85: Top of the Sky!

After paying respects to the Elder Yao and unexpectedly receiving the generous reward of the "Thunder Ring," Lu Yuan's treatment and status within the Yao Family underwent a dramatic transformation.

Yao Tianbi personally arranged for Lu Yuan the most top-tier cultivation suite within the Yao Family.

This suite not only came with a small, high-concentration Source Gathering Array, but also had dedicated personnel delivering a large amount of precious cultivation resources daily, from auxiliary cultivation materials to Source Crystals containing pure energy—everything imaginable, supplied almost without cost.

Yao Xiao also seemed to have found new enjoyment, practically running to Lu Yuan's place every day.

Sometimes, she would excitedly pull Lu Yuan into discussions about various card tactical applications and counter-relationships, exchanging insights and making progress together.

Other times, she would act like a little tour guide, chattering away to Lu Yuan about all sorts of strange happenings in Canglan Province City, like where an interesting new shop had opened, or which family had made a fool of themselves.

Lu Yuan was also happy to have such a lively and lovely girl accompanying him; outside of cultivation, listening to her talk and laugh was quite pleasant.

The relationship between the two grew closer and more tacitly understanding in this unconscious daily interaction.

Yao Tianbi was pleased with this development, even intentionally or unintentionally creating more opportunities for the two to be alone.

Time flew by like a white steed, and in the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

The highly anticipated Canglan Province Prodigy Competition finally officially began amidst the expectations of countless people.

The competition venue was set in a giant floating arena called the "Dome of the Heavens" in the center of Canglan Province City.

This arena resembled a steel island suspended in mid-air, its main structure crafted from ultra-high-strength alloy, with its surface covered by flexible light screens capable of displaying real-time footage, giving it an overall futuristic and technological appearance.

Its interior could accommodate hundreds of thousands of spectators simultaneously, and in terms of both scale and technological sophistication, it was far beyond what the small municipal arena in Jiangcheng could compare to.

At this moment, top talented young men and women, meticulously cultivated by various cities and factions within Canglan Province, were converging here from all directions.

The opening ceremony of the competition was grand and magnificent.

The enormous "Dome of the Heavens" was packed, with hundreds of thousands of spectators waving glow sticks and emitting deafening cheers.

The Provincial Governor of Canglan Province personally attended the opening ceremony and delivered an impassioned speech, wishing the competition complete success and encouraging all participants to compete with style and skill, bringing glory to the future of Canglan Province.

Immediately after, Yao Tianqi (Yao Tianxiao and Yao Tianbi's elder brother, the current helmsman of the Yao Family), the chairman of Zhou Corporation Zhou Wanxiong, the principal of Canglan University Sun Qiming, and the chief hall master of Deyun Hall De An—these four core figures representing the four top forces of Canglan Province—also arrived.

They sat side-by-side in the most prominent and best-viewed VIP seats in the center of the arena, each with different expressions, chatting and laughing, all showing keen interest in this competition.

Zhou Wanxiong, in his capacity as the president of the Canglan Province Card Master Association, once again took the stage to deliver a speech, his words filled with expectations for the younger generation and an emphasis on maintaining Order in the Canglan Province Card Master world.

All procedures of the opening ceremony proceeded in an orderly fashion.

When the giant holographic projection screen began to scroll, displaying the detailed list of all participants in this competition and the results of the first round's draw, the atmosphere in the entire arena reached a new climax.

Countless eyes were fixed on the constantly scrolling names and avatars, searching for their favored contestants or analyzing potential strong opponents.

Lu Yuan's name was prominently listed.

He carefully scanned the information on the screen, seeing many well-known provincial prodigies in the list whom he had heard about from the information provided by Yao Tianbi.

For example, Sun Ke, the "blazing sun blade master" from the Sun Family in the provincial city, whose fire-element blade technique cards were used with divine skill, and who was said to have cultivated a purple four-star equipment card called [Blaze Prison Warhorse Saber] to a state of perfection.

(source cards are not necessarily Beast-type; skills, equipment, and even source cards can serve as source cards, all possessing considerable strength.)

There was also De Xiner, the outstanding talent of Deyun Hall's younger generation, the "Medicine Fairy," proficient in various elixir aids and poison-type cards, whose [Hundred Poisons Heart-Devouring Gu] was impossible to guard against. (She primarily cultivates skill cards.)

Furthermore, several core students from Canglan University's Prodigy Class, each with strength in the mid-to-high three-star tier, including many who possessed purple high-star cards and even mastered combined card combat techniques.

Lu Yuan had already learned about the names and information of these individuals through the intelligence provided by the Yao Family during the past few days.

The intensity of the competition was far beyond what the Jiangcheng Novice Competition could compare to.

This was a true battle between dragons and tigers, bringing together the most elite young talents from the entire Canglan Province.

Soon, Lu Yuan found his name and the information of his first-round opponent.

His opponent was named Zhang Qihang, from a second-rate Card Master family in the provincial city. His profile showed his strength to be around three-star, possessing a blue five-star card called [phantom assassin], skilled in stealth and burst assassination.

"Although this Zhang Qihang comes from only a second-rate family, it is said that to cultivate him, their family almost exhausted all their resources," Yao Tianbi appeared beside Lu Yuan at some point, looking at the information on the screen and reminding him, "There are no weaklings in the provincial competition; no match can be taken lightly."

"Many small families, once they bet all their resources on cultivating a prodigy, often have more trump cards than we anticipate, and they are even more ruthless."

Lu Yuan nodded, indicating he understood.

He naturally wouldn't underestimate his opponent because of their background or card grade.

Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit.

In the high-level preparation area for contestants, the lights were bright, and various recovery facilities and tactical analysis equipment were all available.

Lu Yuan was closing his eyes, adjusting his state, when he suddenly felt several unfriendly gazes fall upon him.

He opened his eyes and saw several young men and women, dressed in the uniform special school uniforms of Canglan University, wearing Prodigy Class badges on their chests, standing not far away, scrutinizing him with an appraising look.

They exuded powerful Source Power fluctuations belonging to three-star Card Masters, and their demeanor appeared quite arrogant, clearly being elite students who had been admitted to the Prodigy Class early.

These people had obviously also heard of Lu Yuan, the newly crowned Jiangcheng champion.

Or rather, the "Double gold card Prodigy" renowned throughout the province.

One of the youths, who seemed to be the leader, after confirming that Lu Yuan only had two-star strength, crossed his arms and walked towards him.

He spoke with a hint of provocation: "Oh? So you're Lu Yuan, the one who got lucky and picked up a championship in a small place like Jiangcheng?"

"I heard you even rejected our school's special recruitment invitation?"

The youth sneered, with an inexplicable sense of superiority: "I hope your strength matches your small reputation; don't cry after being defeated in the first round. You'd lose face for your Jiangcheng, and that would be a laughingstock."

His companions behind him also let out a low burst of laughter, though it was unclear what they were laughing about.

Lu Yuan calmly swept his gaze over the other party and responded indifferently:

"Prodigy Class?"

"A place I don't even care to go, how could it be a good place?"

"Sure enough, it's all you types."

He pointed at the other contestants who were meditating with their eyes closed.

"Learn from them, then look at yourselves. Waste who got in through special admission are still barking at me."

"If you think you're so amazing, why didn't you take the College Entrance Examination?"

"Why didn't you go to Jing University?"

"Hm?"

After speaking, he ignored these people, waved his hand, and closed his eyes again.

"You f*cking..." The youth was about to erupt.

"Staff, there's someone here maliciously harassing others; I hope their participation is revoked!"

At these words, the group of people deflated like withered eggplants and scurried away.

This caused a burst of laughter from the surrounding people.

"Heh heh, little kids."

Want to step on me to rise?

Be air in your next life...