Chapter 182: Award Ceremony

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: Award Ceremony

The lingering heat of the blast furnaces and the scorched ozone from the combat arenas softened into an atmosphere of genuine camaraderie as the tournament drew to its official close.

For the days following the brutal competitions, the fierce national rivalries that had defined the global stage gradually gave way to mutual respect. Combatants with bandaged shoulders shared flagons of dark alpine ale with the archmages who had blasted them out of the ring, while master smiths from the Northern States exchanged high-temperature metallurgy secrets over roaring subterranean fire pits with alchemists from the Ding Dynasty.

Even Gabriel Bernard, though still nursing his deeply bruised aristocratic pride, was seen quietly exchanging contact runes with foreign trade representatives looking for alternative supply lines.

Rowan and Jeremy walked through the bustling marble halls beneath the Colosseum, where the young harvester found himself constantly surrounded by legendary figures. Tian Yu approached Rowan with a deep, earnest bow, offering a jar of refined mountain tea as a token of respect for Rowan’s uncorrupted path and requesting future correspondence on soil harmony.

The champion marksman from the Freedom Association spent an hour chatting with Squad 07 about kinetic recoil absorption, while foreign grandmasters repeatedly sought out Rowan to offer open invitations to their sovereign realms. The Global Tournament had transformed into a massive, interconnected network of future alliances, with Eden International sitting squarely at the center of the world’s attention.

On the final afternoon, the Swiss Colosseum cleared its arena floor one last time, replacing the battle tracks with a grand, multi-tiered marble dais illuminated by brilliant, golden spotlights.

Thousands of spectators filled the multi-tiered stands to overflowing as the Council of Nations commenced the official awards ceremony, presenting heavy gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top three competitors in every category.

The stadium cheered loudly as the champions stepped forward: the British Barony took gold for spatial magecraft, the Freedom Association took their bow for marksmanship, the Ding Dynasty accepted top honors for alchemy, and the Northern States proudly occupied the entire podium for blacksmithing.

When the time arrived for the Herbology and Life-Cultivation Division, the stadium erupted into an absolute frenzy.

Rowan stepped up to the elevated top tier of the central podium, his Enchanted Straw Hat adjusted comfortably as the roaring crowd chanted his name. On the silver and bronze tiers beside him, Tian Yu and a veteran senior grandmaster applauded in genuine, humble respect. The Swiss High Chancellor stepped forward, carrying a velvet cushion bearing a heavy, adamantine-rimmed Gold Grand Champion Medal etched with ancient runic laurels.

"For achieving a historic, one-hundred-percent primordial germination and demonstrating a level of purity never before seen in recorded history," the High Chancellor declared over the booming acoustic arrays, "Rowan Vance of the Sol-Aethel Empire is hereby awarded the Gold Medal of the Global Life-Cultivation Division!"

As the Chancellor draped the gleaming medal around Rowan’s neck, the stadium lights flared in brilliant imperial gold. Rowan offered a calm, courteous bow to the cheering thousands, his fingers lightly brushing the polished surface of the medal.

"Furthermore," the High Chancellor continued, his voice taking on a profound, heavy weight that silenced the stadium, "by order of the Council of Nations and the Grand Alpine Charter, Grand Champion Rowan Vance is granted the ultimate tournament privilege: entry into the subterranean Swiss Royal Vaults to personally select one treasure of his choosing from our sovereign treasury."

A wave of breathless whispers rippled through the VIP galleries. The Swiss Vaults, carved deep into the impenetrable granite beneath the Alps, were legendary across the globe. They held centuries of uncatalogued spatial artifacts, ancient elemental cores, forgotten texts, and petrified relics recovered from deep-sea expeditions like Atlantis—treasures so rare that no amount of gold could purchase them on the open market.

Jeremy grinned broadly from the Imperial delegation box, giving Rowan a subtle thumbs-up. "A custom pick from the world’s most guarded treasury..." Jeremy chuckled under his breath. "They have no idea what kind of game-changer Rowan is going to sniff out down there."

Adjusting the brim of his straw hat, Rowan looked toward the reinforced adamantine vault doors guarded by alpine paladins at the edge of the arena floor. A serene, calculating smirk touched his lips. With Eden International’s prestige cemented and his domain thriving, the right artifact from the world’s premier vault was about to take his agricultural empire to an entirely new level.

*** ℴ

Flanked by two towering alpine paladins in heavy silver-and-adamantine armor, Rowan was escorted down a series of descending spiral staircases deep beneath the Swiss Colosseum. The lingering noise of the stadium faded, replaced by the cool, silent air of a subterranean fortress. Ancient runic wards pulsed along the polished stone walls, measuring every heartbeat and mana signature that passed through the corridor.

At the end of the hall, massive blast doors forged from deep-sea metals slid open with a heavy, pneumatic hiss, revealing a private, high-security reception chamber.

Standing behind a broad desk of polished dark oak sat a ranking member of the Swiss Council—a distinguished elder with severe graying temples and crisp diplomatic robes. Beside him, two high-tier ward masters stood vigilantly, monitoring security arrays glowing in the air.

"Grand Champion Vance," the council member greeted warmly, rising to offer a respectful hand. "Once again, congratulations on a historic performance. What you demonstrated on the floor today will be studied by our botanical institutions for decades to come."

"Thank you, Councilman," Rowan replied smoothly, offering a polite nod as he adjusted the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat.

The council member tapped a key on his desk, and a heavy, silver-framed tablet etched with glowing anti-tamper runes unlocked with a soft chime. He slid the device across the desk toward Rowan.

"As the sole victor with a hundred-percent purity rating, you have been granted access to our vault’s highest tier," the elder explained, his voice taking on a hushed, reverent tone. "Under standard rules, contestants choose blindly from a pre-selected category. However, by unanimous vote of the Council, you are being presented with the master catalog of our sovereign primary reserve. Every item listed here is an irreplaceable relic, recovered from deep-sea Atlantean ruins, prehistoric ley-line fissures, or private royal inheritances."

Rowan accepted the sleek, heavy tablet. The moment his fingers brushed the glass display, the runic interface recognized his mana signature, unspooling a list of legendary treasures categorized by origin, element, and structural grade.

Rowan tapped into his domain-attuned perception, scanning the high-definition holographic renders and detailed appraisal notes for the top-tier selections:

[S-Rank Spatial Expansion Anchor]: A fist-sized, obsidian polyhedron recovered from a unstable dimensional rift. Capable of expanding the interior boundaries of any pocket dimension or spatial domain tenfold while stabilizing internal mana currents.

[Glacial Core of the Primordial Frost-Dragon]: An uncorrupted elemental engine yielding absolute cold, ideal for extreme environment control, high-tier alchemy quenching, or forging ice-attribute artifacts.

[Fragment of the Origin Earth Pulse]: A petrified slab of primordial soil crust embedded with natural spirit-veins. Automatically draws atmospheric mana to continuously purify and enrich the surrounding earth within a ten-mile radius.

[Heartwood Vessel of the Slumbering Dryad]: A hollowed, ancient timber vessel carved from a pre-cataclysm world tree, capable of accelerating the maturation rate of rare seeds without inducing elemental stress or slag accumulation.

Rowan slowly swiped through the entries, his golden-amber eyes gleaming with quiet, strategic interest. While any sovereign guild or noble house would spill blood for the spatial anchor or the dragon core, Rowan’s mind immediately calculated the long-term yield for Eden International.

The Council elder watched Rowan closely, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Take your time, Grand Champion. A choice like this will shape the future trajectory of your house."