Chapter 618: Dou Yuanbin's Frustration (First Update, requesting everything)

The rules for the Finals are similar to the preliminaries, except the track is much more complex, significantly increasing the difficulty of the race.

Additionally, the skill level of the contestants has clearly improved by a notch, so the competition between them will inevitably be even more intense.

As the Finals were about to begin, the 90 contestants mounted their steeds one after another and stood before a straight line.

On the roads on both sides, many staff members were maintaining order; compared to the Group Stage, the atmosphere at the scene was significantly more intense.

The scene was filled with noise, and many spectators were shouting loudly, cheering and rooting for the contestants they supported.

Among them, the spectators supporting Li Zhangsheng, Ning Bizhen, and Dou Yuanbin were the most numerous; although Li Zhangsheng is not yet a Pseudo-King, his fame is the greatest of the three.

However, although there are many spectators supporting Li Zhangsheng, the vast majority believe that the champion of the race will be produced between Ning Bizhen and Dou Yuanbin.

Due to the influence of the spectators, some of the finalists and their steeds appeared more or less nervous.

Li Zhangsheng was completely unaffected; compared to the Academy Exchange Tournament, what did such a display even amount to?

"On your marks, get set!"

When it reached four o'clock sharp, the referee's voice finally rang out, and he raised the small flag in his hand.

All the contestants and their steeds were ready and waiting, prepared to launch a charge at any moment.

When the small flag falls, it signifies the start of the race.

Aixi slightly bent its forelimbs, its ears twitching incessantly, preparing to establish a starting advantage at the very first moment.

Just as the referee was about to lower the small flag, suddenly, one contestant's steed lunged forward; Li Zhangsheng turned his head to look and discovered it was that unnamed Sixth Rank contestant.

This guy wanted to establish an advantage first by jumping the gun.

Unfortunately, his strategy of jumping the gun ended in a miserable failure!

Beep—

The referee's whistle blew, and he then gave that contestant a warning; if a jump start occurs again, whoever it is will be directly eliminated.

However, this was just a small interlude; Li Zhangsheng patted Aixi beneath him, letting it steady its mindset and not be affected.

"Get set!"

The referee's voice rang out again, and the steeds all prepared for the starting sprint.

This time, no one jumped the gun, fearing being disqualified from the race.

As the small flag in the referee's hand fell, 90 steeds of various shapes and sizes rushed out one after another.

Relying on its abnormal reflexes, Aixi was almost the first to rush out, along with the steeds of Ning Bizhen and Dou Yuanbin.

The three steeds were neck and neck, and all their movements could only be described as smooth and fluid.

The Finals are different from the preliminaries; not only has the distance increased significantly, but the terrain is even more complex. Over such a long distance, it is imperative to distribute stamina reasonably.

If they were to sprint non-stop, it would inevitably rapidly deplete the steeds' stamina, leaving them with no strength for the later stages.

However, not all contestants consider it this way; as the road ahead began to narrow, some contestants who fell behind at the start grew anxious and hurriedly had their steeds use acceleration skills.

Three thousand chosen from ninety; the contestants who could advance to the Finals naturally all have some tricks up their sleeves, and most are at the Fourth Rank level or above.

After the steeds used their acceleration skills, some contestants began to catch up, but they discovered in despair that even if their steeds activated acceleration skills, they were still no match for the three contestants in the lead; not only did they fail to close the distance, but they were instead pulled further and further away.

In just two or three seconds, Aixi entered its optimal state.

Among the three, the Azure Wind-Born Beast was slightly in the lead, starting to show a trend of pulling away from Aixi and the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast.

Before the Wind Speed Characteristic was fully activated, there was a certain gap between Aixi's speed and the Azure Wind-Born Beast's.

However, neither Li Zhangsheng nor Ning Bizhen was affected, and the two exchanged a glance.

The Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast beneath Ning Bizhen had wind rising from its four hooves, its speed significantly faster than before; in the blink of an eye, it appeared at the side of the Azure Wind-Born Beast and rammed straight into it.

According to the race rules, reasonable ramming can only be performed from the side.

Bang—

The Azure Wind-Born Beast stumbled slightly, then steadied itself, but its speed inevitably suffered some impact.

Dou Yuanbin's eyes were sinister, and he had an ominous feeling in his heart.

It was also at this time that the road ahead began to narrow, only wide enough for a few steeds to pass side-by-side.

"Ram it!"

Under Dou Yuanbin's command, the Azure Wind-Born Beast rammed toward the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast on the outside.

Unfortunately, Ning Bizhen had long anticipated this and similarly commanded the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast to ram over again.

Bang—

Under the reasonable ramming, the Azure Wind-Born Beast suffered more or less of a disadvantage and collided with the rock wall on the inside.

Due to the difference in quality, the force of the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast's impact was stronger.

Under the entanglement of the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast, the speed of the Azure Wind-Born Beast could not be maintained for a time.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Aixi chased closely behind, looking as if it were about to complete an overtake.

Swift Wind!

Just at this moment, the Azure Wind-Born Beast beneath Dou Yuanbin let out a roar, and its body surface was instantly covered in deep cyan Wind Element energy, which caused its speed to surge, allowing it to avoid the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast's ramming first and begin to re-establish its advantage.

Compared to Rise Wind, the Swift Wind skill has stronger explosive power, but it can only be maintained for ten seconds at most.

Torrent Charge!

After the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast steadied its stance, under Ning Bizhen's command, it once again used an acceleration skill without sparing its stamina.

In an instant, the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast was enveloped in deep blue water currents, a torrent sprayed out from behind its rear, and the speed under its feet increased by a notch.

"Persistent as a ghost!"

Seeing the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast rushing up again, Dou Yuanbin's eyes were gloomy as he pondered a countermeasure.

Although the Azure Wind-Born Beast was in an explosive state, the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast's explosive power was stronger; in the blink of an eye, it was neck and neck with it again.

This time, the Jade-Eyed Golden-Maned Beast did not perform a reasonable ram; instead, it charged straight ahead, blocking the path in front of the Azure Wind-Born Beast.

Due to the restrictions of the race rules, the Azure Wind-Born Beast could not ram from behind and had no choice but to go around.

However, under the direction of Ning Bizhen, the Green-Eyed Golden-Eyed Beast constantly shifted its position, not giving the Azure Wind-Born Beast a chance to overtake it.

After their speed dropped, Aixi caught up once again.

"Ram into it!"

Just as Aixi was about to complete the overtake, the Azure Wind-Born Beast rammed straight toward Aixi on the outer side.

If it were to be knocked off the path, Aixi would inevitably suffer a significant negative impact.

Wind Stealth!

At the critical moment, Aixi narrowed its eyes slightly, a flash of green light appeared on its body, and the explosive power in its limbs surged, as if it had turned into a Residual Shadow, avoiding the Azure Wind-Born Beast's calculated collision first and appearing in front of it instead.

What made Dou Yuanbin furious was that Aixi did not overtake the Green-Eyed Golden-Eyed Beast, but instead ran side-by-side with it; because the road was not very wide and they were both large mounts, they blocked most of the path, making it difficult for the Azure Wind-Born Beast to overtake in the normal way.

It was also at this moment that green light flickered on Aixi's body, draping a second layer of Wind Cloak over it, causing its speed to rise once again.

Dou Yuanbin was extremely frustrated, and unable to endure it any longer, he once again commanded the Azure Wind-Born Beast to use the Leap skill.

Roar—!

The Azure Wind-Born Beast let out a roar, opening up full throttle, reaching its limit in the blink of an eye, trailing behind them.

Without waiting for Li Zhangsheng and his companion to respond, with the help of the powerful impact and speed, the Azure Wind-Born Beast jumped high into the air, while simultaneously spraying a wanton gust of wind from its crotch, faintly carrying a hint of a pungent odor.

In an instant, the Azure Wind-Born Beast successfully completed the Leap, landed steadily in front, and continued to sprint forward.

In this way, Dou Yuanbin successfully bypassed the interception of Li Zhangsheng and his companion.

However, the distance between the three was extremely short, and there was a possibility of being overtaken at any time.

In the time that followed, whenever Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen showed a tendency to burst with speed, Dou Yuanbin would have the Azure Wind-Born Beast burst at the same time, which was the only reason they were barely not overtaken by the two.

Soon, another two minutes passed.

But what made Dou Yuanbin frown was that it was basically Ning Bizhen's Green-Eyed Golden-Eyed Beast that was bursting, while the Savage Winged Tiger under Li Zhangsheng was always leisurely trailing behind, having been pulled back several hundred meters by the Azure Wind-Born Beast.

Only because of the frequent burst acceleration skills, both the Azure Wind-Born Beast and the Green-Eyed Golden-Eyed Beast began to pant heavily, while Li Zhangsheng's Aixi was much better off.

What Dou Yuanbin feared most was that just a moment ago, the Savage Winged Tiger had already put on its fourth layer of Wind Cloak, its speed had already surpassed the Azure Wind-Born Beast, and it began to continuously shorten the distance between it and the Azure Wind-Born Beast.

It was also at this moment that the three appeared at the foot of Fulin Mountain.

Fulin Mountain rose straight into the sky, towering into the clouds; due to the overcast and rainy weather, parts of it were obscured by mist, making it difficult to see its full appearance.

Its mountain path was relatively narrow, only allowing two or three large mounts to run side-by-side, and while some places were wider, others were increasingly narrow.

Besides this, the mountain path was rugged and uneven, and there were even a large number of curves, sharp turns, and continuous bends.

Whoosh—!

Just at this moment, like a spider spinning silk, a fine drizzle drifted down, as if weaving a light veil covering the heavens and the earth.

The rain fell harder and harder, visibility was increasingly affected, and the ground even began to become slippery.

The vision of mounts was naturally excellent, but in such harsh weather, it would still be affected to a certain extent.

In the racing competition, contestants were forbidden from using Secret Techniques, otherwise, Li Zhangsheng would definitely have blessed Aixi with the Heavenly Vision Secret Technique.

However, Li Zhangsheng still revealed a smile.

He and Aixi were in a state of Soul Grafting, and not only could they communicate instantly with their thoughts, but they could also share vision.

Li Zhangsheng's Mental Power rapidly spread to the surroundings, and Aixi naturally 'saw' the scene within a radius of a thousand meters, beginning to advance in the most optimal way, completely unaffected by the environment, and closing the distance with Dou Yuanbin at a faster speed.

Unlike Li Zhangsheng, the mounts of Ning Bizhen and Dou Yuanbin were all affected to a certain extent, and their speed inevitably dropped.

By the time they were about to enter the uphill section, Aixi had appeared behind the Azure Wind-Born Beast once again.

Today's goal: Three, pigs, verified!

(End of this chapter)