Chapter 29

Setting Sun's expression darkened instantly as well. "If another club gets this card, wouldn't God Nie's White Tiger Card be finished?"

"..." The two exchanged a glance.

As Judgment's longtime guild leader, Illusory Moon had always been calm, but right now, he could not stay calm.

—Instant-Death Judgment. What the hell was this Instant-Death Judgment?!

This kind of judgment had never appeared in the game before. Many people probably did not even understand what "triggering instant death" meant. They thought "instant death" was similar to the metal-type cards' "instant disable," so neither the buyers nor sellers in the Black Market fully understood the value of this Wu Song Card.

However, professional players and the upper management of the major guilds all knew about this type of judgment.

Because it was a brand-new skill judgment that had only recently been added to the database!

At last season's wrap-up meeting, Tang Muzhou had suddenly proposed the concept of giving one-for-one utility cards an "instant-death effect."

It was said that the professional players had split into two factions and engaged in a heated debate. One side supported Tang God's idea and wanted instant-death cards added to the database; the other strongly opposed it, believing such cards would disrupt competitive balance and were completely unreasonable.

Tang Muzhou smiled elegantly and listed many reasons for adding instant-death cards. In the end, he said, "The appearance of instant-death cards will greatly enrich tactical possibilities on the field. Don't you want to make a card that can unexpectedly one-shot my Millennium Sacred Tree?"

The players: "..."

Tang God had really drawn aggro with that one. Anyone who had ever been bound by his sacred tree wanted to one-shot that annoying giant tree.

What no one had expected was that Nie Yuandao, who had never gotten along particularly well with Tang Muzhou, actually supported Tang God's idea as well.

Nie Yuandao said calmly, "Instant-death cards are not as threatening as everyone thinks. If the officials can regulate the data, they will at most be one-for-one utility cards. Using an instant-death card to trade for an opponent's god-tier card will make match tactics more varied. I agree with Tang Muzhou's proposal."

Water-type player Qiao Xi said with a smile, "I also think Tang God's idea is very good. If cards with Instant-Death Judgment appear in competitions, they can catch opponents off guard and secure victory at crucial moments. Otherwise, when certain people put down cards with over 200,000 health, I do not even feel like continuing the match."

Zheng Feng, the earth-type representative who had been called out, rubbed his nose. "Lan God means my White Elephant with 200,000 health, right? Actually, I also think its health is a bit too high. Making everyone spend ages hitting it every match makes me feel pretty embarrassed."

Everyone: "...Get lost!"

To keep them from fighting on the spot, the League chairman immediately restored order. "All right, voting begins now."

In the end, Tang Muzhou's suggestion passed the Professional League's assembly resolution.

The League submitted the proposal to the officials, and after discussion, the officials decided to adopt it.

To regulate card balance, the officials had the data analyst team hold several meetings and conduct detailed formula calculations to determine the ranges for the health, attack, defense, and other attributes of instant-death cards—this process took more than half a year, and the official announcement had only been released last month.

The official announcement stated that Instant-Death Judgment had been added to the skill database, but the requirements were extremely strict.

First, cards with Instant-Death Judgment could only have one Instant Death skill, and its target could not be overly broad. For example, cards with effects such as "Instant Death for plants," "Instant Death for animals," or "Instant Death for humans" were not allowed—Instant-Death Judgment could target only a specific subcategory of cards.

Second, any card carrying Instant-Death Judgment would be classified as a "single-use utility card." Its attack and defense attributes had to be extremely low. In other words, after using its skill, it would immediately die as well, achieving at most a one-for-one trade in order to avoid disrupting competitive balance.

In addition, the League had introduced a corresponding rule—each team could carry at most one instant-death card per match, to be used as a secret weapon.

The official announcement had only been released recently, and many players in the game probably had not noticed it. After all, every update came with a huge wall of announcements. People who did not specifically study cards would not pay attention to news like "Instant-Death Judgment added to the skill database."

At present, the card experts at the major clubs were all attempting to create cards with this "sure-kill effect." Illusory Moon did not know how far the other clubs had progressed, but neither God Nie nor Lan God at Judgment had managed to make one yet. Unexpectedly, someone called Fat Uncle had beaten them to it—and had even made a Wu Song Card targeting tiger-type cards, directly targeting God Nie!

If God Nie found out that he had agreed with Tang Muzhou's idea to add Instant-Death Judgment, only for someone to so quickly create a card that could trigger Instant Death on his White Tiger Card, would he be furious to death?

This card absolutely could not be found by another club!

Illusory Moon furrowed his brows and swiftly made a decision. "Immediately arrange personnel to conduct a thorough search of the Black Market! Buy back every card with an original logo of 'Yueban,' especially the Wu Song Cards. Do not miss a single one!"

***

The Black Market had not been this lively in a long time.

The players running stalls in the Black Market were completely baffled—what were Fenghua Guild and Judgment doing, cramming so many managers into the Black Market?

Seeing familiar IDs constantly coming and going, Red Candle felt like her head was about to explode. Many Judgment veterans had suddenly appeared in the Black Market and were carefully searching the card stalls, seemingly looking for some card. She felt especially uneasy, constantly suspecting that Judgment had bought back the Daiyu Card. Setting Sun thought the same way as Red Candle, believing that Fenghua Guild had bought the other Wu Song Cards and was now searching for their original creator.

The two were suspicious of each other, yet when they met, they pretended to greet each other calmly. "Red Sis, you're still in the Black Market?"

Red Candle forced herself to remain calm. "Mm, I was bored, so I came around to take a look."

Setting Sun smiled without warmth. "Me too. What a coincidence!"

Red Candle said, "Yes, what a coincidence."

They exchanged polite greetings, but in their hearts, they had already cursed each other hundreds of times.

Shortly afterward, news that large numbers of managers from Fenghua Guild and Judgment Guild had appeared in the Black Market spread throughout the spy circles.