161: Cube Chess

Chapter 161: Cube Chess

“Good card.”

After seeing the card, Shi Li was overjoyed.

It is well known that the more stringent the prerequisites for a Lifebound Hand Card, the better its effect tends to be.

However, a card like Lotus Succubus, which has no conditions and can be used as soon as it's revealed, actually has a pretty good effect.

The only thing he was currently dissatisfied with about this card was that it consumed his own HP to provide Healing.

Love's Power, however, compensated for this drawback, even if it only targeted one ally.

As a dedicated healer for Red Blade Maiden or bo shan, she could protect them fiercely.

Putting away this hand card, Shi Li immediately went to sleep where he was.

He slept until nightfall, then got up, washed, and continued.

A refresh fee of 630,000 should be enough to obtain a three-star Snail Walking Lady.

The result was a bit unexpected and a bit regrettable.

It didn't cost much to upgrade to two stars, only about 100,000.

However, upgrading from two to three stars was not so smooth; one refresh fee had already reached 21,000.

When Shi Li felt he was only two or three attempts away from a perfect completion, he ran out of money.

So, he could only temporarily obtain a two-star Snail Walking Lady.

Snail Walking Lady

Chasing Wind, 20 points, two-star attack 20, 100/100, 0/40

Snail-Walking Step - Characteristic: Snail Walking Lady's Movement is increased to T0. She can perform 1 square of Movement for every 20 energy consumed.

Bearing the Brunt - Passive: When Snail Walking Lady enters the front row area, she grants 10 Shield to adjacent allied combat cards.

Pillar of Strength - Passive: When Snail Walking Lady enters the middle row area, she grants 10 Treatment to adjacent allied combat cards.

Snail's Power - Passive: When Snail Walking Lady enters the right column area, she automatically enters Defense.

Ox's Power - Passive: When Snail Walking Lady enters the left column area, her attack power +10.

The two traits obtained this time were both related to the Snail Walking Lady herself.

The right column is Defense-oriented, and the left column is attack-oriented.

Although there was no qualitative improvement, it was still good.

Especially the automatic Defense, which costs no energy and saves hand cards.

On the third day after the welcoming ceremony, Shi Li was notified to go to Po Shi Academy.

He originally thought it was a gathering of all new students in the academy, but when he arrived at the office building, he found that only he had been called.

Guided to the Vice Dean's office, he met Hu Lan.

“Very good, very good.”

The first time Hu Lan saw Shi Li, she showed a relieved smile.

At this moment, her complexion was not very good, showing a kind of long-term accumulated fatigue.

It seemed that with the start of the school year approaching, she had been very busy recently.

“Shi Li, you really chose Po Shi Academy; you didn’t disappoint me.”

Adhering to the principle of not interfering with students' free will, Hu Lan deliberately did not contact Shi Li before he chose an academy.

But ever since the enrollment agreement took effect, she had been silently paying attention to this young man.

She had learned a lot about the Torch Raising Ceremony from Principal Su.

She believed that with Shi Li's addition, this year's Po Shi Academy would definitely be different from previous years.

“Thank you, teacher. It’s because the teacher taught well.”

Shi Li lowered his eyes respectfully.

“Now you should call me Dean.”

Hu Lan said with a smile.

After speaking, she threw a card into Shi Li's hand.

“This is…”

Shi Li feigned confusion but immediately put it in his pocket.

“This is a savings card. The password is six zeros.”

“Oh?”

“The balance is also.”

Damn, so even a dignified Academy Dean likes to joke around.

“Don’t worry, the 250,000 from the enrollment agreement will be deposited into this account from the academy’s account within one month.”

Hearing Hu Lan say this, Shi Li remembered it was the payment from when he signed the agreement.

1,000,000, to be paid over 4 years.

Although he had also handled 1,000,000 before, this 250,000 was still very important to him.

This time, he really had to thank the Dean.

“Alright, this is all the academy can currently give you. After all, if we gave you more, it would be somewhat unfair to other students who chose Po Shi Academy.

I hope you can understand.”

“I completely understand.”

“Also, I mentioned the ranking competition to you before.”

Hu Lan's gaze scanned Shi Li's head.

Platinum 7, to be honest, this rank surprised her a little.

After all, last time Shi Li took first place in both cities, when they spoke, he was only Platinum 2.

At his current rank, he had a chance to make a strong push.

“I hope you can at least secure a spot in the top 7 in this semester’s freshman ranking competition.”

Because only those who rank in the top 10 are eligible to represent Qingchuan University in next semester's Rising Star Cup.

“Top 7.”

“That’s right, I’m sure you’ve noticed that the overall ranks of our school’s new students this year are relatively high.

Based on past experience, the period after enrollment will be a peak time for rank improvement.

By the time the ranking competition officially begins, there might already be students among you who have reached Platinum 10, or even Platinum 11 or Platinum 12.

So, this goal might not be easy for you to achieve.”

To be honest, she didn't expect Shi Li to get first place.

Even if he could just secure a spot in the top 7, it would be enough for Po Shi Academy to hold its head high.

After all, in the past 3 years, their academy's best result was only top 10.

The results of the ranking competition would also be included in the year-end comprehensive evaluation, and they would account for a significant portion.

“Okay, Dean, I promise to do it.”

Shi Li didn't leave himself any room for retreat, but gave a definite answer.

“Mhm.”

Hu Lan nodded in satisfaction, clearly appreciating this attitude.

“Then, it’s my turn to show my appreciation personally.”

She threw another card over.

Representing a personal stance meant it had nothing to do with Po Shi Academy.

Of course, if Shi Li hadn't chosen to join Po Shi Academy, she clearly wouldn't have given him this card.

“This is—”

This time, Shi Li didn't immediately put it away, but looked at the card face.

Red Tactical Blind Box: Use this card to randomly open 1 ★★★ Red Tactic. He completely didn't understand this card.

It didn't even feel like the usual format for Cube Cards.

But undeniably, this was indeed an item card.

“Trust me, you’ll be able to use it very soon.”

Hu Lan waved her hand: “Alright, I’m still busy.”

Since the other party was dismissing him, Shi Li could only take his leave.

At this moment, he still didn't know the preciousness and importance of this card.

“Once that 250,000 arrives, I can upgrade Snail Walking Lady to three stars.”

“Or, I could use it to farm Rampage Trial.”

Leaving Po Shi Academy, Shi Li planned to return to his dorm.

However, he had only gone halfway when he received a text message.

“Oh, so there’s such a thing.”

The content of the message instructed him to report to the Show Card Hall in District 11.

Coming here for school was akin to settling down, and procedurally, it required registration and reporting, which he had overlooked.

District 11 was actually a relatively remote area in Huadu, with surrounding living facilities primarily serving the university town here.

Among them, Qingchuan and Beijin, two national key universities, were located here, considered the two leading institutions in the university town.

And the three major Card Halls also had branches established here.

Shi Li hailed a car, opting not to drive his own hover motorcycle.

Because he had tried it on his first day in Qingchuan, crashed something, was fined a bit of money, and then received a lifetime campus driving ban.

The hover taxi's speed was not bad; it took only 10 minutes to deliver him to the address of the Show Card Hall.

“As expected of the capital's Card Hall, it's much grander than the one in Durian City.”

Standing in front of the Card Hall's main entrance, Shi Li looked up and exclaimed.

He walked in, found the front desk to complete the procedures, and the entire process took only a few minutes.

A face scan, filling out an electronic form.

“Student Shi Li, on behalf of the District 11 Show Card Hall, I welcome you and hope you feel at home here.”

“Thank you.”

The front desk staff's attitude was polite and generous, but not as enthusiastic as in Durian City.

After all, this was Huadu University Town, where geniuses were abundant.

Even A-rank contractors visiting were already commonplace.

“?”

Just as Shi Li turned to leave, the front desk lady's expression suddenly changed.

“Student Shi Li, please wait a moment.”

This time, her attitude clearly held more respect: “The Hall Master invites you.”

An A-rank contractor invited to the Hall Master's office might have an unusual identity.

“Hall Master?”

Shi Li was also a bit surprised to hear this.

He wondered why the Hall Master of District 11 was looking for him; surely it wasn't to poach him like Xiu Qinghe had tried.

During registration earlier, there was an option asking whether to transfer his affiliation from Durian City here, and he had chosen not to.

So, following the directions, he took the elevator all the way to the top floor.

The building was vast, but there was only one office on the top floor.

It all belonged to The Master alone.

When he reached the office door, it opened automatically before he could even knock.

Then he saw a figure standing with his back to him, looking out of the large floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the university town.

“Why did you call me here if no one is around?”

Shi Li ignored the figure and glanced around.

Hearing his words, the other person turned around.

It was Xiu Qingshan.

“Teacher, why are you here?”

Shi Li had already figured everything out the moment he saw that figure.

“Haha, isn’t the answer obvious?”

Xiu Qingshan swirled his red wine glass: “I am the current The Master of the District 11 Card Hall.”

“What about Durian City?”

“Old He has taken over my position as The Master.”

“And what about The Master He’s original position?”

“Hou Waida was promoted to Deputy The Master.”

“Who is Hou Waida?”

Xiu Qingshan suspected his student was doing it on purpose.

But that sincere expression of asking a question seemed genuine.

The brat was clearly playing with him; his acting was getting better and better.

“Hey, it’s me. The person has arrived. Is the aircraft ready?”

However, Xiu Qingshan had no intention of bantering with him.

“Where are we going? I have classes tomorrow.”

“It’s fine. I often skipped classes when I was in school.”

“Those are not words a teacher should say.”

Shi Li joked, but his steps followed.

The two arrived at the rooftop, where the aircraft was already waiting.

Then, it carried them high into the sky.

“Don’t misunderstand, I wasn’t specifically transferred for you.”

Once they were in the aircraft, Xiu Qingshan slowly began to speak.

“It just so happened that The Master of District 7 was transferred, so I came to temporarily fill the position.”

“But isn’t this District 11?”

“Hmm, I just subtly used some connections, transferring The Master of District 11 to District 10, The Master of District 10 to District 9, The Master of District 9 to District 8, and The Master of District 8 to District 7.”

“I’m so touched, Teacher. You went through all this, and it’s still not specifically for me?”

“You don’t know anything. The Movement between The Masters is a very common thing.”

In reality, Xiu Qingshan wasn’t lying.

Huadu is prosperous and has many branch halls. To prevent problems from arising, transfers are completely standard procedure.

He merely inserted himself into the normal process.

The aircraft didn’t fly for long, only about 20 minutes before it landed.

Shi Li felt it wasn’t flying particularly fast. This distance was probably near the border between Huadu and the neighboring province.

Stepping out of the aircraft, it was the familiar base style.

In terms of strictness, it seemed less stringent than the two Abyss-related bases.

The scale was also much smaller.

“Aren’t you curious where The Master of District 7 was transferred?”

“I don’t even know who The Master of District 7 is, alright.”

“I’ll tell you, he was transferred here to serve as The Master.”

“Oh—.”

Shi Li was a bit fed up with his teacher’s self-talk.

However, anyone who could previously serve as The Master of District 7 must be no ordinary person, and to be arranged here by the Card Hall also indicated the uniqueness of this place.

The base entrance was specially guarded. After Xiu Qingshan presented his identification, the two were allowed to pass through.

Arriving before a heavy iron gate, he stopped.

“What you are about to see will subvert your perception and exceed your imagination.”

Xiu Qingshan’s expression was rarely serious.

Hearing him say that, Shi Li’s curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

Rumble! So, after entering the password, the iron gate slowly opened.

“Qingshan, why are you only arriving now! Hahahaha!”

On the other side of the door, an incredibly ugly man laughed loudly, warmly welcoming them.

Shi Li’s assessment of this man was that he was indeed ugly beyond imagination.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Xiu Qingshan read his expression and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

“Let me introduce you, The Master Chi Ou.”

“Is this the student you mentioned?”

Chi Ou cast a curious gaze at Shi Li.

“Hello, The Master Chi.”

Shi Li felt as if he was being stared at by some indescribable entity.

“Not bad, not bad. Anyone chosen by Qingshan is certainly no ordinary person. Come inside and talk.”

Having been distracted by Chi Ou earlier, Shi Li now saw that the room inside was not large.

There was only a portal standing silently there, with no one else besides the three of them.

It was a portal to another realm.

“This is—”

Shi Li understood that an entrance to another realm guarded like this must not be simple.

“This is not a simple otherworld.”

Chi Ou smiled and walked into it first: “Seeing is believing, anything I say is useless.”

Then, his figure passed through the portal and disappeared.

“Let’s go. With your rank, it’s very safe inside.”

Xiu Qingshan waved his hand and also walked into the portal.

With doubts, Shi Li followed him in.

After the familiar feeling of weightlessness, he saw a vast, enlightened land from above.

“Hmm?”

Shi Li immediately realized something was wrong.

He hadn’t boarded any vehicle, yet he was floating in the air?

“Don’t be surprised, this is normal in this world.”

Xiu Qingshan’s voice sounded beside him.

Following the sound, he found that the other person was also floating in the air.

His entire body was semi-transparent, without feet, replaced by a tail-like, faintly glowing ghost fire, like a plankton.

“Teacher, you’ve turned into a ghost.”

Shi Li pulled out a Heaven and Earth Banknote: “Take this and go back.”

“Why do you carry all sorts of items with you?!”

“Well, it’s almost the Ghost Festival, so I thought it might be useful—”

As the two talked, a figure floated over.

It was Chi Ou, now ethereal, which added a few points to his appearance-matching temperament.

Like a ghost who died a tragic death.

“In this world, appearing in this semi-ethereal state is the norm.”

He explained, leading the two to float forward.

Along the way, there were barren wastelands, flowing lava visible everywhere, and a dim sky where day and night were indistinguishable.

It looked like no species could survive here.

“This otherworld is called the Chess Realm, a miraculous area discovered just two months ago.”

“Chess Realm?”

“Exactly. Its appearance was even later than the first appearance of the Abyss. This world is somewhat similar to a mirror world of Blue Star.

There are many hidden entrances in various places around the globe.”

“I see—”

“Strictly speaking, the entire world of the Chess Realm belongs to a special zone.

Moreover, according to our observations, it currently seems to be in an unstable state.

The general rules can mostly be established, but some details could change at any time.”

Shi Li didn’t quite understand Chi Ou’s last sentence.

“Shi Li, look.”

Following Chi Ou’s refer to, he saw a Skeleton Soldier walking on a dirt mound.

His Heaven and Earth Banknote might come in handy.

This seemed to be a demon, but the information above its head seemed a bit different from what he usually saw.

【Skeleton Soldier ☆☆, 5/5】

“Go and take it out.”

Xiu Qingshan pointed at the skeleton.

“Oh.”

Shi Li obediently sent a Card Player’s Mark over.

Buzz—

A Card Table Barrier quickly rose, but something unusual soon happened.

The Barrier seemed to expand infinitely in all directions, its range definitely exceeding that of a normal Card Table.

Then, squares of Card Slots appeared on the ground, but they weren’t like ordinary Card Slots.

Because it wasn’t his 6+1, nor was it 9+1.

Instead, they were densely spread throughout the entire Barrier, without a single gap.

So many Card Slots, let alone himself, even his teacher, Platinum 91, couldn’t possibly fill them all, could he?

“What kind of Card Game is this?”

Shi Li turned back, confused, to ask.

“This isn’t a Card Game, it’s a Chess Game,” Xiu Qingshan said with a smile.

【Victory Condition: Annihilate all enemies】

【Please place your 1-round characters: 3/3】

The next second, text information popped up in front of Shi Li.

“Chess Game? Cube Chess?”

He now understood what true subversion of perception was.

Having lived so many years, this was the first time he had heard of something like Cube Chess.

“Look at your character panel.”

At Xiu Qingshan’s reminder, Shi Li took out Red Blade Maiden.

Indeed, Red Blade Maiden’s base panel had changed.

【Red Blade Maiden】

Rampage, 40 points, Three-Star Attack 40, 130/130

Movement Distance 6, Attack Distance 1