339: Chapter 339 Speed ​​Race Turns into Item Race?

During the pre-match preparation for the 4x100m Medley Relay at the 8th Huangquan Games, the atmosphere grew eerie to the extreme.

Chen You stood on the starting block of Lane 1, looking down at the Weak Water bubbling with black foam, his brow furrowed.

"The order for the medley is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle." Chen You pointed at the pool and turned to look at his three 'Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix' teammates.

"Who's going first?"

Ao Guang, wearing Spongebob Squarepants boxers, shivered and hugged his thermos even tighter.

"Young man, let me state first that I have gout. If the water temperature isn't at least 38.5 degrees, my joints will ache the moment I go in."

"I'll take the backstroke; with my belly facing up, I can at least minimize contact with this yin-chilled mist."

Chen You nodded expressionlessly. "Fine. First leg, backstroke, Old Dragon King."

"Quack!" Big Yellow Duck flapped its wings and puffed out its round chest.

"You're the second leg, breaststroke," Chen You sighed. "Anyway, you're usually just paddling in the water, so the movements are similar."

Zhang Shun, whose body was covered in knotted muscles and purplish skin, let out a loud shout and struck a bodybuilder's crab pose.

"Brother! My name as the White Streak in the Waves isn't just for show! This butterfly stroke, I've got it covered! I'll definitely let those bastards know how powerful I am!"

"Very good, quite energetic." Chen You patted Zhang Shun's damp shoulder and finally pointed to himself.

"Then I'll take the fourth leg and finish with the freestyle."

This was the most reasonable arrangement—probably.

Although Chen You's cultivation had reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining, this 'Huangquan' was clearly no ordinary swimming pool.

Even with physical fitness far exceeding that of an ordinary person, it would likely be difficult to burst forth with any inconceivable speed in this pool.

By putting himself last, if the others could pull ahead with a huge lead, he could reach the finish line even if he had to do the doggy paddle.

If there was no hope, he would just flip the table and go all out before the match ended!

"Athletes, please take your positions!"

The skeleton Referee Aguda held a megaphone and shouted from the side of the pool.

Following his shout, a sudden gust of yin wind blew through the originally empty indoor swimming hall.

The pale LED ceiling lights began to flicker wildly, and on the water's surface of the other three lanes, hair-raising phantoms emerged one after another.

In Lane 2, the water churned violently as four Water Monkeys, covered in green fur with bulging eyes, crawled up.

Thick webbing grew between their fingers, and their nails were as sharp as knives. They were let out ear-piercing screeches at Chen You's side, with scraps of unknown creatures still hanging from the corners of their mouths.

In Lane 3, a tattered coffin rose from the bottom of the water.

The coffin lid flew open, and four headless floating corpses, bloated to the point of Gigantism, stood up in a shaky line.

A large mouth split open at their chest area, spitting out black mud and sand.

In Lane 4, there were four Yakshas wearing tattered armor, even holding rusty steel forks, their gills opening and closing violently on both sides of their necks.

The temperature of the entire swimming hall instantly dropped to the freezing point.

"These are our opponents?" Chen You looked at those bizarre-looking things. "Is this a sports meet or a Parade of a Hundred Ghosts?"

"Huangquan Sports Center prides itself on being 'original ecology'." Referee Aguda pushed up his aviator sunglasses.

"Lane 2 is the 'Centuries-Old Sunken Corpse Track Team', Lane 3 is the 'Wangchuan River Bottom Holdouts', and Lane 4 is the 'Rakshasa Sea Market Outsourced Team'."

"Sir, although your team looks... unique, you can't lose in terms of momentum!"

"Unique?" Chen You's eye twitched slightly.

He turned to look at Ao Guang, who was screwing the cap onto his thermos; Big Yellow Duck, who was preening its feathers; and Zhang Shun, who was performing the eighth set of radio calisthenics.

Forget it, let's just go with this.

"Ready—"

Aguda raised an exaggeratedly shaped bone starting gun.

The first-leg athletes stepped forward one after another.

The Water Monkey in Lane 2 was on all fours, looking like a giant toad.

The headless floating corpse in Lane 3 stood straight by the water's edge.

The Yaksha in Lane 4 raised its steel fork.

In Lane 1, Ao Guang slowly walked to the edge of the platform, took off his flip-flops, and tentatively touched the water's surface with his toe.

"Hiss—" Ao Guang took a sharp breath. "It's so cold, my kneecaps are already protesting."

"Bang!"

The starting gun fired, and a cloud of green phosphorus fire erupted from the muzzle.

The match officially began!

"Splash! Splash! Splash!"

The athletes in Lanes 2, 3, and 4 dove into the water like arrows from a bow, splashing up large amounts of black water.

The Water Monkey's speed was extremely fast; after entering the water, it was practically like a green torpedo, instantly surging forward over a dozen meters.

Looking at Lane 1 again.

Ao Guang unhurriedly turned around, facing away from the pool, pinched his nose with both hands, and fell straight into the water in an extremely ungraceful 'pencil dive' posture.

"Splash."

The splash was small, but the insult was immense.

"Swim, dammit!" Chen You shouted anxiously from the shore.

Ao Guang surfaced with his belly up, hands behind his head, and his two legs kicking the water lazily.

Although his posture looked like he was on vacation in Hawaii, his speed was actually incredibly fast.

He was, after all, a mythological-grade water-element heroic spirit; even if he was 'retired', he was still an absolute overlord in the water.

The water current automatically formed a small propulsion vortex beneath him, pushing him forward rapidly.

"Oh, don't rush me, young man, I have gout."

While doing the backstroke, Ao Guang could even pull a handful of Goji Berries from the pocket of his boxers and chew on them.

In the blink of an eye, Ao Guang caught up with the leading Water Monkey.

Just when Chen You thought this round was in the bag, a sudden change occurred.

The Water Monkey in Lane 2 suddenly rolled in the water, opened its mouth full of fangs, and violently spat out a large, pale net, which covered Ao Guang as he was leisurely swimming.

The headless floating corpse in Lane 3 was even more ruthless, directly pulling out three black spheres from the large mouth in its chest and throwing them with force.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three muffled bangs echoed as three pillars of water erupted on the surface, and the shockwaves from the water mines made the entire pool tremble.

The Yaksha in Lane 4, meanwhile, was frantically waving its rusty steel fork underwater, attempting to attack Ao Guang's belly.

"What the hell!" Chen You's eyes widened, and he turned to glare at Aguda.

"Referee! They're cheating! Throwing nets, setting off water mines, and they even brought cold weapons! Aren't you going to do something!"

Aguda picked his nose, looking innocent. "Sir, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the Huangquan Games?"

"We never do fair competition here; that's something for the living world."

"Here, as long as you can swim to the finish line alive, any means are acceptable."

Chen You was stunned.

After all that, this was an item match?

As he watched the scene of gunfire and flying projectiles on the water, images of a certain game he used to play surfaced in his mind.

"Bang!"

Although Ao Guang had absolute water control abilities, he was hit dead-on by a sudden water mine.

His thinning 'Mediterranean' hair was blown straight up, and the Goji Berries in his mouth were sent flying far away.

"Young people have no martial ethics! Even bombing an old comrade!"

Ao Guang clutched his chest and spun frantically on the water's surface, his speed instantly dropping.

The Water Monkey took the opportunity to overtake him, with the Yaksha following closely behind.

"Don't panic, Brother! I'll help you!" On the shore, Zhang Shun's eyes were nearly bursting with rage, and he let out a roar, about to jump into the water.

"Come back here! It's not the baton exchange yet!" Chen You grabbed Zhang Shun's tight swimming trunks.

He also had a look of displeasure on his face.

Since they wanted to play like this, then he would stop holding back too!