Lu Jun arrived at the Venice Magic Association, spent some money to rent a high-grade meditation chamber, the headquarters built at the confluence of a hundred rivers, where the aura of Water Element was thick.
Although not as good as the Pearl Institute's Three-step Tower, it was not much inferior either.
Along the way, he entrusted Zhao Manyan to help sell the Dark Sword Master's corpse. Old Zhao and Mo Fan, as soon as they entered Venice, ran straight to the auction house.
The former went to find his elder brother Zhao Youqian, seeking family support in hopes of obtaining multiple Soul Seeds before the World College Tournament. The latter, having gathered a full 1.2 billion, was preparing to auction for a top-grade Lightning Element Soul Seed.
At present, Mo Fan's strength and status were different. Having gone through the Bounty Drowning Curse, the Sahara rescue, and two installments of the national team's payments from the Egyptian battlefield, his funds were much more than the eight hundred million of the original timeline.
In addition, his cultivation was High-level across all elements, with his Lightning and Fire Elements, which had broken through early, both reaching High-Tier Level Two.
Of course, Lu Jun also reaped great gains. Aside from a whole small-scale high-grade metal mine vein promised by the Cape of Good Hope Magic Association in Africa, the four hundred million he held for creating [Nightshade], after the battle in Egypt, the national team also issued three hundred million in funds.
Once Zhao Manyan returned from the auction and disposed of the Dark Sword Master's corpse, there was an additional two hundred million income, bringing the total funds to nine hundred million, a new historical high.
Originally, the Dark Sword Master's armor would only fetch about one hundred million. That was the normal value of a Sub-Monarch corpse.
But because the humanoid armor appearance possessed a unique quality, certain European aristocrats and magnates enjoyed purchasing it to forge into statues and place in front of their manors, serving as a display of heritage—similar to the vermilion gate stone lions of Huaxia's great clans.
These kinds of intricacies could only be understood by scions of wealthy families like Zhao Manyan.
However, even with nine hundred million in hand, Lu Jun could not do much with it.
After all, the third Metal Element material had already been located. As for other high-level treasures, their effects were not obvious, and Super-level treasures were unaffordable. Since he was not far from Super-level, it was better to hoard the money to purchase the [Starsea Vein].
If the Star River Vein was the heavenly treasure that broke through the High-level bottleneck, then the Starsea Vein was its upgraded counterpart within the same series.
The difference between the two, however, was vast. The Star River Vein could be refined multiple times in the High-level, whereas the Starsea Vein could only be refined once in a person's entire lifetime. Beyond that, it had no further effect. Naturally, its price was exorbitant, around two to three billion.
"Or perhaps, I should splurge on buying [Thought Stones]? To elevate my spiritual force realm?"
Lu Jun pondered. The so-called Thought Stones were another type of heavenly treasure from the magic plane, designed specifically to enhance spiritual force, with no restrictions or side effects.
The more Thought Stones refined, the greater the increase in spiritual force. Mo Fan had obtained one Thought Stone during the World College Tournament, allowing his spiritual force realm to leap from Tier Two to Tier Four.
At present, with his six elements repeatedly breaking through, Lu Jun's Spiritual cultivation had reached about the peak of Tier Six, brushing against the threshold of the upper three realms of the Heavenly Tier. A heavenly gate thicker and more despair-inducing than the Super-level bottleneck itself.
Fortunately, Lu Jun had always polished his spiritual force diligently through his own cultivation, never relying on heavenly treasures to boost it. His foundation was solid. If he refined a large number of pure Thought Stones, breaking through to Tier Seven of the Heavenly Seed should be easier.
"Unfortunately, Thought Stones are now in short supply. Each one is extremely precious. To pile up enough to reach Tier Seven, who knows how much it would cost."
He shook his head, full of emotions. Several hundred years ago, a massive Thought Stone mine had been unearthed, thereby creating the flourishing era of Dimensional Magic, with Psychic and Curse also benefiting.
But ore could not be recycled. It was bound to run out. As the Thought Stone mines dried up, Dimensional Magic returned to its historical average, and the remaining Thought Stones in circulation became increasingly expensive.
In short, with Lu Jun's cultivation at High-Tier Level Three, to advance further required rebuilding his financial foundation and resources. It could not be rushed in a short period of time.
Yet there was one matter he observed that was somewhat amusing. When Zhao Manyan returned, his mood seemed poor. If Lu Jun's guess was correct, the man had gone to ask his elder brother Zhao Youqian for resources and to help his friend search for a Lightning Soul Seed, only to be turned down.
'What's this? Wait until after the Venice Tournament when your brother imprisons your father and then sends assassins to kill you—that's what you'd call truly chilling.'
Lu Jun thought to himself, mulling over the name of the Zhao family. Back in Japan, when Zhao Manyan had obtained the Baxia Totem Vessel, Lu Jun had already decided he would only save Old Zhao when he was on the verge of death.
Now this thought grew even stronger. The main issue was still the lack of money and resources. At the Super-level, which heavenly treasure wasn't billion as a starting price?
Fighting alone like Mo Fan and relying on hunting—who knew how long it would take to accumulate enough? It was far better to build a power, make big money.
Just so, Lu Jun possessed a certain craft: with his Metal Element's mastery of metallic abilities and the White Tiger Pendant's spirit collection, he could forge Stardust Magic Tools. He was planning to officially launch the project after the National Institute Competition ended.
If he could cooperate with the Zhao Family, not only could he obtain the sales network of the major chambers of commerce in the early stages, but he could also lean on them as a backer, dispelling the covetousness of some petty villains.
Of course, Lu Jun now merely looked at the gloomy Old Zhao without saying a word. This matter was a family affair. If he mentioned it, he would be suspected of sowing discord and harboring ulterior motives. It was best not to speak.
Once things truly happened, then he would step forward, not only allowing Old Zhao to awaken to ambition, but also harvesting the greatest gratitude of Zhao Man Yan and his father.
After that, Lu Jun cultivated diligently every day. Who knew that not long after, an old acquaintance came to visit, forcing him to leave seclusion for a "reception."
On a clear river of the ancient city of Venice, where large and small boats plied, there was a sightseeing yacht. A man and a woman sat facing each other.
Lu Jun wore large sunglasses, enjoying the comfortable Mediterranean sunshine and the beautiful scenery of the water town, as he sized up the glamorous young woman before him.
He chuckled lightly: "Blue Bat, I didn't expect you really had the guts to come."
Blue Bat's expression was blank, though inwardly she was cursing. With the restriction you planted in my soul, would I dare not come when you summon me?
Who would have thought, just as her words fell, Lu Jun's eyes shone with a deep blue radiance. Within his jet-black pupils, a delicate, holy blue-white Li Fan Flower sigil floated, the power of Ideation surging forth, directly forcing itself into Blue Bat's soul sea.
Buzz buzz buzz!
In an instant, Blue Bat felt her head splitting, the world spinning.
"Ah!" She screamed once, and only after a long while did she recover slightly, realizing that the restriction within her soul had become even more unyielding. She glared at Lu Jun with furious eyes, and shouted coldly: "You've gone too far."
Lu Jun smiled faintly and said: "Ah, don't be anxious. I only did this so that when you inherit the Red Cardinal's position, it will protect you as you pass through the darkness of faith. This time there will be no mishaps."
What he said was not false. Having mastered the domain of Fantasy, and with the Li Fan Flower Faith Sigil, he could truly guarantee he was among the world's top few in the study of faith.
Blue Bat took a deep breath, suppressing her anger. Her beautiful face turned slightly cold as she said: "Besides tightening control over me, what else do you want?"
"There is indeed one matter," Lu Jun said with deep meaning. "You should have taken over Salan's power, so you must know of certain Black Vatican sleeper agents, right?"
At these words, Blue Bat's expression changed slightly. Heaven knew how shocked and uneasy she was upon learning that Salan had planted so many agents inside the Magic Association across Nine Continents. She said gravely: "What are you trying to say?"
For additional chapters
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