Mochizuki Chikako led the National Team members on a tour around the West Sentinel Tower.

This grand structure reminded Lu Jun of those post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels, where a single skyscraper functioned as an entire society.

At the center of the West Sentinel Tower was a wide artificial lake, intersected with water pavilions and corridors. The surrounding buildings were arranged in a circular layout. Overall, the scenery was beautiful, evoking a traditional Japanese courtyard aesthetic.

The tower had three levels. The lower tower had numerous halls and corridors, crisscrossing like a maze.

The middle tower housed the museum, library, trial arena, meditation chambers, lecture halls, grand halls, palace quarters, artifact chambers, forging workshops, and potion rooms…

The upper tower contained the military conference hall, watchtower, guard corridor, and formation tower. Aside from a few key Osaka figures and tower guardian mages, no one else was allowed access.

The suspension bridge of the Twin Sentinel Towers was located between the upper towers. In other words, without authorization from a general, no one could cross the bridge to reach the East Sentinel Tower.

Through Mochizuki Chikako’s introduction, Lu Jun met her elder, Mochizuki Meiken.

Both showed relatively friendly attitudes—they weren’t bad people to begin with.

Seeing this, Lu Jun was deep in thought, fully aware that the birth of the Red Demon was closely tied to the Mochizuki family. It had been Mochizuki Meiken’s generation that once secretly infiltrated the East Sentinel Tower and stole the Condensed Evil Bead to cultivate.

As they used the bead to train, they were gradually corrupted by negative emotions. Their deteriorating humanity laid the foundation for the Condensed Evil Bead to evolve into the Red Demon.

Among them, one person named Yi Qiu realized the danger in time, took the Condensed Evil Bead away, and sacrificed himself to feed the demon in order to save his companions and wife.

Thus, the first Red Demon was born. It escaped Japan and hid within the Lu Clan in Kyushu.

Therefore, the Red Demon’s true body was the Condensed Evil Bead formed from the deepest malice of imprisoned mages. The Red Demon was born from humanity’s collective negative emotions and evil faith.

So long as evil persisted, the Red Demon would never die.

Unless a powerful individual emerged to seize the origin’s position.

Lu Jun recalled the past—in the suburbs of the Magic City, behind the relief shelter where Mo Fan had lived, was a prison established by the Red Demon Lu Kun. It was used to forge the Condensed Evil Bead and recover injuries.

At present, Japan’s East Sentinel Tower was the same. After the previous Condensed Evil Bead disappeared, a new one had slowly formed over time.

Sitting at the tea ceremony, sipping tea, Lu Jun gazed deeply in the direction of the East Sentinel Tower.

The Red Demon’s power was truly eerie. Mo Fan’s rise to the Evil Saint King was a result of heaven-sent timing and fortune. If the two ever clashed head-on, who would emerge victorious remained uncertain.

Lu Jun stayed calm, but the other dozen or so National Team members were growing restless. Guan Yu couldn’t help but ask, “May I ask when your country will accept a challenge?”

Mochizuki Meiken was slightly surprised, then smiled, “So eager? Then we’re ready anytime.”

Lu Jun also said, “Let’s begin right away. We still have to head to Ocean Battle City for further trials.”

Both teams proceeded to the magic dueling grounds. The arena was massive, seven to eight hundred meters in diameter more than sufficient for high-level mage combat.

After some discussion, the two countries decided on a one-on-one format, not team battles.

A best-of-five system would determine the victor.

The China National Team members were scrambling to sign up, all eager to make a name for themselves. Ever since the national team reform, results would be publicly disclosed. Defeating their archenemy, Yingzhou, would no doubt bring massive prestige back home.

Lu Jun, however, showed little interest. He had already observed during the banquet that the Japanese Guardian Team had no high-level mages, so he simply had others step up consider it training too.

Soon, he casually chose a few members: Guan Yu to start, followed by Mu Ningxue, and Mo Fan as a failsafe.

Why only three in a five-match setup? Lu Jun stated that the three were enough.

Of course, out of courtesy for Yingzhou’s friendliness this time, he didn’t bother explaining it was enough that his own people understood.

Once Guan Yu learned that both Mu Ningxue and rival Mo Fan were participating, his excitement spiked. He even challenged Mo Fan to see who could finish their fight fastest.

Mo Fan glared at Lu Jun. “Old Lu, you did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“What do you think?”

Lu Jun just smiled. As the team captain, it was his job to assign roles—and putting these three together would definitely bring out their potential.

Soon, Guan Yu entered the field. As a Wind and Earth Element mage, he moved freely, his arm armor delivering aggressive attacks, forcing the Japanese Guardian Team into continuous retreat.

After a few test exchanges, he landed a decisive blow and won.

Nearby spectators—dozens of Japanese—cried out, “This Eastern National Team member is strong! That style… could it be the one we read about in the reports? The one called ‘Little Lu Jun’—Guan Yu?”

As soon as that was said, the triumphant Guan Yu, fresh off the stage, heard it and his face darkened. He wanted to curse—”Little Lu Jun,” seriously?

But catching sight of Lu Jun on the main seat, he dared not speak up.

Next came Mu Ningxue and Mo Fan. No need to elaborate their combat power was overwhelming. They dispatched their opponents swiftly, with Mo Fan even one-shotting a Mid-tier Guardian Mage.

Three straight wins immediately stunned the Japanese National Pavilion crowd. They all exchanged uneasy glances.

This was totally different from the international image Kyushu’s National Team had previously held. Many of these guardian mages had talent on par with Dongfang Lie’s Fourth-tier Magic level.

Mochizuki Meiken sighed, “The younger generation is truly formidable. This Eastern dragon has finally awakened.”

With the match concluded, the China National Team secured their first badge. Everyone was uplifted a strong opening win was undoubtedly a good omen.

The news quickly spread back home, triggering waves of celebration. The Japanese team had always been a solid powerhouse in past National Team tournaments, consistently placing in the top sixteen, even breaking into the quarterfinals on occasion.

Now, however, they had been thoroughly and cleanly defeated. Although the footage had certain magical details redacted to maintain confidentiality, the timestamps for each match’s conclusion were unaltered.

Someone scoffed sourly, “Don’t get too excited. The National Team was supposed to be stronger than the Guardian Team to begin with. Winning is expected losing would’ve been a disgrace.”

Someone immediately retorted, “What a joke! Anyone who understands magic dueling knows that winning this quickly shows true strength. Especially Mo Fan’s instant kill—that kind of efficiency compared to the stumbles of past tournaments is proof of how fast they’ve improved.”

“Besides, the strength of a Guardian Team depends on the country. For example, in America, even just their Guardian Team could reach the top eight. Japan isn’t weak either their Guardian Team ranks among the upper echelon of global National Teams.”

Some banana people (yellow skin, white heart) couldn’t accept it and muttered, “Tch, that first match is important. The National Team must’ve sent out their trump card players.”

“Hahaha, what a joke.”

Unexpectedly, this backlash triggered even fiercer counterfire: “I really wonder if you people even follow National Team news. This came from Yunhub. Fun fact: Lu Jun and Ai Jiangtu are respectively the National Team’s captain and vice-captain—and neither of them even took the field.”

“Based on the data I’ve collected, most major teams around the world have already finished their first-round challenges, with mixed results.”

“Each country takes their first match seriously. Except for the big names like America and Britain, most teams send either their captain or vice-captain into the first battle.”

“But not us. Neither moved. Yet we still won so decisively if that doesn’t show our strength, what does?”

Netizens rallied behind the team. Some niche media outlets even revived the term “Three-Star China Team” and the “Three Giants” label. However, due to lackluster previous results, these terms hadn’t gone mainstream, and few dared to pop the champagne early.

But there was reason to believe that as the National Team’s performance continued to climb, public support would only grow stronger.

Meanwhile, far away in Osaka, Lu Jun and the others were unaware of the domestic discourse. After claiming the National Team badge, the Twin Sentinel Towers extended a warm invitation for them to stay the night.

Lu Jun casually agreed. He held a certain academic curiosity about the Red Demon’s Condensed Evil Bead. He didn’t intend to draw on its utmost evil power but wanted to study how to harness negative emotions.

This field happened to align perfectly with the specialty of Psychic Magic. If he could master even a few techniques, his damage potential would rise significantly.

Mo Fan’s eyes lit up as well. Being a reckless daredevil, he was also highly interested in the secrets of the East Sentinel Tower.

For additional chapters

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Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep