

His promise of a favor carried much more weight than Qi Dian's. After all, the Riverside Gate was merely a notable sect within River City, while the Mysterious Wind Temple was indisputably the city's foremost Immortal Sect and ranked highly even across Northern Sky Province.

And Liu Yuanjun was its chief disciple.

After a moment's consideration, Yue Wen said at once, "Then there's no need to wait. I already have something I need help with."

"Oh?" Liu Yuanjun asked. "What is it?"

"I currently need some grand unity mystic blazing cinnabar, but it's extremely difficult to obtain, and I don't have any well-connected sources." Yue Wen smiled. "If you have time, Brother Liu, could you use the Mysterious Wind Temple's connections to help me find out where it's sold? All I need is a seller. Naturally, I'll pay for the cultivation material myself."

The longer a favor went unclaimed, the vaguer it became. If you actually showed up asking for help some time later, there was no guarantee the person would still be willing. He happened to be in a hurry to gather his materials, and the Mysterious Wind Temple was an old, well-established sect, so he might as well ask them to make inquiries.

Most of these sects had their own channels for purchasing cultivation materials, inaccessible to an independent cultivator of his standing. They were far more reliable than searching Cultivation Chat.

Hearing this, Liu Yuanjun immediately nodded in agreement. "I've heard a little about it. It is indeed a rare cultivation material. Once I return to the temple, I'll ask our elders to do everything they can to inquire. But if nothing comes of it, I hope you won't hold it against us, Brother Yue."

"Of course not," Yue Wen said. "If the Mysterious Wind Temple is willing to help, I'll already be very grateful to you both."

Li Flying Rosy Clouds nodded emphatically. "I'll get all the teachers and elders in the temple to help you. Don't worry. They all listen to me."

"Flying Rosy Clouds," Liu Yuanjun chided softly. "You must show respect for your elders in front of outsiders."

"Oh." Li Flying Rosy Clouds quietly lowered her head and stepped back.

Yue Wen thought, From the sound of it, you don't show your elders much respect back at the temple.

Of course, he didn't pry into their internal affairs. He simply smiled. After they had chatted for a little longer, the director came over with several assistants and took out a stack of statements.

"The livestream gift revenue shares for the past few days have been calculated. All the records and receipts are here. You can check them against the stream data later." She handed a statement to each person. "Your shares will be transferred to your accounts within three days."

Yue Wen took his statement and glanced down at it. His hands involuntarily trembled.

According to the figures, his share of the gifts from the main stream and his personal stream totaled 957,632.50 yuan.

Even after a sizable tax deduction, that was still a staggering income. For the owner of a small agency who had never made much money, it was undoubtedly an enormous sum.

For an ordinary person, that money would have been enough to buy an apartment in Satellite City and a car, setting them up for a comfortable life. For a cultivator seeking a breakthrough, however, it might not even buy a single cultivation material.

Such were the disparities of the world.

"Livestreaming really brings in money fast," Yue Wen couldn't help remarking.

"It burns through money fast, too," the director said through somewhat gritted teeth. "The company loses quite a bit putting on a stream like this."

She was telling the truth. The gift revenue looked impressive, but for Carefree Media, it wasn't even enough to break even. Even with the advertising fees from the sponsored promotions and the income from selling products, a livestream project of this scale still cost more than it earned.

This had originally been a pilot project, an exploration of this kind of format, so burning through a little money early on was normal.

But they had repeatedly increased spending on demonic beasts midway through, sending the budget soaring.

The spending had left her a little shell-shocked.

Once she returned, her superiors would definitely criticize her budget management.

"A good company has to shoulder more social responsibility," Yue Wen said with a smile. "If another great opportunity like this comes along, remember to contact our agency again."

"Hehe." The director forced out two laughs, her gaze sharp. If I ever invite you back for another beast-killing project, I'm a dog. Then she replied, "Definitely next time!"

On the ride back, Zhao Xing'er dozed beside him while Yue Wen took out the Sumeru Jade again.

He hadn't been idle these past two days, either. Whenever he had time to rest, he had taken out the jade token and worked on it, refining it with his true qi, gradually erasing its original owner's imprint and trying to gain control of it.

Now, at last, the refining was nearly complete.