140: Advance to [Platinum 5], resonance degree exceeds 100

Chapter 140: Promoted to Platinum 5, Resonance Exceeds 100

Perhaps because the Torch Raising Ceremony held a different meaning, Ayaya Still chose not to give up when facing a 2v1 against regular cards.

She clung to a sliver of hope, wanting to make a comeback from a desperate situation. However, Shi Li's subsequent actions shattered her hope into despair.

First, he unleashed a barrage of Shield + Treatment, stubbornly keeping cloud river standing firm in the outer card position, in Stasis.

When Ayaya played Isolation, he used Movement or Defense to stall for time.

After several rounds of attrition, when cloud river's energy reached 80 points again, he cast Revival.

Although Tiao Tiao Guard could not be Revived, Baishan Hao certainly could.

Since he had already revealed the Revival skill, why not choose the most foolproof method to destroy the opponent?

This way, the situation on the field became a 3v1 with regular cards.

In such a situation, even a Red Blade Maiden with Crimson Liberation activated wouldn't be able to win.

Ayaya, now in despair, finally chose to concede.

64 into 32 accomplished.

Comfortable.

In the afternoon, Shi Li continued to visit the arena to watch the matches.

Chang Zhun, who had been accompanying him these past two days, was finally about to play.

It wasn't until the staff called his name three times, and they were about to count it as his only forfeit for the tournament, that the guy slowly walked onto the stage, just in time.

“Boo!”

“Get off the stage! Blue Starling!”

“Go back to Blue Star! You're not welcome here!”

What Shi Li hadn't expected was a chorus of boos from the player area.

He didn't quite understand this.

When he went on stage, the atmosphere was Still very friendly.

Could it be because he was too handsome, which led to him being treated differently?

Hmm, very likely.

There were some things Shi Li hadn't specifically researched, so he wasn't aware.

In the first stage, both of them, these two Blue Starlings, had actually become famous.

Shi Li was known for actively hunting hunters, earning him a reputation.

Chang Zhun, however, had gained a notorious reputation.

But the answer to this matter, Shi Li immediately got it when the card game began.

No wonder even Huo Guang shook his head whenever he mentioned his card games with Chang Zhun.

This guy was simply inhuman when playing cards.

It was well known that every operational phase in a card game had a time limit.

Otherwise, if you kept delaying, would your opponent just wait for you indefinitely, with the weakest bladder giving up first, or even seeing who lived longer?

Of course not.

However, this time limit wasn't too short; it was meant to provide players with ample thinking time.

But sometimes, encountering a pervert like Chang Zhun made things unpredictable.

This guy would always wait until the last second of every time limit to confirm his action, effectively stretching the entire game's duration by several times.

During the card replacement phase, waiting.

During the reveal phase, Still waiting.

During the hand confirmation phase, Still waiting.

During the character action confirmation phase, waiting within waiting.

This caused a storm of curses from the audience below the stage.

Chang Zhun himself, however, seemed to hear nothing, completely unaffected.

One had to admit, such tactics were indeed annoying.

Even Chang Zhun's opponent, though mentally prepared, was driven to extreme frustration.

But what was the most crucial thing?

It was that, purely in terms of the game's content, Chang Zhun played very well.

So, in the end, he won.

This meant that the torment for both his opponent and the audience would continue into the next round.

“Now tell me again, in a match, is it better to encounter A Ya Jun or Chang Zhun?”

Huo Guang teased Shi Li.

“Don't talk to me, you companion of a perverted Blue Starling.”

Shi Li's attitude made everything clear.

Ultimately, the Banlan Tribe people were quite kind.

Otherwise, a character like Chang Zhun should have been beaten to death in the first stage.

After the card games ended that afternoon, the next round of draws immediately followed.

The 32 into 16 matches would take place the day after tomorrow.

Chang Zhun's luck was pretty good; he drew a Platinum 3 opponent.

Shi Li's luck, however, wasn't so good; his opponent was Platinum 7, a guy named Lan Shan.

After dinner, Shi Li returned to his room at the residence and closed the door.

“The 32 into 16 matches don't start until the day after tomorrow, so there's Still a day of rest in between.

I can really get to work.”

He pulled out Baishan Hao and the Star Ascension token card.

If he was lucky enough, he might even be able to Star Ascension Baishan Hao before the matches begin the day after tomorrow.

This way, he could increase his chances against Platinum 7.

After all, having two more regular cards than him wasn't easy to deal with.

He clicked to use the token card to enter the simulated mission, and a few lines of text popped up.

“This mission is named: Mech Genesis (Star Ascension).”

“A Bing's postgraduate entrance exam results were not ideal.”

“Why is it Still this guy?”

Shi Li couldn't help but complain.

The ending of the previous mission mentioned that A Bing eventually received a sum of money gifted by Awakening.

With the money, he decided to move to a new city to start over.

He hadn't expected that the so-called “starting over” would be taking a postgraduate entrance exam.

“There are countless paths to heaven, yet you, my boy, chose the postgraduate entrance exam.”

“So after failing the postgraduate entrance exam, he chose to take the civil service exam.”

“And then he failed the civil service exam again.”

For some reason, Shi Li suddenly felt a little pity for this guy.

“Repeated failures struck A Bing, causing him to fall into depravity.”

“He became addicted to cyber-morphine and quickly squandered all his savings.”

“Until one day, he discovered a wanted poster from the Disciplinary Army.”

“The targets of the bounty were all members of Awakening.”

“Please help him make a choice.”

“A. Report Baishan Hao.”

“B. Report cloud stream.”

“C. Report both.”

“Hey, you've turned into a villain, haven't you?”

Shi Li, of course, sided with his own character cards.

However, all three options were about reporting, so there didn't seem to be much to choose from.

He randomly chose A.

“Since defeating the Mechanized Ascension Cult, Awakening's reputation soared among the life mechs.”

“Many life mechs with powerful combat capabilities came seeking to join Awakening.”

“For a time, Awakening's scale rapidly expanded.”

“This phenomenon quickly drew the attention of the Disciplinary Army.”

“The Disciplinary Army discovered Awakening's headquarters and dispatched heavy troops to encircle and suppress them.”

“In this moment of crisis, the eight leaders of the organization decided that one person would stay behind to cover the main force's retreat.”

“Baishan Hao volunteered to stay.”

Shi Li then entered Baishan Hao's perspective.

“Just Baishan Hao isn't enough.”

In the first battle, Shi Li immediately used Dimensional Intervention to add cloud river to his deck.

With cloud river joining, the subsequent battles went quite smoothly.

However, when the story seemed to reach its midpoint, some changes occurred.

“Just as Baishan Hao was falling into despair, cloud stream suddenly appeared.”

“It turned out that she couldn't bear to leave Baishan and had returned.”

“Wait a minute, doesn't this mean I'll have two cloud stream cards?”

Shi Li was stunned.

The two-star cloud stream had one less skill, Quantum Entanglement, than the three-star cloud river.

But it possessed all the other Characteristics.

Moreover, in simulated missions, character cards inherently had more and stronger Characteristics.

The key was having two Revival skills to cycle through, greatly increasing the fault tolerance of Shi Li's deck.

One Revival every four rounds; with two, wouldn't it be considered one Revival every two rounds?

Then, the two cloud stream and cloud river could assist Baishan Hao in Charge, allowing it to have enough energy to cast Barrier almost every round.

This triangular relationship made the battles incredibly enjoyable!

He hadn't expected to succeed in his very first attempt at the Strategy (strategy/capture).

“You have completed this simulation with a completion rate of 75%.”

“You can obtain Character Card [Baishan Hao (Three Stars)] x1.”

“Do you wish to spend 17,000 cubic coins to reset this mission? (Yes/No)”

“However, I must have missed some branching storyline.”

Seeing this completion rate, Shi Li understood where the problem lay.

In any case, clearing it on the first try was definitely good news.

Facts proved Shi Li's idea was correct.

After exhausting all his funds, in the last refresh, he succeeded.

“You have completed this simulation with a completion rate of 100%.”

“You can obtain Character Card [Baishan Hao (Three Stars)] x1.”

“You can obtain Hand Cards [Defense (LV2)] x1, [Counter (LV2)] x1, [Isolation (LV2)] x1.”

“You can obtain Item Card [Mountain Key] x1.”

“Do you wish to spend 16,000 cubic coins to reset this mission? (Yes/No)”

“Comfortable.”

Shi Li clicked “No,” and a warm current swept through his entire body.

Rank: Platinum 4 → Platinum 5

Stamina: 245 / 245 (3.6 ↑) → 260 / 260 (3.7 ↑)

Energy: 263 / 263 (2.3 ↑) → 274 / 274 (2.3 ↑)

When a rank is promoted, all consumed resources are replenished, just like leveling up in a game.

Thus, the mental fatigue from refreshing multiple times was swept away.

“Hmm?”

But what caught Shi Li's attention was another line of text that popped up.

Persistence Resonance: 100% → 110% (Condition met at 200%)

“So 100% isn't the cap? What condition is met at 200%?”

He didn't know what this meant.

It seemed there was no relevant record in textbooks or the Card Hall database.

“But before it jumped by 20%, now it's 10%, so 200% is Still a long way off.”

He didn't care for now and quickly looked at the cards.

Baishan Hao

Persistence, 30 points, Three-star Attack 30, 100 / 100, 0 / 100

Cloud Mountain - Characteristic: cloud river gains 5 Energy when Baishan Hao is attacked this turn.

Defense Field - Passive: Baishan Hao gains 10 Shield each turn (T1).

Support Protocol - Passive: When cloud river is on the field, Baishan Hao takes -10 less damage from attacks.

Energy Saving Mode - 10 Energy: Baishan Hao enters Defense state this turn (T1).

Dimensional Barrier - 40 Energy: Baishan Hao gains 1 Barrier, and it does not affect actions (T1).

(Barrier: Negates 1 instance of the largest damage this turn.)

Shi Li's evaluation of Baishan Hao's Star Ascension enhancement, which gave two new entries, was that it was unpretentious but extremely practical.

First, there was this Energy Saving Mode.

It could absolutely be considered an exclusive Characteristic-level strength.

To know that it only cost 10 Energy, this was practically free.

As long as cloud river stayed Still for 1 turn, it could help Baishan Hao Charge 10 Energy.

If he Still didn't realize how excellent it was, he could refer to his own two-star Stone Demon.

Defense - 30 Energy: Stone Demon enters Defense state this turn (T1).

Then there was the 10-point damage reduction, which was active as long as cloud river was on the field.

That was basically a freebie, wasn't it? cloud river always hid in the back; Baishan Hao would die before it did.

“Let's look at the destiny hand card mission.”

Shi Li took out the Cloud Key again.

The pattern on it was only half a design, with white clouds surrounding a mountain peak.

Then he looked at the Mountain Key.

It was also a half-pattern, a large mountain missing its peak.

When the two cards were placed together, a glow immediately erupted, merging them into one card.

Cloud and Mountain: Usable after Baishan Hao and cloud river reach Three Stars.

“Although I probably don't have enough cubic coins to refresh, I'll Still try.”

Shi Li clicked to use it out of curiosity.

This mission is named: Mountain and Cloud.

Baishan Hao and cloud river are a pair of inseparable companions.

But their relationship has not always been harmonious.

“Oh—so Baishan Hao is also a she.”

This was a bit unexpected for Shi Li.

One day, while rescuing enslaved life mechs, their opinions diverged.

Then both sides stated their positions, asking Shi Li to choose a side.

A. Baishan Hao's viewpoint is more convincing.

B. cloud river's viewpoint is more persuasive.

C. Stop arguing, just break up.

“This—

Shi Li seemed to have already seen the correct answer.

Based on previous experience with this series of missions, choosing A or B might only yield 50% completion.

He had to have both, so choosing C was the way to go.

But then again, what kind of relationship did these two mechs have, seriously?

After a fierce argument, the two sides finally decided to break up.

However, before breaking up, according to the traditional custom of life mechs, they needed to have a breakup cannon.

Baishan Hao fired an Annihilation Ray Cannon at cloud river.

cloud river fired an Plasma Pulse Cannon at Baishan Hao.

“??”

Both sides suffered irreversible heavy damage, and their life rapidly drained.

This mission has ended.

Can be re-attempted after 30 days.

Yes / No to reset this mission for 17,000 cubic coins.

“???”

This was too ridiculous.

At the same time Shi Li was conducting the simulated mission, in a high-end villa in Blueberry City.

“Uncomfortable.”

A Ya Jun, who had just finished showering, sat on the edge of the bed, feeling inexplicably sticky all over.

He looked at his fingers, which had turned white and pruney from showering for too long.

Ever since he underwent the baptism of Fel Energy in the first stage, he always had a feeling of being unclean.

“Fel Energy is indeed not a good thing. It seems to amplify people's inner desires, which might affect my performance in the competition.”

Muttering to himself, A Ya Jun felt his desire to shower return.

So he got up and walked into the bathroom.

The next day, after breakfast, Shi Li arrived at the competition venue.

At that time, the two card players for the first match were just walking onto the stage under the staff's summons, ready to begin their card game.

Chang Zhun arrived even earlier and was already seated.

His gaze sharpened, noticing the change in Shi Li's rank above his head.

So he spoke.

“You're late.”

“No, the timing is just right.”

Shi Li couldn't be bothered with this guy.

“Shi Li! You actually advanced to Platinum 5?!”

Huo Guang's reaction was the normal one.

The competition then officially began.

Contrary to yesterday, Chang Zhun played in the morning, and Shi Li in the afternoon.

However, before the two of them, the highly anticipated A Ya Jun took the stage.

“He seems to be in poor spirits.”

Shi Li could see that A Ya Jun had slight dark circles under his eyes, and his expression was not the clear freshness of morning but a hint of fatigue.

“He definitely didn't go to bed on time last night.”

Chang Zhun also commented.

However, A Ya Jun's opponent was only Platinum 2, so even if his condition wasn't good, there was no possibility of losing.

He brought out a full two-star Brute Force deck and easily won the match.

Soon after, it was Chang Zhun's turn to appear.

This guy once again won amidst a chorus of curses, extending the torment to the next round.

All the morning matches, without exception, saw the higher-ranked player defeat the lower-ranked player.

However, when the afternoon matches arrived, Shi Li intended to break this pattern.

“Lan Shan, go for it.”

Before taking the stage, A Ya Jun cheered on his companion.

“Don't worry, I won't lose.”

Lan Shan planted his battle flag before the fight even began.

A Ya Jun watched his companion go on stage, but he wasn't worried inside.

Because even he, Still at Platinum 7, wasn't absolutely confident he could defeat the current Platinum 7 Lan Shan.

This guy was definitely one of the top two strongest in this Torch Raising Ceremony.

On the other side, before Shi Li went on stage, Chang Zhun also offered his “Encouragement.”

“You better play fast, or I'll miss dinner.”

“Get lost.”

Shi Li didn't even spare the guy a glance.

Soon, the two arrived on the stage, standing across the card table.

“You've increased your rank.”

Lan Shan scrutinized Shi Li, a confident smile playing on his lips: “But even so, it's useless. Platinum 5 and Platinum 4 have no essential difference.”

“Stop rambling.”

Shi Li had already laid out his deck: “You better play fast, or I'll miss dinner.”

Chang Zhun: ?

Was he stealing my lines to show off so naturally?

Shi Li started with 3 face-up cards.

Tiao Tiao Guard with Stasis + Delayed Stasis + Little Tiao Tiao.

Baishan Hao with Shield + Defense + Damage Reduction.

cloud river with Linked Reveal + Quantum Entanglement + Revival.

This time, Shi Li Still adopted the so-called “no-threat” tactic.

Moreover, the formation had changed compared to the previous round, with cloud river placed behind the Tiao Tiao Guard.

“So this card has reached Three Stars.”

Lan Shan's gaze fell upon Baishan Hao.

Harmless.

“Your tactic is actually very easy to break.”

He extended three fingers, explaining one by one.

“The first method is Counter.”

“As long as you interrupt your Movement hand card through Counter, you can also avoid the result of damage-bearing cards shifting horizontally.”