26: A once-in-a-decade genius

The first round of the unified exam adopted a free-for-all mode.

All Card Players entered the battlefield and engaged in non-stop combat.

The free-for-all mode had significant rule differences from regular 1v1 card games.

Firstly, all cards were revealed at the start of the game.

There was no card replacement phase; whatever deck was brought in at the beginning was the deck used.

Secondly, the deck's status did not refresh.

If two regular cards were lost in the previous game, then the next game would continue with two regular cards still lost.

Of course, if your deck suffered losses, so did others.

To make the unified exam fairer to some extent, the drawing of lots was not entirely random.

Each session would have one and only one 'seed player'.

Seed players were students ranked in the top 32 of this year's division, and the purpose of this setup was to prevent them from meeting too early.

However, when Twenty-sixth High School submitted its registration, Shi Li was only Silver 3, so Gold 1 Gong Ping became the seed player.

The first to be held was the free-for-all for Lot A.

When the arena opened, hundreds of students who had drawn Lot A were instantly teleported into the venue from the stands.

"Please select your opponent within 5 seconds, otherwise the system will force a match."

The announcement sounded from above the venue.

With system supervision, no one could slip through.

Immediately, hundreds of card games began on the spot.

"There are too many people, I can't even see where the seed player is."

Gong Ping craned his neck, trying to find the seed player for Lot A.

But with so many card games in a chaotic mass, it was really hard to find.

"Individual advantages are not easy to show in this mode."

Shi Li, on the other hand, was sighing.

The irreversible deck loss in free-for-all mode was a factor that could lead to great variables.

For example, a Gold-tier Card Player, if he continuously encountered several Silver Card Players whose decks happened to counter his, might also be eliminated.

Soon, the first wave of card games gradually saw people completing their duels.

After all the games ended, the announcement sounded again.

"Please select your opponent within 5 seconds, otherwise the system will force a match."

As many as half the people were eliminated, making the situation on the field much clearer.

"Found him, it's Wu Hao from Third High School."

Gong Ping finally discovered the seed player for this round.

After one card game, Wu Hao's first and second row cards had already retired.

Only one last-row regular card and one trump card remained.

His opponent in the second game was even more battered, with only one heavily damaged trump card left.

Wu Hao easily achieved victory.

This situation continued until the fifth round, where Wu Hao achieved a solo victory.

Five rounds of paired card games could not determine the final person among hundreds of participants.

Instead, in the fifth round, besides Wu Hao's victory, all other duels ended in a mutual elimination, a draw.

It turned out that the true meaning of this mode was not to require the winner to defeat all opponents.

Instead, it was to see who could survive longer.

From Wu Hao's expression, it was clear that his win was not easy.

After all, he was just a hair's breadth away from his trump card also being eliminated with the opponent's.

"Wu Hao is considered a top student in Third High School, but not among the very best."

Gong Ping commented.

He had done his homework beforehand and was quite knowledgeable about these seed players.

"Then who is the strongest in Third High School?"

Hearing Gong Ping say this, Shi Li became interested.

He had been too busy during this period and had no time to collect and process this information.

"The strongest in Third High School is definitely Liang Dan; I heard her rank has already reached Gold 4."

"Gold 4..."

Shi Li raised an eyebrow.

Gold 4, that was quite close to the peak of this division, Gold 5.

Card Players who reached Gold 5 could activate a 4+1 deck, giving them an advantage of one more card than other Gold Card Players.

However, as the top student of one of Durian City's two key high schools, it was not surprising that Liang Dan had a Gold 4 rank.

"Additionally, those to pay attention to this time include Yang Jing from Eighth High School, Gong Ping from Twenty-sixth High School, Wu Wuwu from Eleventh High School, Guo Tian from Second High School, and others.

They have all reached Gold 3 and are the undisputed top performers of this year's cohort."

Gong Ping's expression was solemn.

"I think your shamelessness is the top performer."

Shi Li scoffed.

"Of course, if we're talking about who is the strongest among the third-year high school students in Durian City this year..."

Gong Ping looked towards the field: "Look, it's just his turn to enter."

Unlike the Lot A session, the seed player for the Lot B session was quite easy to find.

Because the examinees standing around him had automatically made way, forming a circular empty space.

And that person stood calmly in the center of the circle.

Fang Jinghai, from Second High School.

This person's reputation was something even Shi Li had heard of.

"This guy, he's practically a monster..."

Gong Ping exclaimed.

Fang Jinghai could be said to be a genius who appeared in Durian City at most once every ten years.

When most people in this cohort were still in the Silver division, this person was already Gold 1.

By now, he had even reached the realm of Platinum 1.

And he was definitely not a Platinum 1 achieved through rote memorization; it was said that he had even reached Gold 13 before.

He only recently advanced to Platinum 1 in preparation for the unified exam.

"Platinum rank, he truly stands out from the crowd."

Shi Li naturally knew that he definitely couldn't beat this person right now.

Compared to Wu Hao in the previous round, Fang Jinghai's victory could be said to be without suspense.

Even after the last breakthrough game ended, he still had three character cards remaining.

In the subsequent Lot C to Lot F sessions, all seed players achieved victory, without exception.

One could only say that the process had its difficulties and ease.

The seed player for the Lot F session was Gong Ping.

Although Gong Ping's current deck was not necessarily strong in PVE, it was very effective in PVP.

Especially the Barbarian Warrior's strong endurance, which was very suitable for this occasion.

Even when the Barbarian Warrior's health faced a crisis in the third game, he performed a brilliant maneuver.

He made the back-row character card Defense, and then the Barbarian Warrior used Bullying Strike on it.

This way, the Defense card lost 15 health, the Barbarian Warrior's skill consumed 20 health, and he himself recovered 40 health as a result.

This was equivalent to exchanging 35 health for 40 health, not only a small gain but also bringing the Barbarian Warrior's health back to a safe line.

Such a brilliant maneuver drew a chorus of praise from the field.

In the stands, Fang Jinghai also witnessed this scene.

"He's the genius from Twenty-sixth High School you mentioned?"

He asked Xiang Bei, who was beside him, with interest.

Xiang Bei also came from Second High School, but she was signed with Show Card Hall, while Fang Jinghai was signed with another of the five major Card Halls, Li Card Hall.

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