Ambush

This breakthrough gave Su Li the feeling that he had undergone a period of consolidation, leaving him incomparably fulfilled.

Within the empty expanse of his mind domain, the Spirit Jade dripped with precious radiance, and more than half of it had turned silver.

Letting out a deep breath, he ended his meditation, feeling utterly refreshed.

He counted his cards and fastened his card case.

It was said that once card masters advanced to the Gold rank, they could construct a space within their mind domain to store cards directly.

That way, there would be no repeat of the awkward situation where Jiang Mingyue had been captured by the Face Willow King.

He had Su Miaohan use Shadow Sneak to slip into his shadow, then immediately headed out.

He directly summoned the Mechanical Motorcycle and made for the Vampire Contamination Zone.

Several days had already passed, yet neither Third High School nor the city guard had sent any new information. Zhou Qing seemed to have vanished completely.

Su Li had already formed an idea. This was most likely related to Wang Shiyu. That man might have led Zhou Qing astray while also providing him shelter.

Lu Chenfeng had once said that financial conglomerates secretly cultivated evil card masters to handle dirty work, which made Su Li consider this possibility.

But there was no evidence, so directly accusing Wang Shiyu was unrealistic.

As he pondered, he had already arrived near the entrance to the Vampire Contamination Zone.

Lu Chenfeng had arrived early. The man was absurdly handsome and possessed an extraordinary bearing. Su Li even suspected that he had used some unknown card.

"Brother Li." Lu Chenfeng greeted him.

Su Li nodded, wondering what level Lu Chenfeng's Spirit Jade had reached by now.

The silver-haired loli arrived soon after, wearing a white T-shirt, black-and-white plaid wide-legged pants, and a pair of little white sneakers. She radiated vitality.

She seemed to know Lu Chenfeng. Their eyes met, and they each gave a nod.

"The Vampire Contamination Zone, hehe. Brother Li, do you know why this place still hasn't been cleared?" Lu Chenfeng asked with a smile.

Su Li was puzzled. This place had appeared early in the school term and should have been something akin to a "benefit," but its difficulty had increased drastically this year, and it still had not been cleared.

Lu Chenfeng glanced around before lowering his voice. "An important figure has come to Cool City and is now serving as the principal of Third High School, carrying out sweeping reforms.

Part of the younger generation from the financial conglomerates came to Third High School because of this as well. If they can gain that person's favor, it will be an enormous opportunity."

Su Li raised a brow. He had looked into the standards of card masters from the previous class before, and there was indeed a huge gap compared to this class.

As card masters continued to rise in rank, card masters were constantly entering and leaving the Forest of Blood. The gathering of the three drew the attention of some card masters.

"Look, isn't that Su Li and Bai Moxue? They actually reconciled. Are they going to explore the Forest of Blood together?" someone murmured.

"The third one is Lu Chenfeng, one of the early top ten. With three powerhouses joining forces, are they going to clear this place in one go?"

The news quickly spread.

Wang Shiyu stared at the photo in his hand showing the three gathered together, his face darkening.

"Moxue is actually with that guy?" He gritted his teeth, unable to accept it.

Su Li and the other two immediately entered the Forest of Blood.

A card in Su Li's hand glowed as he activated [Ice Blue Shield].

Lu Chenfeng and Bai Moxue followed suit. They had suffered once before, and the memory of being hung from a tree was still vivid.

These were cards similar to Ice Blue Shield. A faint layer of light rose around them without hindering their movements.

Such cards were precious. Su Li had also spent a great deal of effort obtaining one, but they were nothing to the young master and young lady of financial conglomerates.

The three powerhouses joined forces and pushed forward all the way, quickly venturing deep inside.

They seized six cards in total, with each person receiving two.

The most common creatures in the Forest of Blood were Face Willows and low-level vampires. Before the current trio, they could only be crushed.

Thorny brambles suddenly blocked the path ahead. They were as thick as arms and covered in barbs.

Lu Chenfeng made his move. He was a "sorcerer" and had used magic-type cards all along.

His slender fingers held a bronze-colored card.

[Prairie Fire]

Terrifying flames swept through the area. A piercing scream rang out from the center of the brambles as countless thorny vines began to dance wildly.

Dark red liquid seeped from the vines and sprayed into the air, attempting to extinguish the flames.

Lu Chenfeng revealed a faint smile. This was a high-tier Bronze vampire creature, but he appeared extremely calm.

Another card was activated.

[Fire Movement]

Melodious, crisp music began to play. Characters danced within the flames, and the temperature of the blazing fire suddenly soared, instantly vaporizing the dark red liquid.

Only when the last wisp of flame by their feet had died out did a card appear.

[Blood Thorn]

A high-tier Bronze card.

The three had agreed that all profits from this trip to the Forest of Blood would be split equally among them, even if Su Li and Bai Moxue did not make a move.

"We'll calculate the profits after we leave this place." Lu Chenfeng put away the card.

Su Li and Bai Moxue nodded.

These young masters and ladies of wealthy clans truly were formidable. Lu Chenfeng had easily killed a high Bronze-ranked creature.

They continued onward and unexpectedly came across the corpses of two card masters.

The two were in an utterly miserable state, drenched in blood. They had suffered inhuman torture before death, their bodies shriveled and hung from tree branches.

Lu Chenfeng activated a card and cremated the two, hoping they could rest in peace.

"How cruel." The refined-looking man shook his head.

People had already started dying. The card world was exceedingly cruel; with other dimensions invading so frequently, card masters could not remain sheltered in comfort forever.

The three continued forward.

Deep within the blood-red forest, the pungent stench grew stronger. A faint mist lingered in the air, making the place gloomy and terrifying.

Hiss!

The little white fox on Su Li's shoulder suddenly bristled, issuing a warning toward the darkness.

The three immediately stopped, each holding a card in hand.

"Kehehehehe!"

Terrifying laughter echoed from the darkness. Not far away, pairs of scarlet eyes suddenly opened in the shadows, all turning toward the three of them.

It was enough to make one's scalp tingle.

"Not good. We've entered the Human-Faced Willow Tree grove!" Lu Chenfeng shouted in a low voice.

This place had been specifically marked as dangerous by the analysts. Some people had vanished the instant they entered, but there were no clear directions within the Forest of Blood, and they had wandered into it by mistake.

Only then did the three realize that it was not just ahead of them. Centered around them, pairs of blood-red eyes stared at them from the darkness in every direction.

"An unknown creature has blocked our senses, concealing them while they waited for prey to enter their encirclement before closing in for the kill!" Bai Moxue's expression turned icy.

Lu Chenfeng threw out a card. A ribbon of fire spun around them, gradually growing fiercer until it formed an enormous flaming tornado.

Roar!

Su Xiaobai let out an angry roar and used Shapeshifting, instantly transforming into a ten-meter beast. It swung its enormous white tail, unleashing a rain of spears.

The needle-like hairs pierced through the wall of fire and transformed into flaming spears, their momentum immense.

Without anyone noticing, Bai Moxue had already created the Hundred Beasts Forest. This time, the Hundred Beasts Forest empowered Su Xiaobai.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The flaming spears tore through the darkness, pinning Human-Faced Willow Trees one after another to death. Cards appeared where they fell.