Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 184

Chapter 184: You Guys Should Pay Attention to Your Image!

Since the Trial Crystal wasn’t anchored to the environment, it could be stolen. That explained the sheer, venomous resentment radiating from the previous competitor—his crystal had likely been snatched.

Losing a Trial Crystal meant forfeiting every single accumulated point, reducing the victim’s hard-earned score to absolute zero. That was a devastating blow to anyone’s morale, easily explaining why the other party had been practically choking on his own fury.

“Master, we have an intruder!” The Silver Crown Mandala Queen warned. The petite, loli-like plant spirit immediately manipulated the surrounding flora, commanding her floral domain to lash out at the hidden enemy.

A sharp flash of blade light tore through the foliage. The incoming vines and thorns were cleanly severed in half, the lethal counterattack aimed directly at Sistermon Ciel. Yet, instead of pressing the advantage, the dual-wielding nun vanished. Acting on a silent command, Sistermon Ciel instantly retreated from the floral domain’s range, fading into the shadows.

“She ran away?” The Silver Crown Mandala Queen blinked, her tense little face scrunching up in deep confusion. The plant spirit couldn’t comprehend why the intruder had fled so decisively. Judging by the blinding speed of that counter-slash, the enemy’s combat power was definitely on par with her own.

“Gone?” Shangguan Wan’er was equally startled. “Perhaps she realized you detected her too quickly, so she abandoned her initial ambush.”

Despite her calm words, Wan’er’s heart tightened with caution. The enemy was concealed in the dark while she stood exposed in the light. Now that she knew Trial Crystals were up for grabs, this trial had just escalated into a ruthless hunting ground.

“I swear, this kid Luke isn’t here for a grueling trial. He’s treating this like a spring picnic.” Wen Xiuyuan shook his head in amusement as he watched Luke’s perspective on the massive light screen. He casually scooped a handful of popcorn from the bucket in his arms and tossed it into his mouth. “Still, being able to micromanage a multi-line combat strategy so flawlessly… there really is a massive chasm in skill between him and the rest of the freshmen.”

“That’s only natural!” Meng Ningdie agreed, taking a long sip from her milk tea. Her voice was slightly muffled around the straw. “I have a strong hunch this Trial Road is going to end much earlier than usual.”

Zhantai Mingyue stared at the two of them, utterly speechless. You two rascals, can you please pay attention to your image?!

There might only be a few of them in this private viewing area, but one was the esteemed Prefect of Tianfu, and the other was the direct student of the Night Queen! Yet here they were, lounging around like slackers. Where did they even find popcorn and milk tea in the middle of a high-stakes examination?

Looking at the snacks, Zhantai Mingyue felt a deep sense of defeat. These two had definitely come prepared.

“Want some, Little Mingyue?” Noticing her incredulous stare, Wen Xiuyuan flashed a grin. He reached into some unseen spatial pocket, pulled out a fresh, steaming box of popcorn, and offered it to her.

To be fair, while junk food offered zero nutritional value for cultivators, it perfectly suited the cinematic spectacle playing out on the screens.

Meng Ningdie simply shrugged and spread her hands, silently indicating she wasn’t sharing her only cup of milk tea.

“Um… fine. I’ll have some.” Zhantai Mingyue’s lips twitched. Defeated by the buttery aroma, she accepted the box from Wen Xiuyuan and began munching.

Don’t get angry. It’s not worth the wrinkles! she chanted internally. After a few crunchy bites, her irritation finally subsided. Ultimately, she couldn’t really scold them—her strength and status weren’t high enough to boss these two rascals around anyway.

Brushing the salt from her fingers, Zhantai Mingyue turned her attention back to the glowing arrays. “Besides Luke, there are currently about ten other candidates maintaining a highly stable pace. Most of them are naturally the elite freshmen from our Eastern Region, but a few dark horses from the other Three Great Empires shouldn’t be underestimated either.”

The grueling battles and desperate struggles of the participants reflected in the eyes of the three overseers. While their expressions varied, they all remained fundamentally relaxed.

After all, the candidates fighting for their lives on the Trial Road had only just stepped into the Magic Card Master domain. They were mere fledglings. The weakest among the three observers was already a powerhouse in the Sovereign Realm. To them, these life-and-death struggles looked like children wrestling in a sandbox.

Zhantai Mingyue’s gaze lingered on Shangguan Wan’er’s feed for a few minutes, nodding in quiet approval. While Wan’er wasn’t dominating the field quite like Luke, she was firmly holding her ground near the very top of the rankings.

“Additionally, the two new students from Dragon Valley absolutely cannot be overlooked,” Zhantai Mingyue noted, shifting her focus to the screens tracking the sisters, Zi Yan and Zi Yao.

“Freshmen from Dragon Valley…” Si Kangcheng muttered, his eyes narrowing with intense caution. He stared down Zi Yao and the colossal Dragon-type Magic Card Spirit towering behind her.

Dragons. Whether they were wild fierce beasts or bound Magic Card Elves, they stood at the absolute apex of the racial hierarchy. Very few bloodlines could ever hope to match the sheer, overwhelming base stats of the Dragon race.

As Magic Card Masters hailing from Dragon Valley, both Zi Yan and Zi Yao naturally possessed elite Dragon-type cards, perfectly synchronized with their innate elemental affinities. Empowered by the passive stat bonuses of their dragons, the sisters easily ranked among the most dangerous freshmen this year.

And right now, Si Kangcheng had the misfortune of facing Zi Yao, the younger sister, who commanded the fearsome Earth Ring Dragon.

In stark contrast to Si Kangcheng’s sweating apprehension, Zi Yao remained a picture of absolute tranquility. She didn’t shout or posture. She merely raised a slender hand and waved it forward, issuing a silent execution order.

Dragon Valley adhered to the brutal laws of the jungle, enforcing the survival of the fittest even more ruthlessly than the Ancient Kingdom. That unyielding cruelty was exactly why they stood as a superpower second only to the Three Great Empires, boasting their own Supreme Realm protectors.

“Attack!” Seeing Zi Yao make her move, Si Kangcheng gritted his teeth. He was deeply wary of the dragon’s might, but he wasn’t about to roll over and die.

He was one of the top four candidates from the Eastern Region College Entrance Examination! He stood on equal footing with geniuses like Shangguan Wan’er and Meng Chuyun, second only to the monstrous Luke. He had absolute faith in his own strength.

Roaring into the fray, his Abyssal Netherworld Dark Tiger charged on all fours, crossing the distance in a blur of shadowy muscle. It arrived before the Earth Ring Dragon in an instant. Sickly black light erupted around its massive claws as it viciously swiped at the dragon’s flank.

While it lacked the sheer, mountainous bulk of the Earth Ring Dragon, the dark tiger possessed vastly superior agility. A split second later, Si Kangcheng’s supporting Magic Card Elves closed the gap, unleashing a coordinated barrage of spells and strikes against the towering beast.

Facing the overwhelming storm of attacks, the slower Earth Ring Dragon didn’t even attempt to dodge. It simply let out a deep, rumbling roar that shook the very bedrock.

A brilliant, emerald-green protective barrier materialized over its thick scales.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The combined assault, including the Abyssal Netherworld Dark Tiger’s devastating claw strike, slammed into the barrier—and did absolutely nothing. The attacks merely caused faint, watery ripples to spread across the glowing green shield.

“Zero damage?!” Si Kangcheng’s face drained of color. While that hadn’t been his tiger’s ultimate attack, it was a concentrated barrage that any normal Seven-Star Magic Card Spirit would be terrified to take head-on.

He never expected it to fail to even scratch the Earth Ring Dragon’s defense.

Earth Dragon Stomp!

The colossal dragon reared up, lifting its massive front claws high into the air before slamming its upper body back down with cataclysmic force.

KRACK-BOOM!

The ground shattered. Centered on the Earth Ring Dragon, a terrifying, hyper-compressed shockwave violently erupted in all directions. The sheer kinetic force ripped through the arena, sweeping up even the furthest supporting Magic Card Elves and sending them crashing into the dirt.

Caught at ground zero, the Abyssal Netherworld Dark Tiger was blasted right off its feet, its massive body sent tumbling through the air as trickles of blood burst from its dark fur.

Earth Hell!

Amidst a second, deafening dragon roar, the fractured earth weaponized itself. Countless jagged, monolithic stone spikes violently erupted from beneath the soil, tearing through the arena to impale and crush every enemy in sight.