240: racing

With the dual-bound, infinitely rechargeable twin engines of Flower Cudgel Leader and Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter, Shi Li's car maintained a stable leading speed.

Even though many cars next to him took the acceleration lane, he was slowly breaking into the top five.

Soon, several lanes merged again.

"How is this kid so fast!"

The fourth-place driver, seeing Shi Li approaching, couldn't help but panic.

Because both cars were moving at high speed, Shi Li's approach speed to the other car was equal to the difference in their speeds.

Although this difference wasn't huge, it was visibly noticeable.

He knew that if he didn't find a way, he would probably be overtaken soon.

"Don't think you can pass me here!"

So he immediately changed lanes, attempting to block Shi Li's path forward.

When Shi Li changed to the left, he changed to the left.

When Shi Li changed to the right, he changed to the right.

"You dare to cut off my car?"

Shi Li wouldn't allow anyone to interfere with his racing.

"Taste this!"

However, before he could make a move, the fourth-place driver struck first.

Click, click, click!

A skeleton mage character on his back row snarled and clawed, throwing a ball of black mist towards them.

The two cars were very close, with no distance to dodge.

Even if he could dodge, he didn't know if the opponent's skill was a homing type.

At the moment, Shi Li had only one choice: to take it head-on.

However, with extreme speed, just as the black mist was about to hit him, he swapped drivers.

Yes, after entering the track, he discovered this function: the ability to swap drivers.

As soon as Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter took the main driver's seat, a magical protective film instantly rose over the entire car's exterior.

Ding!

The black mist immediately vanished as soon as it touched the protective film.

"It worked, haha."

Magic Immunity took effect, and Shi Li was delighted.

"Damn magician!"

Moreover, Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and extended the other out the window.

A crossbow bolt on its forearm rapidly shot out an arrow wrapped in purple energy.

This was Echo triggering.

Using skills itself consumes energy, and being hit by Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter's Quantum Entanglement caused the opponent's vehicle energy to immediately lose a chunk.

"Bye-bye."

Taking advantage of the opponent's greatly reduced speed, Shi Li's vehicle directly swerved past, leaving the opponent to eat his exhaust.

"Why doesn't his use of skills affect his car speed??"

The Card Player who had fallen to fifth place was dumbfounded.

Shi Li had no time to bother with the opponent; now, with full horsepower, he was already closing in on third place.

"Die."

Once it came to this kind of direct racing segment, he became especially excited.

"Warning!"

Under his control, the Fennec Fox Girl let out a sharp cry.

The invisible sound waves of Enemy Disturbance Scream hit the car in front, immediately causing a deceleration effect.

"Bye-bye."

He seized the opportunity to overtake the opponent again.

Two consecutive overtakes immediately put the second-place driver, not far ahead, on alert.

However, before he could take action, he saw several throwing knives coming from the opposite car.

Bang!

The throwing knives suddenly exploded just before they got close, turning into a ball of scorching white light.

"What's going on!"

The second-place driver saw his screen suddenly turn completely white, as if a flashbang had been thrown.

"Blindness?"

He immediately understood but then burst into laughter and roared, "Hahahahaha! It's useless!"

"Let me show you what the beast-like intuition of a Greenhead Alien is!"

"Even without sight, I can still drive the vehicle!"

Bang!

As his words fell, the entire car crashed into the guardrail.

"Bye-bye, lunatic."

Shi Li left a retort and quickly overtook the car.

Greenhead Civilization, what a terrible name.

After becoming second, he could already vaguely see the first-place car.

That's right, vaguely.

The opponent's car was incredibly fast, possibly configured with one Wind Chasing Driver and two Listen to the Wind Passengers.

And it's likely that each character had speed bonus entries; otherwise, Shi Li couldn't imagine why the opponent was so fast.

If it was just a speed comparison, he really couldn't beat the opponent.

It's worth noting that after shaking off the second-place driver, Shi Li had already switched back to Flower Cudgel Leader as the driver.

With the bonus from Breaking Through with Force, this was now his fastest speed, his full-throttle speed.

Yet he still couldn't catch up.

However, this was not a simple race, but a race full of obstacles.

So Shi Li believed that with his superb driving skills, he would definitely find an opportunity.

As long as the opponent made a mistake and he closed the distance, his full set of skill combos would be waiting.

"Greenhead Aliens never give up!"

As a result, before he could catch up to the first-place driver, shouts came from behind.

Shi Li adjusted his view and saw that the green car opposite had changed.

It was enveloped in green flame-like energy, as if burning.

Crashing into the guardrail yet still holding onto third place without being overtaken, it seemed this guy must have activated some skill.

Moreover, the opponent's car speed was clearly faster than his own, rapidly closing in.

"But so what."

Shi Li curled his lips.

That combo meant for the first-place driver, you can have it first.

Demon-Defeating Seal can prevent one of the opponent's characters from regaining energy.

And just like in a card game, it permanently prevents it for this round of the duel.

It's equivalent to making the opponent lose an engine.

However, it can only be used twice in this round.

Since this Greenhead Alien could make it into the top three, it showed they had some strength.

And from the current situation, they were the kind that could pose a threat to him.

So Shi Li didn't hesitate to throw it out.

"Demonbane, Seal!"

Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter, standing at the rear, tore off one of its sleeves, revealing the strange patterns on its skin.

Then, its hands quickly formed seals, and those patterns seemed to come alive, shooting out.

They rapidly wrapped around the character in the opponent's driver's seat.

But that wasn't all; immediately after, the Fennec Fox Girl let out another scream.

"Warning! Warning!"

Invisible sound waves sprayed out again, like an unseen splash of water, quickly extinguishing the flames on the green car.

Demonstration Scream's Dispel effect came in handy at this moment.

"What's happening?!"

The Greenhead Alien felt his car speed suddenly drop significantly.

Forget about catching up to the Four-Wheel Drive Brothers; it seemed even his current third-place position couldn't be maintained!

He looked at his driver again.

The Wind Chasing System character had an "Abate the Drums and Silence the Gongs" buff on it.

And it was permanent!

He hadn't brought Purification at all, so he couldn't Dispel it!

Having dealt with the threat from third place, Shi Li began to fully pursue first place.

But the distance between them was still slowly widening.

There was nothing he could do; the opponent's car speed was simply too fast.

Before long, a fork in the road appeared in the distance.

To the right of the straight main road, a curved path extended.

He saw the first-place vehicle seem to hesitate for half a second, then "whoosh" it chose the right side.

Soon, Shi Li saw the reason for their choice.

While still some distance away, two prompts popped up in front of him.

"Go Straight": More cubic coins, shorter route, many fully enclosed obstacles.

"Detour": Fewer cubic coins, longer route, no obstacles, has acceleration zones.

"No wonder he chose the right side."

Shi Li suddenly understood.

The faster the car, the more troublesome the obstacles.

Because it was too fast, if there were many obstacles, it would be difficult to dodge.

Looking at the map, it was indeed a very straight route if he continued straight.

Compared to turning right, it saved almost half the journey.

However, even before entering the fork, he could already see translucent walls standing on the straight path.

These walls completely blocked the road; unless one could fly, jump, or break through them, passage was impossible.

If one chose to directly ram them with the car, the car's speed would be greatly reduced.

Only the Steadfast System could thrive in this environment.

Conversely, turning right was a smooth, unobstructed path.

Not only were there no obstacles, but there were also many acceleration zones.

These were two different styles of routes, suitable for different types of cars.

The right side allowed speed-type cars to leverage their advantages, while going straight offered an opportunity for less purely speed-focused cars to overtake.

Logically speaking, as part of the first echelon of speed, Shi Li should also choose to turn right.

But he understood that if he continued to purely compete on speed, he probably still wouldn't be able to catch up to the opponent.

Even if he temporarily led the opponent by going straight, he would likely eventually be overtaken again.

"Isn't this just right for me?"

So he quickly made a decision.

His choice was to go straight.

Looking at the unusually straight lane ahead and the countless obstacle Barriers, he pulled out a card.

He happened to possess the Splendor of the Staff, a card that could be maximally utilized to achieve a Full Penetration effect.

As the card was played, Flower Cudgel Leader thrust a staff forward.

"Pierce!"

The light on the staff's tip extended infinitely like a laser beam.

Puff!

The first Barrier was easily pierced, dissolving instantly like foam.

The staff light, having penetrated the first Barrier, showed no signs of diminishing, continuing to strike the second Barrier, the third Barrier, the fourth Barrier—

Puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff, puff!

The straight path ahead suddenly became completely unobstructed.

Obstacles? For Shi Li, they simply didn't exist.

His car passed through with incredible smoothness.

"Good opportunity!"

The Greenhead Alien, still in third place behind him, his eyes lit up.

Burning his skill again, he also chose the straight path and rushed forward.

Bang!

Just as the green car was about to pass through the first Barrier, it crashed into the instantly restored Barrier.

It turned out these were special regenerative barriers; even if broken, they would restore themselves after the breaker passed through.

The followers behind couldn't gain any advantage at all.

"Awesome, haha."

At this moment, Shi Li was speeding along the straight path.

With no obstacles, his driving speed was incredibly fast.

Along the way, there were also many cubic coins, which Lightning Flash easily collected into his pocket with flying knives.

Barriers could regenerate, but cubic coins would not.

So, strictly speaking, this racing mode was also a winner-take-all mode.

Due to the astonishing effect of Full Penetration, he successfully became first place by the time he exited the straight path.

The previous first-place driver, on the right turn lane, despite the help of acceleration zones, had only covered 2/3 of the right turn path at this point.

When the second-place driver caught up to Shi Li again, both sides exchanged a set of skills.

The powerful Stun effect caused both cars to crash into the guardrail at the bend.

However, because Shi Li had played an extra Demon-Defeating Seal and Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter's Quantum Entanglement, the opponent's engine was significantly weakened.

When they tried to catch up again, their speed was a step behind Shi Li's, making it impossible to catch up.

And Shi Li's racing skills today were also excellent; after taking the lead, he made no mistakes and firmly held the top spot throughout the race.

"Comfortable."

When he was the first to cross the finish line, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"All participants have completed this round of the duel."

"Next is the review and rest period."

"You can return to your room, or choose a new room."

Based on previous experience, he had already selected a room before the prompt even appeared.

As soon as the prompt came, he immediately opened the room and entered.

Then, with his mind, he generated a full set of living facilities and began to tally his gains.

The rewards for winning this round were not "too much."

Only 20 million cubic coins, that's all.

However, a significant amount of points were awarded, as much as 20,000.

The main reason was the large number of cubic coins on that crucial straight path with Full Penetration.

And leading the whole way also allowed him to gobble up many cubic coins.

Just from picking them up on the road, he collected over 10,000.

Adding the points reward for first place, he now had 70,000 points.

"I feel like if I can keep winning, two to three more rounds of duels will be enough for me to gather 100,000 points."

Shi Li seemed to already see the five-star Red Blade Maiden waving at him.

"Your points have met the standard, and more items can be unlocked."

When he opened the shop, he also received a new prompt.

"Oh?"

This news made Shi Li raise an eyebrow, and then he began to browse the new items.

He soon discovered that many items in this shop update were things he needed.

For example, Top-Tier Steadfast Intervention, a bound item card, worth 10,000 points.

With it, he should be able to complete the Jumping Dragon Guard's five-star mission of clearing the Firm Trial.

The mechanism of Firm Trial is that the damage-taking rounds determine victory, and a Rage System card like The Diner in his hand is a very good damage-absorbing card.

Also, bringing the cloud sea vessel and hundred mountain vessel together to form a combined entity, resetting HP and enhancing entries to increase the number of survival rounds, is also a very good choice.

In addition, top-tier intervention cards for several other systems were also available, also for 10,000 points.

Even Wandering System and Wither Faction ones were slightly more expensive, at 15,000 points.

"I don't need them now, but I should have a chance to use them later."

Temporarily closing the shop, Shi Li decided to first upgrade other three-star character cards.

Otherwise, keeping these 20 million would be tempting.

So Shi Li opened his deck.

He currently had quite a few unique cards that could be directly upgraded to four stars through card-making missions.

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