190: The thirteenth card

Chapter 190: The Thirteenth unique Card

And so, Shi Li became the top student of Qingchuan University this year.

“This Shi Li, he is ours for the Scholars Club.”

The Scholars Club president pushed up his glasses, “He is very suitable for the atmosphere of our club.”

“Stop talking nonsense, let’s have a direct duel.”

The Passionate Club directly sent an invitation letter; card players should let their card games do the talking.

“You all keep busy, I’ll be on my way then.”

The president of the Free Club excused himself and left.

These fools, do you really think you get to decide which club Shi Li joins?

Of course, it depends on Shi Li’s own wishes.

Instead of engaging in meaningless disputes here, it would be better to go find him directly, right?

However, when he left the VIP box and came down to the arena, Shi Li was nowhere to be seen.

Because at this moment, Shi Li had already been brought back to the Po Shi Academy office by Hu Lan.

And Wei Po Jun had already been waiting in the office a step ahead.

“Excellent, excellent, truly excellent.”

Wei Po Jun’s old face was beaming with joy; looking back, their Po Shi Academy hadn't secured the top position in many years.

If one couldn't achieve the top position in their freshman year, the probability of not achieving it in the subsequent three years would also be very high.

“As for your top student reward, let me know anytime you’ve thought it over, and I will urge the school to issue it immediately.

However, I suggest you take your time to think it through; there’s no rush.”

Hu Lan said.

Shi Li has twelve Unique Character Cards, so deciding which one to use for the direct Star Ascension token card is indeed something that requires careful consideration.

“Alright.”

Shi Li was indeed not in a hurry; he even had the Red Blade Maiden’s three-to-four Star Ascension mission unfinished.

The simulation mission for three-to-four Star Ascension costs 50,000 cubic coins per refresh, and if another one came along, he simply wouldn’t have enough funds.

“Besides the school’s reward, our academy’s reward will, of course, not be absent.”

Wei Po Jun gestured to Hu Lan.

“500,000 cubic coins will be transferred to the previous account in two hours.”

Hu Lan then took out a few cards, “In addition to that, here’s a set of cards; please keep them safe.”

“This is—”

Shi Li took them and saw that there were 10 unique token cards, along with one Po Shi System unique token card each for one-to-two and two-to-three Star Ascension.

Crucially, he had seen these token cards before.

He even remembered the remarks he saw at the time.

Striker Biography: Predicted to have tags such as Martial Arts, Humanoid, Blade Weapon, with missions mostly focused on card games, requiring the intervention of suitable out-of-field character cards.

At the time, between the Tiao Tiao Mo’s yong gan zhi xin (brave heart) and this card, he chose yong gan zhi xin (brave heart).

This card, however, could be useful.

The Star Ascension token cards were already prepared for him, so it would probably only cost about 600,000 to 700,000 cubic coins to complete.

“Another reason I mentioned hoping you’d think carefully before claiming the four-star direct Star Ascension card is—”

After handing over the rewards, Hu Lan continued, “I wonder if you’ve heard of the Chess Domain, a Level 4 Exotic.”

This scene gave Shi Li a sense of déjà vu.

“I’ve heard a little.”

However, this time his answer was different.

“Since you know, that makes things easier.”

Wei Po Jun nodded, “As far as I know, the Chess Domain will likely open in about two months. I suggest you give it a try when it does.”

“The Chess Domain has many different special areas, and even some unusual Alien Bureau with rules that deviate from the norm.”

Hu Lan continued, “So even if you don’t urgently need Emerald in the short term, you can’t relax on strengthening your deck.

I believe that in the Chess Domain, you will definitely gain a great deal, which is very important for the National New Star Cup next semester.”

Of course, the opportunity to enter the Chess Domain is not something everyone can obtain.

However, it would be effortless for Qingchuan University to arrange a spot for Shi Li.

Since Shi Li became the top student of his year, the important task of winning good results for Qingchuan in the New Star Cup naturally fell upon him.

After receiving his rewards, Shi Li thanked the dean and requested a long leave of several dozen days.

Since the Chess Domain would only open in more than two months, he had ample time to fulfill his agreement with Kairala.

Last time, Kairala had invited him to go to a dungeon together.

In addition to that, Shi Li also needed to continue with the mission of the evil dragon Araga.

But before heading to the Chess Domain, he still had a few things to do.

That, of course, was to digest the spoils of war.

Currently, there were three things to digest.

First, the Red Blade Maiden’s three-to-four Star Ascension simulation mission.

Second, the Withering Dragon’s innate hand card mission, Wither Initial.

Third, the Striker Biography simulation mission.

After some thought, Shi Li decided to prioritize them as one, three, two.

The three-to-four Star Ascension of a Unique Character Card is divided into two steps, and completing the simulation mission is merely the first step.

Since he had already accumulated experience and mastered the strategy for this mission to some extent, he might as well proceed with it first.

He would complete the first step and then see how difficult the second step was.

That way, he would have an idea.

After having a meal with his roommates, Shi Li took a car to the District 11 Card Hall.

Having been there so many times, the Card Hall had already reserved a private room exclusively for him.

Ordering a large cup of coffee, Shi Li began the mission.

Two hours later, he successfully completed the mission for the first time.

You have completed this simulation, with a completion rate of 71%.

You can obtain one item card Star Ascension Formula.

Do you want to spend 50,000 cubic coins to reset this mission? (Yes/No)

“Yes.”

Shi Li clicked refresh without hesitation.

The three-to-four Star Ascension simulation mission also required a 60% completion rate to pass.

However, he learned from his research that a higher completion rate would make the subsequent second step of the mission relatively easier.

For example, the item card Star Ascension Formula obtained with 71% completion might be very different from one obtained with 100% completion.

Another troublesome aspect of the three-to-four Star Ascension simulation mission was that it consumed a large amount of Energy.

So much so that after several consecutive attempts, even Shi Li had to rest.

However, upon reflection, he had been quite busy during this period.

So Shi Li simply took a good, long nap.

After a week of refreshing with this work-life balance, and spending another 600,000 cubic coins, he finally completed the mission.

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

You can obtain one hand card Healing (LV3).

You can obtain one item card Star Ascension Formula.

Do you want to spend 50,000 cubic coins to reset this mission? (Yes/No)

“Comfortable.”

Shi Li clicked no.

He didn't expect that 100% completion would even grant an LV3 hand card.

LV3 Healing: Restores 20 HP to two separate cards. (T1)

LV3 Healing did not offer superior Healing compared to LV2.

It merely increased the number of targets by one, enhancing its versatility.

Additionally, its higher level made it immune to LV2 Counter.

However, at least in card games with a single hand card rule, adding a new type of Healing was equivalent to increasing the opportunity to use a Recovery-type hand card once.

“As for this formula—”

Shi Li opened it and saw a list of materials.

It listed a total of over a dozen materials, most of which he had never seen before.

The only thing he recognized was something like a Four-Star Rage System Medium.

This item alone had a market price of around 100,000 cubic coins.

Shi Li checked with the A1 system and found that the total price of these materials surprisingly reached 1,700,000 cubic coins.

One must understand what this implied.

A formula is just a formula.

The final Star Ascension still had to be achieved by the card player through card crafting.

This meant that a single mistake could easily lead to material wastage, and 1,700,000 cubic coins was merely the sum of all materials for a single successful attempt.

Under normal circumstances, it was very common for card players to spend 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 cubic coins to successfully achieve a three-to-four Star Ascension.

Otherwise, Emerald card players would be everywhere.

Among these material cards, the one Shi Li cared about most was called Pure Dragon Related Material.

It didn't seem to be a specific material card.

In the market prices retrieved by the AI, the cheapest material card that met the criteria was called Five-Clawed Dragon Fingernail, priced at 1,000,000 cubic coins.

He could only say that he needed to pay more attention in the future, especially in the Chess Domain, to see if he could acquire such a material card, saving himself at least 1,000,000 cubic coins in material costs.

After completing the Red Blade Maiden’s simulation mission, Shi Li still had 900,000 cubic coins left.

He didn’t hesitate and opened that unique token card.

While doing the Red Blade Maiden’s Star Ascension simulation mission, Shi Li had already interspersed it with several Breaker simulation missions.

He didn’t spend money to refresh; he waited for the token cards to cool down.

“This mission is indeed as noted, much easier with Dimensional Intervention.”

Opening the token card, several lines of text appeared.

This mission is titled: Striker Biography.

Chen Guang was born in a country that revered martial arts.

In this country, a martial arts profession called Breaker was popular.

It is said that the strongest Breaker can break anything in the world.

With a single punch, they can even break the sky.

Chen Guang was a genius in breaking; at three, she could break a wooden board, and at four, bricks.

To improve her breaking technique, she practiced every morning with the first ray of sunlight.

This continued until she was 18; now, Chen Guang could easily break several layers of iron plates.

Until one day, the country’s largest Breaker organization came to her area to recruit disciples, seeking talented individuals with potential.

Chen Guang, who had a small reputation locally, was listed as one of the candidates and successfully received an invitation for a tryout.

The tryout consisted of three final challenges.

Please help her make a choice.

A. Break the Mirror Flower Water Moon.

B. Break the fear in your heart.

C. Break a mountain peak.

“Choose B.”

Shi Li had gone through it many times and knew that A and C were not good paths.

Soon, the first card game of the simulation mission arrived.

The intervening character card he chose was Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter.

In the deck, the most compatible card for this mission was not the explosively damaging Red Blade Maiden or Flower Cudgel Leader, nor the highly durable Jumping Guard or bo shan.

Magic Immunity was the key in this simulation mission, requiring Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter to dispel a large number of negative effects for his side.

As he conquered his way through, Shi Li felt exceptionally smooth today.

After an hour of strategizing, the final result was displayed.

You can obtain one character card Breaker (One-Star).

You can obtain one hand card Charge (LV1).

Do you want to spend 8,000 cubic coins to reset this mission? (Yes/No)

“Comfortable.”

Shi Li did not stop immediately; instead, he took out the one-to-two Star Ascension token card and performed the simulation mission again.

Unlike waiting for a cooldown, this time there was no waiting; he could refresh indefinitely.

After spending 200,000 cubic coins, Shi Li obtained the two-star character card.

You can obtain one character card Breaker (Two-Star).

You can obtain one hand card Charge (LV2).

Do you want to spend 8,500 cubic coins to reset this mission? (Yes/No)

“No.”

Momentum: 60% → 80%

The moment he obtained the card, Shi Li’s resonance reached a new high.

“With this card, my deck’s output capability becomes even stronger.”

He took out that Breaker.

Break!

The card projection showed a refreshing woman in a training suit.

She had a beautiful face and short hair.

As a martial arts card, her weapons were her fists.

Breaker

Momentum, 20 points, Two-Star Attack 20, 100/100, 0/60

Break - Characteristic: For every 10 points of attack damage dealt by Breaker, 5% of the target’s maximum HP is converted. Break Hard Strike - 10 Energy: If Breaker’s target is a Persistence card, it gains Fragile Mind.

Break Giant Strike - 20 Energy: If Breaker’s target is a Giant card, attack power +20.

Break Life Strike - 30 Energy: Breaker attacks one target, dealing damage equal to its lost HP (maximum 100 points).

(Fragile Mind: Prevents Persistence card targets from gaining Energy when hit.)

Although it also had PVP attributes, this card’s main battlefield was PVE.

20 attack, converting to 10% of maximum HP damage, would only be 10 points against a 100 HP card.

Moreover, it was normal damage, neither Fixed Damage nor true damage, making its power far inferior to Red Blade Maiden.

But its advantage was that it was an attack bonus, without any cost, making it more sustained and long-lasting.

Then, all its hand cards were active skills, targeting different types of enemies.

Hardness-breaking skill: If he had this card when fighting An Zihu, he could have dealt with the Abide Stone Statue much earlier.

Giant-breaking skill: Combined with Red Blade Maiden, it could deal 40% of a giant card’s HP in one round.

The final 30-Energy active skill was PVP-oriented.

If it weren’t for the 100-point damage cap, this would be a divine skill, instantly killing a BOSS once its HP dropped below 50%.

However, with the 100-point damage cap, it could at most instantly kill a target with 100/200 HP.

It would be very good as a finishing skill, but unfortunately, the Energy cost was simply too high.

After Star Ascension to two-star, Shi Li still had 700,000 cubic coins left.

He decided to temporarily postpone the Breaker’s two-to-three Star Ascension.

At present, he was not in such a hurry to add another three-star character card.

He would save the money for now and see if there were any other places where he might need to spend it more urgently later.

Moreover, he was out of time; the agreed time with Kairala had arrived, and he had to go to the Chess Domain.