"Good luck!" Xin Yuan Tanchun patted Shen Sui on the shoulder and encouraged him. "Try to finish your PK matches this month and get ranked directly next month. If that happens, you might even achieve the feat of graduating early and joining a professional club."
"Isn't that expecting a little too much from me?" Shen Sui said, the corner of his eye twitching.
"Based on your performance in the Duel Exam, you can absolutely give it a try," Xin Yuan Tanchun said. "Hurry up and go pro so I can get my bonus sooner."
"Fuck! That's your real goal, isn't it?"
"Of course it is! I was originally planning to feed you cards and fast-track your growth." Xin Yuan Tanchun crossed her arms and said honestly, "Forget it. Since you want to preserve the mystery of your Soul Cards, I won't force you. I need to focus most of my attention on the Soul Card World for a while, so I might not have time to teach you Soul Card Duel techniques. If you have any questions, you'd better ask them today."
"You're planning to rank up?"
"Not just rank up! I'm going to break a record too!" Xin Yuan Tanchun waved her little fist with high spirits. "As long as I rank up successfully, I'll become the first Soul Card Master from World Number One to reach Tier Seven!"
Uh... that was all she aspired to?
Shen Sui was speechless.
Still, if one had to say it, Xin Yuan Tanchun's luck really was quite good.
For Isabella, a True Ancestor-level vampire, to become her Soul Card was a stroke of luck for Xin Yuan Tanchun.
It was just that the Dawn Continent seemed to be in an era of gods awakening. If that vampire progenitor also awakened, Isabella might really be in danger.
Shen Sui stroked his chin as he thought.
"So, you really don't have any questions at all?" Xin Yuan Tanchun asked in frustration, hands on her hips. She had waited for ages, yet Shen Sui had not asked a single question.
"What questions?"
"Questions about Soul Card Duels! Aren't you a freshman?"
"Oh, oh, oh. I don't really have any questions about dueling." Shen Sui said, In my previous life, I could lose thirty matches in a row in one night. "I'm more curious about the rules for Forbidden Cards."
"Forbidden Cards? You really should be worried about that." Xin Yuan Tanchun said, "That duel from your Duel Exam is already common knowledge. Some peers jealous of your popularity might report your card. I'm actually worried that your Star Super Magic Array might get banned."
"But my combo isn't invincible, is it?"
That was a lie!
Shen Sui had long since stuffed several negates into his deck. He even had an Equipment Spell Card that could grant Alice resistance.
"Overpowered and invincible are two different things. In order to maintain balance in the dueling environment, the Soul Card Association will ban key cards as long as you display an overpowered level of strength. Ahem, at least that's what they claim."
"The core Soul Card can't be banned, and Resurrection is a fifteen-star Life Card. Nobody wants to set the precedent of banning a fifteen-star card, so one card has to take the hit." Xin Yuan Tanchun said, "Look at those National Champions and world champions. Which one of them didn't have several cards banned after winning? Take last year's Moonlight Cup world champion, Dongye Youzai. Right after winning, half his deck was banned. He was completely dumbfounded. This year, he turned into a complete scrub. Though he's made a comeback recently and seems to be third in the world now."
"Ahem, I don't really care about any of that." Shen Sui, who had already prepared replacement cards, finally asked the question he cared about most. "What I want to know is, is there compensation for banned cards?"
Xin Yuan Tanchun looked at Shen Sui in surprise for a long while.
"Holy shit!" She slapped her thigh. "Don't tell me you're planning to make money off banned cards?"
"Just tell me whether there's compensation or not."
"There is." Xin Yuan Tanchun nodded firmly. "And quite a lot of it. Compensation for a banned card is roughly ten times its suggested retail price. If your rank is high, there'll be additional compensation too."
"A one-star banned card gets ten thousand in compensation?"
"More or less. If you know your Life Card is powerful but aren't satisfied with the compensation amount, then you'd better avoid using it in less important competitions." Xin Yuan Tanchun advised.
Shen Sui nodded.
Overall, he was quite satisfied with the compensation for Forbidden Cards.
The Star Super Magic Array was a thirteen-star Life Card. If it was really banned, the Soul Card Association would have to compensate him at least one hundred and thirty thousand.
The card was absurdly strong, but it definitely could not be sold for that price.
Excellent. I fully understand the rules now.
There was only one problem now.
Who's going to hurry up and ban my card? Urgent! Waiting online!
Thinking this, Shen Sui took out his phone, quickly logged into the Soul Card Association app, and found the report section.
"???" Xin Yuan Tanchun was full of question marks when she saw what Shen Sui was doing. "What are you doing?!"
"Oh." Shen Sui skillfully filled out the report form. "I'm reporting someone's Life Card for being overpowered."
Xin Yuan Tanchun patted her chest. She had thought this rookie had gotten blinded by money.
Then she saw Shen Sui write the name of the reported Life Card on the form: Star Super Magic Array.
"You're actually reporting your own Life Card?!" Xin Yuan Tanchun nearly roared. "Have you considered that once you lose this card, your combo won't work anymore?!"
"But that's one hundred and thirty thousand."
"Is one hundred and thirty thousand more important than a Soul Card Master's future?!"
"How about you give me one hundred and thirty thousand, then?"
Xin Yuan Tanchun sat down, crossing her hands beneath her chin. "Hmm. In that case, one hundred and thirty thousand is a little more important after all."
She did not think anyone could be that foolish, so seeing Shen Sui act so calmly, she more or less guessed that he had already found a replacement.
Since he wanted to make money through banned cards, that was his freedom. She would not interfere.
Perhaps his Soul Cards were invincible in the Soul Card World and could freely farm Life Cards.
Besides, getting one's own Life Card onto the Forbidden Card list was a skill in itself.
Very soon, Shen Sui's report entered review. If the number of reports against the card reached a certain threshold, the Soul Card Association would initiate a Life Card review. Once the review passed, the ban notice and corresponding compensation would follow.
Incidentally, Tier-up Tournaments were classified as C-Class Competitions under the Soul Card Association's rules.
The academy's monthly PK matches were not competitions recognized by the Soul Card Association, so there was no rule prohibiting the use of Forbidden Cards.
Therefore, having your Life Card banned did not mean you could not sell that card.
In fact, precisely because it was a Forbidden Card, it could sell for an even higher price.
Some people who bought such Forbidden Cards were collectors who liked collecting them, while others were casual players who enjoyed crushing weaker opponents in amateur competitions. In any case, cards were cheap domestically.
After Shen Sui left, Xin Yuan Tanchun stood there in a daze for a long while.
Her Duel Instrument lit up.
Isabella welcomes your arrival, guest from another world.
I met a very interesting person today. When he heard your name, his first reaction was to call you a flat-chested vampire.
Xin Yuan Tanchun took out Isabella's Soul Card. On its face was a golden-haired beauty with delicate features like a porcelain doll. Her tall, voluptuous, perfect figure was enough to draw admiration even from women.
Isabella's aura suddenly surged. She seemed extremely angry. Everything around her fell silent, as though afraid of this True Ancestor vampire burning with rage.
Oh? Someone actually described me that way.
Isabella spoke slowly.
That reminds me of someone. Someone from a very, very long time ago.
Who? Xin Yuan Tanchun asked.
Claude Modena.
Isabella paused for a long time, seemingly lost in some memory.
As for explanations regarding Forbidden Cards, the Time Regulator, and Extraordinary Power, I put them in the pinned comment section. There were too many words, so it did not seem appropriate to put them in a separate chapter.
Before you continue