229: Advance to [Jade 10]

Chapter 229: Promotion to Emerald 10

bo shan: Completed the cloud sea vessel prerequisite mission.

Yun He: Completed the hundred mountain vessel prerequisite mission.

"This is practically a gift, isn't it? If I had known it was this easy, I would have performed Star Ascension on them earlier."

A rich emerald green light enveloped his entire body, and his personal panel received an upgrade.

Tier: Emerald 8 -> Emerald 10

Stamina: 830 / 830 -> 890 / 890

Energy: 830 / 830 -> 890 / 890

The mental power consumed by refreshing was instantly refilled.

The Resonance of both Systems also increased.

Steadfast System Resonance: 120% -> 130%

Listening Wind System Resonance: 110% -> 120%

"Let's check the cards."

He first picked up a card.

hundred mountain vessel

Persistence, 30 points, Four-star Attack 30, 100 / 100, 0 / 100

cloud mountain - Characteristic: When hundred mountain vessel is attacked, cloud sea vessel gains 5 -> 10 Energy.

Defensive Field - Passive: hundred mountain vessel gains 10 -> 15 Shield every turn (T1).

Support Protocol - Passive: When cloud sea vessel is on the field, hundred mountain vessel takes -10 less attack damage.

Backup Supply - Passive: When cloud sea vessel is Still, hundred mountain vessel gains 10 Healing.

Energy Saving Mode - 10 Energy: hundred mountain vessel enters Defense state this turn (T1).

Dimensional Barrier - 40 -> 30 Energy: hundred mountain vessel gains 1 layer of Barrier and does not affect action (T1).

(Barrier: Negates the single highest damage instance this turn.)

"Oh? This boost is quite good."

After reading, he raised an eyebrow.

The Characteristic and several entries received numerical improvements.

These numerical increases were all quite significant.

Don't just look at the 5 or 10 points; from the original values, it's an increase of 100% or 50%.

Especially the Dimensional Barrier active skill.

The original 40 Energy cost was quite clunky, but now at 30 points, hundred mountain vessel only needs to be hit twice to cast it.

It also gained an additional passive Healing effect.

It's worth noting that while hundred mountain vessel' HP limit is average, it is extremely durable.

Therefore, the benefit of consistently gaining 10 Healing every turn far exceeds that of his other damage-absorbing cards.

Then he looked at the other card.

cloud sea vessel

Listen to the Wind, 0 points, Four-star Attack 0, 100 / 100, 0 / 100

cloud mountain - Characteristic: When cloud sea vessel is Still, hundred mountain vessel gains 10 Energy.

Observer - Passive: cloud sea vessel can be placed in the Ace row.

Waveband Synchronization - Passive: When hundred mountain vessel is revealed, cloud sea vessel is also revealed.

Static Armor - Passive: When cloud sea vessel is Still, it takes -10 less attack damage.

Ion Pulse - Passive: cloud sea vessel' attack consumes all current Energy and converts it into an equal value of Quantum Entanglement.

Flowing Cloud Retrospect - 80 -> 70 Energy: cloud sea vessel selects 1 target in the retreat zone, granting it 30 Revival -> Return to Field.

(Quantum Entanglement: Loses 10 Energy; if no Energy, loses 10 HP.)

(Return to Field: Card re-enters the field in its original position.)

"This enhancement is completely different from what I imagined."

This change surprised Shi Li quite a bit.

Because according to previous experience, cloud sea vessel' promotion to four-star should have been like hundred mountain vessel' promotion to four-star, mainly gaining some numerical enhancements.

The result, however, was a different, rarer type of enhancement.

First, it reached the perfect form for a Listening Wind card, 0 points.

Then, it gained an entry very similar to the Fennec Fox Girl's Characteristic.

However, unlike the Fennec Fox Girl's Characteristic, which increases the number of regular cards in play by 1, the Observer entry merely allows it to be placed in the Ace slot.

This means that in ideal circumstances, he could play a 2-slot giant card, then pair it with the regular cards Fennec Fox Girl + cloud sea vessel placed in the Ace row, allowing him to form a genuine 12-card deck.

In addition, cloud sea vessel' Revival skill also reduced its Energy cost by 10.

And its effect was also enhanced.

After testing it on a simulated card table, it can be said that Return to Field is an upgraded version of Revival.

The latter does not retain the card's Energy when it Revives.

The former, however, retains the card's Energy value from its state when it retreated.

For the Steadfast System, Return to Field is definitely much stronger than Revival.

Because Steadfast System cards are typically defeated while they Still have Energy.

One point to note is that neither Revival nor Return to Field will fully recharge Wisdom System cards' Energy.

Furthermore, Return to Field has another clear advantage over Revival.

That is, if multiple cards retreat in the same slot, Revival can only Revive the last card to retreat.

But with Return to Field, one can choose among the retreated cards in that slot.

Simply put, it's more intelligent and user-friendly.

"The enhancements to these two cards are indeed good."

"The key is that it's also effortless; the second step was essentially free."

"And there's a Collaboration effect, 1+1 is greater than 2."

"If possible, after Red Blade Maiden reaches five-star, should I choose to Star Ascension these two?"

"But let's not think too far ahead; let's first get Red Blade Maiden to five-star, haha."

So, Shi Li decided not to use the remaining 2 million for now.

After a few days of good rest, he went to a Card Hall in District 11, rented a private room, and locked himself in.

When the time came, he pulled out the communication card the Demon Man had given him.

Upon activation, the Demon Man's holographic projection quickly appeared before him.

"You are punctual."

The Demon Man didn't say much and went straight to the point.

"Now, relax your entire body and mind. Do not resist."

"You will temporarily enter a new world."

After saying this, his figure disappeared.

Then, Shi Li felt his vision blur and his body lighten.

The experience was similar to entering a Space-Time Trace in another domain, and in a short while, he arrived in a new environment.

The sky here was blue-purple, and strange buildings were visible everywhere.

Shi Li felt as if he had arrived in a small town with a very distinct style.

He wasn't the only one there; there were also some card players dressed in various exotic costumes.

Most of them had physical features clearly not belonging to Blue Star humans, and some were even beastmen, elves, or robots.

Evidently, these were card players from other civilizations.

The Demon Man had told him last time that the second phase of this Mang Domain would involve participants from different civilizations and races.

For a moment, everyone on the field looked at each other, revealing expressions of vigilance and scrutiny.

Because everyone, including Shi Li, had been informed of the general content of this trip.

That is, they would be engaging in various forms of duels here.

Those who performed exceptionally would not only receive a high amount of Divine Realm points (i.e., Mang Domain points) but also potentially gain the favor of the gods.

Because perhaps in one of the duels, they would receive a secret gaze from a god.

However, Shi Li didn't care much for the latter; all he wanted were points.

"Entrances to all modes have been opened."

"Please find your preferred mode and enter."

A voice echoed over the small town.

Shi Li was not unfamiliar with this mode.

Because in the Mang Domain, they had used similar rules to find variant card games.

Clearly, the entrances should be within the confines of this small town.

So, Shi Li didn't think much and immediately began searching.

During this time, several people of different races approached him, offering invitations to team up and travel together.

But because he didn't know their backgrounds, Shi Li politely declined them all.

If he remembered correctly, there should also be a few Blue Star natives here, but the town was too large, and he just hadn't encountered them yet.

In fact, even if he met genuine Blue Star compatriots, Shi Li wouldn't rashly team up with them if he didn't know them.

Let alone aliens, especially some with particularly strange appearances who didn't look like good people.

After walking alone for about ten minutes, Shi Li saw a flickering light door in an alley.

"Duel Entrance."

Just as he perked up and hurried over.

"Haha! I found it first!"

A sharp laugh echoed above, and a winged figure swooped over his head and crashed into the light door.

The opponent was too fast; Shi Li couldn't even see clearly, only a blurry shadow.

Subsequently, blue light chains sealed the light door before him.

As he approached, he saw the words automatically appear on the light door: "Personnel Full."

"There's a setting like this."

Helpless, he could only turn and leave.

After walking for a while longer, he again saw a light door located on the top floor of a small building.

Learning from the previous lesson, this time he didn't take the usual path.

To save time, he climbed directly up the exterior wall to the rooftop.

This time, the light door was not locked.

As he reached out, information popped up before him.

Name: Interstellar Mothership

Mode: Unbalanced Confrontation

Participants: 3 / 5, 0 / 1

"Unbalanced Confrontation? What kind of mode is this?"

Shi Li was first stunned, then looked at the participant numbers.

Why were there two participant counts?

Since it was a duel, it should naturally be divided into at least two factions.

So, unbalanced confrontation means one side has 5 people, and the other only 1?

With this curious thought, Shi Li walked into the light door.

Buzz----

As the scene changed before his eyes, a space that felt like being in the universe appeared before him.

The four walls of the space—up, down, left, and right—were all cosmic starry skies, and in the center was a long conference table with a sci-fi, interstellar spaceship aesthetic.

On either side of the table were 5 chairs and 1 chair, respectively.

On the side with 5 chairs, three figures were already seated.

The three figures were all shrouded in light orbs, their outlines completely blurred, let alone identifying their race.

"Before the personnel limit is reached, you can freely choose your faction."

"Escape Faction: Must complete designated tasks to release Escape pods and flee the mothership."

"Hunt Faction: Apprehend as many escapees as possible."

"You may leave at any time before the duel begins."

"Oh----"

Seeing this simple explanation, Shi Li immediately understood.

He immediately thought of a game on Blue Star, "Old Six Personality."

That game was very popular among fifth and sixth graders and middle school students; it was essentially a game where a big demon puppet chased four small puppets in a manor.

So this was what Unbalanced Confrontation meant, somewhat similar to the "tag" game played as a child.

The ghost is invincible and responsible for hunting.

Humans have no means of resistance and can only run away.

After understanding, Shi Li turned his gaze to the three card players already seated in the Escape Faction.

He didn't know if it was possible to talk and communicate in the current situation, but he didn't see any indication from them; he only saw that the three of them seemed to be observing him as well, waiting for him to make a choice.

Shi Li could understand the actions of these three.

When facing an unknown situation, having more people, or rather, having companions, makes one feel relatively safer.

So, choosing to team up is an instinctual choice.

However, Shi Li believed that the card players who could come here were all alone and most likely didn't know each other.

Therefore, these three must have formed a temporary group.

Rather than teaming up with people whose backgrounds he didn't know, then----

Then he would rather trust himself.

So he walked to the opposite side of the three and sat down on the single chair.

"Yes / No, choose Hunt Faction."

"Yes."

He didn't hesitate at all.

When Shi Li finished his selection, his vision went black again.

It wasn't that the duel had already started, but that he had entered the Hunt Faction's configuration mode.

"This is a 1V5 mode."

"Therefore, as the Hunter, you can have 1 passive Characteristic + 2 active skills."

"What does this mean?"

"Now, please select your abilities from your deck."

As if in response to his question, Shi Li's deck automatically opened before him.

"Oh? It can be like this?"

Shi Li was quite surprised.

This duel mode seemed to require card players to personally enter the field.

And cards only exist to provide abilities to the card player?

"Interesting----"

Although this deviated from the scope of a card game, it felt very fresh to Shi Li.

He glanced at the Characteristics he could choose from.

He found that not all Characteristics were presented.

"It seems there's also a compatibility issue between cards and this mode; some Characteristics that cannot be manifested in this mode cannot be selected."

Shi Li understood somewhat.

Resilience: When you are controlled, you can trigger 1 Overlord for 10 seconds, cooldown 60 seconds.

"Since I can choose abilities, the Escape Faction should also be able to."

"Perhaps they also possess control abilities?"

He already wanted to immediately choose the Red Blade Maiden's Characteristic, but he decided to first look at all available Characteristics.

Universal: After you imprison an escapee, their elimination progress is additionally +10%.

This is the Cicada Wing's Characteristic, and it also looks good.

Generally, in this type of game, after catching an escapee, they cannot be immediately eliminated; instead, they must be imprisoned in a designated location to await a progress bar.

This progress bar also gives the escapees some room for error, because during this period, other teammates can rescue the trapped friend through "release."

Weight of Hua Gun: Your skills consume no Energy; when Energy is full, skills cannot be used.

"It seems this mode also has an Energy bar, but I don't know how Energy is calculated."