"World No. 1 Soul Card World?" In the office, the staff member handling enrollment procedures looked with some surprise at the information Shen Sui had filled in.
The Thirty-Three Soul Card Worlds each had their own designation. As one of the earliest Soul Card Worlds to appear, the Dawn Continent had claimed the No. 1 spot with its unparalleled difficulty.
"Yes." Shen Sui nodded.
After defeating Xu Tianzhi and passing the Duel Exam, he had followed the procedure and come here to register for enrollment.
"Newcomers these days are really something." The staff member sighed, then kindly reminded him, "Tianyi Academy divides its Youth Training Classes according to Soul Card World, and the coaches assigned to you will also be professional Soul Card Masters from the same world. But the Dawn Continent... honestly, there are very few Soul Card Masters who use it as their Soul Card World. You should be prepared to be reassigned to another youth training group."
Shen Sui had already prepared himself for that.
"All right, you're registered." After uploading Shen Sui's information, the staff member pulled a beautifully gold-trimmed card from the Card Slot Device. It was Shen Sui's Student Card. "You can officially enroll once you go home, pack your luggage, and come back."
"No need."
"Hm?" The staff member's gaze immediately turned wary. Students who passed the Duel Exam could still be poached if another Duel Academy was willing to take them. That was exactly what other academies liked to do, so he was highly alert to it.
Had another Duel Academy moved that quickly?
"I mean, I don't need to go home." Shen Sui pointed at the large suitcase by the door. "I already brought my clothes and daily necessities."
"..." The staff member was somewhat speechless. "Did you know you would pass the Duel Exam all along? Even after learning the examiner's rank?"
"Actually, I didn't." Shen Sui lowered his head to glance at the Duel Instrument. Now that the exam was over, he finally had time to check Alice's status. "But I thought I could win."
The staff member instinctively felt that the boy was a little arrogant. But then he remembered that this guy had just decisively defeated a Fifth-Order Soul Card Master, and immediately dismissed the thought. "All right. I'll get someone to take you to the dormitory."
Shen Sui nodded, but his gaze did not leave the Duel Instrument.
Alice had successfully reached Pa Yin Jia Lake.
The fulfilling experiences along the way had made her very happy.
Your experiences certainly were fulfilling. I almost couldn't take it anymore, okay?
Shen Sui complained inwardly.
"You're watching your Soul Card Follower?" The staff member glanced at Shen Sui.
Shen Sui nodded. The staff member smiled. "The difference in time flow between reality and the Soul Card World is truly a huge headache. Many beginners get tormented badly by their Soul Card Followers at first."
"And it happens without any warning," Shen Sui complained.
That was the worst part. Shen Sui was now afraid that Alice would suddenly die and make him lose the Soul Card, while also worrying that if Alice behaved herself, he might not be able to farm so many Life Cards.
"I heard that the Soul Card Association recently introduced a new technology." Seeing that no one else had come to handle enrollment for the moment, and that the person he had called had not arrived yet, the staff member simply started chatting with Shen Sui. "Whenever you obtain a new Life Card in the Soul Card World, your Duel Instrument will make a notification sound."
No, shouldn't that be a basic feature?
Shen Sui had wanted to complain about this for a long time. Didn't games usually notify you whenever you obtained a new item? What was with just displaying a 'Ding!' without any actual sound effect?
And whenever Alice encountered a major event or caused some huge trouble, she was highly likely to obtain a new Life Card. With notifications, Shen Sui would not need to stay on edge all day.
"Oh?" Better late than never. Shen Sui asked with interest, "Can I use it?"
"Yes. Just go to a Soul Card Shop and have a program installed on your Duel Instrument. It's charged monthly—ten thousand a month." The staff member made a gesture with his hand.
"Goodbye!" The instant Shen Sui heard the price, he lost all interest.
Ten thousand a month for a feature that users would disable anywhere else? How did they dare charge that much?
Shen Sui, whose family circumstances were modest, could not afford such an exorbitant fee. He would just have to monitor things manually for now. Being tired was better than being broke.
In Jing City, Xin Yuan Ying Xue let out a breath and closed the computer in front of her.
This genius girl, praised endlessly by outsiders, looked equally refined and beautiful even at home.
Her smooth black hair fell all the way to the roots of her thighs like a waterfall.
Her delicate, fair face carried a trace of coldness, but her slightly furrowed brows gave this beauty a touch of humanity. She seemed to still be savoring the duel she had just watched.
It was a recording of a live Duel Exam broadcast from Magic City Tianyi Academy.
The examiner was a Fifth-Order Soul Card Master named Xu Tianzhi. Not long ago, he had defeated a Seventh-Order Soul Card Master and won the Ze Tian Cup. The Ze Tian Cup was a small regional tournament, but as a B-Class Competition, it still had a bit of recognition.
"What do you think?" Sitting beside Xin Yuan Ying Xue was a gorgeously dressed career woman. She was equally beautiful but carried a touch of alluring charm, and her appearance somewhat resembled Xin Yuan Ying Xue's. She was Xin Yuan Ying Xue's mother, Wang Chunxue.
"He's strong." Xin Yuan Ying Xue spoke slowly. "Very strong."
"His deck only has twenty cards," Wang Chunxue said.
Xin Yuan Ying Xue shook her head. "It has nothing to do with the number of cards in his deck. The core of his deck is actually just three cards. The extra cards merely serve those three. It would be the same with twenty cards or forty cards. As long as he assembles those three cards, his means of victory are already in his hands."
"Is there a way to counter it with Life Cards?"
"Didn't you notice that there was still a follower on his field whose effect had never been activated? That was probably prepared to negate his opponent's effects," Xin Yuan Ying Xue said.
"Damn it. We had already planned everything, and the publicity campaign was ready to go, yet someone like this suddenly appeared." Wang Chunxue frowned in disgust. "A newcomer defeating a Fifth-Order Soul Card Master without a rank—Xiao Xue, you alone should be enough!"
At that thought, Wang Chunxue suddenly remembered something and asked, "What if we find someone to review his cards and get them banned?"
Xin Yuan Ying Xue's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. A trace of disgust appeared at the corner of her lips, only to quickly vanish.
The Forbidden Card system was originally intended to maintain competitive balance, and its purpose was good, but it should have been used with restraint. Overseas, the high price of Life Cards resulted in equally expensive compensation for banned cards. Soul Card Associations lacking funds, combined with the influence of capital groups selling Life Cards, made them extremely cautious about Forbidden Card reviews. They might not issue more than a few Forbidden Cards each month.
But domestically, the Forbidden Card system had begun showing signs of abuse. It was true that low Life Card prices allowed every Soul Card Master to buy high-star card components and build powerful decks, but those low prices also greatly reduced the cost of banning cards.
With domestic Life Card prices capped, the Soul Card Association, deprived of such a major source of income, used its authority over Forbidden Card reviews for exchanges of money and power. Despite repeated national crackdowns, the practice could never be fully eradicated.
There was a limit to the global Forbidden Card list each month—at most fifty cards. Yet Huaxia accounted for more than half of them every single time. Even during the month of the Yuya Tokuno Forbidden Card incident, it was no exception. Half his deck had been banned, yet that still could not surpass Huaxia's number of Forbidden Cards.
The abuse of the Forbidden Card system had worsened the domestic competitive environment. Powerful families used bans to strike down rising opponents and secure their places atop the championship podium. Just as the viewers had said before, many would rather watch foreign competitions. In domestic A-Class and B-Class Competitions, one could more or less predict the champion just by looking at the roster. Only C-Class Competitions were somewhat worth watching, because the Soul Card Association still had some shame and would not go so far as to ban the cards of low-ranking professional Soul Card Masters.
In such an environment, spectators and ordinary Soul Card Masters alike were all waiting for a hero who could tear through this rotten atmosphere.
Yet no matter how powerful a hero was, they probably could not withstand several rounds of Forbidden Card reviews.
She withdrew her gaze from her mother and looked toward the Duel Instrument on her desk.
A soft, warm embrace wrapped around her from behind. "Mother knows you hate these methods, but Mother is doing this for your sake, Xiao Xue. Don't you want to become a Ninth-Order Soul Card Master and a world champion? Mother is clearing away the obstacles in your path."
Xin Yuan Ying Xue remained silent.
"Mother only has you left, Xiao Xue. You mustn't abandon Mother."
Wang Chunxue's cold voice reached her. Xin Yuan Ying Xue closed her eyes, and the image of her older sister, who had abandoned them and run away from home, seemed to appear before her.
"Big Sister, Big Sister, why did you leave?"
"She's humiliating me! I'm a duelist! I'm not a damn idol! Dueling is pure—it isn't her tool for making money! One day, you'll understand, Xiao Xue, if you truly want to become a Ninth-Order Soul Card Master."
I put the explanations for Forbidden Cards, the Time Regulator, and Extraordinary Power in the pinned comment. There were too many words, so it did not seem appropriate to make a separate chapter for them.
Before you continue