I flew through the open terrains, even through the thick poisonous fog and deadly quagmire creatures I was undefeated. I was in my element, and soon was able to see a few cultivators that had taken the longer path. I moved past them at blinding speed and made even more distance. Continuing ahead while checking the map.
There didn't seem to be any other shortcuts ahead until we reach the red cities.
Looking at the map again I realized the cruelty of this race.
There was actually one shortcut, it was very dangerous, and very deadly, and would seem completely useless to take.
The last three red cities, all cultivators needed to take flags from to pass, but there was a condition in the race, you only need to have all the flags, that doesn't mean that you need to have your flags.
So, people who were brave enough to venture through this arderous, and dangerous path, could reach the black city in less than six hours, while it would take going through the three red cities a full day.
They could take that path, and then ambush those who went through the cities for their flag. It was a huge risk but the rewards were great. That path was for the desperate, those who couldn't be up ahead in the race, their final chance to gain a footing. But the risk was still big.
I didn't need to go through that path, with my speed, I'm more than sure that I can make it to the top places to qualify for the second test. So, I didn't pay it much attention.
A few hours later, I made it to the final city, Baleful Swamp City. It was situated at the rims of the swamp, once I arrived there I got my flag and my token was registerd.
"Your time is registered on the token, your pod won't function until the next morning, at the same time period. If you try and cheat, you will be disqualified," the man that handeled me the flag said.
Meaning, that I shouldn't touch the pod's system.
"My pod is damaged though, I need to fix it," I said.
"We'll have a few inscribers fix the pod for you, you don't need to worry," he said.
"Ah, that might be a problem," I said.
The man frowned at me saying, "What do you mean a problem? You doubt the quality of our inscribers?"
"No, I didn't say that. But…"
"Listen up here, don't make me repeat myself, I said an inscriber will fix it, he will fix it!" the man said.
"Can I wait here until the repairs are done, then?" I asked.
"Do as you wish, anyway another group of arrivals will soon arrive, stand to the side, you don't want anyone to crash into you," the man said and waved to a few of the people who were coming here.
Just as the first arrived he looked around, scoffed when he saw me and then asked the man, "What's my rank?" he said.
"You're eight hundred and seven," he said.
The man made raised a fist! "Yes, I'm still in the top one thousand."
"Can you repair this for me, I'll go and rest up," the cultivator said as he deposited his pod.
"Hump, you got here faster, but don't slack off, tomorrow I'll overtake you!" he said.
I didn't even know who this guy was though.
Soon a man wearing a blue robe came over.
It was the same robe of the heavenly academy.
"Humph, you're the person who claimed I wouldn't be able to fix your pod? Aren't you too arrogant? This pod was made by the Heavenly academy, we know every bit, nook and cranny of it, we're professionals. No matter the damage we can fix it, don't look down on us too much, you don't have the qualifications yet!" the man said.
He was angry.
"Right then, I'll leave you to it," I said
"Hah, there are many other pods here, why should I even fix yours first," the man said.
It was obvious this guy was trying to 'put me in my place'.
"I'll leave that pod for last, just to teach you a lesson," he said.
Then ignored my pod and began working on others.
Now this was an annoying problem, I wanted to leave for now and go and rest up, I could even see a massive inn where the cultivators who arrived would go to and rest up, while I had to stay here because this idiot is too proud to even take a look at my pod first before speaking those words.
"Shouldn't you go by order, I arrived before that man," I said.
"I'll do what I see fit! You're not a member of the heavenly academy, you don't get to order me around!" he said.
This was vexing me, but I couldn't do much, I waited and waited, for a long, long time. But that man looked like he was taking his sweet time on purpose, I was about to ignore him and start fixing my own pod before another arrival came.
Looking to the side, it was Yu Liang.
She frowned, "How long have you been here?" she asked.
"I arrived just a bit earlier, you were fast," I said smiling.
She asked about her ranking and was thankful that she made it among the first thousand.
"You should rest, tomorrow's journey will be very hard," she said.
"Don't worry about me, I'll get there soon," I replied.
Once she deposited her pod and her group's pod. The old man in blue robes seemed a bit annoyed.
He actually had to work faster now.
He didn't take more than a few seconds to finish up the first guy's pod, then was about to start working on my pod, and scuffed at me.
Then he headed to Yu Liang's pod to fix and the rest of her cultivators.
I was getting annoyed by this man and said, "You know what," I said.
The man looked at me, waiting for me to 'plead and beg' for him to fix my pod.
"If you find it difficult to fix my pod, come and call me, okay?" I grinned then left.
I didn't need to bother with him, there were a few issues with my pod, mainly the body, and I needed to reapply a few inscriptions that have worn out due to the Top Grade Spirit Stone usage. It would take me roughly half an hour to fix. But I know something for a fact, this man was breaking the rules by arbitrarily fixing pods out of order, so if there is a problem I can easily report it to the higher ups for a punishment.
"Hmph, scram out of here and let me do my work, damn rookie," he said and completely ignored me.
I didn't care much, because I know for a fact, that soon someone will come begging.
I headed towards the inn and was surprised that the size of the inn's interior was massively large compared to the outside. It had several floors and was boisterous.
I went towards an empty table in the corner and sat down. I deserved some rest for now. Looking around, I saw many groups of cultivators sitting and having delicious-looking meals, enjoying their time, and talking about the events of the race vividly.
Looking around, I saw several cultivators homing around Yu Liang and parsing her for arriving among the top one thousand.
It didn't take much for many other cultivators to arrive, they each took a different table. More people arrived later and the inn seemed to never be crowded enough.
A young girl came over and asked me what I wish to order, and after taking a look at the menu, I just ordered a strong drink and the chef's recommendation.
It didn't take a long time before someone entered the room, and I was surprised to see him there.
It was the same guy that I took half of his top-grade spirit stones. How the heck did he survive? I wondered.
Then I remembered that the scorpion actually was too pissed about me to even care about this guy, and he must have managed to temporarily fix his pod and come over here, or maybe even carry it over while moving to this place. It didn't matter to me though.
The man looked at my direction and was about to say something before another presence washed over the whole inn.
A man in purple appeared right out of nowhere, it was the same person who issued the start of the race. He looked at all of us and said, "Congratulations for making it all this far. However, don't feel too pretentious that you made it here and think you can take a spot among the first one thousand. Many upsets could happen in a race, don't be lax and do your best."
His words were nice. And I appreciated him speaking.
He then suddenly turned and our eyes met.
A look of surprise was clear on his face, I mean I was half a day delayed at the start, and seeing me here was not something he expected.
I smiled at him and lightly nodded.
"Hmm, it seems this year's race is going to be interesting, all of you do your best." I hope to see you all at the finish line.
He then disappeared out of nowhere, it wasn't teleportation, no it was as if he simply ceased to exist.
I was a bit worried about his words since many cultivators noticed him looking at me before he spoke his last words.
I ignored the gaze of the cultivators in the room and continued my meal, that's when I remembered that guy, I looked around but he was nowhere to be found.
I ignored him for now, there was no need to look for trouble.
Sooner than later, a man entered the inn in a rush, he looked around fanatically until he found me. He was wearing a blue robe.
I grinned at him.
He then rushed ahead, forehead full of sweat, and said, "You monster! You want my hide! What the hell are you?!"
Well, this was a bit unexpected. But this man's words and his robes were more than enough to pull everyone's attention back at me.
"What, you said you can fix it," I said as I slowly drank from the jug. "Why aren't you fixing it?" I said.
"That! That's clearly cheating!" he said.
"The man in purple said it was allowed, I didn't cheat or anything, the changes I did were within the permissions," I calmly replied.
The man was sweating buckets.
I could even understand what went on, he probably realized that I modified the pod too much, and the stuff he know wasn't enough to fix it.
And from the panicking look on his face, it seems that the man in purple, who was surprised at my arrival paid him a visit after finding me here.
"What did the man in purple say it was cheating?" I asked.
"N-no…" he said.
"Then fix it," I said.
"I-I can't that's not something I could fix," he admitted.
"Good, now apologize, only once you apologize will I personally fix it," I spoke.
And this was enough to make everyone in the inn's eyes bulge.
A rookie, nothing but a candidate was forcing a blue robe to apologize…
This was going to be fun.