[Did talents have high priority? Indeed, they did.]
[But if Past Li Ping stopped you with an entry before you activated your talent, you still could not activate it.]
[That was why you needed the anchoring power of [effect before cause] from a talent like [I Am the Chess Player].]
[What? You said things had not worked that way when you negotiated with Past Li Ping inside the space created by the [Spacetime Token]?]
[No, they had worked exactly the same way.]
[Back then, [I Am the Chess Player] had been only one final use away from shattering.]
[And that use had been spent allowing you to activate [Existence from Nonexistence].]
[This time was no different.]
[You needed [effect before cause] to ensure that your activation succeeded.]
[But now, you had already exhausted all three uses of [effect before cause].]
[So there was no way you could successfully activate [Purple Talent: Existence from Nonexistence] again.]
[The Old Schemer was still plotting against you, even now!]
[That earlier commotion as he broke through the restrictions had probably been intended to make you expend your final use of [effect before cause].]
[Past Li Ping had probably been capable of quickly breaking through the restrictions when he first used [effect before cause], but he had not done so!]
[Instead, he had chosen to pressure you step by step, coaxing you into using your third and final [effect before cause]!]
[He had accounted for even that in his scheme?!]
[He had schemed his way through everything, absolutely everything. Just declare him the winner already!!!]
[And now, the reason Past Li Ping could affect you, and even speak with you... was probably that he had already broken through the seal imposed by your third use of effect before cause.]
[Everything was over.]
[Past Li Ping's