Chapter 217: What is meant to come, will always come.
From a purely rational perspective, putting aside national sentiment, the reward for second place was indeed quite attractive to him.
Because it offered a shortcut that could potentially allow him to reach Super-Order.
However, he also deeply understood the numerous invaluable things the nation had silently bestowed upon him.
The stable environment and orderly society fostered by the nation served as a solid foundation, providing indispensable assurance for his growth and experience.
Adding to that, the Guardian Mages stationed at the borders, and the annual casualty figures of domestic Mages...
In an era where the nation faced numerous threats, he had a responsibility to strive for more for the nation.
By securing first place, Great Xia would also receive more resource allocation.
Although there were some corrupt elements within the nation, there were also many individuals like Hua Zhanhong and Shao Zheng, who harbored great righteousness and remained true to their original aspirations.
It was precisely because of their silent dedication that the people of Great Xia could enjoy moments of peace amidst the difficult survival environment where the nation was besieged on all sides.
Without them, the nation would inevitably fall into endless chaos and turmoil, and the so-called stable life would become an illusion.
Mo Fan knew that human nature certainly had a selfish side, but even if he couldn't reach the noble realm of those heroic Guardian Mages who sacrificed themselves for the nation, at this moment, when it was time to contribute his strength in international competition, he should rightfully step forward without hesitation.
Although many people might feel that Mo Fan had done so much for the nation, yet the nation seemed to have offered him no help when he needed it.
But one must know that even though Mo Fan's contributions to the nation had not yielded practical rewards,
his unrestrained actions of unleashing magic without holding back anywhere in the nation, and fighting and killing wherever he went, were precisely because there were people at the top providing support.
If the higher-ups had not shown concern for Mo Fan, even if he had saved many people, the Magic Association still had the right to apprehend him.
It could be said that the domestic high-level officials had already shown him a great deal of favoritism.
Later, Mo Fan did grow, but before the end of the Academy and before the catastrophe of the Magic City, he was merely a High-Level Mage.
He couldn't just casually use his demon power either.
Putting all that aside, Mo Fan was also full of confidence for the upcoming treasure hunt competition.
In the treasure hunt competition, international organizations would gather various precious resources and then distribute them through fierce competition among the younger generation of Mages.
Each nation would send out its most outstanding young Mages to participate. In this arena, everything depended on one's own strength and ability; there was no favoritism or shortcuts, making it the most fair and reasonable method of resource allocation.
Mo Fan would also gain immense benefits from this treasure hunt competition.
In the elimination rounds, Great Xia had essentially won, already securing the absolute qualification to enter the second round of the treasure hunt competition.
However, Mo Fan had no intention of using the money he currently possessed, as he planned to double its value later.
On the opening day of the treasure hunt competition, the entire world received a major piece of news.
The international Dark Grandmaster Asendell was found guilty, and the Holy Judgment Court would carry out his apprehension and execution without further review!
Upon arriving at the gathering point, everyone was discussing this matter, and its sensational impact truly shocked the world!
Asendell was a supreme Dark Lord, unparalleled.
Of course, that was just the superficial appearance of a strong person. In fact, if one were to casually pull out any of those powerful individuals not publicly known, none of them could compare to Asendell.
But to most people in the world, the opponent was already at the pinnacle.
And Asendell's matter indeed affected the World Academy Competition. To avoid opening on the day Asendell was sentenced, the treasure hunt competition of the World Academy Competition was specially postponed for two days.
Generally speaking, no matter how big or sensational an event, after a few days, people would be attracted by new things and gradually forget it.
Asendell's influence, however, was astonishingly strong; two days later, it still swept through international media, and it was even said that a certain candidate had also gone into seclusion because of it.
Mo Fan had no interest in these matters; anyway, what was meant to happen would happen sooner or later.
Afterward, the treasure hunt competition also smoothly commenced.
Aside from the sixteen eliminated nations, the treasure hunt competition would proceed simultaneously with the remaining sixteen strong nations still in Venice.
The gathering place for the treasure hunt competition was the original opening venue, but unlike the previous layout, today's venue was adorned with many magic stones radiating a silvery glow.
The silver magic stones were arranged in a long formation, and upon arriving, one could even feel the active surge of Space Element power throughout the entire formation.
Space Element magic arrays generally come in two types: one is instantaneous random spatial transmission, like the random space gate Asha蕊雅 set up when Mo Fan and she went to provoke the Black Dragon, which had no very clear spatial destination.
The other type is a designated space gate, which instantly moves people to a pre-set location.
Space Element Mages have always proposed placing Space Element magic arrays in major cities worldwide to allow people to travel between these distant cities in a few seconds, but in reality, this is an impractical idea. The more distant the spatial transfer, the greater the energy consumed. In this world of scarce resources and competition with demons, the resources consumed to spatially transfer one traveler could train an outstanding military officer on the battlefield.
Therefore, only super-events like the World National House Competition would use Space Element magic arrays to send students to the true battlefield.
"I will explain the rules." The chief referee stepped forward and announced in standard international language: "Your 160 students from sixteen nations will be randomly mixed and enter the treasure hunt space. Each of your spatial landing points will also be in different places. Since the chosen location for the competition is inherently dangerous and a place of demons, you need to be extra careful when searching for the treasures we have placed inside. Even though we have assistant referees dispatched inside, we will also distribute as many eagle eyes as possible to ensure your safety. However, accidents can happen, so at that time, we hope you can remain calm, call for help promptly, and not lose your lives due to temporary greed or a moment of recklessness."
"And then, this is a space scroll. When you find yourselves in life-threatening danger, immediately fill the entire scroll with magic energy. The scroll will activate in about 4 seconds, creating a spatial vortex to send you back here. Again, cherish your lives; do not act impulsively!"
Although this was a necessary lesson for the students to experience, for these future magic prodigies, they certainly did not want any of them to suffer any losses.
Of course, these were the worst-case scenarios; generally, assistant referees would always follow behind the students.
They were there to rescue people or safely evacuate them at any time, but then again, there would always be contingencies, which is why the Governor of Venice specifically gave this speech.