Eight Strong Confirmed

Qi Tian's race was the first of the semifinals, and also his only chance to experience the full course before the finals.

"Kid, can you keep up with the pace?" The burly man didn't have the confidence to outrun Qi Tian, so he had to think of other ways.

"3201! No intimidating other contestants!" Zhou Shuya was checking her watch when she heard the voice and looked up to see Qi Tian staring up at the man speaking to him.

"First warning!" The burly man was about to speak again, but Zhou Shuya gave him a warning without a second thought.

She knew how much Liang Xing doted on this little nephew—she couldn't let the kid get scared before he even started.

"Uncle, can't you rollerblade?" Qi Tian showed no fear at all, glancing at the man's feet and asking with confusion.

"On your marks! 3—2—1—Go!"

The kid didn't understand how treacherous people could be, but Zhou Shuya couldn't let them keep talking.

"A real man's romance doesn't need rollerblades!" The burly man charged ahead, sprinting at full speed.

Qi Tian's Wind God surged from behind.

Though the loud shout had startled him and made him a beat slow, the Wind God truly lived up to everyone's expectations.

It was simply on a different level from the other cars on the track.

The chaotic wind grew tame before the Wind God, and before entering the first turn, it had already taken the lead.

"No suspense at all."

Liang Xing was also watching the live broadcast, his observational skills beyond what most could comprehend.

Speed, burst, even the driver's commands—the data on all eight contestants was clear at a glance.

The entire focus of this semifinal was on how Qi Tian would finish the course and what his time would be.

That was what the audience cared about most.

The qualifiers for the semifinals were basically set in stone—at least in the first race, Qi Tian didn't disappoint.

Smooth cornering, practiced car swaps and tire changes.

Compared to the preliminary round, Qi Tian in the semifinals didn't switch to sand tires at the start, but changed them right before the sand section.

He needed to test which of the two approaches would be faster.

GD Racers was perfected through repeated practice, and though Qi Tian was young, he had already grasped its essence.

"Changing tires is faster!"

Two consecutive sand sections with only one turn in between—the kid checked his watch and understood in his heart.

Sand tires were too slow on the Five Consecutive Hairpin Turns, and the wear from the earlier section also reduced their effectiveness on the two sand stretches.

For the first time in an eight-person race, the Wind God was far ahead of the pack.

"Here we can see that young contestant Qi Tian has already left the second sand section and is changing tires and batteries, while the nearest 3201 has only just left the first sand section!"

Zhou Shuya sat on her Flying Broomstick, reporting from the side on Qi Tian's car condition. Such a massive advantage had basically sealed the win.

Outside the arena, the other seven Seed Players were also watching this race.

"That little brat Qi Tian is really fierce! He definitely still has a trump card he hasn't used! He told me before it wasn't finished, but now it's been over a month, so it should be about ready." A Lie was streaming the broadcast while chatting with his audience.

Losing again and again, fighting again and again—A Lie and Qi Tian had long become good friends.

The others were more focused on how the terrain favored their own car models.

Zhou Chi, for example, was noting where he should swap parts and where he could take shortcuts.

At least the sand section didn't require any changes—his car could save a lot of trouble by driving along the walls.

"1 hour, 17 minutes, and 03 seconds! Young contestant Qi Tian has completed the full course!"

There was no denying how lopsided this race was—the second-place finisher couldn't even see Qi Tian's back.

"Too weak."

This kind of racing wasn't even worth using as a stepping stone. Qian Lai shook his head inside his luxury RV.

He was very interested in Qi Tian.

The kid had a decent image—if properly packaged, he might make even more money than many celebrities.

Qian Lai had dabbled in all sorts of things before, but high-tech toys interested him the most.

He'd played with drones and robots, but what fascinated him most was GD Racers, which he'd only recently gotten into.

Robot battles were also a lot of fun.

Each team designed a robot—more like a vehicle, really—with different roles using different weapons. The main mechanic involved shooting balls of varying damage at fixed points to reduce health. A team lost when all its robots were destroyed or its base was destroyed.

When actual tournaments were held, robot battles were even more interesting than GD Racers.

But it was hard to gather enough people and hard to popularize, so naturally it couldn't become a daily game choice.

GD Racers was different.

Physical stores had tracks, and the officials held proper competitions.

If you really don't want to squeeze onto the track with the crowd, you can always go wild.

The adaptive terrain can satisfy many of the racers' ideas, letting them pull it out anytime and race a round with friends.

Qian Lai was designing his own track too. This time, he came to compete just to personally experience the official standard track designed by the organizers.

As it turned out, he had a lot of fun.

The semifinals lasted two days. Compared to the chaotic preliminaries, the semifinals were mostly solo showcase runs.

The only one who flipped was Liu Wen, the older of the Liu Brothers.

His race car was burned to a crisp. Luckily, he managed to salvage the chip, or he might have really gone to blows with the other guy.

This was also a match Liang Xing paid close attention to.

If Qi Tian's Wind God was about harnessing the wind, then this player was about applying fire.

His guide wheels had been tampered with, and the entire car body and shell were coated with Fireproof Coating. By scraping, he could ignite the guide wheel casing and rub it onto other cars.

Liu Wen fell for it because he didn't know the trick. He tried to hitch a ride with the same move, but got set ablaze in one go, nearly burning his whole car to ashes.

As expected, Liu Wen became the only one eliminated among the eight Seed Players.

"The semifinals conclude perfectly here! Congratulations to the eight advancing players, and also congratulations to the other fifty-four contestants for receiving our Participation Prize."

Compared to the consolation prize's mass reward, the Participation Prize was special—a one-year unlimited pass.

--The experience ticket for White Stone Mountain Track!

After a rest period following the competition, White Stone Mountain would become a tourist attraction open to the public.

Liang Xing had even set up the Signal Tower; he wouldn't just let it go to waste after hosting one race!

This modest little hill would become a landmark scenic spot for Baisha County, contributing to its tourism industry.

For the contestants, this was also good news.

After all, many hadn't finished the full course, and now they could try it at their own expense later.

Liang Xing thought of everyone and specially prepared the relevant facilities, waiting only for the competition to officially start.

The satellites up in the sky were counting on these toys entirely.

Liang Xing's original intention wasn't to make money, but developing new toys required funds.

Fortunately, with a good toy, everyone was happy to spend their money.

Clearly, GD Racers met that condition.

Everyone eagerly awaited the start of the finals, not caring at all how much money this toy would take from them.

A celebration for the first tip! Thanks again for the support!