In the end, amid countless disbelieving gazes, the Black Seal Army tournament came to an end, and the rankings were immediately tallied.
First Unit, Second Unit, and finally, the Third Unit, whose last-place ranking came as no surprise.
However, while the Third Unit finishing last was no surprise in terms of results, the process had been anything but. In the standard matches, the Third Unit had only won one round by a hair's breadth, yet both the First Unit and Second Unit wore grave expressions. Not a single person mocked them.
Everyone understood how fortunate they had been to defeat the Third Unit. If the Third Unit's overall cultivation level had been closer to theirs, they would likely have suffered a crushing defeat.
"Sorry, Commander Xiao Yan." Ling Quan, who had already awakened, sat on the ground and looked up at Xiao Yan with guilt filling his eyes. "We failed to take first place."
Xiao Yan merely smiled faintly.
"Sorry? What do you have to apologize for?"
Xiao Yan crouched down before Ling Quan and spoke leisurely amid the latter's stunned expression.
"Do you think you did justice to yourself in the battles you took part in today?"
"...I did."
Ling Quan fell silent for a while before nodding heavily, without the slightest hesitation. The smile at the corner of Xiao Yan's lips grew wider.
"As long as you can do justice to yourselves, that is enough." Xiao Yan rose to his feet and glanced slightly toward the First Unit and Second Unit. "Ling Quan, you must understand one thing. Talent is an objective reality. There is no need to push yourselves too hard. Letting yourselves off the hook at the right time is also a choice."
"You are the least convincing person to say that."
Gu Qinghan suddenly appeared