126: Hidden attributes of Tiaotiao

Chapter 126: Jumping Guard's Hidden Characteristic

In the Show Card Hall director's office, Xiu Qingshan and Vice Director He had just finished watching Shi Li's card game via live feed.

“I always feel like this kid really enjoys the sight of his opponents’ impotent Rage,” Vice Director He mused, still savoring Gong Ping’s cry of “This isn't fair!” and Shi Li’s expression at the time.

“What a coincidence, I enjoy that feeling too,” Xiu Qingshan said with a smile. “With his current deck, he should achieve good results in the Three Card Hall Joint Exam.”

The Three Card Hall Joint Exam is a combined contract assessment held by the three major Card Halls.

“I hope he can achieve good results.”

Regarding this matter, Vice Director He wasn't actually optimistic.

Shi Li had only recently been promoted to a B-level contract and wasn't yet among the top B-level contractors.

To his knowledge, the number of students officially admitted to the three major Card Hall universities this year, excluding those with family connections, was in the double digits nationwide.

They all met the criteria of three-system card resonance + Platinum rank + B-level cultivation contract.

Jiangnan Province was, after all, a small province for the College Entrance Examination. Whether in terms of educational resources or training conditions, it was far inferior to developed provinces and municipalities. This year, only Ouyang Huan and Shi Li, both B-level contractors, emerged.

However, in a city like Huadu, one of the three major cities with the best student sources over the years, twenty people were officially admitted to the three major Card Hall universities this year, which was 20 times the number in Jiangnan Province.

“Old He, what rank do you think he can achieve?” Xiu Qingshan asked at this point.

“I believe it would be a victory for him to even break into the top 100,” Vice Director He said realistically.

“What does Young Master think?”

“It depends on the format of this joint exam, but I think he can make it into the top 50.”

“It seems Young Master truly thinks highly of Shi Li. When does Young Master plan to bring up the matter of taking him as a disciple?”

“Let’s wait until the Three Card Hall Joint Assessment is over.”

Xiu Qingshan had originally intended to bring it up after the Exotic (Otherworld) incident, but Shi Li was injured later, so he didn't mention it.

“But what if—he doesn’t agree?”

“He has no reason not to agree. If he truly doesn’t agree, then he can only miss out on this grand gift I’m about to prepare for him.”

Xiu Qingshan smiled mysteriously.

On the second and third days of the College Entrance Examination's duel segment, Shi Li's progress was very smooth.

He advanced from 64 to 32, 32 to 16, 16 to 8, and 8 to 4.

Each promotion caused a frenzy among the teachers of Twenty-sixth High School.

However, to avoid affecting Shi Li's state, Principal Su did not go to find him.

Only Teacher Li, in his capacity as homeroom teacher, offered a few words of Encouragement each day.

Your opponent will be randomly matched in 0:01.

On the fourth day, Shi Li encountered Jin Lei at the card table.

“Shi Li, I’ve finally been waiting for you.”

“Hello, classmate Jin Lei.”

Shi Li knew that this opponent would likely not be as easy to deal with as the previous ones.

Platinum 5, she was currently the second highest-ranked examinee in Jiangnan Province, second only to Ouyang Huan's Platinum 6.

Although he had previously defeated a Platinum 5 High Priest, that was due to the advantage of countering Fel Energy (evil energy).

He wondered what level this Platinum 5 opponent would be.

In the recordings of Jin Lei's card games he had watched, she had only ever displayed a maximum of 2 three-star Character Cards.

She had kept her strength well hidden.

“Come on, Shi Li.” Jin Lei's fighting spirit was high.

As long as she defeated her opponent, she could secure second place.

This was also her ultimate goal for this College Entrance Examination.

As for defeating Ouyang Huan, she no longer dared to hope.

Because just yesterday, through her family's connections, she had finally learned some information about Ouyang Huan.

With the help of her Uncle Ouyang, that guy had already secured first place.

No one could defeat him.

Soon, both sides had finished arranging their cards.

Shi Li was the first to reveal his front-row cards.

This time, his front-row cards were Jumping Guard + Thunderhorn Deer.

The terms carried by Jumping Guard were Stasis + Little Tiao Tiao.

Thunderhorn Deer had Double Strike + Vulnerability, as it didn't have any other alternative terms.

“Hmph.” Jin Lei merely snorted coldly at the sight.

Sure enough, this guy's tactics were all similar; his opening was either Jumping Guard + Thunderhorn Deer or Jumping Guard + Crow Warrior.

Everything was under her control.

So she revealed her 2 front-row cards. Both were Rage cards.

They belonged to the damage-absorbing type of Rage cards, with high HP and self-Healing abilities.

These 2 cards also didn't surprise Shi Li; he had already seen them in the recordings.

During the action phase, Shi Li played the Charge hand card on Thunderhorn Deer.

On Jin Lei's side, she played a T5 Healing hand card.

Because they were worried about hitting the opponent's Defense, neither side chose to focus fire, opting instead for one-on-one attacks.

After one round, Jin Lei gained a small lead in HP due to 30 points of Healing.

Second round, reveal phase.

The card Shi Li revealed was Cicada Wing Patrol.

Buzz buzz buzz~

A golden-haired insect girl with cicada-like wings on her back flew out from the card face.

Cicada Wing Patrol

Balance, 30 points, Three-star Attack 30, 100/100

Universal - Characteristic: When Cicada Wing Patrol joins the deck, increase your score limit by +10.

Momentum - Passive: In the round Cicada Wing Patrol is revealed, gain 10 points of Encouragement (T0).

Blessing - Passive: When Cicada Wing Patrol is revealed, grant 1 revealed card 10 points of Encouragement for this round (T0).

“Hmm?” When she saw this card, Jin Lei's expression froze.

Although she had already seen Shi Li reach Platinum 2, this Character Card becoming a three-star was not mentioned in her intelligence.

“Well calculated.” On the other side of the screen, the Twenty-sixth High School teachers began their analysis again.

“Many effects in Cube Cards cannot overlap; only the highest value is taken.”

“This means Cicada Wing Patrol's Blessing cannot be given to itself, otherwise it would overlap with Momentum, causing waste.”

“Giving 10 permanent Encouragement to Thunderhorn Deer is definitely the most profitable, because it has 2 attacks, maximizing the attack power bonus.”

“This way, the opponent will have no choice but to consider this and redirect their firepower to Thunderhorn Deer, thereby ensuring more survival rounds for Jumping Guard.”

“Sometimes, an output card doesn't necessarily have to deal damage; it only needs to attract the opponent's firepower to play a tactical role.”

“A clever move.”

When a good card move appears in a card game, but is not quite a 'God's Hand,' it is called a clever move.

Two 10-point Encouragement joining the battlefield meant that Shi Li's output for this round reached 110 points.

As for Jin Lei, the card she revealed this round was still a Rage card.

“Even if Thunderhorn Deer gets 10 points of Encouragement, it won't last long.” A smile of “everything is under control” was on her face.

Then the action phase arrived.

In this round, Shi Li played 1 LV1 Isolation.

Then he smoothly took out the opponent's front-row card that was not at full health.

Similarly, Thunderhorn Deer was also taken out.

In the third round, Shi Li revealed his back-row card.

Red Blade Maiden, carrying Unceasing + Abundant + Vast.

Absolute powerful output, the earlier revealed, the earlier output.

And the back-row card Jin Lei revealed was actually still a Rage card!

The reason she was able to achieve such a high floor count in the Rampage Trial was because all 5 of her three-star Character Cards in her deck were Rage cards!

“Gust! Principal Su!”

As the card face was revealed, a woman wearing a grass skirt and covered in strange paint markings jumped out of the card.

Storm Battle Witch

Rage, 30 points, Three-star Attack 30, 130/130

Surging Bloodline - Characteristic: After Storm Battle Witch loses HP each round, she gains 10 points of Healing.

Unceasing - Passive: Storm Battle Witch gains 10 points of Treatment each round (T1).

Abundant - Passive: Storm Battle Witch's maximum HP +30.

Gust Devour - 30 HP: Storm Battle Witch selects 1 target space and releases the Banish effect (T2).

(Banish: Temporarily remove a regular card target from the card game.)

This card was Jin Lei's trump card.

A Unique Character Card with a Characteristic.

Moreover, its terms were very similar to Red Blade Maiden's, both being three-star Rage, and both having Unceasing + Abundant.

Banish is a relatively special effect.

“I must admit, the Jumping Guard mechanism is excellent.” After revealing this card, Jin Lei began to speak fluently.

“I’ve studied your card games. This card is definitely a core card that is no less powerful than Red Blade Maiden.”

“Your previous opponents might not have paid much attention, but it was precisely because they wasted too many output turns on the Jumping Guard that they gradually fell into a disadvantage, which then led to their defeat.”

“But what if I bypass it?”

“From now on, every turn I will Banish it, and then attack the cards behind it.”

“During its Stasis turn, I can also use Banish to prevent it from having any lingering effect.”

“Anyway, my Storm Battle Witch recovers 20 HP every turn, which means I’m only spending 10 HP to counter your 30 points of output.”

“Moreover, the Storm Battle Witch has a blocker in front, so your Isolation hand cards can’t get through.”

“Once I’ve dealt with your secondary and back-row cards, my remaining cards can slowly take care of the Jumping Guard.”

Her analysis could be said to be very reasonable.

In fact, other examinees weren't fools; they had also studied Shi Li’s deck.

It's just that the relatively rare effect of Banish isn't something everyone has.

Furthermore, even if they did, none of their cards could continuously cast Banish for so many turns.

After listening to her analysis, the action phase officially began.

Alas...

Shi Li sighed.

“Sighing is useless now.”

Seeing his reaction, Jin Lei appeared even more confident.

“I'm sighing because my advantage is about to be exposed.”

Come on, people, listen to what he's saying.

[Storm! It will banish you!]

On the card table, the Battle Witch had already begun to wave the magic tool in her hand.

A tornado quickly formed above her head, then roared towards the Tiao Tiao.

However, just as Jin Lei thought her strategy was successful, she saw a line of text pop up above Tiao Tiao's head.

It wasn't the two characters representing Banish, but a single character.

[Tiao Tiao is unaffected by external influences]

“What?!!!”

Jin Lei's eyes bulged, and she was stunned on the spot.

“Correction, sorry.”

“It's the advantage of my card that's about to be exposed.”

Shi Li even clapped, annoyingly: “To be able to dig out something hidden so deeply, truly impressive.”

In a player's personal simulated card game, certain special effects that they do not possess cannot be simulated.

Just like this Characteristic of Tiao Tiao.

[Multi-core - Characteristic]: Jumping Guard's HP is divided into 2 segments, and it is unaffected by any external beneficial effects, so before actual play, Jin Lei wouldn't know that Tiao Tiao could also be immune to effects like Banish, which can be both positive and negative.

The immunity of the Jumping Guard completely disrupted Jin Lei's tactical deployment.

Consequently, in the subsequent card game, she collapsed rapidly.

She couldn't put up much effective resistance and was defeated by Shi Li.

Thus, Shi Li successfully entered the finals of the next stage.

Tomorrow, his opponent would undoubtedly be Ouyang Huan.

On the very night Shi Li advanced to the finals, an online meeting involving Jiangnan Province and 3 other provinces was taking place.

More than twenty representatives from various sectors of the three provinces attended the meeting.

As a representative of a prominent family in Jiangnan Province, Ouyang Jinhua attended this meeting.

He was Ouyang Huan's father and the current patriarch of the Ouyang family.

His rank had reached Emerald 32, a master far exceeding the Emerald peak line.

A player of this caliber was just waiting for an opportunity.

As long as he could obtain a five-star Character Card, he would immediately be promoted to the Diamond rank.

A rank like Ouyang Jinhua's, let alone within the province, would place him among the top hundred masters even across the entire Xia Kingdom.

It was precisely because of his strength that the Ouyang family was able to rise from an ordinary-sized player family to the top position in the province over the years.

“The reason I invited everyone today is actually about the nomination list.”

The host's image occupied 50% of the screen, and he began to introduce the situation to everyone.

“Recently, the Banlan Tribe from the Gan Territory sent us an invitation, hoping that we could send talented new stars to participate in their Torch Raising Ceremony, which occurs once every six years.”

The Gan Territory is one of several super-large, level 6 Exotic connected to Bluestar.

There is more than one Space-Time Trace connecting Bluestar to the Gan Territory, all distributed within the Xia Kingdom.

One of these entrances is in Jiangbei Province, adjacent to Jiangnan Province.

According to effective statistics, the area of the Gan Territory is even twice that of Bluestar, so there are quite a few races thriving there.

Some races are on good terms with Bluestar, and the Banlan Tribe is one of them.

Furthermore, the main gathering place of the Banlan Tribe is near the entrance in Jiangbei Province.

“Hahahaha, has six years passed in a blink of an eye?”

“The grandeur of the last gathering is truly vivid in my memory.”

“Back then, at the Torch Raising Ceremony, I was just an audience member.”

Hearing this, the more experienced representatives were already eager to participate.

The Torch Raising Ceremony is actually a grand card game event held within the Banlan Tribe.

The ultimate winning player will receive the honor of relighting the Banlan Tribe's sacred fire.

Of course, besides the honor, the rewards are also quite generous.

To demonstrate their friendship with the Bluestar people, the Banlan Tribe invites several Bluestar players to participate in every Torch Raising Ceremony.

However, to date, no Bluestar player has ever taken first place in the Torch Raising Ceremony.

After all, as one of the major tribes in the Gan Territory, the Banlan Tribe naturally has many masters.

Even if they don't win first place, lower rankings will still receive good rewards.

The Banlan Tribe does not show favoritism towards Bluestar players; rewards are distributed equally.

Bluestar players who performed well in previous years usually received substantial rewards.

However, the number of participating slots is usually small, sometimes 4 or 5, sometimes only 2 or 3.

Many of the representatives present actually knew the significance of this meeting, and they were already prepared to fight tooth and nail for a spot.

Anyway, players always let their card games do the talking.

In previous years, they usually organized internal card duels to decide the spots.

However, just as undercurrents stirred among the representatives, the host changed the topic.

“However, according to the Banlan Tribe, this year's Torch Raising Ceremony is a bit special; it's a New Fire Gathering.”

“New Fire—”

Some of the more senior representatives, upon hearing this, immediately lost much of their interest.

It is said that only when one or more highly potential new players emerge within a certain 6-year cycle will the Banlan Tribe change the Torch Raising Ceremony to a New Fire Gathering.

This symbolizes the rise of the Banlan Tribe's new generation.

The content of the competition remains the same, but only new generation players are allowed to participate.

However, the New Fire Gathering is inferior to the regular Torch Raising Ceremony in terms of attention, scale, and rewards.

Especially the rewards.

For players who haven't even reached the Platinum peak line, even giving four-star material rewards doesn't hold much significance.

Moreover, possessing a treasure invites trouble.

“The Banlan Tribe has also invited our Bluestar's new generation players, whose age must not exceed 19 years old (by traditional Chinese reckoning).”

“And only 3 spots were given.”

“How do you all think these 3 spots should be allocated? Please speak freely.”

With 3 spots, whether it's one per province for the three provinces, or one per Card Hall for the three major Card Halls, or some other arrangement, would require thorough discussion.

“I have an idea, to start things off for everyone.”

Ouyang Jinhua spoke up.

“Anyway, in previous years, discussions always ended with representatives sending their chosen individuals to compete for spots in card games.

This year, they require players under 19 years old, so we can even skip organizing card games.

Let's just decide based on the college entrance examination results; those who meet the age requirement and are the top scorers in the three provinces happen to be exactly three people.”

As soon as he finished speaking, many representatives familiar with his situation rolled their eyes.

That old fox Ouyang is truly shameless; who doesn't know that his son is the designated top scholar of Jiangnan Province?

But it's undeniable that this method is actually the fairest.

Many representatives silently agreed in their hearts.

Eventually, after discussion, Ouyang Jinhua's proposal was approved by the majority.

The motion passed.

Shi Li did not know that the upcoming card game would not only determine his college entrance examination results but also a journey to another realm.

After breakfast, he went online on time.

“Your opponent will be randomly matched in 0:01.”

Soon, Ouyang Huan’s figure and the Platinum 6 tag appeared across the card table.