The Chinese team's match was being watched by the American team, Greek team, and British team.
All of them were insiders, naturally seeing the essence behind the flashy spectacle. The German team had no fighting spirit, surrendering while maintaining their strength.
American team member Ark cursed loudly: "These German barbarians, spineless cowards, so cunning."
Though he said that, the American team knew in their hearts that if they were truly facing them, they would have made the same choice.
After all, the championship reward was out of reach, but the second and third place rewards were still quite tempting.
The next day, the Chinese team played their second match against the British team.
In the British team's lounge, Jero clenched his fists upon hearing the news, his face dark, and said dismissively, "I won't participate in this match. I won't allow surrender without a fight."
With that, he turned and left. As a scion of British nobility, he carried his own pride; otherwise, in the original story, he could never have reached the top of the national academy.
At that moment, several British team instructors exchanged glances, sighed helplessly, recognizing the huge gap. What could they do? They had to learn from the German team's strategy: conserve strength and compete for second place.
Truly, this became a self-fulfilling prophecy—everyone was there for second place.
Soon, the British team announced that their captain Jero would sit out temporarily due to an injury sustained in the Treasure Hunt Tournament.
When both teams stepped onto the field, only Lu Jun did not know Jero's words; otherwise, he would have mocked him.
Those who gang up with others have no real pride—double standards!
In short, Jero was the true coward; the weak must obediently endure punishment and accept the humiliation of the strong, not let teammates suffer for them.
This match had no suspense—the Chinese team won.
On the battlefield, Mo Fan teased Alyeen a few times, but the Victoria Duke remained unbothered, calm and composed.
Next, the Chinese team faced the French team in their third match. Another Oscar Night, and an easy victory followed.
Thus, the Chinese team won all three matches, entering the three-win group, automatically becoming the finals' defending champions.
Meanwhile, a dark horse emerged among the top eight in the finals—the Egyptian team. Initially, no one paid attention when they barely defeated the Canadian team.
It was only after the Egyptian team defeated the Greek team in their second match that their fame soared, and by the third match, they had taken down the American team, rapidly gaining extreme attention and sparking widespread discussion among spectators of the national academy tournament.
Unexpectedly, the finals now featured two three-win teams, who would directly face each other soon to determine the champion and runner-up.
Before the start, no one anticipated that the finals would feature two teams that had long been among the top thirty-two. All traditional powerhouses failed to reach the finals.
No choice—the British, American, and Greek teams, even if unwilling to accept it, could not defeat the Egyptian team. They wouldn't even have a chance to compete for second place.
Now they all fought for third place.
Jero, Ark, and Asharuiya were furious, believing the Egyptian team's victory was illegitimate, having used forbidden techniques stolen from the pyramids to awaken endless undead, exhausting several people to death.
Everyone understood this, but since the technique remained within high-level limits and didn't cross the threshold of sacrificing lives for release, whether it was truly forbidden was another matter—it was merely a special magical artifact.
In the Egyptian team's lounge, captain Mios repeatedly watched Lu Jun's one-against-a-hundred recordings from the Treasure Hunt Tournament.
After watching, she sighed: "Lu Jun's true power isn't that absurd. It's just that his water-based soul seed has a special effect that can infinitely stack its potency."
"In the later Calamity Tsunami, its power had already reached a terrifying third-tier trans-level magnitude, naturally sweeping through hundreds of high-level national academy elites. We just need to limit this—stop his Water Blossom Sky Dome from spreading, and there's still hope."
Team member Saide exchanged glances with others—these words said nothing new.
They had consecutively defeated the American and Greek teams solely because of the Pharaoh's Spring artifact, enhancing the undead ocean grand strategy: early turtle, mid turtle, late turtle—testing patience.
The Pharaoh's Spring was stolen from the perilous pyramid by Egypt's high command for the national academy championship. It possessed great power to enhance the undead system, allowing awakened undead to endlessly reconstruct and revive.
The Egyptian team relied on this, continuously awakening undead, initially displaying the undead forbidden spell's apocalyptic style.
This strategy was also a deployment type.
Now asking them to abandon it and fight the Chinese team by individual strength alone? It was short versus long.
If the Egyptian team truly had that level of power, why rely on Pharaoh's Spring? Their team could have taken down Greek and American teams directly.
Mios clearly understood the difficulty for her team, so she whispered, "Take it step by step."
The Egyptian team had paid a huge price to compete for the championship. Facing Lu Jun, this monster, she knew well—not only Lu Jun, but also Mo Fan during his national academy tenure, who had easily swept through several of them.
A few days later, the Venice finals began, gathering all the world's celebrities, anticipating the champion's coronation.
Everyone knew the champion would be the Chinese team. No surprises—they were merely there to witness the crowning.
Lu Jun led his five teammates onto the island, meeting the tense gaze of the Egyptian team across from them.
A slight smile curved Lu Jun's lips. Knowing the original story, he was already aware of the Egyptian team's secret: the legendary Pharaoh's Spring.
Lu Jun found it quite interesting. The Pharaoh's Spring's immense energy could be converted into spirit essence to refine and upgrade magical stars, and could also be forged into a super magical artifact exclusive to the undead system, enhancing its power.
These two aspects were especially valuable for him, possessing the ancient King's Armor and destined to awaken an undead system at Super-Tier. He had to attempt to seize it.
High above the island, the referee spoke with authority: "The finals begin!"
As his words fell, both teams simultaneously began controlling their stars and unleashing their spells.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Lu Jun, full of vigor, unleashed a tidal surge that shot into the sky, tearing a massive hole in the firmament. Endless black seawater cascaded downward, flooding several kilometers, rapidly raising the ground water level into a vast lake.
Then, the black lake condensed heavily, steam rising as colossal water pillars lifted. Countless streams interwove around the five teammates, forming a supreme, noble Netherwater Palace, dragon patterns etched everywhere.
It was none other than the high-level Water Blossom Sky Dome: Deep Sea Dragon Palace!
Zhao Manyan and the others were shocked. This Fourth-Level High-Tier spell, amplified ninefold, was already infinitely close to a complete Super-level spell. Its defensive power was absolutely staggering.
Lu Jun's spellcasting speed was unmatched. He immediately controlled a second Water Blossom Sky Dome.
Roar! The towering black jade Dragon Palace inscriptions flickered, and a massive black dragon condensed, roaring as it dove and swept across several kilometers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At this moment, the Egyptian team finally managed to cast Undead Resurrection, summoning several hundred scattered servant-class mummies.
However, under the crushing force of the North Sea Heavenly River, every single undead was pulverized into dust.
For additional chapters
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