Chapter 446

What the hell is this tractor? At least modify it and hide the motorcycle!

Song Shuhang felt a long-suppressed complaint rising in his throat, but forced himself to swallow it down due to the other's serious demeanor.

'It just shows that Senior Su Lin places great importance on the outcome of this competition,' Song Shuhang told himself.

But to define that quantum motorcycle as a hand-held tractor would be unjust.

Song Shuhang saw Huangshan Zhenjun and the other seniors from Jiuzhou Group One flying toward them, and said, 'Your driving seat doesn't even have a joystick—how can this be called a hand-held tractor?'

'Senior Su Lin,' Huangshan Zhenjun used a teleportation technique to accelerate from the sky and landed smoothly before Su Lin and Song Shuhang, then handed Su Lin a cellphone:

'This is the communication device we agreed on. It has an account already added to Jiuzhou Group One.'

'Is this the hand-held tractor you prepared? Very stylish.'

Kuang Dao Kuangdao Sanlang frowned, 'Isn't this a Heavenly Dao artifact from the simulated universe? This violates—ahem—'

He suddenly curled up like a shrimp as Su Shi Qi stepped forward, sheathing her blade, looking utterly innocent. 'Sorry, Brother Kuangdao Sanlang, your frame is too large.'

'No no problem!' Kuang Dao Kuangdao Sanlang nodded in sudden understanding. 'I was just too absorbed in watching Senior's hand-held tractor.'

Huangshan Zhenjun nodded, a hint of appreciation in his eyes—he no longer needed to leave Kuangdao Sanlang in the Confucian camp for safekeeping.

Only Song Shuhang suddenly smiled in relief. 'Where there are people, there is the Jianghu. The Jianghu is complicated.'

He was still too young.

White clouds had begun to form and gather in the sky—these were the common transport tools used by cultivators in this world, but since the competition arena hadn't opened yet, they hovered around the sea.

Su Lin walked toward a gray-haired woman who was curiously scanning the beach. 'Is my disciple with you?'

'What?' Xing scratched her head, looking puzzled.

Su Lin smiled. 'Name your price.'

'. I don't quite get it.'

Seeing the woman frown in deep thought, Su Lin pulled out a heavy-looking storage bag, tossed it lightly, then placed it in Xing's hand.

'Alyssum-VI planet.'

'Why go there?'

'He said as long as he's not staying at home, anywhere's fine. Besides, there are some dirty things in the Goethe Hotel.'

'6.'

If Su Lin hadn't used the Bieyun Divination and discovered he couldn't locate him, he never would've guessed this brat had run all the way to the Star Rail.

Wicked disciple! Wicked disciple!

Even I haven't been there yet—and you beat me to it?!

'Bring him back.'

'That might not be right. He seems to be having a lot of fun with Hook and the others.'

A child's childhood should be protected.

'I'll raise the price.'

'We'll teleport to Belobog tonight and bring him back.'

Right now, what needs protecting most is my wallet. I'll also take the chance to resell some supplies through Sangbo and earn some credit points.

The two shook hands, reaching a mutual understanding and unified perspective on the matter of Tianyi Sect student Emperor Yufeng's prolonged stay in Belobog, laying the foundation for future friendly exchanges between the two realms.

'Doctor Su.'

Hearing the familiar address, Su Lin turned to look left and behind.

Li Huowang stood by the shore with Yi Donglai, Zhao Shuangdian, Qing Wanglai, and others, waving to him.

'Doctor Yi, I've resigned,' Su Lin replied with a smile. 'For many years to come, I won't be working as a psychologist anymore.'

Yi Donglai still wore his white coat. 'I'm used to it. Your methods are dangerous, but they work wonders.'

Su Lin showed no outward emotion, chatting casually with them, but had already asked in the group chat about Li Huowang's current situation.

Oh, someone asked first.

Zhang Chuyan: 'This is a hand-held tractor race, not some multiverse chaos battle, right?'

Zhongli: 'Why say that?'

Zhang Chuyan: 'The man greeting Senior Su Lin over there is Yi Donglai! Isn't he the Grand Siming from Li Huowang's world?!'

Li Huowang: 'That's right. Doctor Yi was curious about my ability to travel between worlds, so I brought them along to take a look.'

Purple Gold Divine Dragon: 'Aowu~~ Fireboy, aren't you wary? That's the Heavenly Dao!'

Li Huowang: 'They already know I can travel between worlds—it's not a secret anymore. Besides, Doctor Yi and Qing Wanglai have both recovered mentally.'

Song Shuhang: 'Are these guys also competing?'

Li Huowang: 'No, they're just here to watch.'

Song Shuhang took a handkerchief from King Dou Dou and wiped the sweat off his forehead—he'd thought Li Huowang's question about bringing people over meant bringing his wife and girlfriend.

'Woof! Go all out, Shuhang!' King Dou Dou encouraged. 'I'll cheer for you and Huangshan Da Sha!'

'Dou Dou… aren't you competing too?' Song Shuhang stared blankly at the Pekingese before him.

'Woof! Do you think I've lost my mind?' King Dou Dou sneered at Song Shuhang, pointing his paw at the growing crowd of otherworldly guests. 'This lineup will require several deaths just to reach the finish line—I quit ten minutes ago.'

Why didn't you warn me?! I want to quit too!!!

Seeing Song Shuhang's expression, King Dou Dou grinned with bared teeth.

'Look, Shuhang—the Desolate Heaven Emperor is here too. Without a sacrifice, how can this universe stay safe? You're the necessary offering.'

"Shu Hang, look, the Hun Tian Di has come too. How can we guarantee the safety of this universe without a sacrifice? You are the necessary offering."

'All competitors, pay attention! The First Annual Cultivation Realm Hand-Held Tractor Race is about to begin!' White Zunzhe announced from the sky:

'All competitors, prepare to enter. Huangshan Zhenjun, please disengage the formation.'

"Please prepare for entry, contestants; Huangshan Zhenjun, please disengage the formation."

Amid White Zunzhe's officiating voice, Huang Shan Zhenjun touched the pre-set isolation barrier, and a vast swarm of cultivators darkened the sky above Tian Island, marking the official launch of the Cultivator World's "First Handheld Tractor" Championship.

Once cultivators from all major factions had gathered, White Zunzhe began explaining the rules of this competition:

"The rules are simple: depart from Earth, and the first to return from Mars to Earth wins."

At these words, the crowd erupted in chaos; cultivators who could not even leave Earth, let alone fly, grew excited.

"Dear fellow cultivators, please remain calm," White Zunzhe smiled slightly. "First, let me finish."

If anyone else had spoken, it would have been impossible to quiet the crowd—but now it was White Zunzhe speaking. Even if many cultivators had objections, their gazes still sneaked or stared fixedly at White Zunzhe.

White Zunzhe, whose appearance and aura radiated unique beauty, now smiled as if he were the only bright star in this world.

"With the aid of our revered Jie Xian elders and Xuan Sheng elders, we have established a dedicated accelerated-space racing track, and prepared corresponding escape talismans for each sect's competitors."

"Supply stations are on the Moon, equipped fully with water-surface mobility, defensive capabilities, and space-transcending functions."

"Even if a commoner sits in the vehicle, they may safely reach space and obtain a special one-time escape technique within the designated planetary acceleration zones."

In short, you just drive the tractor—the distance and speed are handled by the organizers.

Ye Fan emerged from the island's forest with Duan De and Heihuang, looking at Shi Hao and saying: "I thought you wouldn't join this kind of game."

"How could I not? It's a good chance to learn about other worlds," Shi Hao shook his head, his eyelids twitching as he scanned Ye Fan, now dressed in modern attire, and the fat man behind him:

"Evil bastards live forever—you're still alive, Fatty."

Duan De rolled up his sleeves, glaring at Shi Hao, his curses half-spoken—then he froze.

At first he hadn't thought much of the man, but over time, Duan De kept feeling he'd seen this person somewhere before.

His mouth hung open, rooted to the spot—this man… he'd seen him before. He felt familiar.

Yet after thinking hard, all that remained was an increasingly strange feeling—he couldn't recall who it was.

"Don't bother trying to remember. It's not time yet," Shi Hao grinned, deliberately withholding the truth. "Seeing you still alive and as vile as ever, I'm relieved."

Duan De wanted to retort, but after much hesitation, he finally muttered, his face sour:

"You call me vile? Wait till I visit your grave, dig you up, and show you what 'vile' really means."

Duan De felt the situation was deeply strange—not that he was petty, but that this black-hearted Holy Body was acting like he'd taken some crazy drug.

He dragged him along to grab benefits, took him to another world, brought him into business—treating him like half a comrade.

He was only half a comrade because no matter how hard Duan De tried, he couldn't extract what heavenly fortune Ye Hei had obtained.

He didn't even give him a chance to steal something—clearly, he didn't treat him as one of his own.

Now he meets this man who feels strangely familiar. Strange—only Duan Ge had ever fooled others; these two clearly knew some great secret and were deliberately hiding it from him.

Ye Fan rolled his eyes. This Fatty was still just Duan De—he hadn't yet merged with his past lives—but even seeing Shi Hao speak so vilely, anyone else would've already punched him.

"Where did you get the tractor?" Ye Fan asked Shi Hao. "You weren't at Song Shuhang's yesterday—did you go to Su Lin's side?"

After finishing the Congniang affair, he'd been invited to Earth at Song Shuhang's, and commissioned Huang Shan Zhenjun and other cultivators to build one.

In short, this competition's hand-held tractor was merely a vessel—the real contest was spellcraft under fixed rules.

Still, he'd only come to watch—the prizes held no appeal for him.

"Nope," Shi Hao frowned. "Didn't you say a black-smoke-spewing iron monster counts as a tractor? I went and got one."

Where did he get a tractor?

【This competition is live-streamed by the Cultivator Daily. All participants, proceed to the preparation zone to collect your resurrection artifacts and protective plaques. Also, the original prizes have been revised: besides the 'Old Heavenly Dao' relics I provided and the cultivation resources offered by fellow cultivators】

【Su Lin, you speak.】

【Hello everyone, I'm Mr. Light. I did not lose myself in the Collapse Cataclysm—just transfer me 200 coins, and when I awaken, I'll make you a… Just kidding. You, Foolish Sir over there, shut up.】

【To spice things up, the top one hundred… wait, it's already ten thousand—top fifty will receive a limited cultivation system, one seed of the Ye Zhetian Method, yes, a brand-new version you've never cultivated before.】

【Top ten get a chance to experience the newly acquired Destruction Law—once, at the beginner level. Top three, let me think…】

【According to first and second place, you'll gain entry to my personal Heavenly Dao Library, containing the spells and techniques used by those NPCs you saw in the simulated universe during your film shoot—like Root Magic, Divine Tomb Law, Light Arts, Emperor Scripture Immortal Techniques, etc. If uninterested, you may trade them for other resources with me.】

【Hmm, since I'm the sponsor, add one rule: no last-minute registrations.】

【Spectators may purchase lottery tickets at the Heavenly Dao Grand Lotto booths using Spirit Stones or artifacts. This lottery is fair, transparent, and open.】

Su Lin returned the speaking rights to White Zunzhe. After a moment of silence, the crowd exploded.

An Xuan Sheng snatched the entry token from his disciple's hand. "Get lost, let the old man compete myself!"

"Didn't you say driving a tractor was undignified?!" the Zhenjun's face darkened.

You told me to register only one competitor.

"Young friend," a Jie Xian gazed kindly at the sect master whose sect held a fifth-rank Spirit Emperor. "Does your sect need guest elders? I'll serve for a thousand years."

"Brother, I'm sorry! I love driving tractors! Take me along! No rule says only one person can ride!"

"I'm an eighth-rank Xuan Sheng, Jin Dan cultivation, Second Rebirth Asura, inheritor of the Divine Tomb Law's Fire Element Deity—there's still room for one more on the tractor! Private message for price."

Earlier, many had thought it shameful to drive a tractor with juniors, or simply weren't interested, so they hadn't prepared tractors or registered.

Who could've guessed Huang Shan's prestige was so great he'd even invited Senior Su Lin!

Damn it, Huang Shan, you're so sneaky!!!

Many glared bitterly at Huang Shan Zhenjun, who stood with arms crossed, back turned to the competitors, wishing to drag him into a dark room and demand why he hadn't told them sooner.

"Sounds interesting. The prizes are rich," Shi Hao's eyes lit up. He flew instantly to the open sea surface and pulled from his Wheel Sea a crimson dragon:

"Ge Gu, come out!"

Flames blazed fiercely, phoenix wings darkened the sky.

Ge Gu, the crimson dragon who had barely mastered the True Phoenix Divine Art, wore a black treasure armor now fused into flesh, transformed into a steel giant dragon, wreathed in roaring flames, billowing thick black smoke into the air.

Yet now his cultivation was suppressed, his aura faint—he stared around, bewildered.

"Master?" Ge Gu asked. "Where are we?"

"Don't ask so much," Shi Hao tapped Ge Gu's head. "Fly with all your strength later."

Ge Gu blinked, then nodded. "Oh."

All surrounding cultivators stared at this place in shock, especially those like Jiao Ba Zhenjun with dragon-blood lineage, who now felt a terrifying suppression.

"Wait!" Ye Fan stopped him: "Why are you bringing a real dragon to a tractor race?"

Shi Hao retorted: "Didn't you say yourself? If it spews black smoke, it's a fire technique—steel… look at it."

He tapped the dragon's body twice, producing a heavy sound.

Ye Fan widened his eyes—he'd just said that offhand; how could this man interpret it like this?

"Shi Hao, this is a tractor," Su Lin could no longer watch, pointing to his own racing vehicle.

"That's not one either!" Ye Fan felt a headache coming; he pulled from his Wheel Sea a completely black, glossy-finished vehicle with a three-pointed star emblem on the front.

Mercedes tractor?

"King Dou Dou prepared this custom model for me; I modified it a bit to make it look more like a car—more comfortable to look at."

Ye Fan saw Su Lin's strange gaze and shrugged: "Cultivators in this world have far more wealth and power in human society than imagined."

"Is that all?" Shi Hao didn't care; he patted Ge Gu's head and pointed at Ye Fan's limited edition: "Turn it into that."

"Master…"

"Hmm?"

Ge Gu saw that strange upright-walking true dragon over there; he didn't want to lose face before his own kind, but he couldn't escape Shi Hao's grasp.

He closed his eyes, scanned with his spiritual sense, and used transformation art to become an object with the same appearance and structure as that fragile piece of iron.

What else could the others say?

"Maybe they should get Mercedes to sponsor some ads," Su Su Tuoni Stark muttered on the beach, watching the scene: "Well, what a truly fantastical day."

He patted the massive armor beside him. "Tractor mode."

Lightning flashed; the five-meter-tall armor immediately soared into the air, disassembled, and reassembled into a crimson, sports-car-styled, self-propelled powered machine with a gearshift, designed for towing and traction, on the sandy shore before the crashing waves.

Short name: Tractor

"Thank God I watched 'What If Iron Man Never Returned to Earth'—if I'd carried that nuke into space and never come back, I'd have become that timeline."

Su Su Tuoni Stark stretched, sat in the driver's seat, and asked the nearby group:

"Anyone want a ride? Can fit two more."

Beihe Sanren, watching this war vehicle from afar, instantly felt his Scorpion Missile and modified tractor were no longer appealing.

Should he hurry to find a Daoist friend in Russia to get a "Old Qiu"?

Song Shuhang covered his eyes beside him, already foreseeing how brutal this race would be—could a fourth-rank cultivator like him even survive to the finish line?

Song Shuhang wearily looked at the remaining unactivated group members; a sense of shared suffering arose—they were all normal people, using normal modified models.

"Berserker!"

Illyasviel snapped her fingers; Heracles nodded, entered spirit form, and merged into a massive modified vehicle.

"Bersercar!"

Before Weigong Shilang appeared a giant gray-black war vehicle.

"Shilang, get in," Illyasviel patted the spacious driver's seat.

"No, come here," Tohsaka Rin drove over a special model with a Jewel Sword as its drive: "Weigong-kun, if you want a high ranking, wouldn't it be better to use the Second Method to enter the Parallel World?"

Watching Weigong Shilang gradually surrounded, Song Shuhang suddenly felt the sky darken.

He turned around.

An Eva—Unit-01—stood on the sea, holding a tractor.

Song Shuhang: "."

Song Shuhang: "???"

"Inspired by Su Lin," Lu Mingfei's voice came: "I went back and upgraded that previous tractor—hahaha, don't worry, no magical stuff like an AT Field."

"Sakura, go!" "Brother, you're really shameless."

At this moment, Song Shuhang understood—he had to join this race.

If the known setting was true.

Under the setting sun, Song Shuhang strung together resurrection artifacts into a belt, strapped it to his body, and walked with unwavering resolve toward his vehicle.

Then he was willing to become a sacrifice in this race to protect this world.

(End of Chapter)