"How should we divide these three paths?"

Li Pu posed the question.

It's a pity we can't bring summoned beasts here; otherwise, they could scout ahead.

"Rock-paper-scissors, I choose scissors."

Ah Yajun suggested.

"Playing psychological games with me? I'll choose scissors too."

Li Pu challenged.

"Don't you guys realize... there's no reward for winning."

Zhi Liao couldn't understand the two.

All three paths lead to unknowns; who knows which one is better.

"You wouldn't understand, let me beat him just once."

Ah Yajun said seriously.

"Let him accept defeat wholeheartedly once more."

Li Pu boasted with a victor's stance.

"Um, alright then."

"Anyway, I'm not participating; whatever is left after your picks will be mine."

Zhi Liao shrugged. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

And so the two squared off.

For Ah Yajun, this might be the closest he'd ever get to defeating Li Pu.

Rock-paper-scissors is purely luck-based.

From his perspective, relying on luck is fairer.

So, he was serious like never before.

As serious as he was back at the Southwest Star Cup card table, facing Li Pu.

Li Pu, on the other hand, looked relaxed.

Five seconds later, he won indeed.

Thud!

"I can't even win at rock-paper-scissors..."

Ah Yajun clutched his chest, collapsing to the ground.

Naive as he was, he didn't know he had no chance of winning from the start.

With Li Pu's far superior reflexes, he could easily alter his hand gesture once he saw Ah Yajun's.

It's what everyone calls a delayed play.

Throughout the process, Ah Yajun couldn't possibly notice.

"Since that's the case, I'll choose that path."

Ignoring Ah Yajun, Li Pu picked the path on the far left.

"Then I'll take the middle one."

Ah Yajun got up casually and headed for the middle path.

"..."

Watching the two disappear down the diverging paths, Zhi Liao headed right.

Li Pu limped along the tombstone-lined path, his expression calm.

This atmosphere didn't scare him at all; rather, he was constantly alert, afraid he'd miss some treasures.

[Oooooow!] x3

After walking a bit, three undead beasts clawed their way out of the dirt.

At that moment, a large blue-light card table emerged.

"Taking on three by myself?"

This situation left him a bit stunned.

If it were like before, with just 2+1 cards, tackling these three would truly be difficult.

Or simply impossible.

Because while others unveil three super strength cards, he can only reveal one at a time; it's not equal at all.

But when their card faces displayed, Li Pu was relieved.

[Erosion Soul Undead]

Assault, Attack 20, 100/100

Their stats were considerably lower than before.

Even unveiling three such cards, he could still handle them.

[Roar!!!]

Two turns are all it takes for the gigantic red dragon to completely obliterate them.

It didn't even need the help of other cards.

"Judging by this strength, Ah Yajun should be fine too."

Li Pu thought both of them were platinum-level card players, surely capable of handling this level of challenge.

Having dealt with these three card monster battles, he continued forward.

Gradually, apart from humanoid undead beasts, all types of peculiar creatures emerged.

Undead beast dogs, specters, skeletons, and all kinds of monsters fitting the graveyard theme.

It was much like an alternate-dimension dungeon, only their fighting method was card-based.

Every time they appeared in sets of three, and attacked in columns against his row.

This odd mode exposed their weakness.

That is, rows of cards are easily hit for maximum damage by [Beast Master's] [Red Lotus Sweep].

So as he progressed, Li Pu just steamrolled through them.

Each skirmish took less than two minutes.

"Being by myself feels much lighter."

He felt that moving together with the group was somewhat restraining and still preferred going solo.

After traveling like this for around an hour, he finally encountered something different.

In the distance, a humanoid figure stood in the middle of the road.

It wore a hooded cloak, making it impossible to discern its form and features.

Li Pu didn't pay much attention to this, as the place was filled with beasts, and humanoid monsters were not unusual.

"Eh?"

But upon approaching and seeing its face, he realized the situation wasn't quite as he imagined.

The other's face was deathly pale, with heavy eyeshadow and two long upper fangs protruding from its lips.

"A vampire?"

This species, probably no one doesn't recognize them.

If it's a summoned creature, this type of summoner is very popular, almost as much as angels or sprite human-type summoners.

However, if it's a monster, people generally would prefer not to encounter it.

Because vampire-type monsters are known for their intelligence and often possess difficult abilities.

Fortunately, this was a cube card game instance, Li Pu felt it shouldn't be difficult to deal with.

[Long time, no see, adventurer]

Unexpectedly, upon seeing Li Pu, the vampire actually spoke.

"..."

Li Pu didn't respond, primarily out of surprise.

The other's hand extended from under the cloak, and he glimpsed the glove stitched from strange brown skin, with a lifelike bat on the back of the hand, whether due to exquisite craftsmanship or if it was a real specimen, he didn't know.

He knew what this was; it was a cube card game glove.

This vampire turned out not to be a monster, but an otherworldly entity capable of playing cards.

What intrigued Li Pu the most was the large treasure chest revealed behind the vampire.

A redwood box, golden edges, adorned with numerous dazzling gemstones.

One glance and it's known to be no ordinary object; it was evidently a reward from this instance.

After traveling so long, he could finally see the benefits.

[If you want to pass through here, you must defeat me on the card table]

[Come on, the crippled adventurer]

"..., if you can't speak, you might want to say less."

Just as Li Pu finished speaking, a blue light card table rose beneath their feet.

The table was split into two operating ends, with a magnified projection area in the center.

"6+1, huh."

The unusual card table made him raise an eyebrow.

It seemed this unknown instance entity was going to engage him in a real card battle.

"Just right, let me test my new card pack on you."

Since there were no spectators here, Li Pu felt no need to hide it any longer.

[Hahaha, die!]

Only to see the vampire's brutal grin as it laid down its cards.

Whoosh! x9

Nine covered cards flew out, covering the card positions in front of it.

"Come."

Li Pu quickly laid out his cards; he had already pre-set his dragon card deck.

Both sides finished laying cards, and the first round of the reveal stage began.

[Owww!] x3

The vampire's hand was swift, directly revealing its three initial cards.

From the projection, they were the same beasts from before.

Yet the card faces were completely different.

[Corrosion Beast]

Break, 10 points, B

Attack 20, 100/100, 0/2

[Soul-Eroding Poison - Passive]: Corrosion Beast's attack carries a 2-round [Poison] effect

[Body-Eroding Poison - 2 Energy]: Corrosion Beast's attack causes target loss of 2 energy points; without energy, 1 energy point converts to 10 damage points

([Poison]: Receives 10 health damage per round, cannot be reduced by [Defense])

"There are actually cards like this."

Li Pu was a bit amazed; it was his first time seeing a card capable of targeting the opponent's energy value.

Moreover, this instance NPC broke the card game rules by being able to place three identical cards.

[Witness the power of corrosion]

The vampire seemed quite pleased with Li Pu's reaction.

"Then you witness the dragon card."

Li Pu picked up his middle initial card, flipped it, and slapped it onto the table.

[Dragon~]

A cartoon-like green, worm-like little dragon projection leaped out of the card.

Such a comical design was enough to make the vampire suppress laughter.

Upon seeing the card's face, it completely couldn't hold it in.

[Hahahaha! What kind of card is this!]

Ordinarily, it wouldn't laugh unless it was uncontrollable.

...

...