"Impressive!" Jasper Xiao couldn't help but clap softly, his face full of admiration. "Such a heavy object, moving at such speed, and yet you can actually use a special power to change its motion state? I couldn't do that no matter how hard I tried!"
In his eyes, a car weighing nearly two tons, moving at over 350 kilometers per hour—such impact would turn not just a person, but even a steel plate into dumpling skin. The sharp turn wasn’t a direct collision, but the force was still massive; otherwise, that mysterious black battle car wouldn’t have needed to slow down for the curve. Being able to use a special power to pull off something like this, Jasper Xiao thought, was just plain badass.
But in reality, what Jasper Xiao thought was so badass about Jack Young—he only did it because of a random idea that popped into his head.
A person and a car together, nearly two tons of weight—such huge physical force, just relying on forty-plus years of internal energy (half-step Transcendent is a realm, not actual power), you’d be dead tired before you could force a turn. But change your way of thinking, and everything’s different. All Jack Young did was channel his internal energy into the four tires, maxing out the friction between the tires and the road. The centrifugal force was still handled by the car’s body and bearings, and just like that, things got way easier.
—Of course, "easier" here is all relative. It just went from "impossible!" to "absolutely exhausting!"
Inside the Bugatti, Jack Young let out a shallow breath. As he exhaled, a cloud of white fog formed on the windshield. A car is still a car, not some magical weapon forged with soldier-casting arts—it’s terrible at conducting internal energy. If his internal power hadn’t reached half-step Transcendent—pure, responsive to his will—he wouldn’t have pulled this off.
He was exhausted—just making a turn meant he had to reset his breathing and focus all his mental energy to recover.
But deep down, he was thrilled—there was even a hint of joy!
It was the joy of overcoming his inner demons and discovering true insight.
What are inner demons? It’s not about killing or hatred—what people really need to let go of isn’t the butcher’s knife.
What is true insight? It’s not about forgiveness or endurance—if you repay resentment with virtue, then how do you repay virtue?
If you follow your inner demons, maybe you’ll feel wild and free for a while, but deep down there’s always hidden guilt. After a moment of thrill, you spend endless days and nights lying to yourself. One day of indulgence, and you’ll be in church confessing for weeks. Lie after lie, donation after donation—the only point is to numb yourself, to forget that you once betrayed your own conscience.
But if you follow true insight, maybe your whole life will be tough and full of hardship, but wherever you go, you’ll always have a clear conscience. Even if life is full of ups and downs, even if every day’s persistence leads to new obstacles, when you reach the end, you can say with certainty—no regrets in this life.
Every choice comes with at least two paths. One thought makes you a demon, one thought makes you a saint—that’s all it is.
The Bugatti’s engine roared as it sped ahead. With the help of internal energy, the supercar performed unbelievably on the winding track, leaving the Knight Phantom far behind. Watching the Knight Phantom desperately chase in the rearview mirror, Jack Young could practically picture the driver’s furious face—but at that moment, he suddenly laughed.
His smile was sunny, a little wicked and proud—just like his usual grin. Suddenly, he understood how to beat his inner demons: as long as you never betray your heart, you’re good.
So, Jack Young did his best to clear his mind, treating this race like a martial arts showdown in the ring. “Come on, I know you’ve got more tricks up your sleeve—show me what you’ve got!”
“No way, this is impossible!” As Jack Young started to get in the zone, Zhu Ming couldn’t help but shout inside his car. “Damn it, how did that car’s performance suddenly spike? Nano-core, run the calculations!”
[Running simulation with current data—insufficient information, performing fuzzy estimate—result: Opponent will reach the finish line first, with a lead ranging from thirty to four hundred meters.]
“Four hundred meters?! How could it possibly be four hundred meters!”
[If the opponent maintains high speed through every turn, even four hundred meters is a conservative estimate.]
"Son of a—!" Zhu Ming felt like his brain was about to explode. His Nano Bio-suit even triggered a heart rate alarm and smartly released guided pulses to help lower his heart rate. Zhu Ming gasped for breath, then shook his head hard: "No, no need to panic, there’s still plenty of time. If he’s driving this recklessly, it’ll be less suspicious if something goes wrong. I just need to wait for my chance, then make my move. Nano Core, activate weapon systems!"
[Weapon systems loaded. Please select.]
Countless bits of info flashed before his eyes. Staring at all those wild and varied weapons, Zhu Ming finally showed that weird smile again. If anyone could’ve seen his pupils, they would’ve noticed a murky black aura flash through his eyes.
Meanwhile, halfway through the second lap of the flying car race, while the crowd in the stands was going wild, outside the stadium, on the rooftop of a nearby high-rise, a young man was sitting on the edge with his legs dangling. And he was sitting so close to the edge, only half his butt was actually on the ledge. One slip or a twitch, and he’d go tumbling down, ending up as roadkill on the busy street below.
Normally, if there was someone on a rooftop looking like they might jump, it’d draw a crowd—or at least someone would call the cops. But weirdly enough, nobody seemed to notice him.
The guy’s face was bizarre—his left side looked especially wooden, but the right was wild and manic. Split right down the middle, both sides looked the same, but somehow it was like two totally different people had been photoshopped together.
And he was talking to himself—well, more like he’d turn his head to one side, say something with that half of his face, then turn back and answer with the other half. Back and forth, like two different people having a conversation.
(This chapter isn’t over yet ^.^, click next page to keep reading!)
The wooden half of his face looked down and said, "My ability really is useless. All I can do is make people ignore me."
The manic half of his face turned forward, waving his hand. "No, no, no, it’s not your fault—it’s just that this world is too dull, too boring. Such a stable, peaceful world... I just want to tear it apart with my own hands!"
The wooden half looked back at the stadium. "Hey, isn’t that the guy who set off fireworks the other day?"
The manic half glanced at the stadium too. "You can see that far? Come on, tell me what he looks like—I’m really interested in him!"
The wooden half replied, "I’m super nearsighted too, so obviously I can’t see his face. But I don’t need to recognize faces—a mind field that unique, there’s no way to mistake it."
The manic half licked his lips and grinned hoarsely, "Yeah, you’re right, he’s dazzling! Like a crystal, so pure and flawless it’s unreal—but best of all, he’s still got cracks and weak spots! A guy like that is tailor-made for me. Just a little push, and I’ll get the thrill I want!" As he spoke, he raised his hands—clearly empty—but made the gesture of pulling back a slingshot, just like when he was a kid.
Just then, the stairwell door creaked open and a guy walked onto the rooftop. He spotted the young man on the edge, froze, rubbed his eyes, looked again—and only then seemed to realize someone was there. He shouted in panic, "Hey, what are you doing! Get down from there, it’s dangerous!"
"He actually noticed me. This guy’s a real good person." The wooden half looked like a talking corpse.
"Since you like him, give him the best reward—the world’s one and only psychic assault!" The manic half didn’t bother to aim, just casually mimicked pulling a slingshot. When he’d stretched his fingers about fifteen centimeters, he let go, making a "pop!" sound with his mouth.
Even though there was nothing there, the guy suddenly froze. He stopped looking at the young man and instead wandered over to the edge, staring down at the street below. He lifted his left foot into the air, leaned forward, spread his arms, and gently leapt...
"I’m just a useless coward!!" A gut-wrenching scream echoed from above—before anyone on the street could even look up, there was a sickening splatter of red all around.
While terrified screams erupted on the street below, the wooden half just stared down sadly. "Now, I wonder how many people can actually see me. Will the cops come arrest me? They’ve missed me at the crime scene three times already, and it’s really starting to bug me."
"Isn’t that great! Ever since I read that fragment of the Heart of Impermanence Sutra, I think our powers are awesome! Therapist? Screw that boring job!" The manic half aimed at the stadium again, slowly pulled back his imaginary slingshot. "I think that guy’s got some of Senior Brother’s psychic fragments. Did he kill Senior Brother? If he did—well, I’ll have to thank him properly!"
"Let me ask something." His hand now stretched thirty centimeters, the wooden half turned out. "His psychic power is deep, and he’s actively mending that crack. Your sniping isn’t strong—you might just be making an enemy."
"Hmph, idiot! Even a burning hot rock will shatter with a drop of ice water! Plus, Senior Brother’s psychic fragment is like a buried detonator—how could someone as reckless as me not set it off? What, you don’t like it?" His hand stretched to forty centimeters.
"No way, I’m happy if people notice me." His hand was now stretched to fifty centimeters.
"Alright then, let’s go with this much force—make a little excitement and say hello to the brilliant new world!" The manic half took aim at the stadium, his voice raspy and slow: "Remember—this is Yuri Omega’s Mind Sniping! Pop!"
At that instant, Jack Young’s vision blurred inside the Bugatti. He felt like a rock climber, clawing his way out of the valley of inner demons—his hands gripping solid ground—when suddenly, the spot he was holding exploded and collapsed, sending him sliding helplessly back into the depths.
"What’s going on?!" Before his rational mind could react, he was swept away, helpless, into the depths of his memories.