Chapter 435: Chapter 435: Stubbornly Insisting on One’s Own Way

People from other Federations, upon seeing the young pair of Xiao Zhan and Ye Youlong, didn’t take them lightly but approached with caution, reminding their contestants to be wary of Xiao Zhan and Ye Youlong.

Even asking them to ‘take special care’ of Xiao Zhan and Ye Youlong.

Once everyone had arrived.

A middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes stepped forward.

He spoke loudly to the crowd, saying, “The theme of the first round of the competition is speed. At General’s Platform, ten thousand kilometers away, we have placed nineteen markers.”

“Starting from the base and heading to General’s Platform, retrieving a marker and scoring according to the order of retrieval. The person with the highest total score in the end will be the winner of this competition.”

“Does anyone have any questions about the rules?”

No one spoke.

“Good!”

“Then I declare, the first round of the competition officially begins, move out!”

At the man’s command.

The nineteen contestants from the Federations, one by one, darted out like the wind, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.

But immediately on the central screen of the base, the gallant images of the contestants running appeared.

This was the real-time tracking footage.

Everyone could clearly see what was happening.

However, there were rules for the competition; outsiders must be cut off from the competitors and are not allowed to communicate information to them. Violators’ scores for this round will be canceled.

Of course, that’s only if the violation is discovered.

If you violate the rules and are not caught, then it’s not considered a violation.

Among the contestants, leading the pack was Gu Chen from the Longxia Federation.

His SSS-grade Artifact Spirit, the Cloud Stepping Wind Chasing Boots, when paired with Wind attribute energy, made him a perfect fit for a competition based on speed.

Xiao Zhan and Chu Mo closely followed him.

The Longxia team was leading, taking the position of frontrunners.

Then came the Beautiful Federation, the Northern Bear Federation, the Lizard Federation, and so on…

At the beginning, the distance had not been entirely opened, and everyone was close together, just showing a trending pattern.

A few minutes later, the strength disparity began to show, the formation gradually stretched out, (with) the strong running ahead, and the weak behind.

But the Longxia Federation was still in the lead.

Followed by the Beautiful Federation, Northern Bear Federation…

Gu Chen, facing the wind with no one ahead, couldn’t help but reveal a disdainful smirk at the exhilarating feeling of leading.

He glanced at Xiao Zhan with a cold expression.

Then he turned his head to Chu Mo next to him and said, “Chu Mo, this kind of competition is pointless with three participants; I alone can take them all.”

“I’m going to speed up now, do you want to come along?”

He directly ignored Xiao Zhan.

He didn’t see him as a competitor at all.

Indeed, he hadn’t taken Song Chao’an’s words yesterday to heart at all.

Chu Mo frowned slightly upon hearing this and glanced at Xiao Zhan hesitantly, “Isn’t it a bit early to speed up now? Ten thousand kilometers mean we’ll need nearly half a day to get there and back. Maintaining high speed over a long period will consume a lot of our energy.”

This type of competition was essentially a long-distance marathon.

Different in form, but the core method to win was the same.

Gu Chen had the advantage of the Wind attribute, making him a notch faster, but starting full speed ahead would utter failure in the end.

But Gu Chen had his own ideas, or rather, he wanted to show off in front of Xiao Zhan.

“What’s there to be afraid of, everyone’s consuming energy, not just us. Fast is fast, slow is slow, the story of the tortoise and the hare won’t repeat here.”

“This… I think it might be better to be more prudent,” Chu Mo advised.

He glanced at Xiao Zhan and saw no expression on his face, seemingly unaware of Gu Chen’s exclusion.

But he knew Xiao Zhan could hear.

He was just deliberately showing this indifferent demeanor.

“If you want to be prudent, then be prudent, but I have absolute confidence I can win this competition,” Gu Chen was dissatisfied with Chu Mo’s response.

In his eyes, Chu Mo’s demeanor was clearly biased towards Xiao Zhan.

In just one day’s time, he had abandoned his own good brother.

A sudden dissatisfaction with Chu Mo welled up in his heart.

This dissatisfaction made him even more displeased with Xiao Zhan, so after he spoke, he left no room for discussion.

Amidst the roaring wind, his figure rapidly vanished from Xiao Zhan and Chu Mo’s sight.

Gu Chen’s solitary decision-making left Chu Mo quite distressed.

He looked to Xiao Zhan and asked, “What should we do, should we catch up?”

“No need, if he likes to run let him run.”

“But he’ll definitely be unable to keep up later if he’s going full speed from the start.”

“He said he was confident he could win this competition alone.”

“This…”

Chu Mo suddenly didn’t know what to say.

He felt awkward.

A team of three, two opposing each other, what was he supposed to do?

Especially since his own strength wasn’t strong enough to suppress either of them.

He didn’t know what to do at that moment.

Just then, Xiao Zhan suddenly changed the topic, saying, “Don’t worry about him, he can complete the task alone, and I can complete the task alone as well.”

“What about me?”

Chu Mo suddenly felt a vague sense of injustice.

You both have confidence and can complete the task alone, but what about me?

What am I?

A lubricant?

That doesn’t seem right.

Xiao Zhan merely looked at him, revealing a mysterious and confident smile, then got serious about traveling and stopped talking.

And Gu Chen’s swift departure did not cause a stir among the other Federations; they maintained their pace, advancing in a steady manner.

But at the base, Song Chao’an and others were infuriated the moment they saw this scene.

“How dare Gu Chen, completely disregarding my words, who does he think he is!” Song Chao’an’s gaze was fixed on Gu Chen on the big screen.

His aura seethed with anger!

Gu Chen was a Sixth Grade Spirit Master, with a high status.

But let’s not forget, he’s representing the Longxia Federation and if his personal actions compromise the Federation’s interests, then even as a Sixth Grade Spirit Master, the Federation will settle accounts with him!

Beside him, Qin Wanfeng was similarly burning with rage, but he restrained it from showing.

He knew Gu Chen harbored resentment towards Xiao Zhan, but he thought Gu Chen would hold back for the greater good.

He never expected him to act so stubbornly, completely disregarding the interests of the Longxia Federation.

Such behavior made him furiously resentful.

Simultaneously, as they fumed, others from Federations watching Gu Chen’s actions exhibited condescension.

Their gaze towards the Longxia Federation side was as if watching a joke.