30: Advance to [Gold 3]

You can obtain 1 Stone Demon (Two-Star) character card.

Do you want to spend 1700 cubic coins to reset this card creation? Yes/No.

"No."

The moment Shi Li received the brand new two-star card, his body was enveloped in golden light.

After a warm current swept through his entire body, his rank reached Gold 3.

"Comfortable."

He felt the physical feedback brought by the promotion.

"But I can't let my guard down; just because I'm improving doesn't mean others will stand still."

Shi Li was quite clear-headed.

The other top 32 participants would certainly receive resource prioritization from their respective schools.

By the time they met again in the next competition, perhaps everyone would have improved by at least 1 level.

For now, let's take a look at the new two-star card.

Stone Demon

Persistence, 20 points, Two-Star

Attack 20, 100/100, 0/40

Solid - Passive: When Stone Demon is in Defense, damage taken is reduced by 10.

Defense - 30 Energy: Stone Demon enters Defense state this round (T1).

"It gained an active Defense skill, and the energy cost is 10 points less than the one-star Crude Stone Demon."

Shi Li was quite satisfied with this final result.

These 10 points of energy cost should not be underestimated.

A Persistence card Recoverys 15 energy when hit once; 40 energy requires 3 hits, while 30 energy only requires 2 hits.

The difference between the two is only 10 points, but it's a world of difference.

Moreover, just as the principal said, this entry can increase the proactiveness of his operations.

When Stone Demon uses its skill for Defense, he can play the Healing hand card.

With both working together, Stone Demon's damage-bearing capacity will be greatly increased.

For the next week, Shi Li once again threw himself into the training grounds for hunting.

With the two-star Stone Demon, his deck's survivability greatly improved.

Some LV3 demons that he couldn't challenge before could now be easily defeated.

Even LV4 demons were no match for him.

This meant that the training ground was almost too small to contain Shi Li.

Aside from the Man-Eating Flower deep in the center, he now basically walked sideways in the training ground.

This greatly increased hunting efficiency, and his income naturally rose accordingly.

A week's worth of hunting gains, plus accumulated prize money, brought Shi Li's savings to over 20,000.

His rank had risen rapidly in the past month, and his income level was the same.

With his current strength, even without a scholarship, he would only need to diligently work for a few months to fully cover Shi Yuan's future tuition fees.

But he still wanted to continue getting stronger, after all, this was what all card players sought deep down.

What's more, Shi Li knew that this amount of money wouldn't last long at all.

As his rank increased, the cost of refreshing also became higher and higher.

Indeed, people say card creation is a money pit, and he now deeply understood that.

According to the current situation, he no longer needed to attend classes at school.

If possible, he would prefer to continue staying in the training ground.

However, today was not possible; Director Hou had called Shi Li alone to the Card Hall.

Show Card Hall had a total of three branches in Durian City, and Shi Li went to the city's main branch.

As one of the five major Card Halls, Show Card Hall's main branch was naturally quite large.

Duel areas, card creation areas, and other facilities were all available.

"First, congratulations. I heard you performed well in the city-wide unified exam this time."

Director Hou had actually secretly watched Shi Li's card game match.

"I still have to thank Director Hou."

Shi Li's words were sincere.

If Red Blade Maiden hadn't gained the new recovery entry Unceasing, it might not have been so easy to defeat Guo Tian.

Even if he barely won with a crippled deck, the subsequent incomplete deck might not have been able to beat other competitors.

"That also depends on your own efforts."

Director Hou smiled brightly, clearly pleased.

"Next, I will explain the details of this online assessment to you."

After some pleasantries, he got to the point.

The online contract assessment competition was also known as the Climbing Tower Competition.

Contractors needed to go through one demon card game after another until they were defeated.

Moreover, the demons on each floor would be stronger and more numerous than on the previous floor.

And from the very first round, they were two-star demons.

From 1 two-star demon, to 2, then to 3.

In reality, except for a few rare exceptions, the maximum level for a two-star demon is LV5; further improvement would make it a Three-Star Demon.

But in the Climbing Tower Competition, those virtual demons would completely break this limit.

LV6, LV7, LV8 two-star demons would all appear, with no upper limit.

It's important to know that even a Gold LV8 card player can at most field 5 character cards.

However, a two-star LV8 virtual demon can field 8 demon cards.

An ordinary Gold card player participating would at most last until the 5th or 6th floor.

This kind of result is actually normal, but among a group of genius contractors, it would be considered absolutely bottom-tier.

Therefore, just like this time, Gong Ping and Xiang Bei, who have D+ Grade Contracts, didn't come; they will continue to participate in the local offline assessment.

If it weren't for Xiu Qingshan's special approval, Shi Li would not have been invited to participate at all.

"Come on, this is your first time logging into the Card Hall's cubic capsule, and there are still some procedures."

After the introduction, Director Hou led him to the cubic capsule area.

Unlike the public cubic capsule area at school, each cubic capsule here had its own private cubicle.

"Card Player Shi Li, male, 18 years old, current third-year high school group.

Participating in: Online Contract Assessment, serial number JY-987."

After facial recognition, the AI connected to the information database reported the relevant information.

"Your competitors will be contractors from Show Card Halls across the country; they are all at least C-Level Contract holders.

Also, the Climbing Tower Competition for the third-year high school group corresponds to two-star demons."

After explaining, Director Hou patted Shi Li's shoulder: "Alright, good luck."

The assessment will take place in 30 minutes. Given that the assessor is participating for the first time, it is recommended to log in early to familiarize yourself with the environment.

The cubic capsule door slowly opened.

"Come on."

Shi Li lay down inside.

Soon, he appeared inside a pure white space.

Translucent blue light screens with text written on them floated towards him.

On them were various Precautions (notes) and the rules for this online assessment.

Although they were largely similar to what Director Hou had introduced, Shi Li still read them carefully word by word to avoid any omissions.

On the other side, in the director's office.

Xiu Qingshan had just finished his day's work and taken a short nap.

Then he prepared to open the card player system to begin his card creation practice for the day.

Card creation is a lifelong study for card players; even at his current rank, he needed to constantly research and practice.

"Beep beep beep..."

However, before he could officially start, a video call came in.

"Why is it him?"

Xiu Qingshan saw the caller's name and couldn't help but frown...