After leaving Egypt, the group took a plane to Venice.
On the way to Venice, everyone felt more or less excited and thrilled.
The previous eighty-one trials were all for this final destination!
Venice was a true city on water, where vehicles like cars were extremely rare.
Instead, there were small boats and a type of black aquatic beast called Gondolas.
"Official matches won't start for a few more days. The next period is all free time."
On the back of a Gondola aquatic beast, Zhou Haoyu looked at the group and said.
At present, besides him and Mu Nuojiao, no one else in the team had absorbed a soul seed.
As for Mu Ningxue, she came with Ice soul Seed, perfectly matching her own element.
To achieve a brilliant performance in the Venice tournament, a soul seed was merely the most basic requirement.
The gap between soul seeds and spirit seeds was immense, enough to create a distance even among mages of the same stage.
Hearing this, Mu Tingying looked somewhat proud; her family had surely already prepared a soul seed for her.
Once absorbed, she could at least reach the upper-middle level within the team.
"Xue'er, later you'll come with me to the auction house. I'll buy you a wind-element soul seed."
Zhou Haoyu held Mu Ningxue's slender waist, speaking softly.
"I already have a soul seed; it's enough."
Mu Ningxue shook her head. Soul seeds were not cheap—any synthesized soul seed cost over 400 million.
Generally, it was considered excellent for a national team player to have a single soul seed; few could have two, especially top-tier ones like Zhou Haoyu.
"What I'm giving you, just accept it."
Zhou Haoyu leaned close to her soft, delicate earlobe, leaving no room for refusal.
Mu Ningxue sighed softly, "Mm," unwilling to be taught a lesson by him in reality.
Upon reaching the shore, the sight of St. Mark's Square appeared. From a tiptoe vantage, one could also see the grand St. Mark World Auction House.
"Mo Fan, this auction house offers soul seeds of all elements, but be mentally prepared for the prices."
Zhao Manyan patted Mo Fan on the shoulder, giving a prior reminder.
Top-tier auction houses like St. Mark World Auction House often attracted mages from all over the world, and auction prices were usually slightly inflated.
"I have about 800 to 900 million in savings. Buying a soul seed shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Mo Fan spoke hesitantly. He wanted to get a lightning-element domain soul seed but felt the money might not be enough.
"No problem. At worst, I can front some for you, and you can repay me later. But don't aim for top-tier soul seeds—they cost over a billion. Lesser ones should be fine."
As the second son of the Zhao family, Zhao Manyan had a clear understanding of soul seed prices.
Mo Fan was slightly disappointed; naturally, he wanted the top-tier soul seed, but a sum of over a billion was far beyond his reach.
Moreover, he still needed funds to raise the Great Roc Thunderbird, which also required considerable money.
Meanwhile, Zhou Haoyu, Mu Ningxue, and Apas were heading toward the auction house.
Passing through St. Mark's Square, Zhao Manyan suddenly saw a familiar figure.
At the entrance of the auction house stood a handsome man in beach shorts and sunglasses.
At this moment, Zhao Youqian seemed to notice something and walked over.
Zhao Manyan was about to greet him, but Zhao Youqian ignored him, holding back the words "Big Brother" that were about to escape.
Zhou Haoyu looked at the man before him, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
[Activation Condition: Help Zhao Youqian inherit the Zhao family enterprise.]
"Zhou Haoyu, didn't expect to run into you here," Zhao Youqian spoke first.
"Uh, do we know each other?"
At that moment, Zhao Manyan came over with Mo Fan, full of grievance, and said to Zhao Youqian.
"Big Brother, I was right beside you just now. Did you really not see me?"
Zhao Youqian completely ignored Zhao Manyan and continued, "You're a model among our aristocratic children—so young and already a national team captain."
As he spoke, a trace of envy flashed in Zhao Youqian's eyes.
If he had Zhou Haoyu's extraordinary magical talent, inheriting the family business would have been effortless.
Unfortunately, there is no "if."
What Zhao Youqian valued wasn't Zhou Haoyu's background, but his strength and talent.
"You flatter me. I'm only slightly stronger than others," Zhou Haoyu said casually.
"You're here to buy a soul seed, right? A lightning-element one?"
Zhao Youqian knew Zhou Haoyu specialized in Space and Lightning magic but didn't know he already possessed a soul seed.
"Do you have a natural wind-element soul seed? It must be top-tier."
"A natural wind-element soul seed?"
Zhao Youqian was momentarily stunned. With the Zhou family's current resources, acquiring a natural soul seed was easy, but why wind-element?
Recovering quickly, Zhao Youqian said, "Yes, yes, there are about three or four of these."
Zhao Youqian was well-versed in the auction house's inventory and knew exactly which soul seeds were available.
Under Zhao Youqian's guidance, Zhou Haoyu and the others entered a high-class guest room.
After leaving an auction list, Zhao Youqian went to attend another distinguished guest.
Sitting on a crocodile-leather sofa, Zhou Haoyu directly flipped the list to the soul seed section.
"Wind-type Soul Seed: Flowing Mist Weaving Soul, with built-in Flowing Mist Domain."
"Wind-type Soul Seed: Azure Sky Wind Erosion" and
"Wind-type Soul Seed: Roaring Soul Thousand Blades"
These three were top-tier wind-element soul seeds, each with a powerful domain and a sixfold amplification.
The starting bid for each was one billion; winning one would cost at least 1.3–1.4 billion.
"That's too expensive."
Mu Ningxue frowned slightly. The Mu family now relied on the Zhou family for support, and she didn't want Zhou Haoyu to spend so much on her.
"It's not expensive—it's always been this price."
Zhou Haoyu didn't give her a chance to refuse. One arm around her slender waist, he said, "Pick one of these three. I'll step out for a moment."
With that, Zhou Haoyu left the guest room.
He knew exactly who Zhao Youqian's other guest was and wanted to go meet this old acquaintance.
Just outside, Zhou Haoyu heard Zhao Manyan cursing, perhaps venting his frustration at Zhao Youqian.
Outside ran a very long exhibition corridor. Display windows along the way held historically significant items.
For example: the first Water-element magical tool and artifact, documents from when Water magic was considered forbidden, and even the skull of Venice's strongest Water-element mage.
Walking along this corridor, Zhou Haoyu finally stopped in front of a display window.
Inside was a single small item—a black stone roughly the size of a thumb.
The stone was crystalline and beautiful, speckled with tiny white dots, like countless stars scattered across the night sky, exuding an extraordinary, enchanting beauty.
...
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