Bai Xiaodu briefly explained his plan.
Liu Qingzhu's face was filled with utter disbelief, and the Winged human felt his vision go dark.
“Won't this be ruled as a violation? After all, there's a referee here...”
“If they didn't say we can't, then it's not a violation.”
As if displeased by the whispering below, the Red Dragon Demon interrupted their conversation.
He let out another loud roar.
In the next moment, a whistle appeared in his hand out of nowhere.
“Ready...”
To punish them for their secret whispering just now, the Red Dragon Demon didn't wait for them to fully stand in their respective lanes.
Instead, he immediately gave the starting command.
The Red Dragon Demon puffed out his cheeks.
The sharp, piercing sound of the whistle blew!
“Argh! Shed your sweat and youth, and run fearlessly!”
Almost the exact instant the sound fell, the rabbits, who had raised their hindquarters high in preparation, bolted. The grey-white figures shot forward like arrows. Their extremely developed hind legs kicked so fast they left afterimages, dazzling the eyes!
Although she had prepared herself mentally, Liu Qingzhu was still startled. “Even their normal running speed is comparable to a Ranger Apprentice's burst speed with a speed-boosting skill active?”
The Winged human's expression was complicated. “I've seen the footage brought out of here. Their speed is definitely tuned up. As for the reason...”
Both of them instinctively looked up. The Red Dragon Demon was currently crossing his arms, looking down at them with an impatient expression.
“The higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards! I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Besides, if you don't even have the courage to face difficulties, what right do you have to challenge the 【Fearless】 Secret Realm?”
Liu Qingzhu frowned. “Starting without even giving us a warning, how is this any different from cheating with your administrator privileges?”
The Red Dragon Demon spoke with righteous confidence. “No difference! Haha!”
Bai Xiaodu used his tail as a cushion and sat down on his butt. He pulled out some small red and blue bottles from his waist and began eating and drinking.
Hearing the Red Dragon Demon's words, he looked up and smiled. “Then thank you.”
The Red Dragon Demon, who was just about to throw out a few more mocking remarks, froze on the spot, his brain unable to process this for a moment.
After a brief thought, he burst into hearty laughter again. “See? Even your captain has to thank me.”
“But what are you drinking? Performance-enhancing drugs are not allowed on the track. If detected, you'll be banned! After all, I have always advocated for natural bodybuilding.”
Bai Xiaodu raised an eyebrow and chugged a second bottle of blue liquid. “Is that so? You look like you're heavily juiced. Why else would the top of your head be so pointy?”
The Red Dragon Demon immediately lost his temper. “Dammit, those are dragon horns...”
Bai Xiaodu's next move interrupted his words. Cyan-white elemental energy began to manifest around him.
Spell runes began to spread from beneath where he sat, quickly condensing into a large circular area.
It was worth noting that these were not simple thread-like energy forms, but had actually materialized into extremely tiny, scale-like wind blades.
They swirled and spun relentlessly around Bai Xiaodu's position, creating a terrifying momentum.
The Red Dragon Demon looked left and right, unable to figure out what trick this was, so he had to ask.
“The special effects are flashy, but do you plan to win this race just by sitting there?”
Bai Xiaodu gently pressed his palms down, gesturing for him to stay calm. “No rush. Let the rabbits run for a bit.”
With that, Bai Xiaodu maintained the formation of the spell runes beneath his feet and stood up.
The Red Dragon Demon rubbed his chin.
“Interesting idea. Are you planning to use wind mana to launch yourself like a cannonball? Although that would heavily injure or even leave you near death, it's actually worth a try.”
Bai Xiaodu completely ignored him and didn't start running.
Instead, he sat back down nearby and began to condense spell runes once more.
He then repeated the process. A total of five 【Gust】 spell runes were engraved right at the starting line.
In the process, Bai Xiaodu had to drink another mana potion.
By the time he finished, the thunderous sound of rushing footsteps finally reached their ears again.
What was extremely eye-catching was that in the middle of the massive rabbit herd, there was one rabbit that was the most robust. Its entire body was covered in grey-white fur, and its blood-red eyes stared dead ahead. Its hind legs spun like wheels, leaving behind afterimages. In its mouth, it tightly clamped a blood-red orb, running frantically and putting all its effort into moving forward. Two small plumes of dust were constantly kicked up by its rapid steps.
Seeing this scene, the Red Dragon Demon showed a look of pity. “What a pity. Perhaps your idea is indeed genius, but you've wasted so much time. I'm afraid you will be eliminated in this racing trial.”
“How regrettable. You're a very interesting fox-kin. I probably won't forget you for a long time.”
“I never said I was going to race.”
“...What do you mean?”
Soon, Bai Xiaodu showed the Red Dragon Demon his answer through action.
The group finally made their move.
Liu Qingzhu unslung the longbow from her back and drew dozens of barbed arrows from her quiver.
Without even looking, she roughly aimed in the direction of the rabbit herd. Drawing the bow, her slender fingers rested on the string, and she released!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The sharp arrowheads tore through the air, drawing swift and sharp trajectories.
As a Ranger Apprentice, the arrows Liu Qingzhu fired were naturally enhanced.
At the exact moment she launched her attack, the Winged human also spread his wings.
He maneuvered and shifted in mid-air, the edges of his feathers gleaming with a cold, metallic luster.
Then, with a sudden sweep, like a volley of arrows, dozens of brownish-yellow feathers shot out, densely forming a second wave of attack.
The arrows, mixed with the blade-sharp feathers, rained down on the running rabbit herd like a torrential downpour!
Thud, thud, thud...
The sound of sharp objects piercing flesh echoed continuously. The fastest-running rabbits at the very front were the first to suffer.
Blood splattered and rabbit fur flew everywhere. The entire charging rabbit herd suddenly faltered, their speed drastically reduced!
Seeing this, the Red Dragon Demon couldn't help but fly into a rage. “This is a running race, not a fight! What on earth are you guys doing?!”
“Stop it! Stop it!”
“Do you have even a shred of sportsmanship?!”
Bai Xiaodu raised an eyebrow. “But during the previous explorers' run, you condoned the rabbits attacking the competitors to snatch the orb. Did you have sportsmanship then?”
The Red Dragon Demon shrieked in anger. “That is part of the race's difficulty! It's a reasonable technical adjustment!”
“What a stubborn mouth. Well, I don't care about that. As long as they can attack us, it means there is physical contact between us.”
Bai Xiaodu gestured, and his two teammates immediately understood.
Liu Qingzhu drew her longbow once more, and the Winged human spread his wings again. It seemed they were fully prepared to launch another coordinated attack at any moment.
Grinding his teeth, the Red Dragon Demon could only snap, “Fine, fine! Fight all you want, but my rabbits aren't pushovers either! Hmph, now I'm curious to see which of you dares to snatch the red orb from a furious rabbit pack!”
He stared at Bai Xiaodu, emphasizing every word. “You going up is a good choice. Don't worry, I absolutely won't secretly buff the rabbits' strength from behind or anything!”
His words were not mere boasting.
Although Liu Qingzhu and the Winged human's offensive seemed grand and indeed yielded results, if it were truly that simple, the first group of people who accidentally entered the Secret Realm wouldn't have nearly lost their lives to the frantically intercepting rabbit herd.
The arrows and feather spears pierced through skin but were powerless upon hitting bone. Aside from the front row that was killed by the overly dense attack, most of the rabbits currently suffered only light injuries, and even their ability to continue running was not diminished in the slightest.
Judging by their movement speed, the remaining time would only allow them to fire one more volley of arrows.
Bai Xiaodu paid no mind to the threat in his words. Instead, he looked at the charging, furious rabbit herd with a touch of sentimentality.
“When I was still in school, my young self was always fed motivational speeches.”
“Like, 'Raise your score by one point, beat a thousand competitors!' and things like that.”
Bai Xiaodu shook his head. “But studying was just too hard. My brain wasn't cut out for it.”
Runes began to glow on his palms as a frosty aura spread out.
A trace of cruelty rose from the depths of his wine-red eyes.
Bai Xiaodu resolutely unleashed Freezing Ray. Every time a new type of light was about to emerge, he would forcefully convert it, stacking them one by one. He finally formed a pale light so massive it almost completely enveloped half of his body.
Bai Xiaodu grinned savagely. “So for me, beating a thousand competitors is much easier than raising my score by one point!”
Rate on N.U.
