One hundred and fifty thousand.
That was the final compensation amount Shen Sui had negotiated.
The Soul Card Association had been so generous because it was in the wrong.
After all, banning the card of a student who had not even become a professional player yet was indeed hard to justify.
Seeing the huge sum newly added to his account, Shen Sui was instantly satisfied.
Sell cards? What cards?
Could a thirteen-star card sell for one hundred and fifty thousand?
As expected, Forbidden Cards were the fastest way to make money. It was a pity there was a domestic price cap, or Shen Sui would already have become a multimillionaire.
Shen Sui glanced at his Duel Instrument, wondering how he could play another Forbidden Card.
Perhaps the Heaven's Chosen Cup would be an opportunity. Although the participants were all amateur players, there was no shortage of internet-famous Soul Card Masters among them. Defeating them might bring him some attention.
But Shen Sui still had to keep himself in check. If too many cards in his deck entered the forbidden list, then even with Alice's astonishing ability to cycle cards, she would not be able to withstand it.
Forbidden Cards could be used in the Academy PK Competition, but not in the Ranking Tournament.
Shen Sui had been planning to blast through the Ranking Tournament in one go, become a professional player, and first get his hands on the Soul Card Association's basic stipend. If his key cards were banned at a critical moment like that, it would be a real headache.
Forget it. He would hold back a little during the Heaven's Chosen Cup.
With that in mind, Shen Sui kept walking toward the academy's parcel collection point. The laptop he had bought had arrived.
No matter what world one was in, as long as one's pockets became full, most troubles disappeared on their own.
"Shen Sui!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out beside Shen Sui's ear. He followed the sound and saw a slightly chubby boy running toward him.
"You are..." Shen Sui thought for a moment. "Yue Tao?"
"Haha, I didn't expect a famous man like you to remember my name." Yue Tao scratched his head awkwardly.
"See? I told you we'd become classmates." Shen Sui smiled.
"I was just lucky. I got a god draw and beat the examiner," Yue Tao said. "And my examiner had only just advanced to the third order, unlike you, who defeated a Fifth-Order Soul Card Master head-on."
The two exchanged a few pleasantries.
Shen Sui continued straight toward his destination.
When he noticed Yue Tao following him as well, he knew the slightly chubby boy had come looking for him over something.
"You came to see me about something, right?" Shen Sui asked bluntly.
Unlike Shen Sui, Yue Tao had no experience of entering society in a previous life. Once his thoughts were exposed, he immediately hesitated.
"It's like this," Yue Tao said. "I don't know whether telling you this is a good thing. It might make you feel upset."
"Upset?"
"Mm." Yue Tao nodded, leaned close to Shen Sui, and whispered, "When I came out of the club just now, I overheard a group of people talking about you. They said your key card had already been added to the Association's forbidden list, and they were saying that it served you right for being so arrogant."
"Oh?" Shen Sui smiled without quite smiling.
The forbidden list was released at the beginning of every month. It was only mid-June, and the July forbidden list containing the Star Super Magic Array had not yet been released. The only people who could know for certain at this point that the card would enter the forbidden list were the ones who had reported it. The Soul Card Association gave clear replies to every report.
Shen Sui himself had received a text from the Soul Card Association saying that the Star Super Magic Array would be added to the July forbidden list.
"But that's your key card! Isn't that whole combo built around it? Those people are going too far. You're all classmates," Yue Tao said indignantly.
"That's where you're wrong." Shen Sui raised a hand and patted Yue Tao on the shoulder, speaking earnestly. "Duel Academy isn't high school. There are no purely classmate relationships here. Everyone is a potential competitor."
"It shouldn't be like that." Yue Tao spoke with great seriousness. "Even if we're competitors, we should still get along peacefully. If we want to defeat someone, we should duel them openly and honorably in the arena, not use such underhanded methods! Reporting an opponent's key card—it's disgusting!"
Ah.
Shen Sui, who had also reported the Star Super Magic Array, did not know how to respond to that.
"Anyway, you should still be careful," Yue Tao reminded him kindly. "Don't let having your card banned affect your mindset. At least in the Academy PK Competition, you can still use your combo."
Shen Sui understood Yue Tao's unspoken meaning as well.
This guy might have been as innocent in his thinking as most high school graduates, but he was not stupid. He was clearly reminding Shen Sui that there was no need to bring out anything new in the Academy PK Competition; he could just keep using that combo.
"I was thinking the same thing." Shen Sui's lips curled upward. "By the way, can you tell me the names of the people who reported my cards?"
Yue Tao said nervously, "Don't do anything rash! If you do something irrational, you'll be expelled!"
There had been no shortage of students in the news who, after classmates or roommates reported their key cards and got them banned, had summoned their fists for a direct attack.
"Don't worry. Soul Card Masters use duels to resolve all conflicts." Shen Sui patted his chest. "I'm broad-minded. I've already forgiven them. I just want to get to know them, then bring them smiles in the Academy PK Competition."
There were no elimination rounds or anything of the sort in the Academy PK Competition. You simply had to keep finding duel opponents around the academy. Once you won three duels in a row and were among the first ten participants in the PK Competition to achieve that, your Duel Instrument would notify you that you had earned the right to challenge a coach.
Of course, since only the top three in each PK Competition could obtain that qualification, whenever someone got two consecutive wins, people would deliberately rush over to challenge them and break their streak, commonly known as sniping. Since issuing a duel challenge only required reporting the opponent's name to the match referee, there was no possibility of playing hide-and-seek. It all came down to luck.
If too many people challenged the same person at the same time, the referee would randomly select a match.
There was no champion or runner-up in this competition either, only a points leaderboard. Winning one duel earned one point. Under normal circumstances, those near the top of the leaderboard would gain challenge qualifications, though if you were truly unlucky, it was not impossible to reach the leaderboard by winning one match and losing one.
In the PK Competition, students could not refuse another person's duel challenge.
Naturally, the invited party also had a privilege: they could freely choose whether to go first or second.
Looking at the smiling Shen Sui, Yue Tao somehow felt a chill run down his spine.
Was Shen Sui's talk of bringing them smiles really innocent?
Yue Tao still named several people he knew. Shen Sui committed those names to memory, planning to duel them one by one once the PK Competition began.
"Thanks for the warning." Shen Sui found Yue Tao fairly agreeable. He guessed Yue Tao had specifically come over to warn him about this. "If you need any help, you can come find me."
"Uh, if we're talking about needing help..." Yue Tao said awkwardly, "there actually is something I'd like to ask you to help with."
"What is it?" Shen Sui smiled at his embarrassed expression.
"Your Soul Card World is a fantasy world too, right?" Yue Tao said. "I was wondering if there are elemental spirits in your Soul Card World."
"Elemental spirits? Oh, those little creatures made of elements? There are."
"Really?" Yue Tao's eyes lit up. "Can you help me get a few Follower Cards of elemental spirits?"
As he spoke, he took a card from his Duel Instrument. "I'll trade this card with you."
Card Name: Element · Magic Conversion Wheel Category: Permanent Spell Card Star Rating: 10 Stars Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you may permanently lose 1 point of maximum Soul Points, then draw two cards from your deck.
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