When Shen Sui arrived at the classroom, someone was already there.
Duel Academy had "academy" in its name, but aside from the Soul Card Master departments of nationally renowned institutions, most Duel Academies served as youth training bases for Soul Card Master clubs.
Even so, considering how brutal the career path of Soul Card Duels was, the government mandated that Duel Academies offer general education courses and establish several majors for students to choose from.
Shen Sui paused when he saw someone there, instinctively assuming this classroom was meant for lessons.
"Excuse me, is this the teaching building?" Shen Sui asked uncertainly. He was still unfamiliar with Tianyi Academy.
"Yes." A pretty young woman answered him.
Her hair hung loosely down her back, frizzy and dry, as though it was rarely cared for.
There was also a hint of exhaustion on her face, making her look as though she had stayed up late doing something the night before.
Her outfit was equally casual: a white shirt paired with a pleated skirt, a black stocking on her right leg and a white stocking on her left.
At first, Shen Sui thought she had dressed that way deliberately, until he noticed that the white stocking was inside out.
No, this was beyond merely casual.
Even so, her natural looks were astonishingly good. Despite being so carefree and burdened with so many DEBUFFs, she still struck Shen Sui as beautiful—far above average, in fact.
"You're Shen Sui, right?" The young woman said his name, smiled, and held out her hand. "My name is Xin Yuan Tanchun. I'll be your Soul Card Duel coach."
"Little Japan?" Shen Sui blurted out. "You're so young."
The woman burst out laughing, brushed back the hair by her temple, and said, "I'm a bona fide Huaxia native. As for being young, of course I am! I'm only twenty this year, just two years older than you. Still, I didn't expect that people would actually choose World Number One these days."
For a twenty-year-old to be sent here as Shen Sui's coach, there truly had to be very few Soul Card Masters in Dawn Continent.
Xin Yuan Tanchun blinked at Shen Sui, the corners of her lips curling up as she said without a care, "I hate trouble, but it's not easy to meet a newcomer from the same Soul Card World. So I'll look after you a little! Where is your Soul Card now? Let me see if I can trick that person into going over there and feeding her some cards."
Shen Sui frowned instinctively. He still remembered Lin Ke'er's words—casually revealing information about one's Soul Card was not a good habit.
Xin Yuan Tanchun seemed to see his wariness and smiled. "Relax. There are already so few Soul Card Masters from World Number One. We should support each other even more."
"By the way, Coach Xin Yuan, why did you choose Dawn Continent back then?" Shen Sui asked curiously.
At the mention of this, Xin Yuan Tanchun's expression turned gloomy. "Damn it! Just talking about it makes me mad! I originally wanted to choose Nineteenth World, but before drawing my Soul Card, I secretly went to have my fortune told. That fortune teller said World Number One was my best choice, that I would meet a benefactor there in the future and soar to greatness from then on, even having a chance to secure the National Champion title."
"And then you chose World Number One?"
"I'm not superstitious." Xin Yuan Tanchun put her hands on her hips. "How could I possibly believe a fortune teller?"
"So?" Shen Sui looked at her.
She sighed and spread her hands. "My mom insisted that I choose Nineteenth World. I've never listened to my mom in my life. Then I had no idea which of the remaining thirty-two to choose, so I remembered the fortune teller's words and picked it."
No, wasn't that way too careless? This was a crucial choice that affected your future!
"Thinking about it now, I regret it to death. The Soul Card I drew was too powerful, so there was no way to obtain transformation cards. I could only coax her into digging graves to get new cards. But Dawn Continent has one advantage!" Xin Yuan Tanchun came over and slung an arm around Shen Sui's shoulders. "Few people choose this world, so there's little competition. Do you know? In those popular xianxia Soul Card Worlds, when a secret realm opens, hundreds of Soul Card Followers can show up to take part. It's insane—the competition is brutal. Unlike Dawn Continent, where resources are everywhere. You can casually get dozens of cards at a time."
"I watched your duel. Your Soul Card is called Alice, right?" Xin Yuan Tanchun said with a smile.
That was why Soul Card names were not written in full. Even if Soul Card Masters did not reveal them willingly, parts of a Soul Card's information would always leak during duels. The less revealed, the better.
"A Novice Magician doesn't have an easy time in Dawn Continent. Really, for your Soul Card Follower's safety, you should have her come hang around with my Soul Card!" Xin Yuan Tanchun patted her chest. "My Soul Card is a Thirteenth-Order Archmagician, one of the top figures in all of Dawn Continent."
"Is Thirteenth-Order that impressive?"
"Of course! Other than Fifteenth-Order gods and Fourteenth-Order figures like popes and Saintesses, Thirteenth-Order powerhouses can swagger around however they want, okay?" Xin Yuan Tanchun grinned. "And my Soul Card's identity is very special. Every faction has to show her some respect. Since you won't tell me her information, just remember this: if your Soul Card runs into any trouble in the future, have her look for Isabella Oliveira! The Graverobber of Dawn Continent."
"Oh, that flat-chested vampire?" Shen Sui said instinctively.
"Huh?"
"Haha, nothing. I just thought of a character from a game." Shen Sui coughed twice.
Xin Yuan Tanchun blinked, completely bewildered.
Isabella Oliveira was one of the romanceable characters in Dawn Link, and one of its overwhelmingly popular characters besides Vivian.
Her setting was the most classic kind: a blonde, tsundere, loli vampire True Ancestor, an ageless and immortal being in the game.
When Shen Sui had pursued the Twilight of the Gods route on his second playthrough, she had formed an alliance with him, and together they had killed the progenitor of vampires.
Shen Sui was not surprised in the least that Isabella was still alive.
No, he was even somewhat apprehensive.
Because in the game, maxing out Isabella's affection was a necessary condition if you wanted her to fight alongside you.
Still, Xin Yuan Tanchun had reminded Shen Sui that if he wanted to understand history, the quickest way was indeed to ask those ancient, undying people.
Seeing that Shen Sui still had no intention of revealing information about his Soul Card, Xin Yuan Tanchun stopped pressing the matter and instead told him about herself and what would come next.
The Duel Exam was not the end. It was the beginning of the grind.
The first year at Duel Academy was the busiest. Students had to gather forty Life Cards as quickly as possible to form a deck, then participate in the academy's monthly PK Competition. If they could win three matches in the PK Competition, they could challenge their coach. Once the coach acknowledged that they possessed the ability to become a professional Soul Card Master, the instructor would write a letter recommending them to the Soul Card Association.
After that, they would undergo a total of five Ranking Tournament matches.
Winning three out of five Ranking Tournament matches would make one a professional Soul Card Master. Under normal circumstances, the opponents would be Tier 1 Soul Card Masters randomly assigned by the Soul Card Association. However, if someone defeated a Tier 1 Soul Card Master and wanted to challenge a higher difficulty, they could apply to the Soul Card Association for a higher-tier opponent. If they won again, they could continue applying for additional tiers, all the way up to a Fifth-Order Soul Card Master.
Winning three matches was the hard requirement for becoming a professional Soul Card Master. As for what tier one would be assigned, that depended on the highest-tier opponent they had defeated.
Although the Ranking Tournament could only be taken once, it was the fastest way for a Soul Card Master to advance in tier. After the Ranking Tournament, one had to earn enough points before applying for a Tier-up Tournament. In a Tier-up Tournament, there was no option to choose the difficulty. The Soul Card Association would randomly select five professional Soul Card Masters at the target tier. Win, and the tier-up succeeded. Lose, and try again next time.
That was why so many professional guides emphasized the importance of the Ranking Tournament. It was also one of the benefits of getting into Duel Academy. Those who were not Duel Academy students had to accumulate enough points in officially recognized amateur duel competitions before they could apply to the Soul Card Association for a Ranking Tournament.
"If you can, try your best to reach as high a tier as possible in the Ranking Tournament." Xin Yuan Tanchun said proudly. "Back then, I jumped straight to Tier 4 in mine!"
Before you continue