Street Racing

"Ahhh--! Stop the car! I want to get off! I want to get off--!"

"Can you shut up?!"

"Sure! But you can't turn on the headlights?!"

Yun Jingheng reached out and fiddled with the lights, turning them on.

"Jing Heng, there are people ahead!"

As everyone looked, they saw four patrolmen standing at the city gate, dressed in standard uniforms, with their Soul Tool flashing blue light at their waists.

Tang Wulin's voice came from the back row, carrying a calmness beyond his years. "Slow down, don't panic, exit the city normally."

Yun Jingheng did not slow down.

He pressed the accelerator harder, and the speedometer jumped from sixty to eighty.

"Didn't you say to slow down?!"

Did I say that?

The searchlight beam shone on the windshield, turning it into a blinding white haze.

Yun Jingheng squinted and reached out to flip down the sun visor.

A folded map, tucked behind the sun visor, was thrown at his face.

"What the hell?!"

"A map?! Why are you sticking it on your face?!"

Ye Xinglan ripped the map off.

The city gate was right in front of them. The four patrolmen had already noticed the reckless SUV, and one of them raised his hand to signal it to stop.

Yun Jingheng did not stop.

He turned the steering wheel to the right, the rear wheels swerved, and the car almost slid sideways past him.

"You can drift?!"

"He won't, this is out of control!"

Gu Yue finally gripped the handrail tightly, her knuckles turning white, but her expression remained unusually calm.

Whistles and shouts came from behind, but the sounds grew fainter and fainter until they were completely swallowed up by the roar of the engine.

"Slow down, slow down, bro!"

Xu Xiaoyan buried her head in Ye Xinglan's shoulder, still with a candy in her mouth, and mumbled, "I'm so sleepy..."

"You can still be sleepy?!" Xie Xie felt that none of the people on this bus were normal.

"Damn! This thing is harder to control than I thought."

"It takes a little over four hours to get from here to Tiandou."

Yun Jingheng said, "You can take a nap."

"You... you should drive more carefully."

"Wrapped."

At this moment, Gu Yue had already taken off her shoes, curled her legs up on the seat, and turned her head to look at the night outside the window.

As the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, the roar of the engine finally gave way to a low, idling sound.

The off-road vehicle, which had been speeding through the night for four hours, came to a slow stop on the wasteland Heaven Dou City, like a steel behemoth exhausted from its journey, spewing out hot air.

"Arrive."

Yun Jingheng unbuckled his seatbelt, his voice tinged with a barely perceptible hoarseness.

He pushed open the car door and got out. The biting morning wind instantly rushed into his collar, making his temples, which had been throbbing from prolonged concentration, feel a little more awake.

The car doors opened one after another, and a few "drunkards" fell out one by one.

Xie Xie was the first to vomit.

He leaned against the car door, bent over, and dry heaved for a long time until his face turned green. His finger, pointing at Yun Jingheng, was trembling. "You call this... a package? I almost thought we were going to see a ghost!"

"That was an accident; the road conditions were bad."

Without changing his expression, Yun Jingheng took out a bottle of mineral water from his storage soul guide bracelet, tilted his head back and drank half of it, then poured the rest directly over his head.

The cold stimulus invigorated him.

Gu Yue was the second to come down. She straightened her slightly disheveled skirt, and her eyes were clearly bloodshot.

She glanced at Xie Xie, who was gagging, then at Yun Jingheng, who was looking radiant, and sighed, "Next time it's my turn to drive."

"Don't do that!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Xie even forgot to vomit, "Are there any living people left in this car? You two are trying to send us away!"

The back door was pushed open, and Xu Xiaoyan climbed out.

The little girl, still half-asleep, her hair a mess, mumbled, "Are we there yet? What's for breakfast...?"

Ye Xinglan wasn't in much better shape; several red marks were imprinted on her delicate face, from being pressed against the map.

She rubbed her neck, staring at Yun Jingheng with a resentful look. "Yun Jingheng, my neck is about to break, you have to take responsibility."

"Responsible for what? Responsible for buying you a neck pillow?"

Yun Jingheng raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the crowd and landing in the distance.

As dawn broke, golden sunlight shone on the majestic city wall in the distance, reflecting an ancient and solemn metallic sheen.

Heaven Dou City.

Even in the early morning, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire exuded an oppressive aura of immense size.

The towering city walls resembled a barrier forged from steel, with the faint glow of Soul Guidance Barrier flowing across them—a product of the fusion of modern technology and Soul Power.

"This is Heaven Dou City..."

Tang Wulin took a deep breath. The air was filled with the smell of dew and dust, as well as the faint noise from the distant city.

Despite the harrowing escape they had endured the previous night, standing here now, gazing upon this legendary city, everyone's feelings were complicated.

Stop lamenting.

Yun Jingheng interrupted their thoughts, pointing to the SUV. "The vehicle's origin is unknown; we'll have to walk in."

What about the car?

"I still have an empty Storage Soul Tool."

The mornings in Heaven Dou City are busy yet orderly.

The massive alloy gate slowly opened, and the flow of vehicles formed a long queue.

Clad in standard armor and wielding Soul Tool Gun, the city guards scanned each person entering the city with sharp eyes.

The six of them blended into the crowd, looking like a group of ordinary teenagers who had come to Heaven Dou City to study.

Tang Wulin lowered the brim of his hat, while Gu Yue followed with a blank expression.

"Remember, we're here to 'exchange ideas,' not to bomb the city."

As Yun Jingheng walked, he whispered a warning, "Especially you, Wulin, don't act impulsively when you see someone handsome and strong."

"... I know, Jing Heng, I'm not stupid." Tang Wulin said helplessly.

After passing through the long corridor, the bustling Heaven Dou City finally came into view.

The wide street is paved with whole bluestone slabs, with tall buildings standing on both sides, and huge soul guide advertising screens flashing with brilliant light and shadow on the exterior walls of the buildings.

The levitation train glided silently along the aerial track, the air filled with a unique aroma that blended the scent of soul-guided energy with the fragrance of breakfast.

"How bustling it is..." Xu Xiaoyan's eyes widened in amazement.

"It's definitely much bigger than Eastsea City."

Xie Xie couldn't help but sigh; the motion sickness he had just felt seemed to have been washed away by the lively scene.

"Time is tight and the task is heavy; we need to speed things up."

"Okay." ×5

Headquarters of the Blacksmith Association, East District of Heaven Dou City.

The building's exterior walls are made of dark gray alloy panels, with densely etched soul guidance circuits on the surface. When sunlight shines on them, they give off a dull, matte sheen.

Cai Yue'er stood in front of the building, looked up at the huge hammer and anvil emblem on the lintel, and took a slight breath.

She wore a plain-colored long dress today, and her hair was neatly tied up in a bun.

"Hello, do you have an appointment?" The receptionist's voice was sweet but formulaic.

"Cai Yue'er from the Shrek Academy requests an audience with Zhen Hua."

She pushed over an official letter bearing the seal of the Sea God Pavilion.

The receptionist's hand trembled when he saw the seal of the Sea God Pavilion.

"Please... please wait a moment, I'll inform them immediately."

Three minutes later, the receptionist returned.

"Your Majesty, please follow me."