244: Two four-star cards

"Too—too powerful!"

Shi Li stared at the card's stats, dumbfounded.

Actually, the Star Ascension to five stars for Red Blade Maiden was slightly different from what he had imagined.

First, the previous [Resistance] had turned into Magic Immunity.

Possessing both [Super Armor] and Magic Immunity, it had essentially become an impenetrable wall.

No control or negative effects could touch it.

Yet, it had also forcefully gained an initial permanent Characteristic.

The value of this Characteristic was truly immense.

First, a five-star card can carry 5 Affixes.

If one Characteristic is counted as one Affix, then Red Blade Maiden essentially had 7 Affixes.

No, logically, [Super Armor] and Magic Immunity should count as two Affixes themselves.

So, this was equivalent to 8 Affixes.

That wasn't all. After completing Deep Crimson Liberation: Ultra, Red Blade Maiden could gain 3 more

Characteristics.

This meant 11 Affixes, paired with 500 HP.

"This is too exaggerated. I feel like even an Abyssal Kind from the 10th floor of the Abyss isn't this formidable, essentially having one less Affix than Red Blade Maiden."

"To a certain extent, when the sheer number of Affixes reaches such a terrifying amount, its raw power itself counts as a special mechanism."

"The predecessors did not deceive me; reaching five stars truly brings about a qualitative change. It seems they were right."

Shi Li couldn't help but shake his head in amazement.

He then analyzed these Characteristics and Affixes one by one.

Tenacity - Trait was temporarily set aside; there was nothing much to say about it.

The Liberation Characteristic was truly too strong.

When its HP drops to 0, Crimson Liberation: True is automatically triggered.

This meant he could completely wait for Red Blade Maiden to absorb a wave of damage first, then trigger the transformation, Reviving next turn with full HP at 300/300 stats.

With this Characteristic, he could confidently place Red Blade Maiden in the front row and use skills recklessly.

After all, it couldn't die.

Moreover, Liberation is a Characteristic and will not be affected by Seal.

The first Affix that received enhancement was Surging.

Previously it was 10+10 HP Recovery per turn; now it had become 20% HP Recovery.

After Red Blade Maiden uses Deep Crimson Ultra and reaches 500 HP, it can recover 100 HP every turn, which is quite terrifying.

Coupled with its own 100% Lifesteal, its Recovery ability was simply heaven-defying.

That's why he said the current Red Blade Maiden card alone could defeat the opponent's entire deck.

However, with such a massive enhancement, Abundant was actually rendered somewhat useless.

Because starting from the trigger of Crimson Liberation: True, the HP resets to 300/300, and then increases steadily from there.

The 50 points added by Abundant somewhat lose their meaning.

Its only use was allowing Red Blade Maiden to absorb an extra 50 points of damage before transforming.

But in reality, this significance wasn't very large.

"That's fine. Red Blade Maiden now has 6 Affixes, and I can only carry 5.

"Excluding Abundant saves me the difficulty of choosing."

Shi Li took it in stride.

Next were the Affixes Crimson Blaze and Vast.

They had both transformed into [Absolute Damage], which was superior to Fixed Damage and True Damage.

The latter was a combination of the former two, combining their strengths and compensating for their weaknesses.

It feared neither Shield, Barrier, Defense, nor various Damage Reduction effects.

Shi Li's Simulated Card Table held records of all Damage Reduction effects he had encountered since becoming a Card Player.

He tested them one by one, and so far, he hadn't found any that could mitigate Absolute Damage.

Moreover, the enhancement to her HP was a huge benefit for Vast.

With 500 HP, one strike immediately dealt 100 damage.

Coupled with Red Blade Maiden's base Attack Power and the [Suppression] effect, this strike dealt 150 damage.

Basically, aside from Colossal Cards, no ordinary conventional card could withstand it.

Even a high-quality Rage card with maxed-out Abundant only had 150 HP.

The final enhanced Affix was [Surging Tide].

The cost increased by 100 HP, but Execute reached 300 points.

300 points of damage could instantly kill not just conventional cards, but even Ace Cards.

Imagine carrying the Deep Crimson Ultra's [Abyss Breaker]; one strike would be 300 points of Execute across the entire row.

Even a god couldn't withstand it.

If he encountered the W-Series Mech from last time again, Shi Li was confident he could make the opponent suffer immensely.

Having completed Red Blade Maiden's Star Ascension, Shi Li suddenly found himself with nothing to do.

So, he could only rest and wait for the start of the next round of duels.

[This round is a 9+1 Card Game Duel.]

[You will be automatically matched with the nearest Card Player.]

[The winner will proceed to the next stage.]

[This A2 Zone is merging with the A1 Zone.]

It was another new round of card duels.

Shi Li didn't know how many Card Players were able to enter the Divine Realm this time.

Because he didn't know how many civilizations participated, nor how many Card Players each civilization sent.

This time, his luck was better than last time; his matched opponent was an [Emerald 23] Card Player.

The Emerald rank meant the opponent did not possess a five-star card.

Shi Li's strategy this time was quite simple.

He planned for the front row cards to be the usual three, and then reveal Cicada Wing Patrol on the second turn.

Then, he would use Cicada Wing Patrol to trigger Red Blade Maiden in the Ace Card slot, and immediately initiate a rapid great purge.

But when the opponent's deck was actually revealed, Shi Li realized his luck was extraordinarily good.

The person opposite him was actually a Fel Energy Card Player.

It seemed the Divine Realm's judgment standards were fair, not disqualifying the opponent just because they were a Fel Energy Card Player.

Or perhaps, whether someone used Fel Energy or not was irrelevant in the eyes of the Divine Realm.

"This truly came without any effort."

Shi Li knew that Cicada Wing Patrol's Star Ascension to four stars was guaranteed now.

Still executing his strategy, he resolved the battle easily.

While advancing to the next stage, he also completed the Action Mission for Cicada Wing Patrol.

[All participants have completed this round of duels.]

[Next is review and rest time.]

[You may return to your room, or choose a new room.]

As the prompt appeared, the scene before his eyes changed again.

It was still a small town, but it was the town after the merger.

"Let's check the card stats first."

Shi Li was a little impatient.

Although he had already become a Diamond Card Player, he was still looking forward to this card's promotion to four stars.

It wasn't because Cicada Wing Patrol was incredibly strong—in his deck, it couldn't even rank in the top five.

Rather, he felt an attachment to this card.

This was his third Unique Character Card, making it a foundational member.

It had also helped him overcome several difficult challenges posed by Fel Energy in the early stages.

If the mission to ascend to four stars hadn't been so difficult, he would have done its Star Ascension long ago.

[Cicada Wing Patrol]

Balanced, 30 points, Four-star ATK 30, 100/100

[Universal - Characteristic]: When Cicada Wing Patrol joins the deck, increase friendly score limit by +10 → 20

[Momentum - Passive]: When Cicada Wing Patrol is revealed, gain 10 points of Encouragement (T0)

[Inspire - Passive]: When Cicada Wing Patrol is revealed, trigger the Battle Cry effect of 1 card again (T0)

[Blessing - Passive]: When Cicada Wing Patrol is revealed, make 1 revealed card gain 10 points of Encouragement this round (T0)

[Legacy - Passive]: When Cicada Wing Patrol leaves the field, trigger the Death Rattle effect of 1 card again. [Fel Purge - Passive]: Cicada Wing Patrol deals 15 damage to all revealed Fel Energy cards every turn, doubled for derivative cards (T0)

[Spiritual Leader - Passive]: After Cicada Wing Patrol leaves the field, reveal the friendly Ace Card. [Nerve Delay - Passive]: Cicada Wing Patrol's Battle Cry effect is delayed by 1 turn. "Mmm—"

This enhancement surprised Shi Li.

Of course, it was the good kind of surprise.

First, Universal was enhanced.

It changed from adding 10 points to adding 20 points.

Although his deck score wasn't restrictive, having an extra 10 points was naturally a good thing; no one would complain about a higher score limit.

As for the other Affixes, there wasn't much change, except for the addition of a secondary Death Rattle effect.

He pulled up the Simulated Card Table and immediately tested it.

Soon, Shi Li reached a conclusion.

First, triggering the secondary Death Rattle required one condition.

That is, the card being triggered must leave the field before or in the same turn as Cicada Wing Patrol.

Secondly, cards like Red Blade Maiden and Jumping Dragon Guard could not trigger the secondary Death Rattle.

It wasn't because the effect was overwritten, but because their effects trigger when "HP drops to 0," which is strictly not considered a Death Rattle.

Death Rattle is a passive skill that takes effect upon leaving the field.

Shi Li inventoried the Death Rattle Affixes in his deck.

[Tiao Tiao Love - Passive]: When Jumping Girl leaves the field, Jumping Dragon Guard gains 20 points of Healing.

[Spiritual Leader - Passive]: After Cicada Wing Patrol leaves the field, reveal the friendly Ace Card. [Wither Bomb - Passive]: When Withering Dragon leaves the field, 1 target gains 30 points of Wither effect. [Old Death New Life - Passive]: When Withering Dragon leaves the field, 1 target gains 30 points of Charge.

[Death Strike - Passive]: When Full Moon Werewolf leaves the field, perform 1 extra attack. To be honest, it was fewer than he imagined.

Especially the Spiritual Leader Affix on Cicada Wing Patrol itself.

He specifically tested it, assuming a dual-Ace Card Variant Deck Game.

Then when Spiritual Leader triggers, it can already reveal both Ace Cards, so a secondary trigger isn't needed at all.

"Wait, hold on."

Shi Li, who had been feeling a bit regretful, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He immediately tested that Death Rattle type Native Hand Card of his.

[Dead's Talisman]: When Jumping Guard leaves the field, double the Attack Power of all its Summoned Cards. "Woah!"

The result was very satisfying; it actually worked.

So, assuming there were 5 Jumping Girls deployed on the field, their original Attack Power was 20 * 5 = 100 points.

Playing Dead's Talisman turned it into 40 * 5 = 200 points.

Triggering the secondary Death Rattle, it became 80 * 5 = 400 points.

This was 400 points of Attack Power—truly considerable.

Even Red Blade Maiden at full Liberation might not consistently deal this much damage.

A standard 9+1 deck only has a base Attack Power of 320 points.

"This Synergy is quite formidable."

Shi Li was delighted.

After the zones merged again, there was another piece of good news.

That was, he would now enter a long Inter-Tournament Period.

Duels would not be as frequent during the Inter-Tournament Period, and Card Players could freely return to their respective civilizations.

Once the duels began again, they would automatically be summoned back here.

For Shi Li, this was perfect.

Because he still had a few Three-Star Character Cards that needed to complete their action missions.

After performing Star Ascension on these character cards, his Unique Character Card deck would reach all four stars.

They were Fleeing Ink, Breaker, red dragon beast master, and Abyss Slime.

Among them, Abyss Slime was the easiest to complete.

Because when Shi Li returned to Blue Star, he found that the Abyssal True Realm had already opened.

In order not to attract unnecessary attention, he exchanged a Disguise Item Card in the Divine Realm Mall.

He fixed his rank at [Emerald 20].

If the opponent's rank was lower than his, they would not be able to see through the disguise.

However, even being just Emerald 20 was enough to greatly surprise the people around him.

You must know that Shi Li was already Emerald 10 before entering the Divine Realm, and it hadn't been long before he went from 10 to 20. How could people not be surprised?

Abyssal True Realm had no rank threshold, so Shi Li could naturally enter.

Moreover, this time's Leaderboard was different from the previous Abyss; there was only one overall ranking.

The higher the floor cleared, the higher the ranking.

For those who cleared the same floor, the earlier the completion time, the higher the ranking.

There was also a dedicated Shielding Function that allowed Shi Li to hide his rank.

When he entered, the 100-person overall ranking was already full.

The person at the very top had currently progressed to Floor 30.

That meant an Abyssal Kind with 30 Affixes.

This Card Player did not hide his rank: Diamond 3.

He wondered which power this Ancestor-level Card Player came from.

The lowest rank within the top 100 had also reached Floor 15.

Having experienced the difficulty of Floor 10, Shi Li naturally knew that it would only get harder going forward.

Thus, it was clear that without the rank threshold, the Abyss truly showed that there was always someone better.

However, for Shi Li, his current goal was just to clear Floor 20.

With the help of Red Blade Maiden's three-stage transformation, this mission was not difficult to complete.

He failed a few times in between.

For example, one time he wasn't paying attention, and a Reflection Affix was hidden among the opponent's dense cluster of Affixes.

After Red Blade Maiden, the Ace Card, dealt massive AOE damage, she was reflected and killed herself.

Or perhaps the opponent possessed an extremely strong Transcendence Ability, bypassing the conventional cards and killing Red Blade Maiden directly.

But overall, it went smoothly.

He obtained the four-star Abyss Slime.

[Abyss Slime]

Balanced, 30 points, Four-star ATK 30, 100/100

[Mimic Jelly - Characteristic]: Abyss Slime Affix capacity -1. When entering the field, copy 1 → 2 passive Affixes on the field. [Advanced Mimicry - Passive]: After Abyss Slime copies an Affix, it gains all tags of the target. [Ultimate Mimicry - Passive]: When the quality of the target copied by Abyss Slime is no higher than its own, it can transform into an identical card for 1 turn. A four-star card only has 3 Affix slots, and it only has 2 Affixes itself.

"This—

However, Shi Li's eyes truly lit up as he looked at the card's stats.