"It seems I have quite a connection with this place," Bai Ye mused, a smile playing on his lips as he awaited the teleportation.
The current situation bore a striking resemblance to his previous life when he first entered the Natagumo Mountain restricted area. By chance, he had found himself in that region, and once the Natagumo Mountain restricted area was opened, he was forcibly pulled into it.
However, back then, upon entering Natagumo Mountain, Bai Ye hadn't even possessed a gacha machine, and his other aspects were also somewhat lacking. After all, the world he inhabited was rather peaceful, and it wasn't possible to gain any innate combat abilities in his own world.
Consequently, in the early stages of the World Battlefield, Bai Ye's life could truly be described as "barely surviving." During his time in Natagumo Mountain, Bai Ye had been utterly miserable. He was hunted by other chosen ones and by the spiders within the mountain; it was a truly pathetic sight.
"But..." Bai Ye casually materialized the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword, and said with a smile, "this time, it seems things are quite different."
Bai Ye's current strength was incomparable to his past life, and furthermore...
With the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword in hand!
Bai Ye suddenly felt as if luck was turning his way. He had just been lamenting that the Southern Ming Li Fire Sword, though in his possession, had no immediate use.
And then...
This restricted area appeared!
What were the others even playing at?
No point in playing anymore, go home, go home, go home to mom. Mom has everything, the king of kings, ham sausages, and instant noodles—only Kang Shifu.
Meanwhile...
The three-minute countdown ended, and Bai Ye was teleported into the restricted area.
He looked around...
No difference.
The interior of the Natagumo Mountain restricted area looked no different from the outside; it was all mountains and forests.
However, Bai Ye quickly oriented himself and began to run.
Bai Ye remembered the way!
It was incredibly difficult to remember paths in a mountain forest, especially since Bai Ye's previous entry into Natagumo Mountain was during the early stages of the World Battlefield.
In other words, nearly ten years had passed between Bai Ye's memory of Natagumo Mountain and the present day!
But perhaps it was because Bai Ye had been bullied so terribly in Natagumo Mountain back then, that his memory of it remained so vivid. While he couldn't recall the entire restricted area, he remembered about seventy to eighty percent of it.
Three restricted area missions...
Bai Ye wasn't particularly interested in the first restricted area mission. However, as the first mission in the restricted area, it was practically a given. This was because completing the second restricted area mission would likely require completing the first mission simultaneously. And to complete the third restricted area mission, the first restricted area mission would be guaranteed to be completed.
Therefore, Bai Ye's primary objectives were the second and third restricted area missions.
The Sunwheel Blade and breathing techniques were both abilities of the Demon Slayers. It was hard to say how strong they were; there were weak Demon Slayers and powerful ones, the key being the mastery of the breathing techniques.
For Bai Ye, breathing techniques were somewhat akin to the Five Spirits Curses. Breathing techniques had multiple forms, ranging from low to high, serving as both offensive skills and enhancing physical attributes to a certain extent.
Of course, Bai Ye's assessment was that they didn't have as much potential as the Five Spirits Curses.
However, since he had stumbled upon them, Bai Ye didn't mind acquiring them.
As for the third restricted area mission...
Bai Ye had no interest in the blood demon arts of the spider demons. Based on his past life's experiences, the spider demons' blood demon arts were extremely powerful.
But with Bai Ye's current strength, if he got lucky, he might obtain a black-quality blood demon art, which would be decent. However, random blood demon arts could potentially yield blue-quality ones, which would be of little use to him.
What Bai Ye cared about was...
Demon Blood!
The effect of Demon Blood was similar to the T-Virus, capable of strengthening physical attributes, and with an amplification approximately 30% higher than the T-Virus, reaching an enhancement of about eight times the normal human physical attributes.
In addition, one could also gain blood demon arts from it.
All in all, it was a highly valuable commodity.
In fact, according to Bai Ye's memories from his past life, the Demon Blood of the lower ranked Twelve Kizuki was black-quality, the upper ranked ones could reach red-quality, and as for the Demon King...
It was, naturally, gold-quality!
However, Demon Blood had side effects. Upon consuming it, one would become a demon. Unless one consumed the Demon King's Demon Blood, any other demon's Demon Blood would result in an inability to survive under sunlight.
Therefore, Bai Ye would certainly not consume Demon Blood.
Although the strengthening of physical attributes and the blood demon arts were very appealing, the side effect came at a considerable cost.
Being unable to see the sun meant that, apart from some special areas, one could only operate for half the time, wasting too much time.
However, Demon Blood had significant trading value, as it was a method to explosively enhance physical attributes in a short period, and the enhancement of physical attributes was the most precious form of self-strengthening.
Furthermore, the side effects were not without a remedy; as long as one obtained the Demon King's Demon Blood, one could move around in the sunlight.
As for the fifteen God Stone fragments, there was nothing much to say. Who didn't like God Stone fragments?
Bai Ye liked them especially, as they could be considered "milk money" for feeding the Iron Slime.
And as Bai Ye was contemplating this...
Suddenly, fighting sounds came from ahead.
Bai Ye looked up and saw three chosen ones already engaged in a fight.
The reason?
What reason did chosen ones need to fight?
Especially as the World Battlefield progressed, with more restricted areas opening up, and everyone accumulating more God Stone fragments, the fights would only become more frequent.
This was because fighting would make it easier to obtain God Stone fragments, and more of them, thereby intensifying the competition for restricted areas and their missions.
Therefore, Bai Ye was not surprised that people were already fighting as soon as the restricted area opened.
On the contrary...
It was only natural!
Then...
With a bang!
Bai Ye suddenly stomped on the ground, creating a small crater, and then accelerated forward.
The three individuals locked in combat hadn't even realized what was happening before a gust of wind swept past one of them.
Then...
*Thwack!*
The sound of flesh being torn apart echoed.
The chosen one's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at his chest, which had been completely cleaved open, crimson blood splashing onto the ground.
The remaining two chosen ones turned pale with shock, and then...
*Thwack!*
The sound of tearing flesh echoed again.
A blood-red line suddenly appeared on their throats, and then they widened their eyes and slowly knelt to the ground, falling face-first.
To their deaths, they never even understood how they died...