Been squatting in this godforsaken place for half a month, the craftsman can only say, your modification group's car inspection process is the most ridiculous!

During the last team's inspection, the hood opened up, revealing a complete mess of blood and flesh.

Not even bothering to pretend!

Thick, wriggling veins tangled around a skeleton-like car frame, with a gigantic heart pulsing and jumping at the center, and a green eye on the engine-like heart looking outward, veins all over, blinking constantly.

Just checking it feels like losing years off your life!

Yet when asked, the other party confidently pulled out a series of patent reports and research records, 'We used the latest eco-friendly biotechnology!'

Come on, dude, this is a rally race! What kind of environmental nonsense are you up to?

If this isn't Disaster Beast's reconstruction, forbidden recreation, and borderline illegal biological refining, I'll slice your car wheel and eat it with soy sauce!

But what's the point even if there are issues?

Compared to those massive entities, the event committee is just a small player earning sponsor money, and I'm merely doing a job assigned by the association to earn some cash.

If you say so, then it is. It's whatever you say it is.

As long as there aren't two cannons mounted on the car roof claiming 'this is our most advanced kinetic propulsion technology', just a little pretending and passing off will do.

"Guess you're compliant then."

The scruffy craftsman signed off carelessly and then pulled out a special computer and fiddled with it before extracting a box resembling an ETC device from a cable.

"Take this back and install it on your car, remember, don't open it; opening renders the result invalid, damaging it does the same."

The craftsman barely finished speaking when Ji Jue took it and started material interference internally right in front of him.

Though a bit impolite, but... can't just install everything on the car, right?

A location device that can send and receive signals.

There is, however, a sealed structure inside, formed with a combination of Spiritual Lock, tin, and lead seal, with internal Spiritual Circuit changes equipped with special validation.

And within the sealed structure, there seems to be some capability to receive signals, but just receive, not send.

"GPS?" Ji Jue asked.

"Yeah."

The craftsman sighed numbly, introducing bluntly, "Besides associating with satellites to confirm location and facilitate rescue, there are at least one hundred and seventy validation points along the way; it will receive and record the keys of these validation points. Each repair zone will check separately. After reaching the endpoint, if the internal record key is less than one hundred sixty, the result will be void. Specific details are within the competition's rulebook, if there's any issue, address the committee directly."

Saying this, he handed over a thick rule book.

Ji Jue took it and flipped through it roughly on the road.

Only to find... it seems to say everything and yet nothing.

The general rules are similar to regular competitions, but too many ambiguous details, genuinely too vague.

Not much better than a roll of toilet paper.

"Ji Jue bro, someone's watching us." An Ning beside him said.

"Normal."

Ji Jue didn't bother looking up, flipping through the rules quickly: "Ever since we joined the competition, we've been the center of attention."

An Ning's gaze brushed through the snowstorm, casually observing each glaring or hidden face, distinguishing breath: "Someone wants to kill you."

"Normal."

Ji Jue remained composed, closed the book, and told her:

"Because I want the same."

No need for surprise, nor for astonishment.

Isn't this exactly what everyone comes for?

Underneath the guise of civilization and glory, along the 5,000 kilometers of long road, amidst the desolate and brutal wilderness, what remains... isn't it precisely the life-and-death struggle?

Everyone's the same, indifferent to nobility or ignobility.

After shedding the grandiose excuses, what's left is simply pure resentment and revenge, nothing more!

Within the engulfing snowstorm, Ji Jue chuckled silently.

"That's why I love the competition."

An Ning tilted her head, looked at him, observing the monster inside the cage breaking free from its shackles, for a long time, then also smiled.

Just like that, humming a tune, following behind him, stepping on the footprints he left.

Full of joy, keeping in step.

Disappearing into the snowstorm.

.

.

"Is this the one?"

Under the lone lamp, a tattooed hand picked up the file tossed on the table, opened it, and gazed at Ji Jue's face and resume in the photo, lightly laughed.

"A craftsman? Is it worth all this trouble?"

"Not just a craftsman, but yes, indeed a craftsman." The broker puffed on a cigarette: "The client's demand is swift action, not allowing them to reach the endpoint alive."

"What about the money?"

"Thirty percent upfront, already equivalent to the full payment of Rebirth Rank, the remainder has been processed, just grab the head and settle, an additional bounty afterward."

Slowly pushing over a bank card, but when the other party reached for it, suddenly held it down.

"What's the meaning?"

The face covered with starry tattoos showed fierce intent in the darkness beyond the lamplight.

"Watch out, this time it's a bounty order, you're not the only one who took it."

The broker reminded: "From north to south, nearly everyone along this line has been activated, you're not the only one designated. Just now, the boss informed that hunters are also involved."

"Isn't that great?"

The man laughed, even more jubilant, tattoos faintly glowing on his face: "Dog bites dog, wolf eats wolf, the taste of hunters is immensely enjoyable, right?"

From such a ravenous smile, the smell of rich stench of blood and decay silently spread.

Under the light, the beast's eyes were emerald green.

Already unbearably hungry and thirsty.

Not only here, from the sweeping snow of Huang Province to the endless yellow sands under the night sky, whether under a lonely lamp or scorching sun, photographs were distributed from the undercurrent.

And countless black dots, like a dense army of marching ants, converged together.

.

.

That night, deep within Black River City, alarms suddenly blared.

A level three disaster alert.

According to satellite surveillance, weather changes were detected, and within three to five days, a strong cold air current was expected to arrive from the sea in the east, bringing a new round of snowfall and extreme cold.

All cities in Huang Province would implement emergency disaster measures.

Two hours later, after the Desert Sea Rally race committee's urgent deliberation, they concluded that the weather changes would not affect the schedule and arrangements of the race, and the competition would continue.

The joint request for postponement by six teams was rejected.

Although the live broadcast would be affected by the weather, considering the audience's demands and the insistence of most teams, the race would proceed as planned.

At the same time, the committee approved and completed the temporary replacement of drivers and navigators for seven teams, including Snow Mountain, New Yuan, Hundred Dragons, Imperial Tiger, and Echo.

Further away, beyond the snowfields in Mo Sea, a storm rushed in.

A storm from ten thousand miles away caused the butterfly in Cliff City to fall from the branch, spinning wildly, and dropped into the dead water, struggling amidst the surrounding mosquitoes and mantises.

"It's all messed up."

Tong Ting frowned, retracted the fishing rod in his hand, gazing at the bare hook, sniffing the water vapor and decay on it, his expression gradually darkening:

"Everything's messed up."

"Understandable."

On the rocking chair under the tree shade, the elder with a teapot didn't bother to lift his eyes: "Better not to read dead tomes, nor listen to immoral voices. Such things should have been anticipated long ago."

He said, "You're still too shallow."

If you want to target the Ether Path, you need to first stir up events, so you can fish in troubled waters.

Otherwise, in any secret murder case you set up, the culprit's name on the first page is marked in bold, where's the room for deduction and mystery?

Now you've only torn a few pages at most; at least the first half is still there, not yet shredded into pieces.

Precisely because it's the ether, it needs to be knocked off omniscience.

Precisely because of the fear of the Tong family's ether expertise, there's a need to make such a fuss, not knowing how many Chosen Ones of the Mirror system have been deployed to create illusions and noise, disrupting observation and events.

Also, it's unknown how many peers lay hidden beneath the muddied waters, setting nets all over the world.

Seems as if a dense fog suddenly came forth, what was once vivid and clear has turned into a mirage, no longer discernible.

"If you can't see, then you can't."

The elder's fingers stroked the rough purple clay, speaking slowly: "The plot, when fully known, isn't beautiful; sometimes, following and guessing is also a pleasure."

"No wonder others call the ether enigmatic," Tong Ting sighed in resignation, "Listening to you makes me anxious, can't you speak to me more directly?"

"No, I can't."

The elder with a celestial aura chuckled mockingly: "Others may be able to, but not you, you must 'listen'—otherwise, why is the Tong family's title 'Heavenly Listening' and not 'Heavenly Eye'?"

He raised his eyes, glancing towards his successor: "Why are you not named Tong Guan?"

Tong Ting remained silent.

[The first hexagram, Tong Guan; no blame for the small person, the noble one hesitates]

The general meaning suggests that the noble one sees their true nature, while the small one remains in ignorance and fails to reflect. Here, the meaning of Tong Guan is like that of a child's perspective, shallow and immature, limited to one corner, unable to see the overall picture.

The name Tong Guan is actually derogatory.

As for the distinction between Heavenly Listening and Heavenly Eye...

"Ordinarily, Heavenly Listening is inferior to Heavenly Eye, within the Ether Path, the Tong family, as upstarts, lacks foundation, always a step below the rivals of Central City.

Over time, everyone feels this way—"

The contemporary Heavenly Listener sneered: "But do you think, the blind old lady of the rival family would dare to say that in front of me?"

The Ether Path does not boast of prestige or power; it is focused on lasting existence and prosperity. Hence, it does not appear on stage, remaining behind the scenes, being kind to all, having few enemies, and turning conflict into harmony.

Drawing pride from foresight and prophecy, skilled fighters naturally achieve no glaring glory.

From this perspective, the family known as Heavenly Eye naturally ranks higher than Heavenly Listening.

There is a distinction between the heights of sight and hearing; listening is destined to be less direct and clear than viewing.

But precisely because of this, everyone tends to habitually focus on and rely upon that pair of eyes most easily deceived.

Yet, due to this, they forget that when the storm hits, amidst the deadly chaos, your ears can be far more useful than your eyes!

The deaf excel in vision, the blind excel in hearing.

The essence of the path of Heavenly Listening lies in pressing pieces in the dark, capturing advantage amidst chaos!

Or, to put it more simply, it's about trading blows within the same trade!

"It's just walking a dark path at night, others have set the stage for you, and there's me, this old coot, backing you up." The elder sneered, "What are you still hesitating about?"

Tong Ting was silent for a moment, then sighed lightly: "Honestly, I have no confidence."

"No confidence? It's right to have no confidence."

The elder disdainfully gazed at the dense darkness spreading from afar in the night, but amid the gaze of those eyes, the endless darkness seemed to boil, disturb, and surge.

As if an invisible hand rudely disturbed everything, unsettling the dead water, stirring up the mud, with tangled events and clues like a knot no one could unravel.

As a result, even the last glimpse of starlight was swallowed by the clouds.

Silent for miles around.

Only the forlorn murmur of insects could be heard.

"Now, no one has confidence anymore."

In the darkness came a mocking sigh: "On a moonless night with howling winds, bound cart and horse... what does it matter if a few more unlucky souls fall from the cliff?"

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