Having secured the Battlefield Treasure and conveniently plundered the people of Sakura, Chen Lang had already acquired over six billion in treasure hunt resources.
At this point, the Treasure Hunt Competition was also nearing its end.
As for the spoils of just his single person alone, advancing was an unquestionable matter.
After being teleported out, one could see some people with extremely joyful faces while others were full of frustration.
Once the second round of the World Academy Competition ended, it was time for the final grand showdown. The grand showdown was relatively simple and brutal: the trainees would confront one another, fighting for the final champion, and then the top three would obtain incomparably generous rewards.
When coming out for the tallying, Chen Lang learned that because of this numerical value of his, Great Xia directly ranked first.
The USA, which claimed to have the strongest strength, unexpectedly placed second.
Third and fourth were Britain and Germany respectively...
Upon learning that the Battlefield Treasure had been obtained by Chen Lang, all the national teams gnashed their teeth in hatred. Yet once they left the treasure hunt arena, they did not even have the chance to contend for it anymore...
After coming out, Chen Lang gave all the resources he could not use to Chen Jin.
Of course, this was not handing them over to the family, but rather letting Chen Jin exchange them for resources suitable for his cultivation.
Relying on his extensive connections, Old Master helped him get it all settled in almost a day.
Chen Lang also entered seclusion once again to digest the resources in his hands.
Before the arrival of the grand showdown, Chen Lang felt that he would definitely be able to rely on these Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to advance his cultivation by another major step!
The mode of the grand showdown was rather different from the previous elimination matches; although it was still a team battle, during the process of confrontation, contestants from various countries were able to substitute members.
The total number of people on the arena stage was still ten, but once a trainee was eliminated and defeated, the academies of various countries could immediately dispatch a trainee to enter the field, keeping the size of the five-person team unchanged.
Substitutions had a limit, with each country only allowed three substitutions—meaning that in the grand showdown, the total number of people taking the field for both sides would reach eight. This heavily tested the overall strength of a country's trainees; after all, for a team with ten academy members, having eight take the field meant basically all of them would play.
This was the combat method that could best test the strength of various countries, while at the same time giving rise to many different combinations and pairings, testing the countries' application and cooperation regarding magic of different elements.
Along with the opening of the final grand showdown of the World Academy Competition, portraits of members from various national academies were hung up in all the small taverns of Venice. If it were before the Treasure Hunt Competition, the main forces of all countries might not have been seen yet.
Yet after the Treasure Hunt Competition, these people naturally had no way of hiding anymore.
And based on this, people with time on their hands also listed out the strength rankings of the trainees.
Without any surprise, Chen Lang ranked first on the Destruction Ranking.
Slaying Commander-level beasts single-handedly more times than could be counted, and even defeating Sakura seven-to-one—as for such a battle record, there was currently no mage among any country who could accomplish it.
As for the second place, it was undoubtedly the trump card main force of Team USA, Kevin.
As for the third place, it was a Parthenon trainee hailing from Greece, Kno...
Of course, these so-called rankings were merely temporarily listed out by these people. Whether they were truly accurate or not, the upcoming grand showdown was where it would become clear!
Before the arrival of the grand showdown, Chen Lang's Shadow System had already been elevated to the second tier of the Intermediate Level, and he had also mastered the Star Map of the Shadow System.
As for the Space Element, it was likewise elevated to the second tier of the Intermediate Level.
The most worth-mentioning one was naturally his Lightning Element.
Filled with the energy of the Five-Colored Spirit Stone and the Elemental Lightning Stone, his star river had reached the second tier!
Speaking currently, those participating in the World Academy Competition who could reach the second tier of the High-level were undoubtedly the top-tier contestants among their peers!
What was even more precious was that Chen Lang was not even twenty years old yet, and yet he walked to this step—truly, his future was promising!
Early in the morning, Venice rang out with ancient and resonant bell chimes, awakening the light dreams of the people in this city above the Mediterranean Sea.
After the bell chimes came the musical performances of Italian romantic style, clear, distant, and melodious. Listening to these movements made one feel that the air even became exceptionally fresh.
When the hour struck, the opening of the grand showdown officially kicked off. Eight national teams with outstanding performances in the battlefield treasure hunt lined up, standing in the center of an incomparably vast and magnificent Venice Amphitheatre. Eight colors, eight countries, surrounded, thronged, and cheered by tens of thousands of people across the venue.
The eight teams totaled around one hundred people. Although among the eliminated National Academy Teams there were equally quite formidable trainees, eliminated meant eliminated; in terms of future fame and social influence, no matter what, they could not compare with the hundred people currently on the field.
Strength was something that, under different circumstances, different environments, and different opponents, often differed very little. In such situations, opportunities and glory would frequently leave opponents of the same tier completely far behind.
On the day of the opening ceremony, there would be a total of four matches. Basically, all eight countries would be showcased on this day, and then tomorrow's matches would be conducted based on the win-loss relationship—likewise four matches.
There was no such thing as elimination, but the true champion country would ultimately be decided following the win-loss relationships!
Those that advanced were Great Xia, USA, Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Greece, and Italy.
Italy could also be considered to possess home-field advantage; if anyone said there were no tricks whatsoever during the Treasure Hunt Competition, naturally no one would believe it.
Yet without evidence, coupled with the fact that they themselves were indeed not weak, even if other countries had doubts, they could not say much.
The grand showdown was not carried out according to the treasure hunt rankings, but similarly in the manner of drawing lots.
In the first match, Great Xia ran into Italy.
What was unexpected was that Italy directly chose to forfeit the match, fielding almost no main-force contestants, and they easily secured the victory.
As for the remaining three matches...
They were respectively USA versus Greece, Britain versus Germany, and France versus Russia.
Compared to the contest between Great Xia and Italy, these three matches were undoubtedly somewhat more exciting.
Those that advanced were Great Xia, USA, Britain, and Russia.
In the draw for the second match, Great Xia ran into the fighting nation.
The battle between the two sides was a desert battlefield. Apart from boundless yellow sand, not even a single plant or a pool of water existed.
Following a shout of "Start" from the referee, Chen Lang raised his hand and unleashed Thunderous Might!
"Rip—!!!"
"Bzz-bzz-bzz—!!!"
On the side of the fighting nation's team, Bao Liya had already deployed Thorn Seeds as soon as she entered the arena.
The instant Chen Lang's thunderous might surged over, she lightly tapped the tip of her foot.
Only to see rows of thorns rise straight from the ground amidst the yellow sand!
"Swish, swish, swish—!!!"
They very quickly connected to form a fortress.
"Rumble—!!!"
"Clatter—!!!"
However, the thorns that had previously been very easy for warding off lightning shattered into fragments today with just a brush of the electric current!
"Damn it, what kind of destruction is this, breaking my defense so easily?" Bao Liya, who was wearing magic armor, felt somewhat powerless.
"If he didn't have this kind of force, how could he possibly have single-handedly captured the Battlefield Treasure?" said Ande Hai, who was likewise clad in heavy armor.
"Jointly interrupt him! We can't let him continue unleashing destruction!"
"Alright!"
Depending on their magic armor for defense, the group at this moment also wanted to seize the opportunity and target Chen Lang with all their strength.
Very quickly, everyone saw that where the electric currents formed a cage, streaks of elemental destruction impacted toward the location where Chen Lang was situated!
A full five High-level beams of light, every single one being a High-level spell, and even three of those skills had reached the second tier of the High-level...
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