Chapter 1424: Jobe

A golden-haired man paced back and forth in the garage. Compared to the other competitors of this race, he seemed to be a bit... bored. Disinterested, more like it.

He was Jobe Vanderbilt. The current 2nd ranked heir of the Vanderbilt Conglomerate.

By all accounts, it would seem that Jobe had all the signs of becoming the 1st ranked heir of the Vanderbilt family. He had the accolades, he had the riches, he had the power... he had everything.

He thought he had proven himself to his father to be put as the first-in-line heir of the Vanderbilt estate. And yet, his father, the great Yze Vanderbilt, told him that he was not yet ready!

He had not proven himself sufficiently amongst his peers.

Meaning, he was not good enough.

Of course, Jobe was not going to let this go easily. He wanted to prove himself. He told his father to give him any kind of mission, and he would fulfill it without any failures or delays. He was that confident.

Yze Vanderbilt accepted his challenge and gave him a simple task.

Dominate the Racing Circuit and the 1st ranked title would belong to him.

And when Jobe heard this, he was a bit perplexed.

That was it? This was the great Yze Vanderbilt’s challenge for him? Win a simple race?

It seemed a little bit too... simple. Not that it was easy. However, the forefather of the Vanderbilt Conglomerate was rarely ever so easy and generous when it came to his company.

If someone wanted something from him, then he would give them an impossible task. When Jobe was ten years old, he asked Yze for a simple gift. And Yze told him he had to earn it first. He had to become a Nascent Spirit cultivator before he could receive the gift.

And that was for a simple gift!

What Jobe was asking was the 1st ranked title heir of the entire Vanderbilt Estate! If Yze suffered an unfortunate accident, whoever was the 1st ranked heir would immediately be crowned the successor. This was no simple title!

And yet, Yze gave him this task.

He had to admit. Building the automobile from scratch was a difficult task. It took a lot of research, espionage, and trials before they were able to replicate it successfully.

But even then, winning the race was challenging. Not impossible. And his task should be impossible.

Jobe then began to wonder if there was a hidden meaning behind his father’s words. Perhaps, there was something more to this race than what he could originally perceive.

But no matter how much he tried to solve this mystery, he still couldn’t understand how this was an ’impossible’ task.

With his Nascent Spirit cultivators, they stood a good chance of winning the race through reality-bending powers.

Was his father underestimating him?

Either way, all he had to do now was win the race and obtain his most coveted price. Become the heir of the Vanderbilt family.

"Let’s ready our automobile," Jobe said to his engineers. "Is my driver ready?"

He then looked out of the garage and saw a strange-looking car roll out into the circuit. That striking ’R’ symbol on its side marked it as the automobile for the Rebornians.

"That’s their car? It looks strange, but otherwise normal. Not much Nascent Influence used to alter its reality."

Then, Jobe looked up, towards the VIP section where a certain golden-haired young man was sitting.

"Michael... the youngest Nascent Spirit cultivator. Making this racing circuit float and fly through the skies is certainly an impressive feat of Influence.

However, it looks like the rumors are true. He’s the only Nascent Spirit cultivator in their company."

Otherwise, Reborn would have inundated their automobile with more Nascent Influence enhancements. It even looked like their driver wasn’t a nascent Spirit cultivator themselves! Only a Body Formation cultivator. Barely even reaching the middle stages.

"I just can’t see it," Jobe said to himself, frowning. "How is this a challenge?"

...

...

...

Meanwhile, in the VIP area, a certain charismatic individual was currently entertaining a large group of people around him.

"Hahaha, thank you, thank you," said Lucy to the royals surrounding him. "But really, my ascension to the Mystic Master realm was not due only from my own talent, but perhaps luck and serendipity as well."

One of the viscounts moved closer. "I heard that you became a 9-star master at the moment that the world lost magic. Could it be that the goddess compensated this tragedy by giving us a miracle like you?"

Lucy awkwardly laughed and shook his head. "I do not know what the goddess planned. However, I do believe that as a Mystic Master, it is my responsibility to lead people during times of darkness. That is why I am here. I am here to spread light!"

As Lucy said that, a bright white light emanated out of his body and engulfed the entire crowd with his magic.

It was at this moment that someone from the crowd screamed in excitement.

"I can feel it! I can feel mana!"

"Me too! It’s as if I could feel them right inside my body!"

"It’s a miracle!"

Hearing those words shouted to the top of their lungs, more and more people crowded Lucy. But despite the literal flood of people crowding over him, his presence was never diminished. There was an ever-present light that allowed him to shine amongst all the others.

"Perhaps it’s the goddess!"

"The goddess must have blessed our new Mystic Master!"

"That’s amazing! Perhaps you’ll also be able to imbue that blessing to see which one will win this race!"

Lucy smiled, but didn’t say anything further.

Of course, this kind of commotion wouldn’t be missed by Michael. Even if the Shadow Orcs hadn’t notified him, he would have noticed the use of Arcanic magic by Lucy.

That magic that those people felt... those weren’t real mana. It was Lucy’s own Arcanic magic disguised as natural mana in order to make them feel as if magic was nearing its return to the world.