Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

"The winner is... the Chinese team!"

Following the declaration from the main judge, the spectators in the seventh platform burst into an uproar.

The spectators in the seventh platform were all Chinese, and most of them had specifically flown to Venice just to support the Chinese team. After winning a few matches in a row, the team might actually end up with an impressive rank in the tournament!

The World College Tournament was too important of a factor in many aspects. The reputation that a country earned through it was extremely beneficial to many factions, not to mention the resources allocated in the pool that would be distributed to each country based on their ranking. It was the main reason why the national team was generous with their resources prior to the World College Tournament.

After defeating Spain, even if the Chinese team lost all the upcoming matches, they would still be placed in the top sixteen. It was much better than being disqualified not long after the start of the tournament a few years ago!

---

"HAHAHA, I knew you would win!" Zhao Manyan walked up to Mo Fan and patted him heavily on his shoulder.

He initially thought Mo Fan would burst out laughing, but to his bewilderment, he could see an urge to kill in Mo Fan's eyes. Did he do something wrong?

He did not recall doing anything wrong!

"Look, the money will be transferred to the account in just a minute, you just made bank!" Zhao Manyan took out his phone and showed it to Mo Fan.

Mo Fan's expression changed immediately as soon as he saw the number!

"Five hundred million?" Mo Fan had a blank face.

"Of course, you have no idea how insane the odds were for the Chinese team. Everyone thought the Spanish team was going to win. You might be unaware, but the moment the Catastrophe Wave appeared, those who bet on the Spanish team immediately screamed in glee at the top of their lungs! But you managed to turn the tables, and they all lost the bet. On the other hand, those that bet on our team almost burst into tears!. They are already lining up to acknowledge you as their father!" Zhao Manyan smiled.

There were all kinds of people in this world, including those that spent four years analyzing the strength of each country, searching for information on each of the members of each national team, just so they could earn money through betting. Some even spent all their savings on the bets. There were rules stating that any bet over a hundred thousand had to be verified according to the financial status of the person placing the bet, to confirm that the amount the person was betting was less than thirty percent of their possession. Despite that, many people still managed to find some tricks to betting all their money, even if it meant taking out a huge loan...

As such, the outcome of a match was not as simple as boosting the morale of the people of a country!

In Mo Fan's example, the two hundred million he bet had won more than double of the initial amount. Even after paying the taxes, there were still more than five hundred million left, earning him a great profit just like that!

Mo Fan was a lot calmer after seeing the money he had won.

Only someone like Zhao Manyan could afford to bet two hundred million on a match. Any other fuerdai would have been kicked out from the arena, as not everyone was allowed to place a bet of that amount!

"Hehe, the money taken out to make it five hundred million is more than enough to support a supermodel. Why don't you give the extra to me since I helped you win the money?" Zhao Manyan said pervertedly.

"Piss off, you idiot! Despite being brothers for so many years, you couldn't even tell that I was only bluffing. Didn't you see how close that match was? We were almost wiped out by the Catastrophe Wave!" Mo Fan's heart was still racing even though he had won a lot from the bet.

It was a team battle, after all, and if something went wrong, Mo Fan would be owing two hundred million instead. By then, Mo Fan would have to risk his life many times just to earn the money back, since it was unlikely he could find jobs with rewards that high!

Zhao Manyan felt extremely wronged, as he ended up being scolded even though he had helped Mo Fan win a huge amount of money. Even with his identity, he had to take the risk of being scolded by his family when he threw so much money into the pool!

Mo Fan transferred the money to his account after giving Zhao Manyan two hundred million back. Seeing that he had earned quite a huge sum, he also gave Zhao Manyan the extra as a token of appreciation. As for Zhao Manyan's suggestion to split the profit, no way he was going to accept it. If he ended up losing the match, Mo Fan strongly believed that Zhao Manyan would demand he repay the two hundred million. As such, Mo Fan took the rest of the money without mercy, to compensate for the shock he had to go through!

Mo Fan was rich once again after netting three hundred million. His mood gradually improved too, especially when he saw the contorted face of Prince Beny. He started humming pleasantly, with an utterly scornful look.

---

"From today on, many countries will think of our team as a tough opponent," Feng Li warned them sternly.

Despite the team winning the match, the man showed no sign of joy on his face. He was a strange man indeed, as if there was nothing that could make him satisfied in the world.

"That's true! After winning a few matches in a row, we'll be facing stronger opponents from here on. Since we've exposed many of our Elements and abilities, we must be extremely cautious in the upcoming matches. Even a single mistake could cost us the match," Song He agreed.

"Our next opponent hasn't been decided yet, you may rest for now," Pang Lai said.

"By the way, did they not reveal the prizes for this year yet? Normally, they would have revealed it during the opening ceremony, why haven't they revealed it yet?" Han Ji asked as he remembered something.

"We have a rough idea of what the first place is going to get. The students will receive the Blessing of the God's Seal. The Parthenon Temple will be responsible for the ceremony, and it will be held on the Sacred Mountain of Athens," Pang Lai said.

"Blessing of the God's Seal? It doesn't sound any useful to me. Can't they give us something more practical? Like giving us a billion or two?" Mo Fan huffed.

The Blessing of the God's Seal sounded like some sacred ceremony, but Mo Fan was a realistic man. He believed money was the best prize he could possibly get, since he needed lots of it to become stronger. He still had many Elements waiting to be improved!

"What, did I say something wrong?" Mo Fan discovered that everyone was looking at him strangely.

"You should really read more books," Mu Ningxue said in the same otherworldly manner.

"The Blessing of the God's Seal isn't something you can buy with money!" The expression that Zhao Manyan was wearing was even more exaggerated, as if he was more excited than seeing a naked goddess. "The Blessing of the God's Seal is a miraculous spell of the Blessing Element, and the person that receives the blessing will be strengthened permanently."

"What does that even mean?" Mo Fan was still confused.

"You should know that the journey of every Mage starts when we first Awaken an Element. Apart from the strengthening from innate talents and Soul Seeds, all spells are the same. When we first Awaken our Element, we can think of our base damage as one, and assuming we don't have an innate Soul Seed, our damage multiplier is one, too. As such, the strength of our spells solely depends on the levels and tiers of the magic. However, when we have a Spirit-grade Seed or a Soul-grade Seed, the damage of the spells will then be amplified. A Spirit-grade Seed amplifies the spells by two to three times, while a Soul-grade Seed amplifies the spells by four to six times..." Han Ji knew how uneducated Mo Fan was, and explained patiently.

"I'm aware of that," Mo Fan said.

"The Blessing of the God's Seal can also increase the strength of a Mage, yet unlike the Spirit-grade Seeds and Soul-grade Seeds that a Mage equip, it directly improves the base Stat of a Mage, turning the base damage from one to one point five," Han Ji informed him.

Mo Fan opened his mouth wide. There was a reason he had not read many magic books, yet it did not necessarily mean he was stupid. His face was filled with astonishment as soon as he heard Han Ji's explanation!

"Some Mages with innate talents have a base damage higher than one. It might be around one point two, or one point three, and even when the person doesn't have a Soul Seed, his spells will still be a little stronger. However, once they acquire a Spirit-grade or Soul-grade Seed, the amplification applied to their spells simply escalates. However, it's incredibly rare for anyone to have an innate talent like that. Meanwhile, the base damage of a Mage doesn't change as they grow stronger. If it's one when a person first Awakened their Element, it will stay at one. Apart from the rare innate talents, the only way to modify it is the sacred art of the Parthenon Temple: the Blessing of the God's Seal!" Han Ji said.

An innate talent that strengthened the person's spells. Mo Fan vaguely remembered that he had fought against someone with an innate talent like that before, but if the person was unable to grow stronger, or acquire a strong Spirit-grade Seed or Soul-grade Seed, the innate talent would still be inferior to Mo Fan's Double Innate Elements.

However, since Mo Fan already an innate talent, if he could raise his base damage from one to one point five, it would mean the damage of his spells would be absolutely terrifying!

With a base damage of one point five, and a Soul-grade Seed like the Lightning Tyrant that could amplify the damage of his Lightning Spells by six times, it meant his Lightning Spells would be nine times stronger than the spell cast by an ordinary Mage!

Nine times!

A Commander-level creature was struggling to resist his Lightning Spells after their damage was amplified by six times. If the total multiplier was nine, wouldn't that mean he could eliminate Commander-level creatures with ease, and a random Intermediate Spell would be as strong as an Advanced Spell?

It went without saying that Mo Fan would continue to improve his Basic and Intermediate Spells, since he had many Soul Essences he could expend. Once the spells reached the fourth, or fifth-tier, and the base damage was raised to one point five, his Intermediate Spells could easily outmatch someone's Advanced Spell!

"So what do you think, the Blessing of the God's Seal or money, which one is better?" Zhao Manyan asked after Mo Fan had finally learned the secret.

"Are you serious now? Damn it, the Blessing of the God's Seal is mine for sure, wouldn't I be unbeatable if I could receive eight or ten Blessings of the God's Seal?" Mo Fan said.

"In your dreams! The Blessing of the God's Seal is extremely precious, and only the team in first place can receive it once!"

"Speaking of which, I thought the Parthenon Temple has yet to elect their new Goddess. How are they going to carry out the ritual?" Han Ji asked as the thought crossed his mind.

"The tournament will be going on for quite a while, and once the new Goddess is elected, the team that wins first place will be invited to attend the ceremony, and will receive the Blessing of the God's Seal on the Sacred Mountain of Athens. If the Goddess is still not elected after the tournament, the winner will have to wait until they can receive the prize. Otherwise, the Hall Mother can also dispense the Blessing of the God's Seal, but the Blessing of the God's Seal granted by the Hall Mother is not as impressive as that given by the real successor of the Goddess," Pang Lai said.