Victory!

In the stands, Principal Wu's eyes widened. He stepped forward, gripping the railing tightly with both hands as he stared at the white-haired youth in the arena in disbelief. "Not bad, Old Xie. You really kept this hidden well."

But Principal Xie had no mind to spare for him right now. He himself had been left dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

He truly had no idea that Lu Su possessed a second creature card, and judging by it, the card's quality was anything but low.

Beside him, Principal Tang muttered, "Good one, Old Xie. So this was the promising seed you were talking about."

Jealousy distorted a person beyond recognition.

At the edge of the arena, Jiang Nanxi and Lin Yue also stared in shock at the change in the arena.

Jiang Nanxi finally understood where the golden material her father had given Lu Su had gone. He had turned it into a creature card.

Based on the material's grade, the quality of Lu Su's creature card had to be at least gold!

Lin Yue finally stammered, "Sis Jiang, did you know Brother Lu had another creature card?"

Jiang Nanxi shook her head. "He hid it well enough to fool all of us."

Still, Jiang Nanxi could understand. Cards were a Card Master's greatest secret. If today's opponent had not been so powerful, Lu Su likely would not have revealed such a trump card.

Back in the arena, when Lin Jiānián saw Kaneki, a flash of astonishment crossed his face before he burst into laughter. "Hahaha! I underestimated the heroes of the world!"

"Lu Su, you're quite something!"

Lu Su shot Lin Jiānián a speechless look. He was seriously way too chuunibyou.

Kaneki in the arena was not affected by Lin Jiānián at all. Dragging the black-red tentacles circling around him, he charged swiftly toward Yaksha.

When Kaneki came within a few steps of Yaksha, he leaped high into the air. Four Kagune belonging to Kamishiro Rize crashed down viciously upon Yaksha.

"Boom!"

Smoke filled the arena. Kaneki's expression remained unchanged as his four tentacles stabbed firmly into the ground, holding him aloft like a spider.

The centipede-like Kagune lashed furiously at the spot in the smoke where Yaksha had originally stood.

Watching from the sidelines, Lin Yue could not help swallowing. "Holy crap, Brother Lu's card is so strong."

Jiang Nanxi nodded in agreement. This white-haired youth was clearly leagues beyond her Three-Tailed Fox.

Just as everyone watching believed Lu Su had victory in the bag, a dark-blue ring-shaped water blade whistled out of the smoke and instantly severed the four tentacles anchoring Kaneki to the ground.

Kaneki flipped backward in midair and landed steadily on the ground.

Yaksha, covered in wounds, slowly emerged from the smoke. Lin Jiānián said with a hint of smugness, "Lu Su, your card really is strong, but I'll be taking this victory now!"

In Lin Jiānián's view, his Yaksha had severed Kaneki's four primary offensive tentacles and clearly held the advantage.

But then, before the horrified eyes of the spectators, four black-red tentacles identical to the previous ones extended once more from Kaneki's tailbone.

In the original work, Kagune were merely feeding tools for ghouls. What truly mattered to a ghoul was the Kagune Sac. The RC cells originally produced in the Kagune Sac by consuming unspeakable things had, after Kaneki became a card, turned into something replenished by Lu Su's Spiritual Power.

And Lu Su had plenty of Spiritual Power.

As Kaneki cracked his finger again, he leaped up and attacked Yaksha once more.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Kagune belonging to Kamishiro Rize relentlessly hammered the ground.

Even when Yaksha occasionally counterattacked, the attacks were blocked by the centipede Kagune surrounding Kaneki.

Gradually, the smoke fell silent. Kaneki also stopped attacking and landed before Lu Su.

As the smoke slowly dispersed, Lin Jiānián's Yaksha had long since vanished from the arena.

Lin Jiānián had lost. He had lost without even forcing Kaneki into his Half-Kakuja form.

The next to take the field were Lin Jiānián's two lackeys.

However, their cards were not the Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals Lu Su had imagined, but ordinary monster cards. Lu Su therefore defeated the two of them with ease.

"Shanghai City No. 1 High School wins!"

With the referee's announcement, Principal Xie in the stands felt as though he were dreaming.

If someone had told him before the Four-School Joint Examination that Shanghai City No. 1 High School could take first place, he would never have believed it.

After all, winning the Four-School Joint Examination would not only allow Lu Su's group of three to enter the secret realm, but would also earn Shanghai City No. 1 High School preferential resource allocation from the Card Master Association next year.

The strong only grew stronger, while the weak only grew weaker.

Otherwise, Shanghai City No. 1 High School and Ning'an First High School would not have been fellow sufferers for so many years.

Unless a genius like Lu Su appeared, breaking free from their previous state of weakness would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Principal Wu beside him looked as miserable as if he had eaten shit. In his view, the victory that had been practically guaranteed had slipped away right before his eyes.

The sourness in Principal Tang's heart was practically overflowing.

To him, it was like a brother who had struggled in poverty alongside you for years suddenly saying, "Fine, I'll come clean. I'm not pretending anymore—I'm a billionaire."

And the worst part was that he had not brought you along.

Unable to hold it in any longer, he said, "Old Xie, you'll have to treat us to a meal now."

Principal Xie was beaming. Although he had no idea what was going on with Lu Su, a win was a win. He immediately agreed. "Of course, of course. It's on me. You all have to honor me with your presence."

Between the arenas, Jiang Nanxi led Lin Yue over to Lu Su with a complicated expression. "Lu Su, I never expected you to have a card like this."

As she spoke, she could not help glancing at Kaneki several more times.

She had originally believed defeat was certain and that the three of them would miss out on the secret realm, but Lu Su had directly pulled out an unbeatable trump card.

And judging from how easily he had won, Kaneki had to be at least a Red Card.

Even her father had never created a Red Quality card.

Lin Yue, meanwhile, was still dazed by this windfall falling from the sky. He had never imagined that he would get to enter the secret realm by riding someone else's coattails. He stammered for a long while before finally squeezing out two words.

"Fucking awesome."

Lu Su could not help laughing.

As the three chatted and laughed, Ma Liang arrived before them with several principals.

"Congratulations to the three students from Shanghai City No. 1 High School for taking first place. I assume you know that you can now enter a Bronze Grade secret realm?" Ma Liang said with a smile.

When the three nodded, Ma Liang continued, "This Bronze Grade secret realm is rather special. It only appeared recently."

"But don't worry. We'll assign you to a Bronze Grade Card Master team, so your safety will be assured."

A Bronze Grade Card Master team generally consisted of one Bronze Grade Card Master and a varying number of Black Iron Grade Card Masters.

That was more than enough to explore a Bronze Grade secret realm.

However, after hearing Ma Liang's words, Principal Xie hesitated as though he wanted to say something. After a moment, he finally asked uncertainly, "Chairman Ma, wasn't it originally said that you would arrange for a Bronze Grade secret realm that the Association had already explored and brought under control? How did it become—"

Ma Liang merely sighed, a trace of darkness flashing through his eyes. "Time waits for no one."

Principal Xie was still somewhat hesitant. "Chairman Ma, isn't this too dangerous for the students?"

Ma Liang merely looked at him with a faint smile. "They can choose not to go. No one is forcing them."