Although Xingyun Liuge did have some complaints about how every entry into this place greeted her with the same scalp-tinglingly terrifying scene, it was not a major problem. With a mere shift of thought, the space filled with despair-black mist and ghostly green flames changed its appearance.
The weather could be anything she wanted—clear skies, flashing thunder, torrential rain, or raging wind. The venue could become any racecourse in the world. Track conditions could also be altered at will.
It was here that Xingyun Liuge had adapted herself to Meydan Racecourse's dirt, which had been crucial to her success.
Beyond that, this place had another defining feature: all kinds of horse girls would appear here, free from injury and illness, forever preserved at the peak of their powers. Xingyun Liuge could witness the glory of their finest moments.
But today was different. The black mist had formed a line of starting gates, twenty in total, and nineteen of them were already occupied by phantom horse girls:
Green Dancer, Mill Reef, Troy, El Gran Senor, Kris, Brigadier Gerard...
At a glance... well, this time it was not a complete list of strangers. After all, now that they were in Britain, neither Xingyun Liuge nor Chihaya Yui had been idle. They had researched things together, so she at least recognized some of the names.
Among the girls before her now, the most famous were undoubtedly Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard. These two were the legendary twin stars of Britain.
The setting, naturally, was Newmarket Racecourse's Rowley Mile.
At first glance, it looked like a long straight where the outcome would be decided by the most straightforward kind of raw ability, with little room for tactics or strategy.
But that was not actually true.
Because the course had pronounced rises and dips, it tested both stamina and explosiveness to a severe degree.
If a horse girl could not properly adapt to the track, then even if her overall raw ability was greater, she still might lose to someone whose course suitability was stronger.
Xingyun Liuge entered the gate with practiced ease and, as usual, picked a thoroughly ordinary champion for the simulation: Lucian, the Purifier.
Her method had always been the same—start with a champion less suited to racing, roughly estimate the opposition's true level, then switch to one who might be more appropriate and run again, repeating the process until she found the best option.
And if she truly wanted to win, she could always pull out Janna. Built-in speed boost, stamina recovery, and, most importantly, immunity to physical rules. She was the very definition of universal utility.
Approx. 1600m Two Thousand Guineas Simulation — Overcast, Heavy Going
Xingyun Liuge started from a wide outside gate, and the moment the race began she was hit by an utterly unreasonable gate skill that somehow passed straight through other horse girls.
Looking up, she found that the culprit was none other than the seemingly quiet and refined Buckpasser.
Did that name fit the personality a little too well?
The real problem was: why was this American horse girl here at all?
A grand free-for-all?
Then again, Green Dancer was not British either, was she?
Well, whatever. If it was a giant mixed brawl, then so be it.
Xingyun Liuge promptly raised her gun and shot Buckpasser once.
Ardent Blaze: Fires forward...
Then, after a burst of garbled text, Xingyun Liuge abruptly realized the words displayed on her retina had changed.
Full Maturation Progress Initiated: 0.01%
Ardent Blaze: Xingyun Liuge uses a relic weapon to mark one to three opponents within twenty lengths. When moving toward their positions, she gains an additional 5% movement speed for (error) seconds.
Error: Please check again after the full maturation process is complete.
But Xingyun Liuge remembered very clearly that before this so-called Full Maturation began, Ardent Blaze had not been guaranteed to hit, and the mark duration had only been six seconds, while the speed boost itself lasted just one second. She had always thought the skill was pretty mediocre, which was why she had never bothered to practice her shooting seriously.
So what was this error supposed to mean?
Come to think of it, would the other champions' skills change too?
Take Janna, for example. Even before Full Maturation, she could already ignore physical rules. Once the process was complete, was she really going to be able to make Liuge fly? After all, Janna was a genuine goddess.
Though, admittedly, Janna of the Arcane era did not have much divine power left...
Still, when one is alive, one has to have dreams.
What if one of them actually came true?
"Still, Britain's turf really is completely different from Japan's. Heavy going feels like running through a swamp."
Watching the British horse girls ahead of her—girls who seemed almost entirely unaffected by the going—Xingyun Liuge drew a deep breath and chased after them.
Here, Brigadier Gerard, hailed in the seventies as the absolute king of short distances, had adopted a front-running strategy, holding a one-length advantage over the second-placed Mill Reef. Xingyun Liuge, running from a stalking position, searched for her chance—
and then got boxed into the pack.
She genuinely could not understand it. These horse girls were all geniuses, and they were not even from the same Tracen, not even from the same country, so why were they all joining forces just to deal with her?
Was the Samsara Dead Zone simulating the kind of race where she would get mobbed and boxed in during the real event?
That was almost comically on the nose.
"So it's only being boxed in, is it? Then watch me break through!"
Xingyun Liuge lowered her center of gravity and clenched her teeth, and it felt as though the entire world suddenly fell silent.
The rhythm of the earth.
The way horseshoes struck the turf.
The motion of the horse girls pumping their arms.
Everything seemed to slow down.
It felt like a long time had passed.
It also felt like only a few blinks.
Then Xingyun Liuge found it—a gap between Buckpasser and Troy.
A golden flash seemed to shoot through her mind.
There. Right there. This instant!
Her right foot slammed down.
Turf flew. Mud splashed.
On the uphill stretch, the small-framed horse girl seized that fleeting chance and burst through the blockade.
Simulation ended.
Mud clung to her horseshoes, her shoes, the hems of her trousers. Whenever her feet struck the ground, the force dispersed far too easily.
That meant she would have to completely rethink how she generated power and adjusted her balance.
Then there was the question of champion choice.
To race both the British and American classics at the same time, she needed to save Janna's power for manipulating the weather.
Which meant that, for now, the most suitable option was still Volibear—unless she managed to roll an even more absurd champion.
There was also equipment to consider. The reason she had been hoarding money all this time was not because she wanted to save up for huge luxury purchases, but because she had not yet found the most suitable choice.
Since races counted as combat, Mobility Boots were useless.
That left the obvious candidates: Boots of Swiftness and Mercury's Treads.
The former gave slow resistance.
The latter provided tenacity, though with less bonus speed.
Considering how many different effects gate skills could have, this really felt like the kind of situation where Mercury's Treads were the better choice. After all, tenacity reduced every kind of negative effect.
Honestly, she was even tempted to rush a Mercurial Scimitar as her first item.
Mercurial Scimitar:
Active: Once per minute, removes all crowd control effects affecting Xingyun Liuge and grants 50% additional movement speed for one second.
Passive: Reduces stamina consumption by 10%.
Xingyun Liuge muttered to herself,
"So which one should I pick?"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 32
Uma Musume: From Beginner 26
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