Race Start, Yellow Wind Ridge Approach

Zhou Ping died quickly in this round.

When he sat down at a station, more than half the eyes in the shop were still fixed on the new wooden sign hanging on the wall.

Two-team Cooperative Advance race reservations, rules pending.

Those few words were more eye-catching than the yellow wind swirling across the spectator screens. Shrek had just claimed the top spot for "Lantern Guardian," the Spirit Hall Golden Generation was sitting in the shop, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect people had not left either. Anyone could see that once this sign truly took effect, Grand Dao Internet Cafe would be competing over more than individual progress.

Yet Lin Chuan was in no hurry at all.

As usual, he started Zhou Ping's machine, took his payment, and reminded him to check his save file. Sandwiched between so many important figures, Zhou Ping did not even dare cough too loudly. Only when the screen lit up and the Little Demon before the ruined temple charged at him with a swaying blade did he suddenly come to his senses and raise his staff to block.

Smack.

The staff failed to block it, and he went down first.

Some people in the shop laughed, while others did not. Grandmaster lowered his head and added two strokes to the paper. Chen Xin only glanced over, while Ning Fengzhi lightly tapped the table, as though he had seen something else in that sorry display.

That was the strangest thing about Grand Dao Internet Cafe. One moment, it could put Shrek on the rankings and make even the Spirit Hall Golden Generation sit up straight. The next, it could leave a low-level Soul Master battered and filthy before the first Little Demon. The strong had to start from the first step when they came in, and the weak did too. The screens in the shop did not save anyone's face, nor did they go easy on anyone because they were weak.

Zhou Ping died three times in a row. On the fourth, he finally held on for a few more exchanges. When he took off the Synchronized Headband, his face was pale, but his eyes were bright.

"Boss Lin, did I take two more steps just now?"

Lin Chuan glanced at the record.

"Three."

Zhou Ping grinned.

The smile was quiet, yet it seemed to gently press the tension in the shop, tightened by the top ranking, back down to earth. Lin Chuan waited for him to vacate the station before taking down the wooden sign and posting a new sheet of paper beside it.

[Trial Rules for Two-Team Cooperative Advance Racing.]

[One: Each side will have four members. They will enter the Yellow Wind Ridge Approach together on different routes, with their wind currents linked.]

[Two: Real-world threats, forced position changes, and malicious interference with the other side's controls are prohibited.]

[Three: Race evaluation will jointly consider segment speed, lantern integrity, team casualties, and mechanism handling.]

[Four: When a Shared Mechanism is triggered, brief communication is permitted. The entire shop may hear the conversation.]

[Five: Team records belong to the team. Public post-run analysis requires the team's consent.]

The moment the paper went up, low discussion rose from all around the shop.

After reading it, Yue Guan's smile deepened.

"Boss Lin's rules have blocked every path."

Lin Chuan set the pen back on the counter.

"Block the crooked paths, and the proper path becomes easier to walk."

The words sounded casual, but they landed heavily in everyone's ears. Spirit Hall could not use its status to seize a position first. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could not buy out someone else's records with money. Shrek had just claimed the top spot, but they could not treat it as a get-out-of-death card either. Anyone could sit at a table in Grand Dao Internet Cafe, but once seated, no one could flip the table.

Hu Liena was the first to stand.

"The Spirit Hall Cooperative Advance Team is registering."

Xie Yue and Yan stepped behind her almost at the same time. The Golden Generation's reputation was no empty decoration. Even though their Spirit Rings and Soul Power were restricted outside the game, the sharp edge honed through training still silenced the shop for a moment.

But a four-person team still lacked one member.

Yue Guan turned and glanced back.

The low-level Spirit Hall deacon who had been recording everything with his head lowered immediately went pale. He had thought he was only there to write down the rules. Who could have expected that he would be pushed before the spectator screen the next moment? Yue Guan did not explain much, merely saying in an even tone, "You carry the lantern."

The deacon's Adam's apple bobbed.

"I fear I may hold the Holy Maiden back."

Hu Liena turned to look at him, her tone not harsh.

"A Lantern Bearer is not a burden. If you become a burden, it means we failed to protect you."

That sentence left the deacon rooted to the spot, and it made the Shrek group look over as well. Ning Rongrong had carried the lantern before and understood the weight of that position better than most. Holding the lantern was not as simple as standing behind the others and waiting to be protected. Which way the road went, whether the team could retreat, whether the fire could burn—all of it would rest in your hands. If you slowed by half a step, the team slowed; if you made one wrong move, the team scattered.

Tang San stood.

"The Shrek Temporary Cooperative Advance Team is registering."

Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Ma Hongjun rose with him. Ma Hongjun had originally wanted to throw out a few arrogant remarks, but when he saw Yan looking over, the corner of his mouth immediately curled up.

"Oh? Coming to snatch the top spot so soon?"

Yan snorted coldly.

"The top spot won't stay yours just because it's hanging on the wall."

Ma Hongjun slapped his chest.

"Then bring it on."

Ning Rongrong lightly kicked him from the side.

"Don't bring it on yet. Listen to the rules first."

Ma Hongjun immediately shut up. Someone in the shop could not help laughing. Yan had been about to retort, but the image of Ma Hongjun suppressing his flames on the narrow path in the previous round flashed through his mind. The words reached his lips before he swallowed them back down. Hu Liena glanced at him. Yan turned his face away, pretending not to notice.

All eight machines lit up at once.

This was the first time since Grand Dao Internet Cafe opened that two complete teams had entered a match simultaneously. Lin Chuan split the spectator screen into two halves, Shrek on the left and Spirit Hall on the right. Yellow wind swept across the ground in the screens, the setting sun worn old by the dust. Tattered flags stood slanted along both sides of the mountain path, their surfaces full of blade marks. Wind blew in from the valley mouth, making it impossible to keep one's eyes open.

[Yellow Wind Ridge Approach, activated.]

[Trial objective: Escort the Wind-Calming Lamp through the approach and reach the first Wind-Calming Stake.]

[Hint: The wind currents are linked, and each lantern illuminates its own path.]

Ning Rongrong lowered her head. An old bronze lamp had appeared in her arms. Its light was neither red nor gold, but a yellow thinned by the wind. On the other side, the Spirit Hall deacon held an identical lamp, his fingers tense and stiff. Hu Liena stood half a step ahead of him. Rather than rushing forward, she first tilted her head and listened to the wind.

Tang San watched the ground.

"The wind will cover the footprints. Don't just watch your feet."

Xiao Wu pivoted on her toes and had already shifted to the flank.

"There's something on the left."

Flames flickered in Ma Hongjun's palm, only for him to force them back down. This time, he did not shout about burning his way through. Instead, he looked at Ning Rongrong first. Holding the lantern in the middle of the team, Ning Rongrong swept her gaze over the broken stones and wind direction before speaking. "Fatty, keep the fire below knee height. The wind is chaotic here. If the flames rise too high, they'll block our vision."

Ma Hongjun's mouth twitched.

"Got it."

He did not sound convinced, but the flames truly lowered. A thread of Breath-Calming Pure Flame rolled forward along the ground like a thin Phoenix Firewire, driving out the Little Demons hiding in the sand. Tang San followed up with his wooden staff, Xiao Wu guarded the flank, and Shrek did not move quickly, but every step was steady.

Spirit Hall, meanwhile, was far fiercer.

Xie Yue held twin blades. Even though they were only crude blades provided by the game, he wielded them with the savage force of crossing moons. Hu Liena did not rush to kill by force. Every time she raised a hand, the charging Little Demons paused for an instant. Yan was even more direct. Fire pressed out from his palms, curling into a low wall of flame. The armored Little Demons stumbled back the instant they emerged.

Several muffled cries of surprise rose in the shop.

"They're under the same restrictions. How are they still so smooth?"

"The Golden Generation trains teamwork every day."

The deacon was protected in the middle by the three of them. At first, his face had been full of nervousness, but after walking more than ten steps, a hint of delight slowly appeared in his eyes. Judging from the opening alone, Spirit Hall was indeed much faster than Shrek.

Ma Hongjun watched with itching teeth.

"They're moving way too fast, aren't they?"

Ning Rongrong did not look up.

"Fast doesn't necessarily mean steady."

The moment she spoke, trouble erupted on Spirit Hall's side. Yan's wall of fire swept over a patch of sand. The black, oil-like dust at the bottom of the pit was stirred by the flames, raising a cloud of yellow mist that lunged toward the Wind-Calming Lamp. The lantern light immediately dimmed by a fraction.

"Holy Maiden, the light's dimmed!"

The deacon stumbled back in fright.

Xie Yue turned and slashed at the mist, but it was not solid. His blade only scattered it, and the wind swept it back together the next moment. Yan's expression darkened. He could feel that his fire had not gone out of control, yet this terrain was using his flames to feed the wind.

The people who had just been praising Spirit Hall fell quiet at once.

"The fire can't be too strong?"

Chen Xin said blandly, "It's not that it can't be strong. It just can't be reckless."

Yan clenched his teeth. Outside, he could have flattened this sandpit with one punch, but this was not outside. His Soul Power was gone, his Spirit Rings were gone, and even his flames had to be drawn back inch by inch. He saw Ma Hongjun's ground-hugging fireline on the left screen and recalled the narrow gate on the old path. The unwillingness in his chest was instead compressed into a stubborn breath.

If he did not want to lose in fire, then he first had to rein it in.

Yan raised his hand. The crimson flames in his palm contracted, no longer spreading outward. Instead, they pressed into a thin line that circled the edge of the sandpit. Like a red-hot wire, it crept along the outer rim. Whenever the yellow mist tried to lunge for the lantern, it was intercepted halfway.

Hu Liena asked, "Can you hold it?"

The veins on Yan's forehead throbbed.

"I can."

The word did not come easily, but his hand did not shake. The deacon stood behind him with the lantern in his arms, then suddenly pointed behind the flagpole.

"The wind is weaker ahead to the right!"

Xie Yue's gaze shifted, and he immediately changed positions. Hu Liena did not hesitate, leading the team around the back of the flagpole. The lantern light finally stabilized, and Spirit Hall picked up speed again. But this time, Yan no longer spread his flames over half the road.

Before the spectator screen, the smile on Ma Hongjun's face gradually faded.

He had wanted to see Yan make a fool of himself, but Yan had not. That guy had reined in his fire, and he had done it beautifully. Ma Hongjun felt a little sour, but it also stirred up his fighting spirit. The Breath-Calming Pure Flame in his palm pressed down another inch, almost rolling directly over the grains of sand.

Ning Rongrong looked at him again.

"Not bad, Fatty."

Ma Hongjun immediately perked up.

"Of course. Who do you think I am?"

Xiao Wu laughed from ahead.

"One compliment and you're already floating."

The two teams were fast and steady in turn, their gap constantly shifting. At last, a stone pillar appeared on the right screen, slanted at the mouth of the valley. Chaotic patterns covered the pillar, and wind passed through its core with a roar like a beast's howl.

[The first Wind-Calming Stake has been discovered.]

[Hint: Touching the Wind-Calming Stake will activate the Wind-Eye Suppression Formation.]

Yan looked at Hu Liena.

Hu Liena did not immediately reach out. She first looked back at the left screen. Shrek was still some distance away. If they touched it now, Spirit Hall would most likely gain the initiative. But the rules said the wind currents were linked, and no one knew whether activating the mechanism would drag the other team in as well.

Yue Guan watched her.

Ning Fengzhi watched her too.

Half a breath later, Hu Liena placed her hand on the stone pillar.

"A race is a race."

Yellow wind erupted from the pillar's core.

Both halves of the spectator screen were swallowed by dust and sand at once.

[Shared Mechanism triggered.]

[Wind-Eye Suppression Formation activated.]