Alice's exploits in Modena City brought Shen Sui a huge number of Life Cards, filling his Life Card inventory to capacity. He even had many Life Cards he could not download because he lacked Blank Cards.
What frustrated Shen Sui was that he could not extract either of the two god cards because Alice's rank was too low.
Without any powerful Followers joining his deck, Shen Sui could only continue relying on unconventional methods to win his duels for now.
Alice, you needed to get your act together!
Reaching Tier 3 Mage in a month was still not enough.
"You're making me look stupid." Xin Yuan Tanchun was shocked and speechless. "You can really farm that many Life Cards in World Number One?"
"Speaking of which, I'm curious." Shen Sui looked at Xin Yuan Tanchun with interest. "How did that Isabella help you farm Life Cards?"
"Grave robbing."
"Huh?"
"She's a graverobber on the Dawn Continent. Every year, she patrols the graves of powerful figures across the continent to prevent people with malicious intentions from using their remains." Xin Yuan Tanchun spread her hands. "While doing that, it's normal for her to press down on a dead person's coffin lid to make sure they haven't revived. I took that opportunity to have Isabella check whether there were any treasures in those graves that could be turned into Life Cards."
Shen Sui was at a loss for words.
What on earth had that flat-chested vampire loli been doing all these years?
"Aren't you afraid of running into some unusual graves? Ones whose owners are far stronger than your Soul Cards?"
"So far, it's been fine. Other than a few powerhouses from a thousand years ago faking their deaths, nothing unexpected has happened." Xin Yuan Tanchun pursed her lips as she recalled it.
She truly held nothing back, telling Shen Sui everything she knew about the Dawn Continent. For a Soul Card Master, that should have been a major taboo.
Someone faking their death didn't count as unexpected?
Wait, a thousand years ago? Wasn't that when I was active?
Who had faked their death?
"The strangest one was the grave of a Saintess named Vivian." Xin Yuan Tanchun slapped her palm. "Isabella goes there every month to dig up the grave, but she still hasn't found Vivian's body."
"Why does she do that?"
"Because she refuses to believe that woman is dead." Xin Yuan Tanchun imitated her dramatically. "Isabella says that woman can't die, because she still has to revive Claude."
Shen Sui rubbed his nose, not knowing what to say.
After explaining the tournament, Xin Yuan Tanchun took her leave. She had been busy lately, preparing to break through to Tier 7.
The main tournament of the Heaven's Chosen Cup would begin the day after tomorrow, on Saturday. But he needed to attend the qualifiers tomorrow, so Shen Sui had to sort through the gains from this major event first.
"Ah, I was so focused on Vivian that I forgot to ask her about Event Cards." Shen Sui slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten to ask for information about Event Cards.
Fortunately, the internet was highly developed these days. You could find clues to almost any strange question online.
Shen Sui quickly found information on Event Cards.
It turned out that aside from the two standard categories of Spell Cards and Follower Cards, Soul Card Duels also had special cards that did not occupy slots.
Special cards had duration limits, usually measured in turns. At any point in a duel, only one special card of the same type could exist, so it would be replaced by a newer special card of that type, much like equipment being replaced in Three Kingdoms Kill.
Special cards were extremely rare. There were currently two known types. One was Event Cards, usually obtained by Soul Card Masters while farming event-type Spell Cards. The other was Environment Cards, special cards acquired in special environments, often related to weather or terrain.
As long as they were used well, these cards were extremely powerful. Because they did not occupy slots, once activated, they could not be targeted by card effects and were therefore unaffected by other card effects.
"So that means they can be countered when they're activated?" Shen Sui stroked his chin. He had to consider the possibility of his opponents using cards like these.
It seemed that when he designed counters in the future, he would have to account for these cards as well, rather than only calculating Spell Cards and Follower Cards.
With that thought, Shen Sui looked at the second Event Card in his hand.
Compared with Chaos, this Event Card was the real heavyweight.
Card Name: Insubordination Rebellion Category: Event Card Stars: 12 Stars Effect: After activation, until the end of the opponent's second turn or until replaced by another Event Card, neither side may declare attacks. At the end of each side's battle phase, all Followers controlled by the turn player directly attack their holder in sequence.
Shen Sui found it difficult to judge this card's strength.
But he knew that, at least for now, while his Followers were not yet powerful, this card was still very useful to him.
After activating it, as long as you did not sacrifice the powerful Followers on your field during your Main Phase, you could wait for those Followers to stab you in the back during the Battle Phase.
The stronger the Followers, the deadlier the backstabbing, and the faster the Soul Card Master died.
This card had already been powerful in its initial state. Shen Sui had merely made a minor adjustment to its wording, changing "the turn player's Followers directly attack them in sequence" to "all Followers controlled by the turn player directly attack their holder in sequence."
Heh heh.
Shen Sui had to stress that it was a minor adjustment, nothing significant.
He was a harmonious and caring person. This card was the best proof of that.
As long as the threat of backstabbing remained, neither side would summon particularly powerful Followers. Wouldn't the field be harmonious, then?
Tap.
As Shen Sui organized his deck, a card fell out.
He casually picked it up. Alice had also farmed this card during the major event.
A Spell Card, Bewitching Speech.
Shen Sui's pupils shifted slightly.
To be honest, even through a screen, he could sense Alice's astonishing ability to stir emotions through her speech.
Without powerful bewitching abilities, she could never have talked believers into rebelling against their own god.
And that was clearly reflected in this Bewitching Speech card.
Card Name: Bewitching Speech Category: Spell Card Stars: 12 Stars Effect: Can only be activated once per duel. At the start of your Main Phase, you may reveal all cards in your hand, then make your opponent discard all Follower Cards in your hand. After that, you may choose up to X Followers on your opponent's field and take control of them. (X is the number of cards discarded from your hand by this effect.) Followers controlled by this card's effect lose all effects until they return to their holder's field.
Tsk tsk tsk. What an evil Spell Card.
Shen Sui shuffled it into his deck.
He would suppress this sort of evil himself.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
"Hello?" Shen Sui answered the unfamiliar number curiously.
"Is this Mr. Shen Sui? This is the Modu Soul Card Association."
"Yes. What is it?"
"Due to multiple reports, we have reviewed the Permanent Spell Card Star Super Magic Array in your deck. We are informing you that the association has decided to place it on the latest Forbidden Card list. Would you like to raise an objection?"
Shen Sui had not expected to actually encounter a Forbidden Card review. He had only clicked around casually that day. Forbidden Cards were generally associated with professional players in Category A and Category B Tournaments, even in the domestic scene.
Were they really this shameless?
I haven't even entered the professional circuit yet. Why does someone already think I'm in their way?
"Objection!" Shen Sui said without hesitation. "I refuse to accept this!"
"Mr. Shen, this is the result of the Soul Card Association's review. We will also provide you with the appropriate compensation for the Forbidden Card—"
"This card is the absolute core of my deck! It is my irreplaceable partner in victory! I cannot lose it!"
"Mr. Shen—"
"If you want to ban it," Shen Sui said seriously.
"You'll have to pay more."
Before you continue