Playing cards, I am your ancestor!-Chapter 305: Mountain Ghost Training Match 6_1

Song Jue would not make decisions on his own in the competition. At a word from Du Zhaiyue, "Song Jue, keep an eye on their damage output," he released the Quicksand Crow behind Mountain Ghost’s damage-dealing Card Spirit.

Mountain Ghost’s damage-dealing Card Spirit depicted a figure with the head of a man and the body of a deer, holding a scepter. Its upper body was bare, displaying a muscular human-like chest that seemed to burst with close-combat explosiveness. However, the scepter in its hands also indicated that it was a long-range damage card.

Effects of swirling sand appeared on Lu Nan, slowing its speed. Ming Fuzhi quickly reported the Quicksand Crow’s attributes, "While stealthed, it has a slowing effect. My movement speed has been reduced by thirty percent."

In the past, cards with multiple status effects were few, and those considered Heritage Cards of the Nobility typically possessed their own unique abilities. Ming Fuzhi only reported one effect, and Luo Juerao speculated based on experience, "The speed debuff should also increase the Quicksand Crow’s damage output. It’s currently stealthed, but it must be near Lu Nan. I’m releasing purification!"

Lu Nan was entangled, and Lady Meng Jiang herself was marked by Cloud River of Stars. Therefore, there was no need to hide her first ability any longer. Since Lady Meng Jiang possessed the power to make the Great Wall collapse with her tears—a legend implying the social conditions and allegories of that era—the card designer thoughtfully imbued her with the power to purify the world’s defilement after she shed tears. Her first ability was purification and enhancement.

Thus, everyone saw the ancient-clad woman transform into a Card Spirit in an instant, covering her face to weep. Her voice was not soft; the entire competition arena echoed with Lady Meng Jiang’s desperate cries. An invisible ripple spread out, instantly erasing both the sand effects on Lu Nan and the Cloud River of Stars markers on Lady Meng Jiang herself.

Lu Nan regained mobility, and all four of Mountain Ghost’s other Card Spirits received a noticeable boost. This was simply because the light emitted by the ripple left marks on the Card Spirits, which generally indicated the enhancement ability of a Support Card.

"Purification comes with a buff effect? It’s that strong?" Even Song Yi from Mount Flower was somewhat shocked.

"The buff’s duration isn’t short, but the enhancement strength probably isn’t very high," Sheng Hongying speculated, her gaze falling on several pale gold cards belonging to her own Card Spirits that had yet to be revealed. The abilities of this new card were as yet unknown. Indeed, the cards Mountain Ghost was creating now were all filled with the same kind of uncertainty as Wen Jiang herself.

As the commander, Du Zhaiyue remained composed. All of this was merely mutual probing within the first few seconds of the match, not yet a truly serious confrontation. The opposition had two Support Cards that hadn’t acted yet. One was Lady’s Gauze, meant to defend against Song Yi. The other was currently under a control status inflicted by Wen Jiang’s Soul Severing the Other Shore.

Although the control effect was short, Du Zhaiyue had a subtle feeling that Lady Meng Jiang’s purification just now hadn’t managed to cleanse the Lotus Flower’s control effect; instead, it seemed to wear off right after the purification ended. Although the control duration of the Lotus Flower was inherently short, Du Zhaiyue couldn’t immediately be sure if she was seeing things. She had seen the Soul Severing the Other Shore card and knew its Lotus Flower’s control effect could be cleansed. If even strengthened markers like those from Cloud River of Stars could be purified, then the Lotus Flower’s control effect should naturally be cleansable as well.

Feeling the same subtlety as Du Zhaiyue was Duan Yuleng from Mountain Ghost, who controlled one of their Support Cards. Today, they were employing a "four-protect-one" strategy. Aside from Ming Fuzhi’s damage-dealing card, even Duan Yuleng, an assassin, had been assigned a Support Card—the very one that Wen Jiang had just subjected to a control status. At that moment, right after Luo Juerao had activated Lady Meng Jiang’s purification, Duan Yuleng had the distinct impression that the control status on his Card Spirit hadn’t actually been cleansed. Instead, it seemed to have disappeared at the same moment the purification ended, merely a coincidence of timing. He couldn’t be certain if it was just an illusion.

Any illusion on the competition floor could be fatal, leaving no room for deep thought, as a new round of attacks was already underway. Battles involving SSR cards tended to be prolonged, with abilities not all unleashed at once. This time, Mountain Ghost’s control card was the first to act: The God of Control Cards was revealed.

Mountain Ghost’s Control player swore, "Three cards were unaffected! Only the support and control cards got hit with the slowdown!" That wasn’t just unlucky; it was the worst of the worst.

Mount Flower saw that of the five opposing cards revealed, three bore identical ’X’ marks, and two showed identical water flow marks. Sheng Hongying and two of her teammates were unaffected. Only Du Zhaiyue and Song Yi quickly reported the effect on their Card Spirits: "It’s a slowdown!"

Wen Jiang became interested in an instant. "A gambling-type card? How interesting." Truly, this world is never short of card design geniuses and their fantastic ideas.

Luo Juerao remained calm. "That’s normal. You didn’t apply it for long enough, so it’s hard to get a powerful effect."

The Control player muttered, "I was worried that if I applied it for too long, it would get purified. Their Soul Severing the Other Shore has a cleanse. One of its Lotus Flowers has a purification ability."

Duan Yuleng couldn’t help saying, "What are you panicking about? Their other four cards are all old ones. At most, Soul Severing the Other Shore can only purify one card’s effect. You revealed it too hastily. Without being familiar with this card, how could that Wen Jiang accurately purify its effect?"

The Control player didn’t say anything. He had indeed acted too hastily this time. It was a rare mistake for a veteran like him. He mainly wanted to see what effect this card would have on star players like Sheng Hongying, and the result was, just as he’d feared, unimpressive.

Luo Juerao didn’t respond but coldly ordered, "Damage-dealer, attack!"

Lu Nan was at full strength. As their sole damage-dealing Card Spirit, it naturally couldn’t just stand by. Ming Fuzhi focused his gaze. Lu Nan raised its massive scepter. The scepter suddenly emitted a blinding light. After a three-second charge, the light transformed into a beam aimed directly at—Song Yi.

Lu Nan’s attack was singular in nature but packed considerable power. The beam was unstoppable; it could only be absorbed by a defensive ability. Seeing this, Song Yi naturally prepared to activate an ability to intercept Lu Nan. However, the opposing team’s substitute player, controlling a Control Card, preempted his action, causing Lady’s Gauze to freeze for two seconds before its ability could be released. By then, Lu Nan’s attack was already launched.

At the same time, Luo Juerao swiftly unleashed another of Lady Meng Jiang’s abilities. Her cries became desperate and piercing, inflicting a brief mental attack on all five opposing Card Spirits. The opposing Spirit Card Masters experienced a momentary lapse in awareness. By the time they recovered, the beam had already struck Song Yi’s Card Spirit squarely.

Lady’s Gauze staggered from the impact, its form becoming somewhat transparent. Song Yi himself suffered a significant blow. That one beam of light had directly depleted nearly half of his Card Spirit’s spiritual power.

This was the power of Lu Nan! The main reason it hit so hard was that not only did no one intercept its ability activation, but there was also no one to block the attack itself! Song Yi’s head snapped towards Wen Jiang, his voice filled with disbelief as he questioned, "Why didn’t you stop him?!"

Soul Severing the Other Shore has five effects: only purification is beneficial. The other four are bind, stun, poison, and slow. He hadn’t expected Wen Jiang to manipulate more than three of its flowers, but shouldn’t she at least have used bind or slow to reduce Lu Nan’s casting speed?! After all, among their five Card Spirits, only Wen Jiang’s Lotus Flower and his own Lady’s Gauze could intercept the opponent! Just now, he was targeted by the opponent’s substitute player, but Wen Jiang was completely free! What was she doing?! Surely she could have switched to bind or stun in time, right?! It’s not possible that she couldn’t even manage one of those, is it?