241: Purple quality [Shiji]! (5k second one!)

“Alright then.”

Li Yueying nodded, showing no intention of pressing further, which eased Jiang Yuan’s tension.

“The Four School Joint Examination is about to begin, how are you feeling?” Li Yueying raised an eyebrow and asked Jiang Yuan.

“Almost ready. I just need three more days to upgrade the quality of Shi Ji and her weapons, and then I’ll be good to go.”

Jiang Yuan nodded. This amount of time certainly wasn't enough for him to raise his strength to the Fifth Sequence Great Beam.

However, taking a shortcut by upgrading Nezha’s equipment and Shi Ji’s quality would also increase his combat power.

“That works. How much have you improved so far?”

“Hmm…”

Jiang Yuan hesitated, “Currently, only the Fire Tipped Spear and Huntian Ribbon have been upgraded to purple quality.”

“Oh?”

Li Yueying was startled, “So, you need to upgrade five cards in these three days?”

Jiang Yuan was also surprised, silently calculating in his mind.

Shi Ji, Qiankun Circle, Qiankun Bow, Zhentian Arrow, Wind Fire Wheels, and Shi Ji’s equipment, Taia Sword.

“Uh, six.”

Jiang Yuan scratched his head awkwardly, “But it should be fine, right? I’ll upgrade Shi Ji’s quality first.”

“Alright, if you can’t manage the remaining weapons, take your time with them.”

Jiang Yuan was also a bit helpless. The main reason was that he had been focusing on cultivation cards for a while, only managing to spare some time to upgrade Nezha’s Fire Tipped Spear and Huntian Ribbon. The others hadn't been upgraded yet.

However, with Jiang Yuan No. 2, if everything went smoothly, it should still be very fast.

Zhao Gongming’s battle today must have absorbed some luck, which could completely provide him with some help later.

“Alright then, good luck.”

Li Yueying nodded helplessly, “Oh, by the way, do you know the rules for the Four School Joint Examination?”

“Uh…”

Jiang Yuan scratched his head again. It was the same old story; he had been grinding on cultivation cards recently, and even though the Four School Joint Examination was approaching, he hadn't bothered to learn about it.

“Sigh, alright, I’ll tell you.”

Li Yueying rolled her eyes and sighed helplessly before starting to explain the rules to Jiang Yuan.

“The rules for the Four School Joint Examination are simple. It’s divided into three examination areas.”

“The first area is for second-year and third-year Students, meaning Students with Second Sequence Xuanxiao and Third Sequence Zouzi strength share one examination area.”

“The second area is for fourth-year Students with Late Stage strength and fifth-year Students with Great Beam strength, who share one examination area.”

“Sixth-year Students at the Shen realm, because they have all gone through the body reconstruction phase and their overall strength is much greater than fifth-year Students, have a separate examination area.”

“First-year Students do not need to participate because their strength is not yet sufficient.”

“Each examination area is a space, and apart from having no races, it’s similar to the situation during the entrance examination.”

“However, here you will face geniuses from other schools, and your goal is to become one of the final two hundred Students.”

“The initial range of the space is very large, but it will shrink after a period of time. After shrinking, it will be divided into two zones: one where you can survive, and one where you cannot. You need to stay within the survivable zone as much as possible, because in the non-survivable zone, there is no Star Power, and your stamina will continuously deplete.”

Listening to Li Yueying, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but be stunned.

Battle royale?

However, the difference was that a battle royale determined the last person standing, while this examination determined the final two hundred people.

Two hundred, huh?

“One more thing: after entering the space, your school identification will be hidden. This also prevents the Four School Joint Examination from becoming a confrontation between schools.”

“Of course, you can also form teams in the Four School Joint Examination, but a team cannot exceed ten people at most. Also, team formation must be completed outside; it cannot be done within the space.”

“If a team exceeds ten people, a powerful Alien will randomly appear nearby and attack you.”

“The strength of this Alien will be determined by the number of people in your team, increasing by one level for each person over the limit.”

Li Yueying’s expression was serious, “So you absolutely cannot exceed ten people. This is also to prevent you from forming teams with Students from the same school through ‘acquaintanceship’ within the space.”

Jiang Yuan nodded, “I understand that. Isn't it just to crack down on malicious teaming?”

“Don’t worry, that won’t happen with me.”

Jiang Yuan said this not to comfort Li Yueying, but because he genuinely did not plan to team up with others.

Except for Mu Qianshan.

He decided that their team would only consist of him and Mu Qianshan.

If he brought others along, they would just be a burden if they didn't follow orders.

“But what happens after the final two hundred are determined in the space?”

“Then the two hundred will participate in arena battles, excluding those in support professions, of course.”

“Ultimately, a ranking will be determined.”

Li Yueying said, hesitating for a moment, “Hmm, Zhongyuan Academy hasn’t topped the list for three consecutive sessions.”

“Huh?”

Jiang Yuan was stunned, looking at Li Yueying with an incredulous expression.

What? Not topping the list for three consecutive sessions?

Shouldn’t that regretful tone be reserved for someone who hasn’t even made it into the top three, top five, or top ten for three consecutive sessions?

“Uh…”

Li Yueying saw Jiang Yuan’s expression and spoke irritably, “I was hoping you’d bring me glory, but you still haven’t broken through to Late Stage. I was counting on you to break through to Great Beam and then wreak havoc in the examination space.”

“Uh, so I disappointed you by not achieving that, huh?”

Jiang Yuan was a bit exasperated, mainly because he had truly been struggling with those cultivation cards recently.

Although Great Firmament Celestial Art had been cultivated, Jiang Yuan No. 2 was still working on Eight Nine Arcane Art.

He didn't know if Eight Nine Arcane Art would succeed.

He decided to give up on the fourth Summoning Card for now. He hadn't had any inspiration recently, so it was better to prioritize upgrading Shi Ji and those equipment cards to purple quality.

“Alright, then I won’t bother you anymore. You should go back and upgrade your cards quickly.”

“Oh, by the way, let me remind you, there are excellent rewards for topping the Four School Joint Examination.”

Li Yueying winked at Jiang Yuan, then waved her hand, signaling that he could leave.

“Alright, I’ll try my best.”

Jiang Yuan nodded helplessly and exited Li Yueying’s office.

Are you kidding me?

Topping the Four School Joint Examination!

Not to mention the countless geniuses from four schools, it wasn't even a battle between peers.

How could I, a Fourth Sequence Late Stage strength, fight against those Fifth Sequence Great Beam strength people?

After leaving the office, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but mutter to himself, completely forgetting that he had just eliminated a Yamato Race of Da Liang Initial Stage strength.

But then again, the Yamato Race is only a Second-Sequence Race, and their geniuses naturally cannot be compared to human geniuses.

Just like Sasaki Kawasaki, who was hailed as a genius rarely seen in the Yamato Race for ten years.

But what was the result? In Zhongyuan Academy, he could only rank around one hundredth.

As for Sasaki Tetsuya, there was even less to say.

At the same strength, he might not even be able to defeat Mu Qianshan.

This was the Yamato Race, people of the Second-Sequence Race.

There was still a significant gap between people of the First Sequence Race and people of the Second-Sequence Race.

Just like when Jiang Yuan killed people of the Second and Third Sequence Races on the Ten Thousand Races Battlefield, it was as easy as slaughtering chickens.

So, naturally, he didn't count the Yamato Race people in his consideration.

“It’s a bit difficult.”

After coming out of Li Yueying’s office, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but shake his head.

Why aren't the rules for the Four School Joint Examination one battlefield per grade?

Instead, it’s two grades per battlefield. If not, at least put me in the same battlefield as the third-year Students.

After a helpless sigh, Jiang Yuan prepared to head back.

He had already prepared the cards to upgrade Shi Ji’s quality, but he just hadn’t had the time recently.

The issues with the fourth Summoning Card and the cultivation cards had been bothering him and Jiang Yuan No. 2.

However, with the Four School Joint Examination approaching, it was necessary to improve his immediate combat power.

...

...

In no time, Jiang Yuan was back home.

After materializing Zhao Gongming and Nezha, Jiang Yuan took out the cards needed to upgrade Shi Ji.

Purple quality material card Netherlight Treasure Jade!

Purple quality material card Vector Pot!

Purple quality Skill Card Concentrated Finger!

Purple quality equipment card Scepter of Death!

Purple quality equipment card Cloud Feather Veil!

Among them, Netherlight Treasure Jade was for upgrading the Unbreakable Stone Will and Netherlight skills, and it was also a material that perfectly suited Shi Ji.

The Vector Pot and Concentrated Finger were carefully selected by Jiang Yuan to genuinely improve the quality of his actual card and add a skill to it.

The Staff of Death was intended to enhance Shi Ji's Undead Enslavement combat power, and it was also a material that perfectly suited Shi Ji.

The last material, Cloud Feather Silk, also suited Shi Ji, and it was primarily a material Jiang Yuan chose to add a skill.

Once the five materials were ready, Jiang Yuan materialized Shi Ji.

At this moment, Shi Ji was still a blue-bordered card.

A blue-bordered card was surrounded by a circle of purple-bordered cards.

After taking a deep breath, Jiang Yuan began to fuse the cards.

As the purple cards fused one by one, the blue border of the Shi Ji card gradually turned purple.

When the last purple quality card, Cloud Feather Silk, was dragged and fused into Shi Ji, the Shi Ji card paused for a moment before shining with a purple light.

Undoubtedly, this card quality upgrade was a success.

This proved that Jiang Yuan's idea was correct; these were all the characteristics needed to upgrade the Shi Ji card's quality.

The Nether Soul Jade was compatible with Shi Ji's original stone, and the other cards were also compatible with Shi Ji, which ultimately allowed for the upgrade of Shi Ji's quality.

Jiang Yuan reached out and took the card slowly rotating in the air, eagerly checking its information.

Celestial of Jie Sect · Tenacious Stone Demon Immortal · Shi Ji

Quality: Purple

Type: Summoning Card

Bone Spirit Recall: Divine ability, summons bone demon Undead to fight, and the recalled bone demon Undead's strength increases by ten percent.

Unbreakable Stone Will: Mental power increases, spell damage increases, ignores mental damage of the same level, can use mental attacks, and increases spell attack damage by ten percent.

Undead Enslavement: Undead that are defeated or killed will transform into Undead Envoys, which can be summoned to fight, and the summoned Undead Envoys' combat power increases by ten percent.

Nether Light: Releases colorless and odorless Energy during combat to erode opponents, capable of stirring emotions. Excessive erosion by this Energy will lead to a poisoned state, and it can be detonated to cause massive damage.

Finger Elimination: Divine ability, absorbs the opponent's released attacks. If it's an Energy-type attack, it can be returned to cause damage to the opponent.

(This attack cannot exceed one's own level and quality.)

Phantom Dream: The effect and power of illusion-type skills are enhanced, and one can learn and use illusion-type skills.

Demon Immortal: Damage to Undead increases, and damage from one's own Undead increases.

Reinforcement Upgrades:

eight trigrams cloud light shawl: Can summon Yellow Turban Strongmen (Golden Armored Strongmen) after equipping.

Taia Sword: Combat power increases by forty percent after equipping, and gains exclusive sword techniques.

Necromancy: Can obtain five slots for Undead spell skills, and can learn to create ten of one's own original skills (replaceable).

Bi Yun · Cai Yun: The two child attendants can each withstand one fatal attack (not activated).

Advancement Route: Skeleton Mountain Dao Cultivator · Tenacious Stone Demon Immortal · Shi Ji — Celestial of Jie Sect · Tenacious Stone Demon Immortal · Shi Ji — Celestial of Jie Sect · Moon Wandering Star Lord · Shi Ji — (…)

Advancement Conditions: Unknown.

Shi Ji gained two more skills. One was the Finger Elimination divine ability from the original work, which absorbed Nezha's attacks, but it gained an additional effect of returning Energy-type damage, which is quite good.

It should be the effect caused by the Concentrated Finger material, he thought.

The other was the Phantom Dream skill, which increased the damage and effects of illusion-type skills.

That's also good; it's like a low-tier version of Controlling Thunder and Electricity. Although she can't learn it just by looking like Zhao Gongming, being able to learn and add new skills is still good.

Especially since Shi Ji already had the Necromancy reinforcement upgrade.

Although Shi Ji hasn't used many skills, five new purple-quality Undead-type skills were added to Necromancy.

Hmm, now that Shi Ji's quality has improved, she can have five more skills. He'll have to choose them carefully with Shi Ji later.

As for the other improvements, there were many. Shi Ji has officially become a purple-quality card.

Especially the Bone Spirit Army and Undead Enslavement; now, when summoned, they both have increased power.

Originally, the summoned Bone Spirit Army only had the combat power of a Third-Sequence Race, which was basically at the bottom among those of equal strength.

But now, with the bonuses from Shi Ji and the Taia Sword, the Bone Spirit Army also has the combat power of a Second-Sequence Race of the same level.

As for Undead Enslavement, although he hadn't seen it in action, judging by the bonus, it should barely be able to squeeze into the First Sequence Race combat power.

He just didn't know if the number of Undead Enslavement slots had increased. Originally, there were only ten; now he wondered if it had improved.

If it has improved, he might have to go to the Undead Cave Heaven to capture some Undead Enslavement.

He would know when Shi Ji came out.

After nodding with satisfaction, Jiang Yuan prepared to strike while the iron was hot and upgrade those equipment cards as well.

"Eh?"

Just as Jiang Yuan was about to start, Jiang Yuan No. 2 suddenly walked out of the room.

Seeing Jiang Yuan sitting cross-legged in the living room with five cards floating in front of him, Jiang Yuan No. 2 immediately understood what Jiang Yuan was doing.

"Are you planning to upgrade the quality of the equipment cards?"

"Yes. How's your task going?"

"It failed."

Jiang Yuan No. 2 plopped down in front of Jiang Yuan, shaking his head indifferently.

"I originally thought that after creating the Great Firmament Celestial Art, the Eight Nine Arcane Art would only require following the same steps, but I was too optimistic."

Jiang Yuan No. 2's tone was somewhat helpless: "I even feel that on the basis of the Great Firmament Celestial Art, some body-refining characteristics need to be added to create it."

However, seven material cards are already the limit for creating purple-quality cards, so there's really no way to compress it further and add body-refining characteristics.

Jiang Yuan No. 2 rested his chin on his hand, looking at Jiang Yuan with empty eyes and asking, "Do you have any good ideas?"

"If I had good ideas, I wouldn't be upgrading cards here right now."

Jiang Yuan rolled his eyes: "How about this, don't worry about those for now, come and upgrade equipment cards with me."

"No way."

Jiang Yuan No. 2 pouted with a hint of disdain: "You already have the materials and ideas for upgrading equipment cards, what do you need me for?"

"I don't want to do such a low-tech job with you."

As Jiang Yuan No. 2 spoke, he stood up, patted his backside, and prepared to walk towards the upstairs room.

"Oh, by the way, I asked Mu Qianshan to buy some more materials for me. Remember to pay for them."

"Okay."

Jiang Yuan nodded, and just as he was about to continue upgrading the card quality, he seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly called out to Jiang Yuan No. 2.

"Oh, also, the Four School Joint Examination is in three days. We might be very busy then, and you might even need to make an appearance."

Watching Jiang Yuan No. 2 stop, Jiang Yuan also explained the rules to Jiang Yuan No. 2.

"So, at that time, it'll be like on the Ten Thousand Races Battlefield, hiding in a safe place?"

"No."

Jiang Yuan shook his head: "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, you know it, right? This is similar to that, there's a poison circle, so there's no safe place."

"Oh, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds!"

Jiang Yuan No. 2 chuckled, then looked at Jiang Yuan with some curiosity: "If it's this mode, what are you planning to do?"

"You be ready at all times. As soon as you appear, immediately use False Shape to change your form and disguise yourself as another Card Spirit."

"Alright."

Jiang Yuan No. 2 nodded in agreement, then stroked his chin in thought.

"Should I transform into Wu Yanzu or Louis Koo then?"

"If not, Leon Lai? Or Leslie Cheung?"

"Or should I become a woman?"

"Like Nie Xiaoqian?"

As Jiang Yuan No. 2 spoke, he raised an eyebrow at Jiang Yuan with a slightly lewd look.

Jiang Yuan's eyebrow twitched: "Transform into whatever you want, but remember to be prepared."

Brothers, I'm aiming for 10,000 words today! Remember to save a double monthly ticket for me at the end of the month, thanks!