"Roar!"
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
On a crowded platform, over a hundred people yelled and cheered. Around them stood dozens of cars, most of them top-tier supercars.
The spotlight was squarely on two cars about to race.
One was a blazing red Ferrari 488, the most expensive car on the lot, worth over four million yuan. Beside it stood a Ford Mustang, the cheapest—a mere five hundred thousand yuan. The stark contrast between the two was impossible to miss.
This was a duel between Derwin Cole, the newly crowned young master of the city, and Alexander Hunt, once one of the top four elites of Beijing, now a fallen star.
Alexander leaned against the door of his Mustang, silent. His clothes were unkempt, his hair long and unruly, with his bangs covering his eyes. The lower part of his face, sharp and chiseled, faintly carried a trace of his past charm. Yet, the aura around him was anything but charismatic—he now reeked of defeat and decay.
On the other side, Derwin stood among the crowd, basking in the admiration like a king with his court. His expression alone spoke volumes, as if declaring the whole world was at his feet.
"Come on, let's go catch a glimpse of the once-mighty Alexander Hunt." Derwin Cole stood at the front, a faint smirk tugging at his lips as he swaggered across the platform.
"Alexander Hunt?"
Derwin's voice was dripping with mockery as he stopped in front of Alexander. Not getting any reaction, he tilted his head and sneered, "What’s the matter? Dozed off? Look at you—used to be untouchable, didn't you? And now you're just... this." He gestured at Alexander with exaggerated disdain. "Come on, at least drop the cold act before the race starts. Who are you fooling, huh?"
His cronies immediately chimed in, laughing loud and eager to please.
"Look at him! He’s just a pauper now!"
"Pauper? Nah, I bet even beggars eat better than him—probably living off pig slop, if anything!"
Beside a Ford Mustang, a portly man with glasses stood quietly. By his side was a little girl, no older than three or four.
The girl was heartbreakingly adorable, like she had stepped out of a fairy tale. Dressed in a white dress, her delicate face was a picture of purity and innocence, though her hair was slightly tousled. But her large, clear eyes glistened with unshed tears, her lip quivering as she listened to the jeering aimed at Alexander. The cruel words cut deep into her tiny heart, and it looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment. If it were any other time, the little girl’s adorable presence might have drawn countless glances. But now, this was Derwin Cole’s moment to shine.
A barrage of mocking jeers finally elicited a reaction from Alexander Hunt.
The moment Alexander opened his eyes, there was a flicker of confusion. But as his gaze focused on the scene before him, it hardened, radiating a disdainful aura that seemed to look down upon the entire world.
“Worthless ants dare to bark before me?” His voice cut through the air, dripping with contempt.
The crowd froze for a beat, then erupted in laughter, laced with mockery.
"Alexander, did you lose your mind?"
"Seems like someone’s gone insane!"
Jeers echoed anew. Yet, as Alexander’s eyes truly took in his surroundings, he was momentarily dumbfounded.
“Isn’t this the day in 2009 on Langxing Mountain? The race with Derwin Cole?”
“What am I doing here? Wasn’t I... Wasn’t I facing the Heavens’ Tribulation?”
“Could it be... I’ve come back?”
“The Nine Heavens Divine Thunder... it sent me back?”
A fleeting glimmer of shock crossed Alexander’s eyes.Alexander Hunt remembered clearly. Five years ago, the Hunt family was one of the eight great families in Shangjing. His father was the head of the family, and back then, Alexander feared nothing. But during a flight, halfway through the journey, tragedy struck—an air crash took the lives of his parents and sister. His second uncle, Byron Hunt, took over as the family head but failed to stop the Hunt family's decline.
Devastated, Alexander believed his family's death wasn’t an accident. He started investigating Byron discreetly, suspecting him due to his long-standing animosity with Alexander's father. But Byron discovered his intentions. Combined with the many enemies Alexander had made, he was eventually exiled from the family.
Five years passed. Despite the hardships, Alexander refused to leave, determined to uncover the truth. It was a miserable existence, yet he pressed on—right until the fateful incident on Langxing Mountain.
He could still recall it vividly. Racing on Langxing Mountain, he suffered a massive accident, leaving him grievously injured and armless. Broken and hopeless, he endured five years before finally leaping off a cliff to end it all—only to stumble into the cultivation world by chance.
That was where it all began. Encountering the path of cultivation, Alexander awakened a remarkable innate skill: the Treasure Nose. With it, he could sense the presence of treasures within a certain range. Relying solely on this ability, he spent five centuries amassing an unimaginable trove of rare treasures, pushing his cultivation realm to its limits and reaching the Tribulation Stage. His name carried weight across countless realms, a legend poised to ascend to immortality.
But when his moment of ascension came, his unstable foundation crumbled, and a single blow shattered him.
"Why couldn't it have been five years earlier?" he muttered, his expression tinged with melancholia.Regret about failing his parents weighed heavily on Alexander Hunt's heart. In his younger days, blinded by arrogance, he'd caused his father endless trouble and hurled words that had only hurt his mother. Yet no amount of remorse could undo any of it.
For all his rebelliousness back then, deep down, his love for his parents was no less than anyone else's. Even through five centuries of cultivation, one phrase would echo through his mind now and then:
"When the tree wants stillness, the wind won't cease; when the son wants to care, the parents are already gone."
"Alexander Hunt!"
A chilling voice cut through his thoughts. He looked up to see Derwin Cole glaring at him with piercing eyes.
"Five years ago, you threw me out of Shangjing! And look—five years later, here I stand as the 'King of L.A. Racing,' while you, Alexander Hunt, are living worse than a dog! Remember this: tonight, I’ll make sure you crawl out of Shangjing!"
"Oh? That impressive?" Alexander’s voice carried a faint curiosity as he tossed back, "Then I don’t think I want to race anymore."
Derwin froze. The muscles in his face twitched, like he’d just swung hard but hit nothing but air.
"Alexander Hunt!" Derwin snarled, holding up a set of car keys with a smug smirk. "Let me sweeten the pot. Beat me, and this Ferrari is yours."
"Well, since you put it that way..." Alexander’s lips curled into an easy grin. "I guess I should oblige."
A low, disdainful chuckle escaped Derwin. "Hah." Derwin Cole sneered, raising a hand and barking to his crew, "Set up the screens!"
At his command, his men swiftly erected multiple large screens. At the same time, drones took to the skies over the Langxing Mountain, their cameras broadcasting live footage of the entire racetrack on the screens. The whole course was now visible to the crowd.
"Let’s get started!" Derwin nodded at the chubby guy near the rear of the Ford Mustang, then settled himself into his Ferrari.
But as Alexander Hunt moved towards the Mustang, a small, timid voice called out from behind him:
“Daddy, come on! Beat the bad guys!”
He froze for a second, turning to see a little princess standing next to the chubby man’s feet.
“Cute kid, but she’s calling me daddy? That’s a new one.” Alexander shook his head with a faint laugh.
“You’ve got this, Alex!” The chubby guy pumped his fist, his expression all encouragement.
“Let’s hope your car is lucky enough for me,” Alexander said flatly, shooting him a brief look before smoothly sliding into the Mustang.
A tall woman in a bikini strode to the front of the two cars, raising two small flags high in the air."Get ready!"
The engines of the two cars roared like angry beasts.
Inside the Ferrari, Derwin Cole wore a smug grin.
Behind him, the fat man had a knowing smile on his face, while the little girl at his feet gazed with tear-filled eyes, fear and worry written all over her delicate face. She looked pitiful enough to break anyone's heart.
In the Mustang, Alexander Hunt's lips curled into a cold smirk.
"Trying to set me up, huh?"
"Too bad for you, I'm no longer the man I used to be."
"Even without any cultivation now, you think ants like you can push me around?"
