Chapter 1942 - Looping Maneuver

The eye of the storm remained perfectly still. Beyond that small refuge, divine steeds whirled helplessly through the gale, their occupants powerless to do anything but surrender their vessels to the wind.

Liu Wuxie rose from his chariot’s protective shelter and studied the turmoil. The Cloudbreaker Warship fought desperately to escape the storm’s grip, but every time freedom came within reach, the currents dragged it back.

Shaped like a long spear, the Heartless Sect’s Sky Soaring Steed used its tremendous piercing power to force a passage through the winds. It stood on the verge of breaking free.

The Hundred Blossom War Chariot’s massive frame withstood the storm’s suction with little trouble.

Without warning, the Feng Clan’s Astral Light Ripper unfolded its wings. Starlight glimmered across a structure resembling a honeycomb, and the gales streamed through its openings instead of battering the vessel.

Cries of admiration rose from the surrounding divine steeds as their occupants marveled at the Feng Clan’s ingenious design. “Now that is inspiring craftsmanship!”

The storm still held the Nanmen Clan’s Skybreaker Wasp captive. Repairs had sealed its hull, but the damage had affected its aerodynamics and hindered its flight. Driving it at full speed risked reopening the breach, a gamble its occupants dared not take.

The Mou Clan’s divine steed suffered just as badly. Like a headless fly, it tumbled erratically through the vortex and only narrowly avoided being flung off course.

Not even a tremor disturbed the Qilin War Chariot as it crossed the raging winds. After lingering behind the others throughout the race, the enormous construct began passing them.

“The moment has come!” Liu Wuxie declared as he surveyed the surrounding storm. He had deciphered its rotation pattern. Following those currents would allow him to turn their power into the force he needed to escape.

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot drifted into the gale, and Liu Wuxie relinquished control, allowing the wind to carry it. Its tight circles near the center gradually widened into an outward spiral. With every rotation, the chariot gathered speed.

All around him, contestants struggled against the storm, while Liu Wuxie rode its currents and gathered the momentum needed to propel his chariot free.

“Look at that brat’s divine steed! Why is he following the wind?” the cultivators below exclaimed, watching the race unfold without anything obstructing their view.

“Smart boy. If he can’t overpower the storm, he can make its strength work for him.”

The Golden Immortals watching from the ground recognized Liu Wuxie's purpose at once. Even they could not help but admire him.

Other contestants also noticed the maneuver. Curiosity grew as they watched his chariot circle through the gale.

“He’s worked it out! Stop resisting and move with the current!”

The Feng Clan acted first, relinquishing its struggle and allowing the wind to carry its vessel. The other forces swiftly followed suit. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Order gradually emerged from the turmoil. Divine steeds arranged themselves into a line and circled with the wind, replacing the chaos that had filled the storm only moments earlier. Several steeds had collided after failing to evade one another, and two had shattered completely.

The Nanmen Clan had endured a particularly wretched ordeal. Its attempts to resist the current had only left its vessel tumbling helplessly through the gale.

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot reached the storm’s outer boundary.

“Go!” Liu Wuxie shouted, seizing that instant to surge forward and break free.

Following his example, the others accelerated near the edge. Dozens misjudged the moment, however, and the vortex dragged them back, forcing them to complete another circuit before trying again.

Only two openings pierced the storm, one serving as the entrance and the other as the exit. Escape depended on exact timing. Even the smallest error would send a contestant back into the storm.

With the storm rotating at such tremendous speed, the contestants needed to accelerate fifty meters before the exit. Starting a moment too early would send them off the Divine Rainbow Road. Waiting a moment too long would allow the current to carry them back to the entrance.

Ghost Pupil had allowed Liu Wuxie to calculate that narrow interval with absolute precision.

The Feng Clan emerged behind him shortly after his escape.

“That brat came out first? He’s even left the Cloudbreaker Warship behind!” spectators cried, staring at the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot as though their eyes had deceived them.

“A Spirit Immortal is leading the race! Even Divine Steed Manor’s Qilin War Chariot is behind him!”

Many rubbed their eyes, half convinced they were dreaming. Should a mere Spirit Immortal win the Divine Steed Tournament, every other contestant would become an object of ridicule.

The other divine steeds carried crews ranging from a handful of cultivators to more than a hundred, granting them formidable combat strength. Liu Wuxie had overtaken every one of them entirely on his own.

“His speed won’t save him. Once the Cloudbreaker Warship gets out of the storm, it’ll catch up with him before long.”

Numerous spectators nodded, still refusing to believe Liu Wuxie could win.

“There! The Cloudbreaker Warship has escaped!”

As the words rang out, the Cloudbreaker Warship burst from the vortex and shot after Liu Wuxie like a meteor.

More contestants began mastering the timing, and divine steeds escaped the storm in increasing numbers.

“The Cloudbreaker Warship is firing!” someone cried as a beam of light lanced from the vessel toward Liu Wuxie.

Liu Wuxie had never expected the Divine Will Gate to attack him. Had taking the lead alone provoked their hostility? There was no time to dwell on the question, as the approaching beam demanded his immediate attention.

No ordinary sword energy formed that beam. The Cloudbreaker Warship had compressed pure energy into an attack, much like the mysterious crossbow that could kill without discharging a physical projectile.

“Looping Maneuver!” Liu Wuxie called, inscribing with both hands and modifying the runes inside his chariot. Each rune possessed extraordinary qualities, but the distant spectators could not make out their intricacies. Many rested so deep within the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot that even Liu Wuxie could not see them, yet he retained command of their power.

The chariot snapped into a new course, swept through a loop, and veered sideways as the beam passed it by.

Cries of disbelief erupted throughout the crowd. “How could he possibly dodge that?!” An attack everyone had considered certain to land had somehow missed Liu Wuxie.

“That tiny Twin-Winged Battle Chariot makes no sense! Flying straight, climbing, descending, and now looping? How can it do all that?”

Even the Golden Immortals struggled to understand the spectacle. Every new capability the chariot revealed overturned their understanding of the Divine Steed Art.

Divine Will Gate members stared in equal confusion. They had believed that even Heavenly Rift Pavilion’s Guardian Wings would struggle to evade such a surprise attack so easily.

Liu Wuxie continued forward without acknowledging the Cloudbreaker Warship. Retaliation would have to wait. If he turned to fight, he would give his attackers an opening to pass him, and it was precisely their intention.

Although the beam failed to strike, Liu Wuxie’s evasive maneuver still reduced his speed, enabling the Cloudbreaker Warship to draw closer.

Another two beams flashed toward him, sealing his routes on both sides.

In the eyes of these third-tier forces, Liu Wuxie was merely a Spirit Immortal, an ant they could crush beneath a finger. His life was insignificant compared to the Asura Blade fragment. Every faction knew the value of such an extraordinary treasure.

Deciphering its secrets might uncover a path to the Immortal Emperor Realm. For that opportunity, the competing powers had abandoned every pretense and revealed their true nature.

Killing intent ignited in Liu Wuxie’s eyes. Had his restraint made them believe he was easy prey?

The beams raced closer. Crude construction and limited offensive strength had forced the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot to depend chiefly on agility whenever it came under attack.

With escape blocked on both sides, Liu Wuxie swept his hands through the air. The chariot rolled ninety degrees, turning its narrow edge toward the oncoming beams. Its profile shrank to little more than a line, and both attacks skimmed past without touching it.

“He can dodge them like that?” the spectators murmured, staring blankly.

At Divine Steed Manor’s gates, the manor lord watched the sky with a grave expression.

“Brilliant. I’m eager to see what else he can show us.”

The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot had astonished the crowd yet again. Spectators waved their arms and cheered, so engrossed in the race that they seemed to be competing themselves.

“Win or lose, he has already earned everyone’s respect,” the Golden Immortals remarked admiringly. Liu Wuxie’s performance had thoroughly impressed them.

Divine Will Gate members felt the greatest shock of all. One failed attack could be attributed to chance, but two consecutive failures brought humiliation.

“Elder, do we continue firing?” a disciple inside the Cloudbreaker Warship asked through gritted teeth.

“Close the distance first,” the elder ordered, glancing toward the Twin-Winged Battle Chariot. The nearer they came, the better their chance of striking it.

The Cloudbreaker Warship increased its speed and began closing the distance between them.

Liu Wuxie returned his chariot to level flight and pressed onward, remaining alert for another attack.

Elsewhere, more than a dozen cultivators worked together to operate Heavenly Rift Pavilion’s Guardian Wings.

“Senior Brother, have we seen that young man before?” one of the Golden Immortals asked.

“He does look familiar,” the man answered. He also felt certain that Liu Wuxie had crossed his path somewhere.

“Don’t you remember? When we passed through Eastern Emperor City, he was fighting a ninth-level Origin Immortal,” the oldest man reminded them.

“That was him? Of course, I remember now! He was only a seventh-level Spirit Immortal. How did he reach the ninth level so quickly, and how did he come out of that fight alive?” the other two exclaimed. They couldn't believe that he had crossed the Dragon Burial Mountain Range to enter the Divine Steed Tournament.

“I said he would be the one left standing. Looks like I called it.”

Thoughtfully, the three watched Liu Wuxie’s distant figure.

Behind him, the other divine steeds continued gaining ground. The Twin-Winged Battle Chariot had been designed for agility, and its frame lacked the durability to maintain such speed. Cracks spread through its structure. If Liu Wuxie continued driving it this hard, it would break apart.

He could only ease back, reducing the speed.