“It worked!”

Cheng Shuang was overjoyed. Her hands trembled so badly she could barely hold the spirit matter replenishment vial in her bag, so she spilled most of it onto her face. The moment a small amount of her spirit matter recovered, she raised her hand again toward Kunpeng.

The speeding car suddenly lost some of its power, rapidly slowing down. No longer showing its earlier agility, it allowed the Mustang to overtake it. In the end, it swerved unsteadily and came to a stop by the roadside before turning off its engine.

In the driver’s seat, Chen Yubo was grinning foolishly, completely lost in a sudden illusion. Drool was almost dripping from his mouth. “Muah muah, baby, ohhh, let me give you a hug... Huh? You want a hug too? Let’s hug together... Who’s the cutest little kitty in the whole world? Of course it’s our Fufu and Captain, right? Muah! Muah!”

In the passenger’s seat, Ji Jue was not doing much better. The moment he sensed the abnormal fluctuation of spirit matter, he had already prepared his defenses, but the blessing from Heart Core and Mirror pulled him into the illusion before he could react.

He couldn’t even remember where he was anymore. Through the haze, he only heard a clear laugh, as soft as a silver bell, by his ear.

Under a rose-pink glow, someone was holding his hand, walking with him through a bustling market. They were sitting on a Ferris wheel, taking in a romantic view as they pressed close together, embracing and kissing, intimately so.

But Ji Jue could not see his date’s face. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make it out.

That sharp, tall silhouette and relaxed smile felt like Ms. Wen, bringing a sense of reassurance, yet those clear, bright eyes seemed like Ye Chun’s, like distant moonlight that one instinctively longed for, but could never reach. At times, she became small and light, like a little—

What the hell?!

In the disoriented dream, Ji Jue suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He snapped his eyes open, instantly waking up.

No, no, no, no, no! This is the one thing I’m absolutely not okay with!

The rose-pink light that had been coiling through the car cabin shattered like glass under his shock and rising anger. At the same time, the person in the front passenger seat of the Mustang let out a piercing scream. The kaleidoscope had exploded without warning.

Like a bomb that went off, shards of broken metal and mirror fragments shot everywhere, embedding themselves into Cheng Shuang’s face, instantly leaving her beautiful features drenched in blood. Thick streams of crimson slowly seeped from her nose and mouth.

Cheng Shuang screamed in terror.

As the artifact lost control, a terrifying backlash surged through the spirit link like a storm. Along with it came distant, monstrous visions that completely swallowed her whole.

“Fire! Fire! Help me, there’s so much fire!” Cheng Shuang screamed. Trapped by the seatbelt, she struggled and thrashed in terror, as if she were being burned alive, sinking into an endless tide of flames.

The sky was burning, and the earth had become a furnace. The whole world was being destroyed. Only despair and ruin remained, preserved within ashes. Even the buffering effect of the alchemical construct could not erase that terrifying presence. In an instant, it was etched into her soul forever, impossible to forget, impossible to remove.

Fortunately, such torment did not last long. In that hysteria, she quickly lost consciousness, convulsing before slipping into unconsciousness.

With her ability withdrawn, the previously speeding Mustang shook as it let out strange noises, showing signs of losing control. What was worse, Mu Jiang realized that Kunpeng, which he had thought was long thrown far behind, had once again appeared in his rearview mirror, even faster than before.

Across an entire S-curve, the car suddenly smashed through the guardrail and leapt into the air!

Like a soaring bird, Kunpeng flew through the sky as if it had invisible wings. Using the height difference of over two meters, it cleanly cut across the entire S-curve and left it behind.

The landing was smooth. The terrifyingly powerful suspension and balance system completely absorbed the impact of the landing, only slightly bouncing twice.

It closed in once again, right on their tail. One could already vaguely make out Chen Yubo’s furious, cursing face in the driver’s seat.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck... what the hell is this?!” Mu Jiang was drenched in sweat, cursing incoherently as he frantically shook Cheng Shuang, but the woman had already fallen completely unconscious and could not be awakened.

“I’ll race you to the end!” He squeezed the pendant around his neck. It was an alchemical artifact he had spared no expense to buy from the Empire, a blessing of the Ascension Path. It could accelerate his perception and thought processes, making it seem as if time had slowed down.

But the cost was severe: every use left him with splitting headaches, and after repeated use, it could even lead to developing schizophrenia or complete madness. Mu Jing, however, no longer had time to care.

Once again, brilliance lit up in his eyes.

The reaction speed that surpassed any professional racer manifested again. The Mustang’s rear end swung side to side, weaving violently along the narrow road, tightly sealing off any possible overtaking route.

Mu Jiang grinned, feeling the sweet metallic taste of blood from his nose filling the corner of his mouth as he rasped out a curse. “Overtake me! Go on, try it! The drainage ditch up ahead doesn’t even have a cover, what the hell are you going to use to pass me?!”

As the Mustang entered the corner, a deafening engine roared from behind. Kunpeng, in hot pursuit, accelerated again.

“Bro, watch me put on a show for you!”

Along with a wild laugh from the engine itself, the resurrected Kunpeng violently unleashed its power. On the dashboard, the paddle shifters, various buttons, and even the differential lock controls all began to shift on their own, as if invisible hands were operating the vehicle.

Under Mu Jiang’s stunned gaze, Kunpeng’s left wheel rolled over scattered gravel on the road and suddenly bounced upward. The heavy car tilted to the left, gradually lifting. From having four wheels on the ground, it was now driving on only two wheels on the right side.

What the hell kind of stunt driver is this?!

Because of the pounding pain in his skull, Mu Jiang’s vision was already blurring. The only thing he could clearly see was the roof of Kunpeng as it overtook him. Was this an illusion? Or had he taken drugs without realizing it before the race?

It all happened in a split second. At 341 kilometers per hour, Kunpeng executed an inner-lane overtake using a one-side driving stunt, never slowing down.

Immediately after, as if performing magic, Kunpeng, now ahead of the Mustang, suddenly drifted, spun, and its tires reversed direction mid-race, scraping out a trail of pale smoke.

In the blink of an eye, Kunpeng had turned around, positioned itself directly in front of the Mustang, racing backward at full speed. It turned off its headlights. As a result, the driver’s seat was illuminated by the Mustang’s headlights.

Incredibly dizzy, Chen Yubo instinctively turned to look at Ji Jue. The two locked eyes and smiled at each other, then both looked up at Mu Jiang and raised their hands. Four clearly raised middle fingers were displayed, meant to be permanently imprinted on Mu Jiang’s retinas.

Under the renewed glare of the headlights, Chen Yubo saw through the window the other driver’s ashen face. That man was bleeding from the nose, screaming curses, raging helplessly in sheer frustration.

And then, with another high-speed drift and spin, Kunpeng straightened its front and pushed its speed to the limit, no longer entangling itself with the Mustang that was now starting to emit strange noises and belching smoke. It sped away along the winding mountain road, getting farther and farther away.

“Fuck, fuck, I... What the hell!” Mu Jiang roared in rage, slamming the accelerator again and again, but the engine’s sound only grew more strained, until finally, a massive explosion occurred from the rear.

Thick smoke rose. The losing car suddenly skidded, slammed into the guardrail, broke through it, and crashed into the woods, coming to a complete halt.

Only hoarse screams and curses seemed to drift out from the darkness.

Then, there was silence. One minute and thirty seconds later, at six minutes and fifty-one seconds after the start of the race, Kunpeng crossed the finish line under the full overhead footage of the drone, completing the race.

“Holy shit?”

The club members waiting at the finish line stared at the familiar car in front of them. Even though they had seen the entire race through the drone feed, they were still completely dumbfounded.

“He actually won?”

For real?

Mr. Chen won?!

Did the sun rise from the west?!

“Phew... hah... hahahahaha!” Chen Yubo, who had just been hanging on by a thread, stepped out of the car with a flushed face and burst into wild, ecstatic laughter. “This feels amazing. This feels fucking amazing!!”

He downed the champagne handed to him in one gulp, ignored everyone else, and instead lunged forward to hug Ji Jue tightly, slapping his back hard, eyes shining with excitement.

“Thanks, bro! I’ve been messing around with cars for so many years, but this is the first time it’s been this thrilling!”

“No biggie, no biggie. I only provided a tiny, insignificant bit of help. This is all thanks to your efforts!”

Ji Jue smiled modestly, giving the boss full emotional value, thinking, Although you were just vomiting into a plastic bag looking pretty miserable a moment ago, the way you’re about to pay me the final balance now makes you look genuinely very handsome. Pleasure working with you, boss!

After a round of polite exchanges, he looked up toward the sky at another drone hidden in the night. Under the control of Deus Ex Machina, it silently departed, heading toward the crash site where Mu Jiang had gone down. He still had an outstanding account to settle with that lady who took on the outsourcing job.

Along the way, through the footage transmitted by the drone, a full overhead view of the track and road conditions was continuously relayed through Ji Jue and into Kunpeng’s consciousness. It was precisely because of the drone’s reconnaissance that he had dared to let Kunpeng perform that astonishing leap across the entire S-curve.

In the drone’s aerial view, Lotus Mountain looked different at night compared to daytime. It was even more steep and oppressive, like some kind of beast. The winding road, lit by a thin line of streetlights, could not dispel the darkness. It lay submerged in the night, never swayed by the small joys and sorrows of humans.

Sensing the aerial view, Ji Jue subconsciously mused, There are actually a few high vantage points here. Not bad at all. If I set up a sniper rifle here, I could lock down the entire finish line. Even a Supreme Benevolence wouldn’t be able to escape!

Wait, what the hell—

Within the drone’s field of vision, he saw faint specks of light. A vague figure lying prone on the ground was dimly illuminated, as if he had a lit-up phone next to him. In his hands was something dark, heavy, and vaguely aimed in this direction.

A gun?!

Ji Jue reacted without hesitation, throwing himself to the ground at once. He mercilessly kicked Young Master Chen right behind the knee, sending him tumbling straight into a heap on the ground, unable to get back up.

“Hey, Mr. Ji, you...” Chen Yubo instinctively flew into a rage, but after realizing who had kicked him, his tone softened.

He had originally wanted to say, Mr. Ji, you’re going too far.

But before he could finish, the ground not far away suddenly shook from a sharp, metallic collision. On a leaning streetlight ahead, a huge, twisted bullet hole had appeared, sending a chill straight down his spine.

A sniper!