210: The seventeenth card

Chapter 210: The Seventeenth unique Card

The headquarters of Show Card Hall is in the city center of Hua Du City, so Shi Li coming here to complete the procedures would not affect his start of school.

Director Hou specifically accompanied him on this trip to the headquarters.

Actually, he didn't need to come, but he mainly came to enjoy a public-funded trip and incidentally boost his own prestige to show off when he returned.

From Durian City to Hua Du City, the flight time takes several hours.

When the alarm clock rang, Shi Li also opened his eyes.

He had been quite tired lately; although his spirit was full, he was a bit mentally exhausted from the busyness.

A short nap on the aircraft was his rare moment of relaxation.

Looking down out the window, Shi Li could already see the vast building complexes of Hua Du City.

"Brother Hou, why aren't we landing?"

After only a short while, he noticed that the aircraft was not descending but hovering high in the sky.

"We need to wait a bit."

Director Hou gave a helpless wry smile.

"Every inch of land in Huadu is precious, and there's a huge volume of aircraft traffic.

Especially in these central city areas, there's air traffic control, making helipads very hard to find.

If you don't want to wait, you can land in another area and then take a low-altitude hovercar over.

Actually, the time spent is about the same, it's just that the latter is more troublesome."

Before Shi Li could ask, he explained, "Even our headquarters' helipad is very tight, but some employees with higher authority enjoy the privilege of priority landing."

Director Hou continued, "And you are now one of those privileged members."

"Then why do we still have to wait?"

Shi Li asked, but he had already vaguely guessed the answer.

"You only have a provisional S-rank contract, but now there's a genuine S-rank contract about to land.

When an S-rank individual needs to use the helipad, everyone is, in principle, required to give way.

This isn't about someone being arrogant; it's the treatment S-rank individuals are entitled to."

"I see."

Shi Li didn't know how many S-rank individuals there were in Show Card Hall.

But at the mention of the letter S, the first person he thought of was Zhang Xiaochuan.

"And you also know the S-rank individual who is about to land; it's Zhang Xiaochuan.

He also has an S-level employee contract."

What he didn't expect was that it actually was this person.

"But I remember you said last time that he was Platinum 20, right?

He's not much older than me, so even if it's an S-rank contract, shouldn't it just be a cultivation contract?"

Shi Li wasn't dissatisfied with being cut in line; he was just curious.

He had previously read the specific terms of cultivation contracts. Logically, without special circumstances, cultivators would undergo an assessment after university graduation.

Based on the assessment results, the cultivation contract would be converted into a corresponding employee contract.

The upper limit of this employee contract would be a rank equal to the cultivation contract.

His own S-rank employee contract was formed in two steps.

First, by clearing the 10th floor of the Abyss, he was promoted from A-rank to S-rank.

Then, because he advanced to the Emerald tier, his cultivation contract automatically converted to an employee contract.

"I told you last time, that was just hearsay."

Director Hou waved his finger, "And that was then, now there's accurate information: he has already reached the Emerald 30 tier.

The contract you are about to sign is an S1-rank employee contract, while Zhang Xiaochuan's current employee contract is already S4-rank."

"Such a big leap—"

From Platinum 20 to Emerald 30, this was indeed quite something.

However, since it was Zhang Xiaochuan, Shi Li said he could understand.

"Also, do you know how Zhang Xiaochuan was promoted from an A-rank contract to an S-rank contract back then?"

Speaking of Zhang Xiaochuan, Director Hou couldn't help but gossip a bit.

"How was he promoted?"

Shi Li knew that being able to promote an A-rank contract to S-rank must not be simple.

Just like himself, he cleared the 10th floor of the Abyss.

However, at Zhang Xiaochuan's time, the Abyss dungeon clearly hadn't appeared yet.

"He represented Dayuan University and won the New Star Cup championship."

"Such a powerful person, isn't he even a student of Show University?"

"Zhang Xiaochuan's situation is similar to yours; he's the type who developed a bit later. After his college entrance exam, he was only a B-rank contractor, and he wasn't even the top in the province that year."

"I see—"

"If you can win the New Star Cup championship, you might be able to get an S2-rank contract."

"Champion, huh."

Shi Li actually didn't know what level his opponents would be at that time.

However, this Zhang Xiaochuan indeed had considerable strength.

So, he was able to win the New Star Cup championship when he was still in the Platinum tier?

"Actually, you don't need to belittle yourself."

Director Hou seemed to have seen through his thoughts and smiled, comforting him, "Whether it's Platinum or Emerald, people only look at the final result.

Just like Zhang Xiaochuan's New Star Cup, I heard that the level of new students that year happened to not be too high; there were only a few Emerald-tier players, and none of them were high-tier Emerald.

Some even joked that Zhang Xiaochuan absorbed all the luck of that year's new students."

"One step at a time."

Shi Li shrugged.

"Then what level is your employee contract, Brother Hou?"

Suddenly, he thought of this.

He seemed to have never cared about Director Hou's rank.

"Me, well, not long ago, because I took office as a city-level Deputy Curator, I just advanced from C10 to B5-rank contract.

Employee contract levels are generally divided into 1 to 10 sub-levels."

"That's indeed a big promotion, but Brother Hou, your rank is still much lower than mine."

".."

Director Hou's face turned cold; this guy still didn't know how to chat.

"Then what level is my teacher?"

Shi Li asked again.

"I don't have the authority to check Curator Xiu's rank."

Director Hou had an expression that said 'you asked the right person,' and indeed continued, "However, I have accurate information: he is an A10-rank employee.

It's not that Xiu Qingshan isn't an S-rank because he's not in the Emerald tier; it's just that he's not keen on activities, so his personal achievement is at this tier."

"As expected of my teacher, truly impressive."

"Hey, hey, you weren't saying that just now."

The two chatted like this for half an hour, and finally, it was their aircraft's turn to land.

After dropping Shi Li off here, Director Hou's mission was more or less complete.

In a lounge at the headquarters, Xiu Qingshan was waiting for Shi Li.

"Hello, Teacher."

Shi Li respectfully greeted him.

Actually, he had seen Xiu Qingshan quite a bit last semester.

Every time he went to the Card Hall in District 11, he would visit his teacher.

It was just that Xiu Qingshan wasn't often there.

If he happened to be there, he would also teach Shi Li some things.

For example, some exotic experiences, some rare card mechanisms, some card-making knowledge, and so on.

Having stayed in Durian City for a winter vacation this time, it had been a relatively long time since they last met.

Now, Xiu Qingshan was Platinum 100.

However, in Shi Li's impression, the other party had been at this tier for some time.

Of course, he wouldn't have any thoughts just because he was now Emerald and Xiu Qingshan was Platinum.

On the contrary, he was thinking that if his teacher went to Mang Domain, he would surely thrive, especially in modes like the Infinite Card Game.

"Not bad, not bad, finally Emerald."

Xiu Qingshan looked up at Shi Li's tier and casually tossed him a card: "Take this card and clear the Berserk Tower early."

"Thank you, Teacher. Your teaching is truly excellent."

Shi Li took a look; it was actually a unique token card.

And listening to the other party, it was also of the Rage System.

"Alright, alright."

Xiu Qingshan was already used to his flattery, waved his hand, and motioned for him to follow: "Let's go, to sign the contract."

"I heard that the New Star Cup is starting after you guys go back to school, right?"

On the way, Xiu Qingshan initiated a casual chat.

"Yes, in about ten days or so."

"In this New Star Cup, you are the highest-ranked from our Card Hall."

Xiu Qingshan spoke in a tone that urged him to strive for success.

"What about the other two Card Halls—"

Shi Li continued the conversation.

Even in collegiate competitions, the rivalry between the major Card Halls still existed.

Even if it was just for a title, none of them would be willing to lose to the other two.

However, two of the five major Card Halls were not in Xia Country, so it was unlikely for their people to participate in the New Star Cup.

Even if someone did participate, they probably wouldn't be strong players with high-level contracts.

"For this New Star Cup, I heard that Li Card Hall and Star Card Hall have a total of 4 S-rank contractors participating. They are all geniuses of this generation who have cleared the 10th floor of the Abyss.

The strongest among them should be Li Wan from Star Card Hall, Emerald 10.

Like you, he also received an S-rank employee contract, and he is already S2-rank."

"Li Wan—"

Hearing this, Shi Li's expression became slightly serious.

As expected of a national event, it was indeed full of hidden talents.

Presumably, all the strong players of this generation of card players in Xia Country were gathered here.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the signing office.

However, they were met with apologies and smiles from the staff.

"Excuse me, Curator Xiu, you might need to wait a moment."

Because there was only one S-rank processing instrument, and someone had already gone in.

"Waiting again—"

Shi Li wasn't impatient; he just felt that today was a bit unlucky.

"Hmm? I clearly made an appointment in advance."

Xiu Qingshan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but the other party's contract level is higher, so they have priority usage."

The staff dared not offend him and could only try their best to explain.

"This is the internal system of the Card Hall; you'll have to get used to it."

Xiu Qingshan, of course, wasn't annoyed; he just shrugged at Shi Li: "Those with lower ranks simply have to make way for those with higher ranks."

Even a direct descendant of the Xiu family had no special privileges under this system.

It was precisely because Card Halls like Show Card Hall, which belonged to family groups, had to use strict systems to command respect.

Within the Card Hall, it's not about tiers, but about employee ranks.

And employee ranks are earned through a card player's personal actions.

So the two waited there for a while, and soon a tall, handsome man, looking about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, walked out of the operating room.

"Teacher Xiu."

The other party was slightly stunned when he saw Xiu Qingshan, then immediately nodded in greeting.

"Xiaochuan?"

Xiu Qingshan saw the other party and immediately understood: "You little rascal, your contract has been upgraded again?"

"Yes, just upgraded to S5."

Zhang Xiaochuan looked at Shi Li: "This is—"

"My student, a genius who will definitely surpass you within a year."

Xiu Qingshan patted Shi Li's shoulder, boasting on his behalf.

"Hello."

Having been praised, Shi Li didn't feel awkward at all.

"Is that so? Then I look forward to it."

Zhang Xiaochuan just smiled.

In recent years, he had encountered many such arrogant remarks, but without exception, he had defeated them all.

Even if it was Xiu Qingshan's student, he didn't think the outcome would be any different.

After saying this, he slowly left.

Ten days later, Shi Li was already on the campus of Qingchuan University.

Today was the first round of the New Star Cup.

The competition adopted an online mode, with a single-elimination system.

So Shi Li came to the designated room and released his capsule cube.

He was already used to using his own, and his application was approved.

As for the unique token card given by Xiu Qingshan, he had already digested it.

He spent about 1 million to upgrade it to three stars.

Its projection was a huge Western red dragon.

Red Dragon Beastmaster

Berserk, 100 points, three-star attack 100, 350 / 350

Red Lotus - Characteristic: Red Dragon Beastmaster can generate 100 health to gain 1 hand card [Dragon Flame]

Colossus - Passive: Red Dragon Beastmaster occupies 3 card slots, maximum health + 250

Beastmaster's Majesty - Passive: When Red Dragon Beastmaster attacks beast-type cards, it applies the [Fear] effect.

Bathed in Flames - Passive: Red Dragon Beastmaster is immune to fire-type effects and damage, and gains an equal amount of [Healing] to the total damage of [Dragon Flame].

Inferno Breath - 100 Health: Red Dragon Beastmaster attacks 1 target, causing it to gain 10 [Burning].

([Burning]: Continuously takes damage that cannot be reduced starting next turn, stackable)

It finally allowed Shi Li to possess a unique colossal character card.

And this card had a very special Characteristic that allowed the card player to gain hand cards.

[Dragon Flame]: Deals 10 damage to all non-fire-type cards on the field.

No wonder when giving the token card, Xiu Qingshan said it was for him to use against the Berserk Tower.

Because in the single-hand card rule of PVP card games, [Dragon Flame] can only be cast once.

However, this [Dragon Flame] hand card has good AOE ability, and it can also be converted into Healing, greatly enhancing the survivability of the [Red Dragon Beastmaster].

But the downside is that it damages both allies and enemies, attacking even its own people.

It's equivalent to draining the blood of its own collective cards to heal itself, which can be said to be a bit overbearing.

However, precisely because of this Healing ability, in the absence of [Healing Inhibition] and [Isolation] from the opponent, its damage-taking capacity is also quite excellent.

Moreover, the weakening Healing effect of [Ignite] is ineffective against it because it is immune to [Ignite].

Then there is also (presumably) its exclusive special effect, [Burning].

Although it doesn't have the Healing reduction of [Ignite], its advantage lies in its continuous and stackable nature, and only [Purification] can remove it.

With 100 attack power, it's enough to instantly kill many hundred-health cards with a basic attack.

It's not too outstanding in PVP card games, but it's definitely a very useful card in PVE card games.