202: Chosen One

Chapter 202: Chosen of the Gods

In a certain part of Sky Island Paradise, there was a very conspicuous building.

Rather than a building, it was more like a towering stone pillar reaching to the sky.

The island itself floated and flew high in the sky, with clouds appearing from time to time.

The area where the stone pillar stood was always shrouded in clouds, making it seem very peculiar.

Within those clouds, the stone pillar supported a huge circular hall.

Inside the hall, a circle of duel points was evenly distributed along the walls.

Some duel points were empty, while others had figures appearing on them, with the opponent's codename displayed above their heads. A particularly large Scarlet Slime was standing on one of these duel points.

“Not bad, not bad, got another 10 points, bo bo~”

As the light from the duel point dimmed, it bounced out, thoroughly satisfied.

It was clear that it greatly enjoyed the dueling process. Standing beside the Scarlet Slime was a blue-skinned Demonbane with horns on its head.

“Your Divinity, please do not forget your mission this time.”

The Demonbane bowed slightly towards the Scarlet Slime, respectfully reminding it.

Divinities indeed existed, and he was one of the Families (Family Members) specifically responsible for serving them.

Divinities were formless and usually descended by possessing or temporarily borrowing a physical body.

However, the physical body that hosted a Divinity's consciousness needed to possess certain Characteristics based on its race.

One of the races generally considered suitable for a Divinity's descent was the Scarlet Slime.

The Divinity before the Demonbane at this moment, named Divinity Aya, held a relatively high position among Divinities.

“Of course, I haven't forgotten, but that doesn't stop me from having some fun, bo bo~”

Divinity Aya's reply brought a wry smile to the Demonbane's face.

Divinities inherently possessed endless lifespans and enjoyed playing cards for entertainment.

And ever since the Divinity of Cubic Cards became the main god, this activity of playing cards had been elevated to its peak among Divinities.

However, card playing was inherently a competitive activity, so over time, Divinities naturally evolved into opposing factions.

“Only by personally dueling with them can I better understand each individual's situation.

And by better understanding their situations, I can better choose the Chosen of the Gods, can't I?

Bo.”

Divinity Aya stated that it was not indulging in pleasure.

The opening of Sky Island Paradise this time was precisely for selecting the Chosen of the Gods who could enter the Divine Realm.

“That may be true, but your actions have already affected their ability to earn points.”

The Demonbane secretly rolled its eyes.

“Although the ultimate duel in the first stage will largely determine the qualifiers for the next stage,

if the accumulated points over these few days are too low, even if they get first place in the ultimate duel, their total points might not be enough.”

He said.

“First place in the ultimate duel will definitely be me, bo~”

However, Divinity Aya's reply was astonishing.

The Demonbane rolled its eyes again, this time not even bothering to hide it.

Good heavens, so you decided to win from the very beginning, huh?

And you still claim you're not here to play?

However, he felt it didn't really matter, as Divinity Aya was not in the competition anyway; its point ranking or quantity wouldn't affect anyone else.

It was just a pity for the person who would get second place in the ultimate duel in the future.

Because the reward for second place was different from the reward for first place.

Although Divinity Aya didn't care about the reward at all, if it took first place, it would naturally take the reward as well.

After some searching, Shi Li arrived at Senior Sister Shang's location.

“Over here, over here.”

Shang Haojia stood on the duel point, waving at him.

Beside her, there was another empty duel point.

“Sorry, kept you waiting.”

Shi Li greeted her, then stepped onto the duel point.

Since the two were already a team, there was no need to re-form a team.

After they entered the duel point, text popped up in front of them.

“Trigger successful. The mode for this duel point is — Russian Card Game.”

“Starting to wait for the next opponent who triggers the same duel point…”

“Match successful.”

Evidently, the people on the other side had already been waiting.

Two figures appeared, similarly blurred and indistinct, also labeled as [Platinum?].

Judging by their codenames, they were strangers.

Then the rules explanation popped up.

“This card game is a Russian Card Game, divided into offense and Defense groups.”

“The attacking deck forms random blocks and is placed, moving forward 1 space collectively each round.”

“The defending deck deploys 10 cards, all revealed at the start.”

“When an attacking block collides with a defending card, all cards in that block become “Still” status.”

“When cards fill 1 row, that row is eliminated.”

“At the end of the specified number of rounds, the side with more eliminated rows wins.”

“If attacking cards overflow before the specified number of rounds ends, the attacking side wins.”

“What does this mean?”

Shang Haojia looked at these rules, indicating she didn't quite understand them.

“Simply put, it's like Tetris.

The defending deck is the initial blocks at the bottom of the frame, and the attacking deck is the random blocks that fall down one by one.”

Shi Li read faster than her and explained.

“I see—then do you want to be the attacker or the defender?”

Shang Haojia asked.

“I'll be the defender,”

Shi Li thought for a moment.

This mode clearly demanded more from the defender than the attacker.

Because if the defender was not careful, there would be a risk of losing the game early.

“Okay.”

Shang Haojia nodded.

Just as the two on the other side finished their discussion, both sides quickly started two card games.

“This is a bit tricky.”

Shi Li looked at his own card table and found it was not simple.

Although he was given the advantage of revealing all 10 cards, his card grid actually had 4 rows and 4 columns, totaling 16 spaces.

Each row had at least 1 empty space where initial cards could not be deployed, preventing him from filling a row.

In other words, the defender needed to let the attacker's cards fall into the empty spaces in each of their rows to eliminate 1 row.

Thus, the defender's goal became clear: when the opponent dropped irregularly shaped card groups, they needed to trim them into the desired shape to fill 1 row.

The attacker's goal was to thwart the defender, creating as much trouble as possible.

In necessary situations, they could even achieve the goal of rapidly eliminating the defender's combat power by achieving a 1-row elimination tactic.

Moreover, when 4 attacking cards formed 1 row, they wouldn't be eliminated. Trying to form 1 row would pose a very significant threat to the defender.

Soon, Shi Li arranged his deck.

First, the front row cards.

4 card slots, 3 cards can be placed.

Jumping Guard + Snail Walking Lady.

The position of the front row was ambiguous.

They could either be the first to be attacked or be eliminated by the opponent using a 'filling the sea' tactic.

So, overly tough cards couldn't be placed.

The Jumping Guard had a very small advantage in this kind of game, while the Snail Walking Lady was flexible and capable of Movement.

Both were good for the front row.

Second row cards.

4 card slots, 3 cards can be placed.

In this row, Shi Li placed the 2-space behemoth Hard-Shelled Snake + bo shan.

This row was the true Defense line, very important.

Third row cards.

4 card slots, 3 cards can be placed.

This row was mainly for support. Shi Li placed Lotus Succubus + cloud river + Demon-Defeating Dark Hunter.

cloud river no longer carried Revival, because “elimination” did not equal “retirement,” so Revival was not possible.

However, relying on bo shan's assistance for high-speed Charge, it could unleash considerable Quantum Entanglement, making it an equally powerful output.

Last row cards.

4 card slots, 2 cards can be placed.

Red Blade Maiden + Flower Cudgel Leader.

Two powerful outputs, nothing more to say.

“Hello, Wang Defa, please give me your guidance.”

As soon as the game began, the person on the other side greeted Shi Li.

“Hello.”

“How about we develop peacefully this round?”

“Sure.”

Shi Li agreed immediately without even asking what 'peaceful development' meant.

His sincerity was evident.

However, the opponent was also a seasoned player, just casually mentioning it at the start; they didn't genuinely want peaceful development.

Besides, in a card game duel, where was the talk of peaceful development?

Soon, the opponent's first card block appeared.

It was a Z-shaped card group occupying 4 spaces, appearing horizontally on the card table.

It could be called a Z, or it could be called an N.

In Tetris, it was ranked among the three most annoying blocks, alongside the convex and concave shapes.

However, the defender's advantage was that all cards were revealed at the start.

The 10 cards alone had a base attack power of 300 points, so even if the opponent used Defense, at least 1 card would be instantly eliminated.

Currently, the opponent's starting line was 8 spaces away from Shi Li's initial front row.

The Z-shaped block card group had a length of 2 rows, meaning it would take 6 rounds to reach Shi Li's Defense line.

When the first round arrived, Shi Li was not in a hurry at all, calmly dealing with his own deck.

“You haven't played Tetris before, have you, kid?”

On the other side of the card table, the opponent suddenly spoke.

Because he noticed that Shi Li had not performed any attacking actions this round.

Those that should Defense defended, and those that should Still remained Still.

Even the output cards didn't take any action. “You don't understand.”

Shi Li smiled faintly.

The second round arrived, and two parallel cards emerged from the attacker's starting point: ■■.

From this shape,

it was either a square block, a Z-block, or a vertical concave block.

As Shi Li expected, in this Russian Card Game, the defender actually didn't have any obvious advantage.

Because the attacker's cards would continuously fall like those dropping blocks.

In terms of total numbers, the attacking cards were more numerous than the defending cards.

If the defender didn't quickly clear the attacking cards, then when the large army pressed down, it would be irreversible.

However, in the second round, Shi Li finally launched an offensive.

But his target selection was somewhat strange; he didn't attack the foremost Z-shaped block, but rather the second appearing vertical concave block.

One round ended, and the bottom 2 cards of this concave shape were cleared, turning it into an L-shape.

“Damn it!”

At this moment, his opponent reacted.

It could be said that Shi Li had grasped the essence of this mode before the game even began.

It's important to know that if one fully committed to output, then with the numerical advantage of the defending cards, the attacking cards would certainly not be able to overflow to the top.

Therefore, the key to determining the winner between the two teams was the number of eliminated rows.

However, eliminating one's own cards would lead to a give-and-take situation.

So, it wasn't just about eliminating, but about the opponent eliminating.

If defending cards and attacking cards formed 1 row to achieve elimination, then the defending cards would be consumed.

But if attacking cards formed 1 row on their own to achieve elimination, then 1 row elimination count would be gained without reducing defending cards.

Therefore, the latter was the optimal strategy.

Moreover, Shi Li also had summon cards like Jumping Guard.

He could summon 1 or 2 Small Tiao Tiao to achieve a 1-row elimination with 3 or 2 attacking cards.

After a few rounds, Shi Li gained a clear advantage.

He still retained 8 cards in his deck, and the number of eliminated rows had reached 3.

In contrast, on the adjacent card table, the opponent's defender was slower to realize.

Now only 5 cards remained, and the number of eliminated rows was also 3.

“Junior Brother, we're going to win!”

Inspired by Shi Li, Shang Haojia also chose a targeted tactic.

That was to try to trade cards for cards, accelerating the elimination of the opponent's deck.

Once she depleted the opponent to only 1 row of 3 cards, it would be easy to handle.

The opponent could no longer form enough combat power to affect her block deck.

So, there was no need to wait for the specified number of rounds to end; she directly built up block decks into a high tower.

Ultimately, she achieved victory by overflowing and topping out the card table.

“You won this duel.”

“Points gained: 10.”

“Reward gained: 10000 cubic coins.”

“Reward gained: 1 wish card.”

As the game ended, text prompts appeared simultaneously in front of both of them.

“Oh yeah!”

Shang Haojia happily high-fived Shi Li.

“We just need to save the wish cards and synthesize them at the end.

Maybe we can directly get a three-star Unique Character Card, or even a four-star Character Card.”

She was already fantasizing about the final rewards.

However, Shi Li didn't think that way. As someone experienced with using wish cards, he decided to first test the power of this wish card.

“I wish that for the next three days, all opponents I'm matched with have a lower rank than me.”

If his own rank was at the bottom, Shi Li would definitely not make this wish.

Otherwise, if the number of players with a lower rank than him was very small or non-existent, it would greatly affect his matching time.

But according to statistics, there were about 1000 players participating in this Sky Island trip.

And his [Platinum 14] was considered a mid-to-low rank.

This meant there were approximately 200 people with a lower rank than him.

So, this wish was feasible, with more benefits than drawbacks for him.

“Wish power too low, cannot be fulfilled.”

“I wish that for the next three days, the opponents I'm matched with can at most be 3 ranks higher than me.”

“Wish successful, immediately fulfilled.”

“This actually works?”

Seeing the wish card take effect and disappear in Shi Li's hand, Shang Haojia was slightly stunned.

She quickly understood the meaning of Shi Li's wish.

Could this be the correct way to use the first wish card?