Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The [Scenario Card] has always had a scene replay function, and this [Lonely Island Card] was no exception.

When the director cut to it, Li Leyang was already burying cards. Someone said, “Why isn’t he combining cards?”

“Did he forget? Hahaha!”

“That makes sense though. In real life, you can’t combine one-star cards into two-star, or two-star into three-star.”

The screen then switched—it was a “replay” segment.

Li Leyang had a very good memory. As a representative top student of the Aries Division, and someone extremely eager to qualify, he had naturally memorized all the rules.

When Li Leyang picked up his third [Armor Card], he had already tried to combine them.

The rules did not clearly state how many cards were needed for synthesis, but when students attempted combining cards inside the Scenario Card, they would see probabilities.

Using the [Armor Card] as an example, combining two one-star cards into a two-star card had a 10% success rate.

Three cards: 30%.

Four cards: 60%.

Five cards: 80%.

Six cards: also 80%.

Li Leyang was completely familiar with all card values.

A two-star [Armor Card] only doubled the effect of a one-star one, yet it required five full Armor Cards. That was too wasteful.

He might as well just use two Armor Cards separately. Although that would consume more spiritual energy, it was still better than sinking five cards into a synthesis attempt with a 20% failure chance.

If three-card synthesis had a 60% chance, he might have been willing to gamble…

But now—forget it!

So he chose to bury the cards instead. On one hand, to prevent others from picking them up, and on the other, in case the quarry was still inside the shrinking zone later, he could dig them up and use them again.

He even cleverly left a marker—sticking the shovel directly into the little mound of dirt.

So conspicuous, and he was clearly relying on the fact that the students inside the field knew nothing.

After finishing all this, fifteen minutes had passed. In other areas, students were already fighting fiercely, and the number of remaining participants had dropped to fifty.

Li Leyang went nowhere, obediently camping in the quarry.

After the circle shrank, the quarry was still inside the safe zone.

The camera cut away—this guy was simply too much of a camper, with zero viewing value.

Behind the scenes, several card-making teachers were having a headache. According to the design, the quarry was meant to be in the penultimate zone, and it had been stocked with many cards precisely so students could engage in an intense all-out battle…

Who would have thought a “parasite” would appear?!

No—this was more like a locust that left nothing behind!

After this shrink, the movement range became smaller, and more direct confrontations began to occur, as most people had already collected cards.

Especially those students holding a [Armor Card] in one hand, a [Fire Card] in the other, and a [Speed Boost Card on their feet]—they rushed in like a storm and started fighting immediately.

And yet…

They were sniped and eliminated by someone using a [Fire Crossbow Card].

Seeing this, Lu Xianle got excited. “Wow, there’s even a [Fire Crossbow Card]!”

She had spent the past two months trying to make a bow-type card. Unfortunately, equipment cards were too difficult—mainly because failure meant losing the equipment entirely, which was too expensive to gamble on—so her bow card was still only half-finished.

Lu Xianle started praying: “Give me a [Fire Crossbow Card], give me a [Fire Crossbow Card]!” With that, she might actually have a chance to reach the final circle!

After the third shrink, the quarry was still there, and Li Leyang was still holding steady, camping in an abandoned house nearby.

Only twenty people remained on the field, and aside from him, everyone else had at least one kill.

Wang Huan couldn’t help but worry. “Is Brother Yang really okay like this? Even if he sneaks into the final circle, if rankings matter because of participant count, won’t his zero kills get him eliminated?”

Ning Zhu said, “No need to worry.”

Since Li Leyang buried the [Fire Crossbow Card], Lu Xianle had been so sour her teeth hurt. “Exactly, what is there to worry about? By then he’ll just kill until only eight people are left, isn’t that enough?”

Lu Xianle’s words unexpectedly came true.

The main group arrived at the quarry. Among them, the top performers already had ten kills, while even the worst had eliminated at least two people.

The students who made it here all had packed card bags. Some were even ridiculously lucky, fusing a three-star [Fire Card]. Its power was nothing like a one-star [Fire Card]. If a one-star was a small snake, then a three-star was a giant python!

Once it hit, it would instantly kill!

By this point, everyone had gained experience and knew that striking first was a disadvantage.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—it had already happened countless times.

Now everyone wanted to be the oriole, so all of them held back.

The two commentators were not idle either, taking turns reading out the cards in everyone’s possession.

Bi Keman said, “The strongest is undoubtedly the three-star [Fire Card]. Unfortunately, this junior girl has too few defensive cards. If she gets rushed, she’s probably in serious danger.”

Gu Lingyue was also analyzing: “The lower-ranked players will definitely make a move. They need to go out and find cards. The higher the card star rating, the greater their chances in a large-scale melee.”

Bi Keman paused for a moment, then said, “Are there still cards in the quarry that haven’t been buried?”

Gu Lingyue: “……”

Not only Goddess Lingyue fell silent—the audience also fell silent!

The quarry remained quiet for a full five minutes. In another ten minutes, the next circle shrink would begin.

And the final shrink would determine the qualification list.

Right now, there were still twenty people left. Those with high kill rankings were not anxious—they just needed to hide and wait to enter the final circle. The ones with lower kill rankings were the most unsettled. They couldn’t see exact kill counts, but they could see their current ranking.

Finally, someone showed themselves!

Li Leyang burst out from the shabby little house and shouted, “Hiding and sneaking around—what kind of Aries are you all?! If you’ve got guts, come out and fight me head-on!”

He shouted so loudly that not only were the students in the quarry stunned—the viewers outside were also: “………………” What… what is he doing?!

Ning Zhu facepalmed. “Be a normal person, Brother Yang.”

Wang Huan and the other two wanted to crawl under their seats.

Lu Xianle burst out laughing.

Lin Ting rolled her eyes and complained, “This really is mineral-level insanity!”

With Li Leyang charging out so brazenly, who could resist?

Especially those ranked outside the top ten in kills—arrows immediately shot toward him.

Li Leyang calmly activated a [Armor Card], blocking the damage, then continued, “Shooting from the shadows? Can you all actually fight me head-on?!”

The shooter who exposed himself was immediately identified, and others rushed toward him.

Li Leyang acted as if he noticed nothing, still talking loudly: “No way, no way, are you all this cowardly? You might as well switch divisions tomorrow—the Libra Division welcomes you!”

The moment he said this, his taunt value maxed out.

The Aries students inside the arena were enraged. The Libra students outside exploded.

This was exactly what Li Leyang wanted.

The Aries inside had to get angry in order to reveal themselves. As for the Libra ones… huh? Why were Libra students skipping class just to watch Aries Division matches anyway?

The exposed attacker was quickly ambushed, and no one dared to recklessly shoot anymore.

Time slowly passed. Once they entered the final circle, low kill rankings would also be eliminated…

So three more people rushed out, ready to take a gamble!

Li Leyang had basically become a living target—everyone wanted his head first.

Those people came out from the shadows, already fully prepared with cards, waiting only to land a fatal strike on Li Leyang.

But this thrilling, dangerous scene only made the audience outside want to roll their eyes.

Fight my ass!

Look at Li Leyang’s card bag—who could even beat him?!

Don’t be fooled by how recklessly he charged out. In reality, he had a second, third, and even fourth layer of preparation ready!

Three [Fire Cards] were launched toward him. Li Leyang first used a [Speed Boost Card] to dodge completely unharmed, then threw out a [Smoke Card].

Thick smoke surged up, instantly filling the entire open area.

Now even the bystanders hiding outside couldn’t see what was happening inside. The three attackers who rushed in were also confused for a moment, unsure of what to do.

“Bye-bye then.”

That shamelessly mocking voice fell, and scorching flames struck the chest. One student was instantly eliminated.

The other two reacted quickly as well, urgently activating [Armor Cards]. But unexpectedly, Li Leyang was even faster—he rapidly fired off several more [Fire Cards], cleanly and decisively knocking them down as well.

The duration of the [Smoke Card] was limited.

When it finally dispersed, only Li Leyang was left standing.

On the external screen, the kill rankings updated.

There were fourteen people left on the field, and Li Leyang’s kill count was finally no longer zero—it became 3.

But he was still at the bottom, not even able to break into the top eight.

There were only six minutes left before the circle shrink.

Li Leyang said unhurriedly, “Ah, they dropped so many cards. Are all of these mine now?”

He said it deliberately, but his looting speed was extremely slow—obviously fishing for someone to take the bait.

Would the fish bite?

Even if they didn’t, they had no choice now!

Remaining players: 14…

In five minutes, only 8 would qualify.

So…

A full ten people jumped out.

Why so many?

Because those ranked fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth were also not safe.

If those people were eliminated, they would be pushed out of the top eight.

So they had to come out and secure kills.

Finally, the much-anticipated chaotic free-for-all began.

They needed more cards—if luck was good, fusing a three-star card might allow them to instantly wipe the field and securely enter the top eight.

Li Leyang surprisingly didn’t get greedy. He didn’t pick up a single card and immediately ran back into the small broken house once the ten people rushed out.

Yes, he had equipped a [Speed Boost Card] and a [Sliding Card], and at this moment he was running away incredibly fast.

The ten people no longer had time to care about him—they were already engaged in a full-scale bombardment.

Was Li Leyang planning to sneak his way into the top eight?

As it turned out, the “Joyful Sheep” was unmistakably from the Aries Division—if he didn’t go all out in a fight, he wouldn’t stop.

While the ten people were fighting each other, Li Leyang had gone off to dig a pit.

He had been camping in the quarry for so long that he had already collected a large number of cards and even found the best spot to bury them.

The front of that shabby little house was a door, and the back was also a door.

He ran straight into the house, then charged out through the back door and sprinted toward the card-burying spot.

He had just spent a wave of resources, and there weren’t many cards left in his card bag.

Now he quickly dug them up again, no longer caring about probabilities at all. At this point, it was a “go big or go home” moment.

And he actually succeeded!

Bi Keman’s voice changed pitch. “A three-star [Cannon Fire Card]!”

Gu Lingyue didn’t understand. “How does he have so many [Cannon Fire Cards]… ah, cards of the same attribute can be fused together!”

Bi Keman also saw it—Li Leyang had actually grouped all his fire-type cards together, and in the end produced a [Cannon Fire Card].

This…

This is a bug, right?!

The card makers of the [Lonely Island Card] were also having a headache.

It really was a bug exploit, but no one had expected this kid to be like a hamster—not only hoarding cards until the end, but also fusing everything in one go.

They weren’t very familiar with card fusion either.

These cards were originally virtual—real production costs were too high—so bugs of one kind or another were inevitable. They just didn’t expect this kid to stumble into one.

They urgently reported it to Li Suwen, and Professor Li said calmly, “It’s fine. Keep the bug.”

“Then what about the later matches…”

“A three-star [Cannon Fire Card] isn’t something just anyone can use.”

As soon as Li Suwen said this, the teachers relaxed.

Right.

The selection match was meant to test students’ real combat ability.

Cards weren’t something you could just use casually—especially high-star, high-difficulty combat cards that you hadn’t trained with. One mistake and they could backfire and explode.

This kid did not follow the normal path, but if his ability wasn’t strong enough, even holding a three-star [Cannon Fire Card] would be like playing with fire and burning himself.

Li Leyang was also surprised.

He had gotten dizzy from having too many cards and accidentally mixed up the [Fire Crossbow Card] and [Fire Card], then in his haste added a [Explosion Card] into the mix.

Who would have thought it would turn into a three-star [Cannon Fire Card]!

However, just like the teachers said, cards were not something you could use well just by having them.

Especially combat cards.

The purpose of the Spirit Card Academy was not just to teach card creation, but more importantly to teach card users how to actually use cards.

In fact, there were many card users in the world who awakened in their twenties or thirties, but because they awakened too late and missed the optimal learning age, they could no longer return to systematic training.

They could self-study many card-making techniques, but it was very hard for them to properly use combat cards.

This was why [Pet Cards] had become so popular in recent years—because even untrained card users could use them smoothly.

It was like in ordinary society: a normal person can play with toy guns, but if you suddenly give them a real loaded firearm, they might end up shooting themselves.

Could Li Leyang use a [Cannon Fire Card] properly?

He actually could!

Outside, the ten people were still locked in a chaotic battle.

Li Leyang activated a [Speed Boost Card], prepared a [Armor Card], maxed out his spiritual energy, and walked out of the shabby little house carrying a massive cannon.

This scene was too beautiful—so beautiful that the audience outside couldn’t bear to watch.

One blast from that cannon…

None of those ten people could withstand it!

Not to mention those ten— even the top four in the kill rankings were stunned.

They all felt a wave of relief. Good thing they had stayed hidden. If they had rushed out in a moment of impulse…

Damn it!

How did he even have a [Cannon Fire Card]?!