168: Top 16, free flying

Chapter 168: Top 16, Free Flying

“The next student to compete is—Student Shi Li.”

“It’s finally my turn.”

When his name was called by the teacher, Shi Li stood up.

He had waited so long he was getting sleepy.

“Good luck, Shi Li.”

“You’ve got this.”

“Finish quickly, so we’ll have time for hot pot.”

His roommates sent him their Blessings.

“The student competing against Shi Li is—Fernando.”

“Woah! Why are you guys holding me?!”

“I’ve got him pinned down for you.”

“Quick, kill him.”

A Ya Jun and Chang Zhun held Gong Ping down, one on each side.

“Never mind, never mind.”

Shi Li waved his hand and walked onto the stage.

“Hello, Student Shi Li.”

Fernando had naturally curly hair and a friendly smile.

“Hello.”

Shi Li gestured for him to proceed, then began placing his cards.

Soon, both sides had finished placing their cards.

Shi Li was the first to reveal his cards.

His first row consisted of [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter] + [bo shan] + [Jumping Guard].

Along with them, [cloud river] was also revealed.

“Thank you for the match.”

After seeing his four cards, Fernando also revealed his first row of cards.

And surprisingly, he also revealed four cards.

Three damage-absorbing cards in the first row, and one output card in the second row.

That output card, in a sense, was a linked card, [Damn Broken Scrap Metal!]

Its card projection showed a super muscular man, far exceeding human proportions, with nothing on his entire body.

Only his private parts emitted light, serving as a cover.

[Dismantling Muscle Man]

Rage, 30 points, Three-star attack 30, 100/100

[Machine Hatred - Characteristic]: When an enemy’s revealed first-row card includes a machine card, Dismantling Muscle Man is revealed simultaneously. [Dismantling Expert - Passive]: When Dismantling Muscle Man attacks a machine card, it converts to [True Damage].

[Machine Nemesis - Passive]: When Dismantling Muscle Man attacks a machine card, attack power +10.

[Gene Injection - 50 Health Points]: Dismantling Muscle Man converts [True Damage] to [Absolute Damage] for this match.

“I knew you’d link cards in your first row, sorry about that, but I also have a linked reveal, and it Counters your cards.”

To be honest, Shi Li was the opponent Fernando most wanted to face in the placement matches.

Because Shi Li was the freshman with the most machine cards, and the most powerful machine cards.

If he didn't encounter Shi Li, he felt that his unique machine-countering card would be underutilized.

“As soon as I quickly break through your two machine cards, your lineup will rapidly collapse and disintegrate.”

“Sore wa dou kana.”

Shi Li’s expression remained unchanged as he placed a hand card on the table: “This turn, I will use this [LV2 Defense].”

“Heh heh, do you think I didn’t watch your matches last week? You’re trying to trick me into using my [LV2 Counter], aren’t you?”

Fernando chuckled softly.

“Heh heh, this little foreigner clearly doesn’t understand Shi Li’s cunning—”

Below the stage, Gong Ping let out a cold laugh.

Chang Zhun: “Why does it feel like he’s doing the actual work, but you’re the one acting all high and mighty?”

A Ya Jun: “So, is what Fernando said wrong?”

In fact, neither Chang Zhun nor A Ya Jun noticed anything amiss.

From their perspective, just like Fernando’s, Shi Li was simply repeating his previous move.

However, this time, Gong Ping was finally right.

Fernando’s thinking was, since you revealed [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter] in the first row, it must be to let it release [Anti-Magic Markings] to protect your hand cards.

Since he couldn't stop Shi Li's hand cards, he just needed to do his own thing.

So he played his hand card.

Fernando: “[LV2 Defense].”

Shi Li: “[LV2 Counter].”

Fernando: “?”

He clearly placed [LV2 Defense] on the table, and the table recognized it as effective.

Why did [LV2 Counter] come out instead?!

This is unscientific!

“Hahahahaha! See?!”

Seeing this, Gong Ping was the loudest laugher: “A bunch of country bumpkins, you’ve never seen Shi Li cheat before, have you?!”

His laughter was naturally annoying, but it was undeniable that Shi Li was truly amazing.

“This technique—it’s too magical.”

“How did he do that? Are you sure he’s not doing magic?”

“The most crucial thing is that he successfully nullified Fernando’s [LV2 Defense].”

“This opens up a lot of operational space.”

After both sides finished playing their hand cards, the character cards began to move.

In fact, from the perspective of character card actions alone, Shi Li didn't gain much.

[cloud river] entered [Still], and [Dismantling Muscle Man] unleashed its skill for an overwhelming attack.

The rest was just an exchange of attacks between the two sides.

But in terms of health, Fernando suffered a huge loss.

Because [Dismantling Muscle Man] not only burned 50 health itself but also triggered [Echo] from [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter].

[Echo], carrying [Quantum Entanglement], dealt a total of 20 damage.

After one turn, his second-row card was already left with only 30/100 health.

The second round arrived, and both sides revealed one card each.

Shi Li revealed his second attacker, [Flower Cudgel Leader].

And Fernando revealed another intelligent output card, “Although I don’t know how you tricked me last turn, I won’t fall for it this turn.”

After revealing his card, Fernando smiled: “And this turn, you no longer have [LV2 Counter], so you’ll be powerless against my LV2 hand card.”

From the first round, he had seen Shi Li's intention.

That was to quickly take down [Dismantling Muscle Man], which was evident from the opponent’s focus fire on the first-row card in front of [Dismantling Muscle Man] last turn.

So this turn, Fernando was determined to save that first-row card.

If the opponent used [Flower Cudgel Leader] to participate, it would be a waste of a lot of excess output.

If the opponent used [Flower Cudgel Leader] to attack other cards, then this first-row card could survive.

And on his side, this turn he would definitely instantly kill [bo shan].

It was a guaranteed win-win situation.

Having figured this out, he took action.

Fernando: “[LV2 Healing].”

Shi Li: “[LV3 Counter].”

Fernando: “??”

Bushigomen, you’re a [Platinum] player, where did you get an LV3 hand card?!

“Using a superior horse against a mid-tier horse is a bit of a waste.”

Shi Li even shook his head regretfully, which was even more infuriating.

By stopping the opponent's Healing this turn, Shi Li successfully took out that off-target card.

He opened a breakthrough in the opponent's formation.

Of course, his [bo shan] couldn't withstand [Absolute Damage] either and was taken out by focused fire.

In the third round, Fernando revealed a Recovery card.

And Shi Li revealed [Cicada Wing Patrol].

It carried [Blessing] + [Second Battle Cry] + [Reveal King on Exit].

[Second Battle Cry] was given to [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter], allowing it to trigger [Intercept Source], preventing [Flower Cudgel Leader] from gaining energy this turn.

[Blessing] was given to [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter], 10 points of [Encouragement] plus 10 points of [Quantum Entanglement], making it almost equivalent to having 50 high attack points.

“I suddenly realized—”

A Ya Jun looked at the situation and suddenly mused, “Although [Red Blade Maiden] has burst damage, she’s often revealed much later.

But even if Shi Li doesn’t seem to have many burst-oriented Brute Force character cards, his early game burst is often incredibly strong.”

“[Cicada Wing Patrol] seems unassuming, but it connects [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter] and [Flower Cudgel Leader] together.

Especially [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter], a 30-point card with 50 attack, isn’t that just continuous burst damage?”

“And [cloud river] already has 50 energy; this turn it can deal 20 attack + 50 [Quantum Entanglement].”

When they calculated, A Ya Jun was indeed correct.

Shi Li only had four cards this turn, but his output capability was surprisingly high.

With all [Quantum Entanglement] calculated as attack power:

[Jumping Guard]: 30 attack power [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter]: 30+10 + 10 attack power [Flower Cudgel Leader]: 60+60 attack power [Cicada Wing Patrol]: 30 attack power. Just four cards, and the total output reached 230 points.

“As long as the opponent doesn’t [Defense], Shi Li can only take out three of his cards this turn.”

“[Defense] can only be LV1, because his LV2 has already been burned by Shi Li.”

“If his [Defense] is countered again this turn, I’d call it a perfect kill.”

As it turned out, Gong Ping was right; Shi Li actually used [LV1 Counter] to destroy Fernando’s [LV1 Defense]!

So after this round ended, Shi Li not only took out the opponent's remaining two first-row cards.

He also eliminated the very threatening [Dismantling Muscle Man].

As for Shi Li’s side, [Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter] and [cloud river] were forced off the field, and [Jumping Guard] was put into [Stasis].

From the current revealed situation, Student Shi Li has a slight advantage.

"Student Fernando, have you heard the story of the horse race?"

Shi Li toyed with the cards in his hand and explained, "An upper-class horse beats a middle-class horse, a middle-class horse beats a middle-class horse, and a lower-class horse beats a lower-class horse."

"Wait a minute, my Chinese language score for the college entrance exam was almost perfect, you know."

Fernando looked utterly confused. "What kind of Tian Ji's Horse Race is this? Don't you win every time?"

"I'm not talking about Tian Ji's Horse Race; I'm talking about Smirnov's Horse Race."

The two sides revealed their cards once again.

Fernando Still revealed an output card.

Shi Li, on the other hand, revealed his ace, the Red Blade Maiden.

She carried the Characteristics of Vast + Abundant + Vast.

As soon as this card appeared, it immediately drew gasps from the audience.

"This sustain Characteristic is too overpowered, isn't it?!"

"Unconditional 20 points per round? And it covers both Healing and Healing?"

"Is this the power of a unique card?"

"No, I feel like this Characteristic shouldn't even exist for a three-star unique card—"

Most people couldn't understand it.

Only a few people on the field who had been to or heard of the Chess Domain knew that this Vast might be related to the Chess Domain.

"It seems this kid had quite a harvest in the Chess Domain."

Especially Hu Lan, who was in the know, nodded secretly.

20 points of unconditional recovery per round, and it's given to a Rage card.

This effect is simply top-notch.

The Red Blade Maiden was Shi Li's last regular card, but it was only his opponent's third-to-last regular card.

Without him planning to use his destined hand card, the advantage he had built up was gradually being narrowed, and might even be surpassed.

Soon, Shi Li only had two regular cards left on the field.

Cicada Wing Patrol + Red Blade Maiden.

The two cards were arranged in a column. To attack the Red Blade Maiden, one had to attack the Cicada Wing Patrol first.

Fernando, on the other hand, Still had four regular cards on the field.

"Sorry, Student Shi Li."

Looking at this situation, Fernando was confident of victory. "I've seen through your tactics. You want to use the Cicada Wing Patrol's position to reveal your ace, Lotus Succubus, early, right?"

"But this situation is different from when you fought Wu Lan Shan."

"My cards have burst damage, enough to focus fire and kill your Red Blade Maiden."

"Once the Red Blade Maiden dies, your remaining Lotus Succubus will be as good as useless."

Saying that, he unhesitatingly gave the command to instantly kill the Cicada Wing Patrol.

Of course, Shi Li didn't hold back either.

Cicada Wing Patrol + Red Blade Maiden instantly killed one of the opponent's regular cards, [Immediately Revealed].

Then, in Shi Li's middle-row ace position, this text appeared.

"How audacious."

Seeing this text, Fernando's eyebrows twitched.

For no other reason than the position of Shi Li's ace.

[Empty Slot] [Empty Slot] [Empty Slot]

[Red Blade] [Empty Slot] [Empty Slot]

[Empty Slot] [Immediately Revealed] [Empty Slot]

Shi Li actually didn't place his ace behind the Red Blade Maiden, which was truly daring.

Wouldn't this expose the ace to direct attack?

As the new round arrived, when Shi Li revealed his ace...

This ace was a card that Fernando, no, everyone present, had not anticipated.

[Pick a Little Snail!]

A projection of a girl with small snail antennae bounced out of the card.

"A full three-star Characteristic unique card set!"

"So he's been hiding a card like this all along—!"

"Amazing, Shi Li!"

Before this, although everyone knew Shi Li was Platinum 8, they had only seen him display seven three-star character cards.

They originally thought this eighth three-star card was too ordinary, so he was unwilling to use it.

Now the answer was revealed.

Snail Walking Lady

Chasing Wind, 20 points, three-star attack 50, 200/200, 0/40

[Snail Walk - Characteristic]: Snail Walking Lady's Movement is increased to T0. She can perform one grid of Movement for every 20 energy consumed.

[Snail's Power - Passive]: In the round Snail Walking Lady enters the right column area, she can enter Defense on her own.

[Strike Later - Passive]: In the round Snail Walking Lady enters the second row area, she can have one of her martial cards attack in her place.

[Last-Place Support - Passive]: In the round Snail Walking Lady enters the last row area, she can take damage for one of her martial cards.

Next, the card game became Shi Li's showtime.

In the first round after the ace was revealed, Red Blade Maiden + Snail Walking Lady eliminated one of Fernando's regular cards.

Fernando's LV1 and LV2 Counter had already been burned, so Shi Li confidently played a LV2 Charge card.

[LV2 Charge]: Makes one card Recovery 10 energy for two consecutive rounds. (Does not stack with LV1 Charge)

At the end of the round, Snail Walking Lady's energy was 20/40, and Red Blade Maiden's health was 30/150.

In the second round, Snail Walk + LV1 Movement allowed Snail Walking Lady to reach the last row, right column position.

At the same time, Last-Place Support + Snail's Power triggered, blocking a fatal blow for Red Blade Maiden.

Red Blade Maiden used a normal attack to eliminate one of the opponent's regular cards with low health. At the end of the round, Snail Walking Lady's energy was 20/40, and Red Blade Maiden's health was 50/150.

Next, it was one regular and one ace against one regular, which was an easy win.

By the time Fernando revealed his ace, he was completely powerless to resist.

Thus, Shi Li successfully defeated his opponent and entered the top 16.

From this match onwards, he also gained the attention of all the new students.

After all, this was a genuine case of a Platinum 8 player defeating a Platinum 10 opponent in a regular PVP match.

No one dared to underestimate him anymore.

After entering the top 16, Shi Li's part in the tournament format was over.

Gong Ping and Chang Zhun, the two losers, Still had to participate in the loser's bracket, while he only needed to wait until the third stage, the 16-to-8 round, to appear again.

Finally, after a series of intense matches, Gong Ping successfully secured 31st place, one spot higher than expected.

The last place, 32nd, went to Chang Zhun.

This guy purely brought it upon himself.

In Shi Li's eyes, Chang Zhun should have at least entered the top 30, but this guy was repeatedly penalized for fouls and never learned his lesson.

After the second stage of the placement matches ended, Shi Li was called to the office by Hu Lan.

"Three things."

Hu Lan held up three fingers.

"Although our academy has three people in the top 32, only you made it into the top 16.

And our academy has long had a rule that starting from the top 16, a bonus will be awarded for each subsequent stage reached.

Since you are the only one who made it to the top 16, the entire prize pool for the top 16 is yours."

"There's such a good thing?"

Shi Li was pleased.

The 300,000 prize money was immediately deposited into his account.

It seemed that joining Po Shi Academy was indeed a good choice.

If it were Kuangbao Academy, where five or six people entered the top 32, wouldn't the prize pool be split, leaving only 50,000 or 60,000?

In this regard, he definitely profited.

"The second thing is that all 32 members will get an opportunity for an exotic practical expedition at the beginning of next month.

At that time, a special teacher will lead you into a Level 4 exotic domain."

"Expedition?"

Shi Li grasped the key word.

"That's right, this small exotic domain hasn't even opened yet, but it's already confirmed to be a Level 4 exotic domain."

"Okay."

Shi Li had participated in exotic domain expeditions before and knew the benefits within.

Moreover, it was a Level 4 exotic domain expedition, which would certainly be better than the one he explored last time.

"Although the team leader will definitely say it then, I Still want to remind you."

"Please speak, Dean."

"Newly opened exotic domains are often easily targeted by Fel Energy.

Recently, I received a professional summary from relevant personnel that the Blacklight Society's activities have been more active in recent years than in the past.

There are rumors that this might be related to the opening of the Abyss."

"Blacklight Society..."

Shi Li's expression became serious.

His Yu Yu An's Blessing was already used up in the Banlan Tribe last time.

But he couldn't be so unlucky as to encounter an existence of the level of Little Despair again, could he?

Speaking of which, he was almost done collecting a full three-star card set. He could also do Yu Yu An's destined hand card mission sometime soon.

"Third thing, follow me."

Hu Lan said, already standing up.

"Where to?"

"The academy's card library."