Talented and Virtuous

"You're Bronze Grade?!"

Feeling both cards in his mind enter cooldown, Kong Cong voiced his disbelief.

He had never expected that a single strike would send his purple Wu Qi Guó Mín and red Beast of Swords and Spears · Bo into cooldown.

It was as though the atmosphere at the venue had frozen solid.

After a moment, commentator Xiao Mo's slightly stiff voice rang out. "Student Kong Cong says that Student Lu Su is a Bronze Grade Card Master. I wonder what basis he has for saying that?"

But Kong Cong had no time to pay attention to Xiao Mo. He simply stared fixedly at Lu Su.

Seeing this, Lu Su calmly uttered a single word. "Yes."

Upon hearing Lu Su's admission, Kong Cong instantly clenched his fists tight. But the next moment, his back slumped, and he said dejectedly, "You win, Lu Su."

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you a satisfying match."

He had thought that, with the Bond combination of Wu Qi Guó Mín and Bo, winning the Talent Cup championship would be a sure thing.

Yet Lu Su had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

This left Kong Cong, who considered himself Shanghai City's number one high school student, utterly disheartened.

Seeing Kong Cong like this, Lu Su could not help hesitating over whether to go comfort him. Did I shatter this kid's fighting spirit?

However, Kong Cong quickly pulled himself together. A single loss was not enough to crush his will. He immediately clenched his fist and said to Lu Su, "Lu Su, one day, I'll catch up to you!"

Naturally, Lu Su would not undermine the other's confidence. He merely replied somewhat perfunctorily, "Mm, do your best."

Regardless of how the two in the arena reacted, Xiao Mo said in a slightly trembling voice, "Unbelievable. Inconceivable. Did everyone hear that? Lu Su admitted that he is a Bronze Grade Card Master."

"I've been commentating Card Master duels for so many years, yet I've never seen such a young Bronze Grade Card Master."

He actually had seen some before. In previous years, Great Ming had produced a few geniuses who reached Bronze Grade in their Third Year High School.

But all of them had only crossed that threshold after half a year, or even longer, of accumulation.

One had to remember that only around a month and a half had passed since this year's Third Year High School students started school.

Xiao Mo had never seen anyone advance this quickly.

The venue also erupted at that moment, with nearly everyone present discussing it.

"Damn, how did that saying go again? If you don't make cards, seeing me is like a frog at the bottom of a well seeing the bright moon. If you do make cards, seeing me is like an ant seeing the heavens."

"Holy shit, brother, what poetic talent. Lu Su is probably the most gifted student in recent years, right?"

"Most likely. At least, I've never heard of anyone else becoming a Bronze Grade Card Master in just over a month."

"Not necessarily. Have you forgotten Eternal Light's Ye Diantang? He's only in his thirties now, isn't he?"

"Hehe, you're comparing Lu Su to Ye Diantang? Ye Diantang has already won by a landslide."

"You've got it backwards, haven't you?"

"Lu Su? Call him God Lu!"

As the match was broadcast live on television, different reactions erupted throughout Shanghai City.

The director of a certain private high school frantically made phone calls. "Is there any chance we can get this Lu Su to transfer to our school?!"

"As long as it's within what we can afford, we'll accept whatever price he names!"

After watching the Talent Cup, even the teachers responsible for recruitment at several Shanghai City institutions of higher learning silently put a check beside Lu Su's name. He's worth paying special attention to. As long as his performance in the Jiang Province Unified Examination isn't too poor, we can consider recruiting him.

Jiang Nanxi was also watching the Talent Cup finals at home. She had already emerged from the Secret Realm some time ago. As for why Lu Su had left the Secret Realm so quickly, Jiang Wang had explained it to her, and she naturally understood that Lu Su probably had not obtained many resources from the Secret Realm.

Just when she thought she could use the resource advantage gained from the Black Flag Secret Realm to narrow the gap with Lu Su a little, she had never expected Lu Su to have already become a Bronze Grade Card Master.

"You really make people despair, Lu Su."

Meanwhile, in some Abandoned Factory, a group of men who looked like gangsters had also watched the Talent Cup match from start to finish.

"These damn geniuses really make people jealous."

"Exactly. If I had that kind of talent, I probably wouldn't be here now."

"Hahaha, Elder Xu won't be pleased if he hears you say that."

"Tch. Those geniuses only get to strut around for the next couple of years. I don't believe the association is making such a big fuss over this competition just to strengthen the enemy."

"That's hard to say. Maybe in a couple of years, they'll parachute into the association and become your boss."

Among the crowd, a gleaming bald head reflected a dazzling sheen beneath the electric lights.

This man was naturally Brother Hu.

Brother Hu stared at Lu Su on the television, confusion filling his eyes. "Lu Su? Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"I remember..."

Just as he tried to recall it, the white Six-tailed Fox phantom in his mind gave off a faint glimmer.

"Oh, I remember now. Isn't this Lu Su our client from before?"

Casting aside the doubts that had just arisen in his heart, Brother Hu continued watching the post-match segment of the Talent Cup.

In an unnoticed corner, a middle-aged man in a black suit watched Brother Hu with a faint, unreadable smile.

Amid the spectators' lively discussion, the guests from the guest seats entered the arena.

Joining them were the other contestants ranked in the top eight of the Talent Cup.

President Bai took the lead in grasping Lu Su's hand. "Congratulations, congratulations. Classmate Luo, you truly deserved first place."

"Just luck." Lu Su wore a polite fake smile as he calmly withdrew his hand.

"Congratulations, Classmate Luo. Feel free to visit our Hu Xing Battle Club sometime."

"Such a hero at such a young age."

The other guests behind President Bai also smiled at Lu Su.

In their eyes, for a naturally gifted contestant like Lu Su—someone whose boundless potential was obvious at a glance—offering a smile was hardly any trouble.

Lin Jiānián, one of the top eight contestants, stared blankly at Lu Su's figure. He had never expected that less than half a month after the Ning'an District Four-School Joint Examination, Lu Su had already become a Bronze Grade Card Master.

A moment later, Lin Jiānián smiled in relief. "Looks like I should dye my hair back too."

With all the matches over, it was naturally time for the award ceremony.

On the awards stage, Lu Su held an enormous one-million-prize check in one hand while shaking President Bai's hand with the other.

The nonstop camera flashes nearly blinded him.

After what felt like forever, the long award ceremony finally came to an end.

Just when Lu Su thought the Talent Cup was over, President Bai stopped the eight contestants, including him.

"Students, please wait. Director Liu of Jincai Credit would like to meet you all," President Bai said with an impeccable smile. "Please rest assured, Director Liu merely wishes to get acquainted with you young heroes."

"And to offer each of you some sponsorship as a small token of appreciation."

At those words, Lu Su's heart sank. Without even looking at Jiang Wang behind President Bai, he already knew.

The main event had arrived.