Chapter 481: Dragon boat race

“Rule one of the competition—no use of cultivation power.

Anyone who does will be immediately disqualified on the spot. Please abide by the competition rules. The detection formation will remain active at all times, and anyone using spiritual power will be knocked straight into the water!”

“Rule two of the competition—there are no other rules. First one to the finish line wins!”

“A warning to you all: don’t focus on your current ranking. Items and boats are the real keys to victory! The best way to win is to knock every other team into the water!”

For every cultivator present, this distance was normally just a standing long jump away.

The dragon boat race wasn’t long—on a normal day, it would only take the cultivators here a few hours to reach the destination. But with cultivation power banned, that same route would take a full hour of rowing.

Add in some obstacles and surprises along the way, and who knew how long it would take to decide a winner.

The contestants exchanged uneasy glances. This was the first time they’d heard such a savage set of dragon boat race rules. Were they chasing Qu Yuan, or beating each other bloody over his corpse?

Before they could even process their confusion, the host Huang Bozhong bellowed the command with all his might: “All contestants, please board your boats. The race begins now!”

The host had announced the start before anyone even got on their dragon boats. Every aspect of this competition defied expectations.

The contestants weren’t ready, and a wave of panic swept through them as they scrambled toward the boats on the shore.

“Let’s go! Head for the supply station!”

Jiang Ke’er led Pei and Gongsun Xiaotao as they quickly leaped onto a dragon boat.

She chose a boat closest to the supply station rather than one nearest the finish line, then set off without hesitation.

Li Er and the Changsun siblings shared one boat. A Miao, Jie Shui, and Gan Ruanruan took another. Si Lian, Yiqin, and Senior Sister Mushuang were on a third.

Luyia boarded with two random passersby.

Meanwhile, Huang Bozhong’s two friends seemed to be having trouble.

Gu Yuyue and Dong Jun wore gloomy expressions.

[Beep, beep, beep—the boat you are currently on is overloaded. This dragon boat has a capacity of three people, but the current boarding count is four. Please comply with the competition rules and adjust the number of participants in a timely manner.]

Because they had fewer than three people, they couldn’t compete, which forced Gu Yuyue and Dong Jun to drag a random passerby into joining them.

But the moment that passerby stepped onto the dragon boat, the overload warning appeared. At first, they thought the boat was broken, but after switching to several different boats in succession, the same thing kept happening.

“It must be because you’re too fat.”

Dong Jun pointed at Gu Yuyue and said coldly.

“Don’t you dare play the victim and accuse me first!”

Gu Yuyue’s eyes went wide, then he turned to the passerby he’d recruited and apologized: “Sorry, looks like the two of us will have to compete alone. Please go find another team.”

“What a jinx.”

The passerby was already covered in goosebumps from fright and had been dying to get away. The nonexistent fourth person had scared him half to death.

Gu Yuyue and Dong Jun had no choice but to sit on the dragon boat together.

The moment they sat down, a full-capacity notification appeared.

[Beep—roads are many, safety is first… please fasten your seatbelt. Best of luck for a triumphant start!]

Fine. At least they could finally set off.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ke’er had already nearly reached the first random supply station.

She knew that if she were looking down at the sea right now, the sight of a thousand boats crossing together would be spectacular… which also meant that if she didn’t reach the supply station early, there would definitely be a long line behind her.

At first, no one realized how important the supply stations were. To onlookers, Jiang Ke’er’s decision to charge ahead to the station, stop, and abandon her lead position seemed like an utterly foolish choice.

But as the mastermind behind this race, Jiang Ke’er knew perfectly well that the supply stations were the key to deciding the victory.

The supply station consisted of a pillar filled with items.

The top of the pillar held a flower-bud-shaped box that would automatically open whenever a boat approached, revealing what was inside.

What Jiang Ke’er got from the bud was a cube.

She let out a long sigh of relief—it seemed she was the first to arrive at a supply station.

It wasn’t that the first arrival received any special reward, but rather that when Jiang Ke’er had set up the supply stations, she deliberately placed one particular item in the first slot.

Card shufflers sometimes deliberately put the joker at the top of the deck so they could draw it first… Similarly, in order to complete the mission, Jiang Ke’er had completely abandoned any sense of shame.

With a crisp snap, she pressed the cube into the groove at the bow of the boat.

As the surrounding onlookers stared in shock, the dragon boat began rapidly disassembling and reassembling itself.

Clank, clank—

In a symphony of gears and machinery, massive golden saws grew out of the dragon boat’s hull, screeching as they spun, looking every bit the part of “keep your distance.”

“Sorry about this.”

With a smile, Jiang Ke’er pressed a button on the side of the cube, and the entire dragon boat suddenly spun in a full circle on the spot!

Shrrrk—

The sea within a ten-meter radius was instantly cleared. Nearby contestants who had tried to rush in and snatch the cube found their boats sliced open by the saws in an instant.

Even though their boats slowly repaired themselves automatically, they had no choice but to abandon any thought of taking Jiang Ke’er’s cube and could only watch helplessly as she sped off in her arrogant getaway.

Pei and Gongsun Xiaotao gripped their oars, completely dumbfounded.

Only now did they realize just how different this dragon boat race was from the traditional kind.

They had come with hearts full of reverence to honor a great man, only to find this was shaping up to be an attempt to tear him apart limb from limb.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you two—in this race, we’re the villains.”

Jiang Ke’er said with a cheerful smile. “It’s too late to jump ship now… hurry up and row! Be careful not to let your oars touch the saws!”

Meanwhile, as boats began arriving at the supply points one after another, the dragon boat race finally started revealing its true nature.

Li Er’s dragon boat suddenly sprouted wings and shot toward the finish line at tremendous speed.

“Hahahaha, holy crap, this actually works!”

Li Er soared arrogantly through the sky, looking down upon everyone below. “Farewell, everyone! The championship is mine!”

“Rat-tat-tat-tat—!”

A dense barrage of light shot up into the sky!

“Hey, what are you doing?!”

Li Er glared downward in shock. “Jie Shui! I’m warning you, you’re a member of our guild, and I’m your squad leader!”

“Not anymore.”

Jie Shui sneered.

Jie Shui manned the revolving cannon mounted at the bow, aimed it at the sky, and mercilessly blasted Li Er’s dragon boat wings to shreds.

Li Er let out a miserable scream as he came crashing down, slamming into another boat and smashing both vessels to pieces along with it.

The boats had protective mechanisms, so contestants wouldn’t get hurt—only the hulls would break—but the sensation of falling without cultivation power still turned Li Er’s face deathly pale.

“We’re done! We’re so done!”

Li Er shouted furiously, his face red and his neck bulging with anger. He wished he could charge over and smash Jie Shui’s boat to bits, but he could only wait quietly for his boat to slowly repair itself.

Jie Shui, however, fanned the flames by blowing Li Er a kiss, disgusting him so much that Li Er shuddered and screamed about wanting to chop Jie Shui into pieces.

At the same time, Jiang Ke’er had successfully reached the second supply point.

Having witnessed the power of the supplies, the area around the station was now packed airtight—layers upon layers of boats surrounding it.

The situation was extremely awkward. Boats on the inside couldn’t get out, and boats on the outside couldn’t get in.

Jiang Ke’er raised her saws and curled the corner of her mouth upward.