Ten thousand I am across the heavens

Visibility is extremely poor in the dense jungle; things become completely invisible beyond 10 meters. However, for those who can observe using infrared scanning, there are no blind spots at all. Moreover, some relatively concealed killing moves can be undetected by these Gu Masters, making it impossible for them to discover the unique characteristics of the Mountain and River Republic within these moves.

Take, for example, the airborne drone. True essence can alter the properties of matter. By injecting true essence into the air, it imparts different hardness, toughness, conductivity, etc., creating an air shell, aerodynamic mechanism, and an air chip composed of air semiconductors. This creates an airborne drone that soars through the air using airflow, emitting almost no sound and being completely invisible. Because its density is almost the same as the surrounding air, light refracts almost nothing when passing through it. Only in specific imaging areas are there minute reflections and refractions, making it completely invisible without close observation. Furthermore, the total amount of true essence it contains is extremely small, making it virtually undetectable even using unconventional reconnaissance methods other than sight and hearing.

Dao Tian led the old man deep into the jungle, navigating the dense forest as if it were flat ground, never taking detours. No one knew that he was actually using a large number of aerial drones to gain full map visibility. With this overhead view, everything was crystal clear.

"Should we go back first? I feel a bit creepy in this forest." The driver was starting to back down. After the two entered the woods, they saw several corpses. Blood was splattered everywhere, and even just walking through the trees, they could faintly smell the stench of blood.

"Are you scared already? Haven't you noticed that you haven't encountered any enemies along the way, only corpses?" Dao Tian led the way without a care, and the old man, upon careful thought, indeed realized that they seemed to have only encountered corpses and no enemies along the way.

"You mean we just happened to avoid all the enemies? You know where they are? If you have that ability, then we should run away even more."

"Of course I know where they are. Otherwise, you would have been hacked to death long ago. But I'm hiding from them not to escape, but to save trouble. In the past few days, more than 50,000 people have been tricked into this mountain forest. Some of them are Gu Masters, and some are ordinary people who have tasted the benefits. Even if I had great abilities, I would be exhausted if I wanted to kill all these guys who participated in the battle royale one by one. Don't I find it troublesome?"
It's better to take a walk first, avoid those rabid dogs, and when there are only a few survivors left, we only need to make a few moves. Time to call it a day and go home.

The old man turned pale with fright upon hearing this. He looked at the people around him as if they were looking at a madman: "What are you thinking? If only a few people are left, then each of them must have absorbed the power. The power of hundreds or thousands of people, and you're not absorbing any of it. How can you possibly defeat them? You're insane! You're absolutely insane!"

"Oh? If you think I'm crazy, you can leave on your own. Anyway, you should be quite familiar with this mountain forest, so you shouldn't have any problem walking out by yourself, right?" Dao Tian revealed a kind smile.

"Ahem, I think your choice is the wisest and most efficient. I was indeed overthinking things just now." The old man's attitude changed exceptionally quickly. There was no hesitation or awkwardness whatsoever, and even Dao Tian's expression froze for a moment.

"In that case, let's go. The less power we absorb, the safer we'll actually be. If you don't believe me, try closing your eyes and trying to sense my location."

Upon hearing this, the old man tried closing his eyes to sense the surroundings. He discovered that after closing his eyes, he seemed to have gained a very vague sense. He could vaguely perceive Dao Tian's general direction and distance, but if the distance was even slightly greater, this perception became extremely blurry, or even completely imperceptible. Only when the two were less than 1 meter apart could he perceive Dao Tian clearly.

"What's going on? Why can I vaguely sense your location even when I close my eyes?"

"Of course, it's to make it easier for everyone to kill each other. In a forest that's hundreds of miles in radius, even if you throw tens of thousands of people in, it's not so easy to find others. Without some guidance, you might wander around in the mountains for days without encountering a single living person."

So one of the functions of these crystals is location tracking. Everyone who absorbs a crystal can be located and can sense the location of others. The more crystals absorbed, the farther away the location of others can be sensed, and the more noticeable one becomes in the perception of others. We've each absorbed only one crystal so far, although those two guys killed some people and absorbed a few crystals themselves. But in total, the crystals on each of us won't exceed five lives. They'll almost never appear in the perception of others. Of course, there's no other way; we just need to sense others this way, but it's precisely the simplest way for us to safely reach the final round.

After some time, once those insatiable noobs are all dead, the battle royale will enter its next phase: a phase where only the skilled hunt each other. At that point, the total number of people in the forest will be even smaller. Our chances of encountering someone will be extremely slim. And no one will be specifically targeting us; we just need to find a relatively safe place to wait.

The old coachman finally breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing a little: "Who designed these rules? Do they really want everyone who comes in to kill each other, to wipe them all out?"

Dao Tian shrugged: "That's how the demonic path works, otherwise why would it be called the demonic path?"

The old coachman immediately became wary upon hearing the word "demonic path": "Then why do you know so much about the methods of the demonic path?"

Dao Tian chuckled eerily, "Hehehehe, that's because I am the legendary Nine-Turn Demon Lord!"

These words amused the old coachman: "If you were the Nine-Turn Demon Lord, I would shove my head up my ass right now."

"You're a man of your word. I'd really like to see how someone puts their head up their ass." Although he said that, no one would believe that the Nine Revolutions Demon Lord would appear in such a remote and impoverished place.

"Sigh, these young people nowadays, when I tell the truth, nobody listens," Dao Tian shook his head. Then, whistling, he strolled through the mountains and forests as if taking a leisurely walk.

Time ticked by, the sun set, and dusk fell. In the clearing of the forest, a bonfire blatantly rose, and upon it, a whole roasted lamb, skinned and dehaired, sizzled and dripped with oil under the flames. The man who had just called himself the Nine-Turn Demon Lord... "I don't know where he got it," he said, "produced a series of bottles and jars, mixed them into a sauce, and meticulously brushed it all over the roasted lamb. The spices and lamb, roasted by the flames, released a rich aroma that made one's mouth water. The golden-brown roasted meat, illuminated by the firelight, was enough to make anyone's mouth water just by looking at it."

The old man couldn't help but swallow hard: "You live so openly, and the barbecue smells so good, aren't you afraid someone will smell it and come to ambush us?"

"Enough with the nonsense, why don't you just not eat it!" Dao Tian leaned closer and sniffed it. He then took out a small knife and poked it a couple more times. Feeling it was about right, he immediately cut off a leg of lamb and began to happily gnaw on it. He hadn't tasted anything so delicious since leaving the Shanhe Republic. Although there are different food cultures all over the world, no place has spread its food culture to every corner of society like the Shanhe Republic.

When it comes to top-tier cuisine, the five regions are basically on par. Even the Republic of Mountains and Rivers would find it difficult to surpass the extravagant immortals in this regard. However, outside of the Southern Frontier, it's virtually impossible for anyone below the immortal level to taste top-tier cuisine. The chefs serving mortals and ordinary Gu Masters are those rejected by the immortals. While some are quite skilled, their abilities are limited by spices, cooking conditions, and other factors, ultimately failing to reach a certain level. The Republic of Mountains and Rivers, on the other hand, operates on an industrialized model, mass-producing chemical substances that stimulate the taste buds into various seasonings. This allows even a novice to cook top-tier delicacies simply by following the appropriate proportions and conducting a chemical experiment.

He'd never had the chance before. Now, finally, he had the opportunity to showcase his skills with these seasonings. He wasn't worried about the seasonings being discovered and revealing his identity. The main concern was that the Mountain and River Republic had never exported these things, and there was no profit margin in doing so. The immortals outside didn't need these condiments. They had their own celestial chefs, while the mortals outside, though they could use them, lacked the purchasing power. The entire mortal realm probably couldn't even gather 1 immortal essence stones, and even if they wanted to sell them to them, there would be no profit. Therefore, even if the immortals did discover the leftover seasonings, they would only assume it was a secret recipe from some old brand. It wasn't unusual for secret recipes to occasionally circulate among the common people; after all, this world was vast. The population was countless times the combined population of many Earths, and even the most bizarre things had a certain probability of happening.

Dao Tian rubbed his stomach, enjoying a satisfying meal. Then his expression turned serious: "Looks like we need to get some serious business done tomorrow. This can't go on."

Upon hearing this, the old coachman's eyes lit up: "Are we going to hunt down other experts?"

"No! Much more important than that."

"Could it be that you've already discovered the mastermind's trail?"

"No, that's more important. Our immediate priority is that eating only meat is getting too greasy. We need to find enough fresh fruits and vegetables in the forest tomorrow. Otherwise, we'll be eating roasted meat for the next few days."

""

The old man wanted to shout, "Are there any humans left? Why are they in the midst of a brutal battle royale, yet they don't feel like they're in a battle royale at all?"

Dao Tian rolled over, ready to sleep, seemingly unconcerned about being attacked in the night. He wasn't worried at all that anyone would be drawn by the aroma and sneak up on him. The old man had gotten used to it; this guy seemed to know how to avoid attacks all along, so there was no need to worry about such things when he was around.

It was another night of bloodshed. Only the area where they rested seemed quiet and peaceful in the entire forest; elsewhere, ambushes, assassinations, and battles never ceased, and hundreds, even thousands, lost their lives that night. But Dao Tian had no intention of saving anyone.

So much time has passed. The truth about the so-called Tiger King's inheritance has probably already been spread. Those who still willingly come to this remote mountain area under these circumstances—their mentality and motives are self-evident. These people are already planning to use the corpses of others to pave the foundation for their own path to immortality; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they deserve to die. Since that's the case, why bother caring whether they live or die?

The night passed, and as expected, nothing happened. They had chosen the least populated area, and the number of people in the surrounding area had not increased but decreased overnight. Just as he had predicted, the experts in the vicinity had not chosen to explore this area. Precisely because their area was deserted, no one would want to waste time in such an empty space.

Day after day passed. The two didn't seem to be participating in a battle royale. Instead, they seemed to be out there for wilderness survival. To be precise, they were more like surviving in the wilderness. Wandering in the dangerous rainforest, what travelers need most is a good set of teeth and a good appetite, otherwise they might eat themselves to death.

Dao Tian seemed to know every creature in the forest intimately. He casually picked the most delicious wild vegetables and fruits, and by glancing at the grass and fallen leaves, he could spot the tracks left by the most delectable wild animals, instantly capturing and cooking them into a feast. The two not only encountered no enemies along the way, but they practically ate nine meals a day. The once withered old man had noticeably gained weight over the past few days. Although he hadn't absorbed any other people's life force, he had absorbed plenty of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

However, as time went on, they could vaguely sense the red dots in their perception after closing their eyes. These were the remaining people absorbing more and more power. So much so that even if they absorbed only a tiny bit of power, they could barely sense their presence.

Conversely, the opponents could also vaguely sense their presence, but their perception was pitifully weak compared to their true opponents—like a giant ship in the ocean compared to microorganisms. Even if they sensed them, they would only think it was their eyes playing tricks on them. And now, in the final rounds, Dao Tian finally stopped eating and drinking and started getting serious. He seriously began to use his cheat codes.

[To be continued]

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