Forge a path to success.

Chapter 297 Fierce Duelists

Spotlights illuminated the chessboard-like arena, and the audience watched intently, holding their breath. This was the final round of the 32-player duel, to determine the champion. The duelists' decks were inserted into a metal machine, and their hands were dealt… The word "Start" flashed in the center of the arena!

"I'll go first, draw a card." Gulibo raised a card and slammed it down. "I summon a Level 2 Plant of War - Cabbage-pult Bo!"

The card's illustration is magnified to form a projection, showing a spirited cabbage-shooting pitcher standing in the front row. Attack power 1500. Gulibo then plays another card face down: "Cannot attack on the first turn, then I set a card face down, end the turn, boo."

"My turn—!"

At the other end of the dueling arena, Ji Huaisu drew a card with what looked like a forceful motion, slapping it down without even looking at it: "I activate the War Spell, Shadow Strike."

"You didn't even look at your hand?!"

"True duelists are in sync with their decks, needing no mere sight!"

As Ji Huaisu played the card, shadows shifted across the dueling arena, and Cabbage Thrower was immediately swallowed by the shadows. Gulibo remained calm and responded: "At this moment, I activate Cabbage Thrower's effect. When this fighter is destroyed, inflict 1000 damage to the opposing duelist."

A large cluster of cabbage phantoms shot out from the shadow vortex, and Ji Huaisu, who was hit, was surrounded by illusory winds, and her health points dropped to 3000. Gulibo immediately raised its claws, and the face-down card from the previous turn rose up, with a plant sprouting from the soil drawn on the card.

“Then I activate the strategic spell, Plant Rebirth. This card can be activated when a Plant-related Fighter leaves your field or your opponent's field; Special Summon 1 Level +1 Plant Fighter from your Deck.” Gulibo deftly flipped open his deck. “What I’m summoning is—a Level 3 War Plant—Willow Man Bo!”

Where the cabbage fell, new shoots sprouted, and a massive willow giant leaped from the ground. Its attack power reached a staggering 3000 points!
"The strongest low-level war plant has arrived!" "As expected of Gulibo, he summoned a powerful fighter using a chain attack." "This means the next round will be the decisive one!"

The audience buzzed with discussion, and Gulibo proudly puffed out his nose. But at that moment, Ji Huaisu slammed another card onto the duel disk!
"Gulibo, you seem to have forgotten that I haven't performed a normal summon this turn~"

“How could an ordinary low-quality fighter possibly defeat my Willow Man Bo!” Guli Bo said smugly.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Ji Huaisu laughed. “I’ll summon a level 1 Glimmering Warrior.”

A frail-looking fighter wielding a small ball of light appears (attack power 500). Gulibo laughs loudly: "It would have been better not to summon him at all—"

“Then, I used Glimmering Warrior to absorb the shadow elements of Shadow Strike and level up to Summon!” Ji Huaisu slapped another Warrior card from his hand. “Come forth, Level 3, Purifying Judge!”

The Glimmering Warrior raised the orb of light, and the shadows flowing through the arena surged towards it. Absorbing the power of the light and shadow, the warrior transformed into a muscular man wielding a flaming longsword! Its attack power is 2500 points!
Gulibo jumped up and down in a panic: "No way! We've used up all those spell cards, there's no such rule!!"

"A Fighter Card Upgraded and Summoned using Glimmering Warrior as material gains an additional 1,500 ATK." The ATK of Purifying Judge becomes 4000. "Furthermore, when this card destroys an opponent's Fighter in battle, it inflicts damage to the opponent's Duelist equal to the destroyed Fighter's ATK."

"What did you say?!"

Ji Huaisu waved his hand: "Battle! Fire Judges, attack the Willow People! Flame Slash!"

A flash of light from the judge, and the Willow Man instantly turned to charcoal and collapsed. Gulibo's 4000 health points were reduced by 1000 to 3000, leaving him with zero health. The duel ended!
Ji Huaisu happily made a gesture: "I won! What a delightful duel!"

Gulibo was furious: "That's a foul, Bo! Why can Fighter Cards reuse Spell Cards that have already been used, Bo!"

Ji Huaisu threw out a ball of shadow, and after it almost dissipated, she snapped her fingers. The faint shadow swiftly returned to her fingertip and swayed.

"Although it's not written on the card, it's something you can do in real life."

Gulibo threw the duel disk on the ground and lay down: "Bullshit! I don't want to play anymore!"

"Guli Bo's winning streak has finally ended." "Even magic can't beat bluffing!" "Playing cards as a promoted player is so much more exciting!"

The lights came on, revealing the lobby of the Seafood Bookstore, where the surrounding animals were laughing and joking. The Poison Otter strolled over, patted its paws, and said, "So, this month's Seafood Bookstore competition has come to a successful close. Let's congratulate our two contestants. The champion's prize is a Legendary Card 'Fat Seal,' and the runner-up's prize is a set of 'City-State Animals' themed card mats. Please, store manager, present the awards."

The giant seal came over with a splattering sound, first handing Ji Huaisu a fighter card with a round seal drawn on it and a cream puff, then giving Gulibo a card holder and a small bag of plant seeds. Gulibo immediately beamed with joy, forgetting about the outcome of the competition, and went out to plant flowers.

Ji Huaisu proudly held up the card for a photo: "I won first place in my first competition. I really am a talented player."

Vande slapped his tentacles: "Captain Ji used the advantage of the Pure Fire to defeat the small animals, showing the style of a famous general from ancient times."

"Screw you!"

"The champion hit someone! The champion hit someone!"

Chu Hengkong, who was watching the commotion from the sidelines, asked, "Is this a local board game?"

"It's called 'Ultimate Battle,' a trading card game that's sold quite well in recent years." Poison Otter smiled as he counted the money. "This deck was even officially released by the Divine Guard..." Ultimate Battle is a trading card game from the Fifth Order. Ultimate Battle cards are divided into two categories: "Fighter Cards," which summon combat units, and "Spell Cards," which exert various wondrous effects during matches.

The overall game rules are similar to those of Yu-Gi-Oh! on Earth, but have been simplified for easy learning. Fighter cards only have attack power, and there are only three ways to summon: normal summon once per turn, special summon achieved by card effects, and upgrade summon that can only be performed after meeting specific conditions.

In the entertainment-rich city-state of Jingsha, such a simple game should theoretically not last long and would quickly be eliminated by popular trends. However, Ultimate Battle became an instant hit after its release. This is because the game's cards are based on the three paths to advancement, and both fighters and spells have real-world prototypes. For example, Gulibo's War Plant deck is derived from the plant weapons within Jingsha, while Ji Huaisu's Supreme Beginner deck is based on the characteristics of regular Supreme Path Ascenders.

There are also a small number of expensive "Legendary Cards" that are modeled after real-life Legendary Ascendants and can only be obtained by winning a major tournament.

Most citizens of the city-state are civilians and small animals with no fighting ability. The Ultimate Battle allows them to indulge in a chaotic brawl of Ascendants at the card table, making it naturally very popular. However, there are also true Ascendants among the duelists, as this deck contains hidden effects…

“Although the cards all have their own effects or descriptions, duelists can also infuse their own thoughts into them,” Ji Huaisu explained enthusiastically. “By injecting their own personal experiences, they can create entirely new effects on the cards. The rulebook specifically mentions this ‘exception’ because it is also possible in reality.”

Chu Hengkong also became a little interested: "In other words, experienced people in real life will become stronger at the card table."

"These are very unreasonable rules!" Gulibo protested loudly. "They're extremely unfair to those of us who honestly play according to the rules!"

Just as the big seal was about to sneak out to steal some dessert, it turned back and held up its sign upon hearing this: "I remember that War Plants were originally cards that required specific conditions to summon, but why can you summon them instantly, Gulibo?"

"Is that so?" Gulibo asked blankly. "Manager, you must be mistaken. Growing plants is a very simple thing."

Vande specifically found a Willow Man card, and upon seeing the two long lines of summoning conditions on it, he immediately slapped the card on Gulibo's forehead: "I bet you're the first one to spout nonsense, boo boo!"

"I'm not kidding, this is exactly how the card worked when I got it!"

The Poison Otter didn't participate in the duel discussion at all, but simply and efficiently placed card packs on the shelf. Chu Hengkong leaned over and asked, "The editor organizes a competition but doesn't play cards?"

“I don’t like playing card games,” said Poison Otter with a smile, “but I really like the revenue it generates for the bookstore. We recently received a new batch of Longquan Township booster packs, and they’re incredibly effective, which is why we’re holding this bookstore tournament.”

Chu Hengkong glanced at the duelists and suddenly realized, "Take this opportunity to sell cards."

“I make a fortune every time!” the Poison Otter said happily.

·
"How come we've only sold so few?" the venomous otter stammered, bewildered.

"This—this shouldn't be happening!" Bangbangji was dumbfounded.

The atmosphere after the match was quite lively, with many duelists choosing to stay and play friendly matches. The store sold a lot of new books, drinks, and snacks. However, the new card packs were completely ignored. Apart from a few newcomers who came out of curiosity after watching the game, none of the veteran duelists bought any.

Chu Hengkong picked up a set of cards and examined them, also finding it strange: "30 Green Branches a pack isn't expensive for a card game, and the effects all look pretty powerful... Is it a problem with the card art?"

Poison Otter immediately opened a pack, went through the cards one by one, and was even more puzzled: "This time it's a female martial arts cultivator themed pack."

Chu Hengkong found this even more illogical. Generally speaking, female cards are more popular than regular card packs, unless some super-meta card pack is released in the current release; otherwise, the sales of female cards are always guaranteed. This booster pack has both female characters and strength, so why wouldn't it sell?

Vande looked back and forth at the cards, a possibility popping into his head: "Could it be that they sacrificed women for power?"

"But there haven't been any new super-mainstream items lately." Poison Otter was unusually puzzled. "Could it be that my information is outdated?"

"Just ask and you'll find out."

Chu Hengkong walked out of the shop and soon found several card players who had been playing cards inside earlier. They were also discussing card decks.

"You're not buying the Dragon Township Cute Girl Bag this time?"

"I'm broke! Besides, that stuff really doesn't work..."

"We must not lose sight of the importance of strength in order to stay true to our original aspirations!"

"It's a pity that that can't be used in regular stores..."

"The bookstore is just for fun. We'll get serious when we get back to the Fifth Meridian Sequence." The young man in the lead said nonchalantly. "Besides, who plays Dragon Township Martial Arts these days? Everyone's using Demon decks by now!"

(End of this chapter)