Chapter 359: The Legendary Ditch Drifting!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Drift, drift, drifting,
"Drift, drift, drifting…"
Music played from the car speakers and echoed through the mountains.
All the people in the crowd were staring with their eyes wide open and their faces glazed over with shock...
He's still in the mood to play music?
"This divine chariot… has a lot of functions!" someone chuckled awkwardly.
"It can actually play music! That's incredible!"
"But this piece of music sounds weird to me. I can't clearly hear the lyrics but I can feel the emotions!"
Many of the contestants were smiling bitterly as they wiped beads of perspiration from their foreheads.
This was the first time that they had encountered such an incident, especially when this event was the Imperial Tombs Contest where everyone was focusing their soul strength on controlling their divine chariots.
And this fellow, Xu Que, still had the energy to enjoy listening to music. They did not know whether to laugh or cry. Some were jealous of him, others wanted to be him and others hated him as well!
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a divine chariot lost control and flew off the track from a curve ahead. It slid off the track and went tumbling down the mountain!
The entire audience immediately stared at the fallen divine chariot!
Boom!
With a loud crash, the divine chariot that flown off the tracks now fell to the foot of the mountain. It was now deformed from the crash.
It was fortunate that the cultivator inside had been well-prepared and had executed a protective spell to protect himself. He had not suffered much damage, but he had nevertheless failed this round of the contest!
"This person was too careless!"
"Exactly, he was nearing the curve but he did not decrease his speed to something that he could control. He overestimated himself!"
"This curve is much more difficult that the earlier one. There is no way that he could ever pass through it with that speed. That's asking for trouble!"
"Look at Qi Yun Fei and Gao Qiao Jie, they are very careful. They decreased their speed by a lot and still barely passed through that third curve!"
"D*mn, that Xu Que is still increasing his speed!"
"Heavens, is he going to try and continue using that technique to maneuver through all the curves?"
"That would be impossible to achieve. With that speed, even if he did use that technique from earlier, he will certainly lose control and end up like that earlier contestant."
"This guy is going to be in trouble!"
Everyone was exclaiming as they focused their attention on Xu Que's AE86.
Due to the earlier instance of the divine chariot going off track and crashing, the other contestants were now being extra vigilant and paying more attention to controlling their speed.
Xu Que was the only one who was still accelerating. He swayed to the music and had a hand out of the car window as if he was enjoying the speed.
Everyone looked at him as if he was a lunatic. They disapproved of his actions in their hearts.
Driving with such speed… an accident could happen very soon!
The Second Prince and Zhang Lin wore eager expressions as they stared at Xu Que in anticipation. They seemed like they were waiting for him to go off track, fly off the mountain tracks and crash with all four wheels facing the sky!
On the other hand, the Third Prince, Seventh Princess and the rest of their group couldn't help but feel very tense.
In no time, Xu Que's car began to near the curve.
He had overtaken numerous divine chariots already and now, he was in the sixth position. He had been very fast at catching up!
In front of him, there were only five more divine chariots. All of them were now driving through the five consecutive curves very carefully and very slowly.
Swoosh!
At that moment, Xu Que suddenly turned the steering wheel inwards. In a flash, the vehicle came very close to the mountain!
The crowd was shocked beyond words.
That position… although he was on the inner side of the track, his speed would still cause him to get thrown off the tracks!
Bang!
Immediately, Xu Que's car tires started to make muffled sounds.
It was not the sound of a burst tire… instead, two of the car tires had actually gone onto the grass beside the mountain!
The grass patch was lower than the racing track by a few centimeters, forming a natural ditch.
When the row of tires sank into the 'natural ditch', everyone looked on with worry.
"Oh no, something happened!"
"He must have thought of closing in, and got closer to the mountain to use his earlier technique to run through the curve and avoid being thrown off course. But this is too close!"
"Now his divine chariot is like half trapped… half of his chariot is outside the track as well. Well, he can't use that method to cross the curve!"
The crowd exclaimed.
Zhang started to cackle loudly as if he had foreseen Xu Que's 'misfortune'. "Haha, this method is too stupid…"
However, in the next moment, everyone fell silent!
Screech!
Harsh, piercing sounds of the brakes cutting through the air echoed through the entire area. It was jarring to the ears!
Xu Que's car had actually drifted through the curve steadily, with his rear wheels sliding in a perfect arc on the ground; in that instant, the car moved like a windscreen wiper that had been switched on for a flash of a second. His car was steady and fast and moved through the curve smoothly like a bolt of lightning!
Gasp!
Everyone gasped, then fell silent. Only the sounds of their breathing could be heard!
They were astonished, for that scene really seemed unbelievable to them!
"How… how is this possible?"
"How did he pass through the curve so smoothly, and at such a speed?"
"It was even smoother than when he was crossing the earlier curve. Why is this so?"
"Precisely, part of his divine chariot was already off track on the grass patch. How did he drift past it so steadily?"
"That's not all. Did you see the glass of water in his divine chariot? Not even a drop of it spilled!"
"D*mn, this is going against the heavens!"
Many of them were appalled. They could not believe what they had just witnessed.
Xu Que's car was still progressing very well on the road. He wore a light smile as his head rang with system notifications about his Acting Tough Points rewards!
"Heheh, this is the legendary style of ditch drifting! It's not something that you noobs can understand! This Act Tough King has grown up watching Initial D. I'm not Mount Akina Speed Star for nothing, alright?"
Xu Que smiled proudly and continued to step on the accelerator, heading towards the second bend in the five consecutive curves!
Bang!
When nearing the curve, once again, he went off track by resting the front tires onto the grass patch just beside the mountain. This was immediately followed by swiftly turning the steering wheel as well as stepping on the brake and the accelerator to and fro, interchangeably. He was using ditch drifting again!
Screech!
The sharp, shrill sound of the tires were heard again as the car conquered another curve successfully. Xu Que overtook another two divine chariots, making him the fourth divine chariot from the finishing line!
By this time, besides feeling shocked, the crowd started to realise something!
"No, he did it on purpose!" exclaimed someone.
"This guy deliberately went off track with the front of his divine chariot so as to take advantage of the natural ditch to control the chariot!"
"This is totally awesome! There's actually such a method for crossing a curve. How did he do that?"
"With his speed, he's going to take first place!"
...
The crowd started to discuss amongst themselves.
The three contestants who were currently leading the race were perturbed.
They had just passed through the fourth curve, but at a rather slow speed!
On the other hand, Xu Que could maneuver through two curves with ease in just the blink of an eye and was now drifting through the third bend. In no time, he would surely catch up to them!
"Speed up, use the method that he used earlier to pass through the curve!" The Eighth Prince sent the order to Qi Yun Fei with his mind using Soul Strength, from the top of the mountain.
The Eldest Prince also communicated using soul strength with the Number One Genius from Spirit Treasures, Gao Qiao Jie as well!
Currently the divine chariot in front of Xu Que happened to be the other elite cultivator in the Second Prince's team. He had actually outdone himself at this race by coming in third place for now. If Zhang Lin had not been ousted from the race, he might have been fourth instead!
"You saw how he maneuvered through the curve right?" the Second Prince instructed his team member via Soul Strength. "Hurry up and accelerate and use his method to cross the curve. You must not let him overtake you!" The prince did not want to lose the third position!
The princes had forgotten that the reason Xu Que could drift was because of the cooperation of the steering wheel as well as the brakes and the accelerator. Most importantly of all, his tired were made of rubber and were full of elasticity!
The divine chariots of all these contestants had wheels made of metal. If they were to attempt to drift, it would be tantamount to suicide!
Regrettably, the contestant in the current third position was flabbergasted and dreading the idea of Xu Que overtaking him. With the Second Prince's instructions in his head, he decided to take a risk!
Boom!
With a muffled sound, the contestant sped up with a burst of Soul Strength!
He tried to control his divine chariot by resting the front part of the chariot on the grass!
However, in the next moment, the impact and friction of the metallic wheels instantly destroyed the grass as well as the ditch.
Bang!
Pieces of gravel started to splatter around. The contestant started to lose control. The chariot suddenly bounced through the air. It had been flung off the track.
The audience was horrified and their faces were aghast with shock.
The Second Prince also stood up in fright. He stared in disbelief with his eyes wide, shocked at what was happening!
Why?
Why did this happen?
Why is it that the scoundrel can achieve it?
But this contestant has been thrown off the mountain track?
Why?
Swoosh!
At this time, Xu Que's car arrived at the curve. Although part of the track was destroyed, that did not stop the Old Driver from performing his stunt!
Xu Que used his Soul Strength to mend the destroyed parts of the ditch and also to support the car in order to drift through the curve smoothly!
At the same time, he popped his head out of the car window as he drifted and looked at the divine chariot that had been sent flying off the track. "Hey brother," he shouted, "are you going to heaven? Please send my regards to the sun!"