The instant the countdown ended, Jiang Liu activated Afterimage Body. His movement speed surged, and he transformed into a gust of wind, leaving flickering afterimages in his wake.
In just a few seconds, he covered a hundred meters and reached the end of the narrow street. Blocking his way was a steamed bun shop three or four meters tall.
Should he go around?
No need!
Jiang Liu stomped down, and his whole body seemed to take flight as he easily leaped onto the roof of the shop.
Just as he was about to leap down and continue racing toward the finish, he suddenly felt something hard under his right foot, as if he'd stepped on a pebble.
There were pebbles on the roof?
He instinctively looked down. His pupils instantly narrowed as he cursed inwardly.
Who the hell had installed a button on the roof?!
Right beneath his foot was a highly modern mechanical button. He didn't need to think twice to know what it meant.
He'd triggered a trap!
Before Jiang Liu could react, several fine cracks spread across the rooftop beneath him. A golden spirit arrow shot up from directly below, aimed straight between his legs!
Holy shit!
Jiang Liu's face turned green. Before his brain could react, his body had already moved on its own. His legs went limp and his upper body leaned back as the gold arrow skimmed past his crotch—an incredibly close call!
Even in an Illusion Realm, he couldn't handle the psychological trauma of being castrated!
"Five Elements Town. Got it, got it."
He didn't have time to catch his breath. Muttering as he went, he flipped off the rooftop and continued sprinting toward the finish line.
But he was no longer as relaxed as he'd been at the start. His nerves taut, he darted his eyes around, scanning the surroundings rushing past him, afraid he'd fall for another trap if he let his guard down.
Five Elements Town was an event map full of traps!
If he'd been hit by that Gold Element Spirit Arrow just now, even if it hadn't killed him and disqualified him, it would at least have seriously affected him.
Five Elements Town had all five elements. He'd have to stay on guard against traps coming at him from every direction!
Jiang Liu charged ahead cautiously. Suddenly, he sensed a very familiar fluctuation of spiritual energy ten or so meters in front of him. The space ahead looked completely empty, but spiritual energy fluctuations didn't lie.
On alert, he tentatively flicked a finger. A Heart Piercing Drop shot toward the spot where he'd sensed the fluctuation.
Bang!
A muffled boom rang out!
A ball of water burst without warning in midair ten or so meters away. Jiang Liu's face darkened, and he couldn't help cursing, "Damn it, they even have invisible traps!"
The traps couldn't be seen with the naked eye. He could only detect them through their spiritual energy fluctuations. If his cultivation hadn't been higher than the source of that fluctuation, he might not have noticed it at all.
Good grief, what kind of map was this?
He'd run into two traps in barely a kilometer. The frequency made Jiang Liu's scalp tingle. No wonder the event organizers were so generous. They were offering ten thousand Law-tier items as event rewards, but it turned out they were all talk. They'd never intended to hand them all out in the first place.
The top hundred on each King's Track would get a Law-tier item?
Thirty minutes, twenty thousand meters, and Five Elements traps all over the map. Even a Qi Refining Layer 8 player like him found it difficult. What about everyone else?
Trash organizers, making the event artificially harder. If they couldn't afford the rewards, they shouldn't offer them!
Jiang Liu cursed inwardly. He was confident he could make it to the finish, but that didn't mean he wasn't furious at the organizers for pulling this stunt.
He was a player. He couldn't let his loyalties get twisted. If they deserved to be cursed, he'd curse them.
After running into two Five Elements traps in a row and losing several seconds, Jiang Liu didn't dare stop again. Gritting his teeth, he charged ahead, vaulting over rooftops and walls without detouring, barreling straight through.
What had he just stepped on?
Whatever!
A spiritual energy fluctuation?
Whatever!
Vines—huh?
A vine had wrapped around his foot!
Jiang Liu was sprinting at full speed when a vine silently emerged from the ground and wrapped around his foot before he could react. The force of his forward momentum sent him sprawling. If he hadn't reacted quickly and caught himself with both hands, he would've landed flat on his face.
"Damn you!"
With a dark expression, he flashed the Sunrise Sword into his hand and severed the vine. Without pausing for a moment, he got back up and continued onward.
He ran into flame jets at a corner, was blocked by a giant iron ball rolling down a narrow alley, and, a little later, watched a huge rock jut out of the ground.
Parkour?
There was no parkour here, just a full-on sprint!
I'm going to make a post. I'm going to tear into them on the forums!
Three thousand meters.
Four thousand meters.
Five thousand meters.
It wasn't until he'd covered a quarter of the route that Jiang Liu encountered his first player on the map.
Clear footsteps sounded to his left. He glanced over casually. It was a young man in his twenties, dressed in a tracksuit that allowed him to move freely. A health bar hovered above his head.
A health bar?
Jiang Liu blinked, thinking he'd seen it wrong. He stared at the man's head again. The health bar was clear as day, and only half remained. The traps had obviously put him through the wringer.
There really were health bars?
He looked up and saw one hovering over his own head, too. It was almost completely full, with only a sliver missing—about ninety-five percent health remaining.
In the third round, they'd even made the health bars visible?
Jiang Liu was a little surprised. He could see the event organizers' devious intentions even more clearly now. Showing the health bars would encourage players to obstruct and attack one another, reducing the number who could reach the finish line.
Smart players would ignore everyone else and avoid wasting time attacking them.
But the less sensible ones...
Like the guy beside him.
"Don't blame me! The more people get eliminated, the better my chances of making the top hundred!"
The tracksuit-clad young man spotted Jiang Liu, and his eyes immediately lit up. A vicious look flashed through them as he took two quick steps over, gathered a spark of flame in his palm, and struck at Jiang Liu's shoulder.
Kid, you're cultivating already? Go home and play house!
Jiang Liu hadn't expected the other guy to come over and offer himself up. He'd been looking at the health bar above his head when a figure suddenly darted in from the side. The next moment, his shoulder jolted as he was hit.
Then... nothing.
He watched his health bar remain completely unchanged. It hadn't even dropped by one percent.
He couldn't break through Thousand Hammer Golden Body, yet someone below Qi Cultivation Layer 5 dared to start fights in the third round?
What gave him the nerve?
"How is this possible?!"
The tracksuit-clad young man stared wide-eyed in disbelief. His full-strength palm strike hadn't taken away even a sliver of the other guy's health.
He'd fought his way through countless opponents to clear two rounds and make it to the third. He was a Qi Cultivation Level 4 cultivator, for crying out loud!
And a full-strength palm strike infused with spiritual energy couldn't break through the other guy's defense?
"You—"
He opened his mouth, about to say something, when a flash of watery swordlight streaked across his vision. His half-full health bar instantly emptied, his body turned translucent, and he was kicked out of the event map.
"He's even worse than Lingyun Sect's outer sect elder. At least that guy knew to dodge!"
Before you continue