Chapter 1233: Respect

"Haha, our leader is truly a brilliant strategist. I knew we would achieve victory with him personally orchestrating the plan."

The entire team was exceptionally excited, but Xu Yang saw it differently. He believed the credit wasn't his, but rather belonged to every member of the Eight Gates team, each possessing unique and irreplaceable strengths.

"Although the Little Scout isn't strong in combat, his observational and reconnaissance skills, along with his unique, almost immortal physical attributes, are all invaluable assets that can be utilized at crucial moments.

The credit belongs to everyone; it's all thanks to our collective effort. In this world, no matter how powerful an individual is, they can never be strong enough to achieve everything on their own.

Destruction is easy, but creating new life after destruction is incredibly difficult. Yet, with a truly perfect team, even creation from ruin becomes achievable.

Today, I want you to understand the power a united team can unleash."

Xu Yang's voice silently echoed in the minds of his teammates, prompting deep reflection from each of them.

Of course, facing the 500-meter sprint challenge, the Little Scout undeniably stunned everyone, but the most astonished was the strongest runner who competed against him.

The scout, having used nearly all his strength to reach the finish line, stood there for several seconds. The profound sense of powerlessness almost shattered the strongest runner's understanding of his own capabilities.

"My God, how is this possible? When did you... when did you reach the finish line?" In fact, as a participant in the race, he hadn't noticed anything that had just occurred with the Little Scout.

It wasn't until he himself reached the 500-meter finish line and saw the Little Scout smiling at his own breathless state that the warrior utterly collapsed.

"Minister Jiang, this kid must have cheated! There's absolutely no way he could be faster than me. How did he do it?"

However, the Centurion merely shook his head helplessly. "In fact, he didn't defeat you with speed; it's simply that his physical constitution is quite unique.

He won this competition in an inconceivable way, and he didn't even use his cultivation base. He committed no foul, so the result of this match stands."

The strongest runner shook his head repeatedly in frustration, returning crestfallen to his own camp. Meanwhile, the third and most highly anticipated round, which would determine the ultimate winner of the wager, finally commenced. This round was undeniably crucial for the City Guard; they had to ensure a flawless performance.

The third round's event, archery, tested not only a warrior's arm strength but also their perception, stability, and overall combined abilities.

Consequently, in any army, individuals with exceptional archery skills are always considered the most valuable resource.

Without a doubt, the warriors already had a unanimous answer regarding the safest choice to send forward: none other than the Centurion Leader himself.

And indeed, he accepted the challenge without hesitation, stepping forward with a smile to the front of his team and calmly gazing at Xu Yang.

"Indeed, I will personally compete in this third match. I wonder who from your team will accept the challenge?"

Meeting the Centurion's confident gaze, Xu Yang gave him a decisive reply.

"Since you're personally competing, then I shall face you."

With a wave of the Centurion's hand, several deputy warriors from the City Guard team moved to set up two archery targets 200 meters away. Simultaneously, Xu Yang and the Centurion were each provided with a set of bow and arrows.

On the surface, the bows and arrows provided to both sides appeared to be relatively fair.

After all, while Xu Yang's team members were all powerful, each had their own specialized weapons. It wouldn't have been easy to provide them with archery equipment of comparable specifications and materials to the City Guard's. However, this particular arrangement meant that true fairness was absent.

As soon as Xu Yang took hold of the bow and arrows, he realized his set was of the poorest quality.

The maximum shooting force achievable with such a bow was quite limited. In stark contrast, while the Centurion's bow appeared identical on the surface, the maximum tension it could withstand was vastly superior.

Xu Yang chose not to expose this issue. Instead, he secretly planned to compensate for the inferior bow with his own skill, thereby also preserving the Centurion's dignity to some extent. Making a scene might cause the Centurion to reject the wager outright, which would be counterproductive.

Xu Yang was never one to jeopardize the larger objective for personal grievances. Everything was under his control as the final round smoothly unfolded. In truth, there was no longer any real need for a competition, as the outcome was predetermined the moment Xu Yang decided to personally intervene.

Initially, everything adhered to the internal competition rules of the City Guard. Both sides increased the target distance from 50 meters to 100 meters, a gesture of respect for the two formidable opponents, the Centurion and Xu Yang.

The Centurion drew his bow and nocked an arrow without the slightest hesitation. With a swift movement of his hand, the arrow flew from his right hand, piercing the absolute center of the bullseye with perfect accuracy.

As the Centurion's arrow found its mark, a thundering roar of cheers erupted from the entire City Guard formation. Unbeknownst to them, this was also their deliberate attempt to use their home advantage to exert a form of spiritual and psychological pressure on Xu Yang.

Little did they know, to the members of the Eight Gates team behind Xu Yang, such an action was nothing short of a joke. "Heh, these guys are truly naive if they think such tricks can disturb our leader.

Ridiculous! Forget archery; even if they moved the target fifty, a hundred, or a thousand meters further, it wouldn't pose any challenge for our leader."

However, Bloodblade, standing nearby, shook his head with a serious expression. "That's not necessarily true. Haven't you noticed? There's a significant problem with the bow in our leader's hand, if my assessment is correct.

If he draws the bow with the same tension as the Centurion did, this bow will shatter instantly. At that point, they could exploit that loophole in the rules to declare our leader the loser of this match."

As expected, everyone was stunned the moment Bloodblade's words were uttered. Indeed, as they focused their attention on the bow's surface, they discovered it was actually hollow.