Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Mo Fan went on a tour in the San Marco Auction Hall, as he was feeling quite bored.

In a long corridor not far away from the VIP rooms, glass cabinets were placed in a row, displaying various kinds of historically-meaningful artifacts. For example, the first piece of Water-type magic equipment was on display; magic weapons; and old records stating how the Water Element was regarded as a forbidden magic. There were also the skulls of the strongest Water Mages in Venice's history.

Mo Fan walked along the corridor. There was no auction today, so Mo Fan was the only person walking in the corridor. As he observed the items being displayed, Mo Fan could not help but feel amazed. He was not sure if it was because the world he once knew was simply too ordinary, or if he was currently having a magical dream, where the civilization of magic had lasted a long time, and had perfectly blended into human life. It just felt so unbelievable.

As he was walking, he suddenly discovered a black stone the size of a thumb on a shelf. The stone was as beautiful as a crystal, with blinking white dots on the surface, like a starry night sky, setting off its extraordinary beauty.

Mo Fan was rather confused. How could such a tiny stone feel so magical? He proceeded to read the lore of the tiny stone.

"It's called the Stone of Guilt. More than twenty years ago, an authoritative, beautiful woman wanted to show to the public she was being fair and just while sentencing criminals, and the stone was a symbol of it," the pleasant voice of a woman arose behind him.

Even without turning around to look at her appearance, Mo Fan could tell how elegant and gorgeous the woman was from just her voice.

As he turned around, he saw a face covered by a veil, just as he had expected. Her eyes had dark blue pupils, and as he stared into them, he felt a surge of lightning crackling inside his mind. It spread through his body, making his heart beat rapidly.

"It's really you! HAHAHA, such a fateful encounter!" Mo Fan burst out laughing when he saw the extremely beautiful woman.

"Yeah, it's too bad that something so terrifying happened during our last encounter," Asha'ruiya smiled. It was tactful yet friendly, which served as a great contrast to Mo Fan's wild laughter.

"Let's not talk about the sad incident. It's such a coincidence, I was thinking about you not long ago, and here I am stumbling into you in Venice," Mo Fan said.

Mo Fan proceeded to explain his experience in Egypt and the Dark Swordmaster to Asha'ruiya.

"It sounds like you forgot me for a long time," Asha'ruiya picked out the flaw in Mo Fan's sentence and let out a sigh, like an old friend teasing him playfully.

"Not necessarily, it's just that I didn't think I'd see you again so soon. So your real name is Asha'ruiya! Not bad, it definitely suits a gorgeous woman like you," Mo Fan complimented her.

"You can call me by my Chinese name too," Asha'ruiya permitted him.

"Miss Ye Meng'e, you mentioned that the stone is called the Stone of Guilt, but you sounded a little sarcastic?" Mo Fan inquired.

Asha'ruiya walked closer and glanced at the description written in Italian with a disdainful grin.

"It's a Stone of Judgment of the Holy Judgment Court. Black means guilty, and white means not guilty. When the Holy Judgment Court is sentencing someone very important, they will summon the elders of the court to judge the person. If the number of black stones is greater than the white, then the person is deemed guilty, and will be punished severely by the court. Around twenty years ago, on a particular case, the number of blacks and whites was equal, but the Goddess of the Parthenon Temple voted with a black stone, pronouncing her own brother guilty. As such, she was complimented for being fair and just. Since then, the stone she used to vote has been displayed here for people of the world to see," Asha'ruiya explained patiently to Mo Fan.

"If it was a draw before, it means what the person did wasn't necessarily unforgivable, but it wasn't generally accepted, either. That being said, if she had the option to decide the fate of her family member with her vote and still chose to vote black, there must be something seriously wrong with her!" Mo Fan directly commented.

"You think so too?" Asha'ruiya smiled behind the veil. It seemed like she also agreed that the Goddess of the Parthenon Temple was out of her mind. She also considered the act of placing righteousness above loyalty to her family unreasonable in a situation like that.

(Ed. Note: This is Chinese loyalty to family above all. In the West, this is proper Justice. In reality, the Goddess should have not been allowed to vote, and would have abstained.)

"Let's not talk about something so serious. I have only just arrived in Venice; are you interested in touring around with me, drinking some afternoon tea, and eating some Italian pizza?" Mo Fan asked.

"Sure, but I have something to attend to first. You can pick a place and wait for me there, feel free to order the pizza first," Asha'ruiya said. From the look in her eyes, she seemed quite interested in talking to Mo Fan.

------

Mo Fan found the driver he met before and asked the old man to bring him to a relaxing place with delicious food, just so he could enjoy some peace in Venice.

The old man was indeed an experienced driver. He brought Mo Fan to a place with a crystalline balcony with a stunning view overlooking a river with two rows of colorful European buildings on both sides, and an arc connecting both sides like a scene from a fairytale. Most importantly, there was a unique inn specifically for couples right beside the place. Mo Fan felt like the driver had overdone it, so he felt the urge to give the man some extra tips!

After sending Asha'ruiya the address, Mo Fan sat on the chair with a relaxed posture, an iced cocktail by his side, and a hot pizza arriving fairly soon. It greatly surpassed his experience of trying to survive in a bloody battlefield surrounded by undead. However, without the filthy battles, it was hard for people to appreciate the rare peace and calm they got to enjoy in their lives. After all, demon creatures had always been a threat to them!

Mo Fan did not have to wait long for Asha'ruiya to arrive. Her pants were made of some unknown material, and wrapped tightly about her slender legs and well-stacked bottom. For some reason, any man would find the sight very alluring.

"I'm hungry," Asha'ruiya did not feel awkward at all, and blurted that out as soon as she sat down.

"The pizza is still in the oven, please wait a bit longer," Mo Fan glanced at the kitchen not far away.

"Are you planning to buy something?" Asha'ruiya asked.

"A Soul-grade Lightning Seed, I've given all the money I saved up to Zhao Youqianm who you had a meeting with not long ago. I'm planning to buy a Soul-grade Lightning Seed with a Domain, so I can achieve a better result in the World College Tournament," Mo Fan admitted.

"I see. I do know a place where you can find the Soul-grade Lighting Seed you desire, and I can guarantee you that it's better than any Soul-grade Lightning Seed you can find in an auction. Are you interested?" Asha'ruiya said.

Mo Fan was about to ask more when the pizza came. Asha'ruiya immediately moved a slice to her plate and started enjoying it.

Mo Fan grabbed a slice with his hand. He always felt it was more delicious to eat a pizza that way...

"Where is the Soul-grade Lightning Seed that you mentioned?" Mo Fan asked.

"My information is usually very expensive. Why do you think Zhao Youqian is so keen to meet me?" Asha'ruiya said smilingly.

"This meal is on me."

"You're funny."

"I believe our relationship is very pure, it's too hurtful to talk about money," Mo Fan said seriously.

He was seriously running out of funds. The eight hundred and fifty million he gave Zhao Youqian was basically everything he had.

"The Soul-grade Lightning Seed is called Sadinxi, it basically means Lightning Tyrant in Chinese. It has an aura like a tyrant, capable of absorbing all the Lightning energy nearby into its bearer's body, and its capacity is at least a few times that of any other Lightning Domain. It also has the highest Lightning Resistance among Soul-grade Lightning Seeds. Its amplification of Lightning Spells is at least five to six times that of an ordinary Seed, and it can further apply special effects to a target struck by the bearer's Lightning Spells. If Lightning Spells have landed on a target within the Lightning Tyrant's Domain, it will trigger the Tyrant Call, which is as powerful as the Intermediate Lightning Spell, Thunderbolt: Exploding Apex!" Asha'ruiya explained to Mo Fan in a professional manner.

Asha'ruiya giggled when she saw the expression on Mo Fan's face. She added before Mo Fan could speak, "That's all I know about the Lightning Tyrant, you'll need to figure out the rest yourself, but I'm fairly confident that what I told you is already a lot better than what you can get from an auction."

Zhao Manyan had briefly explained the effects of a Soul-grade Lightning Seed to Mo Fan. A Domain was basically used to improve a Mage's control over an Element.

With a Domain, a Mage was able to gather the energy of the Element toward themselves, forming a zone that would allow a Mage to cast spells and alter the form of their magic easily. However, a Soul-grade Lightning Seed that could absorb the Lightning Element and improve the Lightning resistance of its bearer like Asha'ruiya had mentioned was incredibly rare!

After all, a Mage already had their control and resistance of an Element improved inside a Domain, and if the Soul-grade Lightning Seed was still able to boost the base stats further, how remarkable would his control and resistance be?

He could simply stand still and let a Mage blast him continuously with Intermediate Lightning Spells until their energy had depleted, and he'd still be perfectly fine!

Apart from granting a Domain to a Mage, the amplification provided by a Soul-grade Seed was its main selling point.

Since everyone's magic was restrained by Star Orbits, Star Patterns, Star Constellations, and Star Palaces, the damage of every spell was going to be the same without the amplification of a Domain or a Seed. The reason why a Spirit-grade Seed or a Soul-grade Seed was expensive was because of their ability to improve the strength of a Mage!