The day of the national team assembly arrived as scheduled, held within the Imperial Capital Academy.
"You must be Zhou Haoyu. So you're actually a regular person, huh? I thought you were some monster with three heads and six arms," said a woman with a beauty mole by her mouth, stepping up to Zhou Haoyu with curiosity in her eyes.
[Activation Condition: Find Jiang Shaojun.]
Zhou Haoyu frowned—does that mean Jiang Shaojun is still alive? He had no clues about this. Finding someone who had disappeared years ago was like finding a needle in a haystack.
"Watch your tone, or I might just put you in your place," Zhou said.
"Captain, don't be so petty. Rumors about you are wild these days," Jiang Shaoxu said flirtily.
Zhou Haoyu ignored her and turned his attention to the others.
[Activation Condition: Kick Zu Jiming off the national team.]
A burly man with dreadlocks.
[Activation Condition: Defeat Guan Yu.]
A well-dressed, gallant-looking gentleman.
[Activation Condition: Make Mu Tingying break away from the Mu Clan.]
Mu Tingying, whom Zhou Haoyu had briefly met—she glared at him with displeasure.
[Activation Condition: Arrange for the sea demon to grievously injure Nan Rongni.]
A harmless-looking, very friendly woman.
[Activation Condition: Gain Nan Jue's favor.]
A tall, beautiful, androgynous short-haired girl—the kind whose long legs catch everyone's gaze.
"Nice!"
Zhou Haoyu had never seen so many treasure box triggers before. Clearly, the upcoming trial wouldn't be boring!
The conditions to unlock the boxes for Zu Jiming and Guan Yu were simple—just a little action.
Causing the sea demon to injure Nan Rongni was not very difficult, either. As captain, he should treat each member fairly—but he knew Nan Rongni's character well. This was just poetic justice.
The boxes for Mu Tingying and Nan Jue were harder to unlock.
Tingying was a direct Mu Clan member, getting her expelled was nearly impossible. So if all else failed, Zhou might have to refine her into an undead.
As for gaining Nan Jue's favor was vague, since it wasn't clear whether friendship qualified.
"One step at a time," Zhou sighed. With the armor in hand now, missing some boxes wouldn't matter much.
At that moment, Ai Jiangtu arrived with several instructors.
"Captain Zhou, long time no see."
Ai originally wanted to say "Brother Zhou," but thought of team discipline and quickly corrected himself.
[Activation Condition: Complete.]
[Opening...]
[You have obtained a Source of Spiritual Energy.]
In the very next moment, Zhou Haoyu felt his spiritual energy surge immensely—he broke directly into the Seventh Realm!
He had been stuck at the Sixth Realm for quite some time. He didn't expect the breakthrough to come this easily.
"Old Ai, I'll need your help with managing the team," Zhou Haoyu said with a smile.
Zhou Haoyu was the team captain, and naturally, Ai Jiangtu was the National Team's vice-captain.
"This is only right," Ai Jiangtu replied.
Feng Li glanced at Zhou Haoyu, then looked over the rest of the team—there was still one person missing.
"Where's the last one?" Feng Li asked with a serious expression.
Everyone looked at each other, confused—no one knew who was absent.
"Mentor, Mo Fan is probably on his way," Zhao Manyan said awkwardly.
"A substitute, and he's putting on such airs—making all of us wait for him?" Mu Tingying snorted coldly.
Zhou Haoyu wasn't interested in all that. He walked straight to the back of the formation.
Mu Ningxue stood alone in the most inconspicuous spot.
This white windbreaker was something Zhou had specially chosen for her. It was custom-tailored to perfectly outline her graceful, alluring figure.
With her cascading silver hair fluttering in the breeze and her stunningly beautiful face, she was a picture of perfection.
Just last night, Zhou Haoyu had even offered another "tribute" for her sake.
About ten minutes later, Mo Fan finally arrived,unhurried and late.
"As a substitute, you've made all of us wait this long. Do you even care about this?" the slightly overweight mentor said with a face full of dissatisfaction.
Mo Fan didn't pay him any mind and instead asked with genuine confusion, "Substitute? Since when am I a substitute?"
"You didn't even show up for the selection ceremony. Being given a substitute slot is already generous," Feng Li replied coldly.
He had always disliked people who relied on connections, and now this guy even dared to show up late.
Mo Fan shrugged. He had no idea there even was some selection ceremony.
But to him, whether he was a substitute didn't matter—as long as he could travel the world on the government's dime, that was enough.
After scolding Mo Fan, Feng Li launched into a long-winded lecture.
Though a bit clichéd, the World Competition was a big deal, so Feng Li explained all the rules in detail.
First of all, nearly two hundred countries would be participating in the World National Tournament, but only thirty-two would make it to Venice.
That might sound like a harsh elimination rate, but in truth, most of the eliminated teams were from smaller magic nations.
The real competition would take place in Venice, which had dedicated arenas for the event. Every participant would get a chance to showcase their prowess.
If they managed to place top three, the rewards would be extremely generous.
Besides personal prizes for the contestants, the countries behind the top teams would also receive a significant boost in international magical resources.
Once the team had fully assembled, the mentors immediately dropped them near a small fishing village by the coast.
Since this was supposed to be a training experience, there was no way they'd be allowed to comfortably reach their first destination—Japan.
Everyone's bank cards were frozen, including Zhou Haoyu's.
Even though he could secretly stash some things using the Candle Dragon Vessel, there was no way to hide a bank card. Feng Li and the others could freeze their accounts directly.
And before anything had even started, Mo Fan was already wailing in protest.
"Zhao Manyan, I believed you and your nonsense about enjoying life! This is what you call enjoyment?" Mo Fan complained with a face full of resentment.
"Where do I go to file a complaint…"
Zhao Manyan also wore a miserable expression—he had only just found out how rough this training would be.
"Enough whining. The most important thing now is how to get to the Japan. At this point, traveling by boat is probably the only option," Zhou Haoyu said.
"Taking a boat does sound reasonable, but where are we going to find one that can carry a dozen people all the way to the Japan?" Jiang Yu said, frowning.
This was just a small fishing village—no way it had a ship large enough for all of them.
"Let's ask the villagers for directions. See if there's a larger city nearby," Zhou Haoyu suggested.
"That's all we can do for now," Ai Jiangtu agreed.
.....
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