Let them print cards, not slay gods 15

Chapter 15: A Duel? The Kind That Brings Smiles (Please keep reading!)

The turn marker flipped, signifying that Xu Tianzhi’s turn had begun.

Xu Tianzhi cast a slightly wary glance at the two spells in Shen Sui’s backfield.

Although only one turn had passed, Xu Tianzhi already knew that his opponent, this examinee, was definitely no ordinary newcomer.

If a spell could be activated during the opponent’s turn, there would be a fleeting moment of lag at the activation point.

Xu Tianzhi thought to himself, he had to pay close attention to any lag this turn.

“My turn,” Xu Tianzhi declared the start of his turn, and immediately noticed a lag.

What?

He paused slightly, then heard Shen Sui’s voice from across the table: “At this moment! Reveal my face-down card, activate the spell card, [Weakness]!”

Shen Sui revealed the 5-star face-down card, which was indeed the spell card [Weakness].

“Pay half of my life points, and discard one card from my hand, then target my field card [Alice’s Little Mare]. Until the duel ends, its Spirit value is reduced to 0. After that, until the end of this turn, you cannot activate card effects of the same type as the discarded card!” Shen Sui explained the effect of [Weakness].

As he spoke, Shen Sui’s life points plummeted from 1000 to 500.

Then, Shen Sui drew a card from his hand.

The card was revealed; it was the follower card [Silver Moon Wolf King · Harley].

“Discarding [Silver Moon Wolf King · Harley], until the end of the turn, you cannot use the effect of follower cards!”

Shen Sui’s words struck Xu Tianzhi’s heart like an icy hammer in the dead of winter.

What?!!!

His pupils constricted, and he was momentarily stunned.

His deck’s strategy heavily relied on the effects of follower cards.

This is going to be difficult.

“Next, activating the effect of the permanent spell card [Stellar Super Magic Array],” the magic array beside Shen Sui glowed, “When my spell card is sent to the graveyard outside of my turn, I can return it to my deck.”

The [Weakness] that had just been sent to the graveyard was bounced back to the deck.

[Wow, a clever counterattack! This newbie seems really strong!]

[Is another Xin Nascent Soulxue appearing? A Rankless beating a Fifth Rank.]

[Still, my little Xue is the best, she beat a full-fledged Fifth-Rank Fate Card Master!]

[Damn it! Scoundrel! Little Xue is clearly mine!]

The barrage of comments instantly became chaotic.

“My turn, draw,” Xu Tianzhi drew a card from his deck.

However, as he entered the main phase, the familiar lag appeared again.

Hmm?

Xu Tianzhi was startled but found that Shen Sui wasn’t making any moves.

There’s a lag, be careful.

Xu Tianzhi reminded himself mentally, but when he saw the card he had drawn, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. If he had this card, he absolutely wouldn’t lose!

“Paying 12 soul points!” Xu Tianzhi activated the card without hesitation, “From my hand, activating! The permanent spell card [Mech Crisis]!”

With the glow of the spell card, layers of metallic luster appeared on Xu Tianzhi’s field, surging metal parts, jumping program codes—for a moment, he felt like he was in a fantastic science fiction era.

[Here it comes! Here it comes! Xu Tianzhi’s trump card, the invincible Mech Crisis!]

[Let’s go! Let the newcomer feel the terror of a Fifth-Rank professional Fate Card Master!]

[Your field clearing and restriction abilities are indeed powerful, but if, I mean if, if I used the core spell card of the Mech deck, [Mech Crisis], how would you respond?]

However, before Xu Tianzhi could even explain the effect of [Mech Crisis], Shen Sui slowly revealed a card from his backfield: “At this moment! Reveal my face-down card, activate the spell card [Friendly Fire]!”

“Can only be activated during either player’s main phase. Destroy one of my followers on the field, then activate one spell card from my graveyard or deck.”

“I choose to destroy my [Junior Magician · Alice] on the field, and activate the spell card [Revival] from the graveyard!”

“Target one follower in my graveyard and special summon it to my field.”

“I choose to special summon [Silver Moon Wolf King · Harley] from the graveyard to the field!”

[Silver Moon Wolf King · Harley], Spirit value 1600.

“Next!” Shen Sui raised his hand, and the Stellar Super Magic Array beside him glowed, “Activate the effect of the Stellar Super Magic Array, returning [Revival] and [Friendly Fire] to the deck.”

Xu Tianzhi twitched his mouth. I say, isn’t this my turn? Is this storytelling really appropriate?

However, to his despair, Shen Sui’s storytelling clearly wasn’t over.

“At this moment, activate the effect of [Junior Magician · Alice] sent to the graveyard! Once per turn, when she is destroyed by an effect and sent to the graveyard, I can pay half my life points to special summon her to the field.” Shen Sui paid half his life points, reducing his life points to 250, “Then, she transforms into [Magic Apprentice · Alice].”

“At this moment! The effect of [Junior Magician · Alice] activates! When she leaves the field due to transformation, destroy one of your cards on the field! I choose to destroy your [Mech Crisis]!”

With a crisp sound, the newly activated [Mech Crisis] shattered into pieces and went to the graveyard.

“.” Xu Tianzhi fell into a brief silence.

[???]

[666]

[Hahahaha, incredible!]

[Amazing, this person.]

[Is Mech Crisis really that good? I don’t feel it.]

[Keep your storytelling to yourself, let me take over!]

[Hahaha! Xu Tianzhi is going to be so frustrated.]

[New here, don’t understand, can someone tell me whose turn it is now?]

The barrage went crazy, and even the audience felt sorry for Xu Tianzhi.

Who is the professional Fate Card Master here? It feels like Xu Tianzhi is the one getting completely crushed.

[It’s over, a lower ranker fishing for small fry, and caught a whale. What to do? Online waiting, urgent!]

[Everyone look at the Dean’s face, it’s like he’s constipated, it’s killing me!]

Liang Hui’s face indeed wasn’t good.

He was proud that the academy could recruit such a talented student.

But thinking that this student’s Soul Card world was Dawn Continent, he could die due to his Soul Card at any time and miss the Fate Card industry.

At the same time, he deeply regretted bringing the club’s rising star, Xu Tianzhi, to give Sky One Academy some face; instead, Xu Tianzhi had become a laughingstock online.

If he had known, he wouldn’t have brought the reporters and live broadcast team to the third examination hall.

On the duel field, Xu Tianzhi felt his blood pressure rising. Fortunately, his experience in many competitions gave him the necessary ability to handle pressure. He took two deep breaths to suppress the rising blood in his chest, drew another card from his hand: “Paying 2 soul points, normal summon from my hand, [Mech No. 3 · Aiken].”

However, the heart-stopping lag appeared again as soon as his summon was complete.

“At this moment, activate the effect of my [Magic Apprentice · Alice] on the field, when you successfully summon a follower, I can choose one follower from each player’s field as targets to destroy them.”

“I choose to destroy your follower and my [Magic Apprentice · Alice] on the field.”

Bang!

Aiken, who had just appeared, was destroyed along with Alice and sent to the graveyard before it could even fully deploy.

However, this wasn’t the end. Shen Sui said:

“According to the effect of [Magic Apprentice · Alice], if the follower destroyed by this effect is her, I can activate a spell card from my deck after she enters the graveyard.”

Shen Sui slowly revealed his deck.

“I choose to activate the spell card [Revival].”

“Special summon [Magic Apprentice · Alice] from the graveyard to the field.”

Alice, who had just entered the graveyard, reappeared with the flash of revival.

Her smile was still lively and cute, but in Xu Tianzhi’s eyes, it was filled with coldness.

“Then, activate the effect of [Stellar Super Magic Array], returning [Revival] to the deck after it’s sent to the graveyard.”

Useless! The Mech deck’s deployment is unstoppable!

“Paying 1 soul point, normal summon from my hand, [Conventional Power Mech · No. 28011]!”

“At this moment!” Before Xu Tianzhi’s follower could even finish deploying, Shen Sui’s voice rang out, “Activate the effect of [Magic Apprentice · Alice].”

“Doesn’t this thing have an ‘once per turn’ clause?!” Even someone as patient as Xu Tianzhi couldn’t help but lose his temper when he saw Shen Sui activate the effect again.

Then he watched helplessly as Alice was destroyed, then activated her effect, and then returned to the field via [Revival].

“I think so,” Shen Sui replied.

Infinite loop! As long as he didn’t have a way to get rid of the opponent’s follower or the permanent spell card, he would never be able to summon even one follower.

This deck is too damn OP!

The blood that Xu Tianzhi had managed to suppress surged again. He had an urge to kill his opponent. If he wasn’t normally in such good physical condition, he might have a brain hemorrhage.

Damn it, I want to kill him.

His eyes frantically searched the examination room for even a weapon.

Unfortunately, considering the emotional fluctuations of examinees after failure, there would be nothing in the duel examination room that could harm oneself or others.

Xu Tianzhi reluctantly withdrew his gaze and began to think about what to do next.

Did his deck have a way to deal with those two cards?

Or a way to deal direct damage to Shen Sui’s remaining 250 life points?

Xu Tianzhi knew all too well: No!

He had never encountered such an opponent before, so he wouldn’t put cards with direct damage effects in his deck, which would waste deck space.

The opponent’s followers didn’t have high Spirit values, but one turn after another would grind him down.

Persistence was pointless. A sure loss would make others look down on him as a professional Fate Card Master.

Xu Tianzhi did the calculations. Taking two deep breaths, he finally accepted reality and the fact he’d be ridiculed endlessly. Through gritted teeth, he said, “I surrender.”

[Whoa? He actually won.]

[Who says underachievers aren’t strong? This is a complete stomping of a Fifth-Rank Fate Card Master!]

[Damn! How did this guy win?! I still wanted to poke that catgirl!]

[This chain combo is too broken! I feel the killing intent in Xu Tianzhi’s gaze.]

[Of course, I want to beat this guy too, playing such an OP deck!]

Xu Tianzhi returned his Fate Cards to the Dueling Instrument, walked towards Shen Sui, and declared his surrender: “You’re very strong, congratulations. I hope we can meet again on the battlefield.”

Shen Sui’s eyes lit up; he had passed!

“Thank you,” he stepped forward to shake hands with Xu Tianzhi, “I was lucky today. If your deck hadn’t been incomplete, I might not have won.”

Xu Tianzhi suppressed the urge to beat the other guy to a pulp, forcing out a very strained smile: “No need to be humble, with your skills, you will definitely shine in the future.”

(End of Chapter)

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