Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Li Leyang’s entrance was like a submachine gun suddenly appearing on a cold-weapon battlefield.

The gap in strength was simply too huge!

The ten students had already fought each other until they were covered in wounds. Several of their [Role Cards] had less than 20 HP left, and they had even exhausted their [Armor Cards]. Now, seeing a fully armed [Mage]—Li Leyang’s Role Card form—they were completely shocked.

Well… actually, they didn’t even have time to be shocked.

This so-called [Mage Card], which was supposed to be holding a staff and casting spells, was instead gripping a cannon in both hands—and then came a deafening boom!

The cannon fire blasted straight into the clustered group of ten [Role Cards].

Not just the low-HP ones—even the full-HP ones were instantly blown into powder.

The few who were farther away reacted quickly and immediately found suitable cover.

Fortunately, this was a quarry. If it had been an open camp or something similar, they probably would’ve all been wiped out by that one shot.

Outside the field, Bi Keman said, “Well done, Li Leyang! He successfully activated the [Cannon Fire Card]. This card has a difficulty rating of B-level! For a first-year student to activate it is truly impressive!”

Gu Lingyue flipped through the records and said, “Li Leyang’s academic performance is excellent. He ranked first in card creation back in the preparatory class. From his later assessments, we can see his theoretical foundation is very solid. He should understand the production principles of the [Cannon Fire Card], which helped him activate it.”

Bi Keman announced, “Congratulations to Li Leyang! He is currently ranked first in kills!”

The moment he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred on the screen.

Li Leyang’s cannon went out of control!

He had just taken down ten people in one go, jumping from the bottom of the rankings straight to first place.

However…

He could no longer control the cannon in his hands.

A B-level difficulty card was clearly beyond what a first-year student could handle. Successfully activating it was already a miracle, but controlling it fully was obviously impossible.

Li Leyang had essentially stopped being a user of the cannon—he had become its human stand.

The cannon didn’t care whether he wanted to fire or not; it just kept booming nonstop.

The quarry, already located in a pit, was now being blasted into chaos and collapse. At the same time, the spiritual energy inside Li Leyang’s body could no longer be stopped and was pouring out endlessly.

White Deer was lying on Ning Zhu’s lap, half-asleep.

Ning Zhu grabbed its ears and made it look at the big screen. “So this is what card loss of control looks like?”

White Deer lifted its eyelids, glanced once, then flicked its ears and went back to sleep. “It’s just a simulated card inside a Scenario Card. If this were reality, that little sheep would’ve exploded into a pile of minced meat.”

Ning Zhu: “………………”

Li Leyang still didn’t stop even after his spiritual energy was completely drained.

The cannon not only sucked out his spiritual energy—it also began draining his life force, which was reflected in the HP bar above his Role Card.

Li Leyang panicked.

The final circle hadn’t even been reached yet!

If he got eliminated like this… would he lose his qualification to advance?!

He desperately tried to throw away the cannon in his hands, but no matter how he shook it, he couldn’t get rid of it. He could only watch helplessly as his HP continued to drop.

Only 20 HP left.

Anxious beyond belief, Li Leyang suddenly remembered he still had a [Healing Card]…

Ah, no—he had no spiritual energy left!

Then he remembered again—he still had a [Spiritual Energy Card]!

So the scene became even more chaotic.

Gu Lingyue and Bi Keman had nothing left to say.

This was Li Leyang’s ultimate solo performance—so overwhelming that no one could even comment on it.

He quickly used [Spiritual Energy Cards] on himself with a loud clattering motion. After restoring his spiritual energy, before he even had time to use a [Healing Card], the cannon started its wild barrage again.

The good news was that, with spiritual energy restored, the cannon no longer absorbed his life force, and his precarious HP finally stabilized.

The bad news was—once the [Spiritual Energy Cards] ran out, he would still die.

The card-making experts in the backend were also getting a headache, and they asked Li Suwen for instructions: “Professor… should we pause the match?”

Li Suwen looked at the screen. “No need. This is just right for giving the new students an early lesson.”

“……”

Li Suwen sent a message to the commentary team. The responsible teacher immediately relayed it to Gu Lingyue and Bi Keman. They were both stunned for a moment, then resumed commentary—but instead of analyzing the match, they began explaining card loss of control.

“Li Leyang worked very hard and mastered the theoretical knowledge of the [Cannon Fire Card], but he never practiced it under teacher supervision, which led to card loss of control…”

“Students, card loss of control is extremely dangerous! First, we lose control of the card itself, and may even suffer backlash! If there is no intervention, once spiritual energy is exhausted, the card will begin absorbing flesh and blood until death!”

The students watching on-site gasped.

Although they had studied cards for a while and knew how dangerous they could be, they had mostly only encountered basic cards and had never truly seen a card go out of control before.

Li Leyang finally couldn’t hold on anymore.

His [Spiritual Energy Card] was gone, and his [Healing Card] had been barely used… but he still couldn’t get rid of the [Cannon Fire Card], and could only be drained of life until death.

Boom!

As a distant boulder fell, Li Leyang’s [Role Card] also turned into a pile of ashes.

At this moment, the final circle shrink began.

Only four students remained on the field. After a moment of daze, they quickly rushed toward the final safe zone.

The match ended—but no one paid attention to those four students. Everyone was still looking around, searching for Li Leyang, who had taken first place in kills but failed to reach the final circle.

Li Leyang, pale-faced, removed the [Induction Card] and stood blankly on the stage.

Ugh… I messed it up!

Wang Huan and the others were also stunned.

Lu Xianle and Lin Ting both looked at him with heartache.

Ning Zhu was calm—not because she was cold, but because she felt… Li Leyang wouldn’t be eliminated.

The first match was over.

The stadium was buzzing with discussion. Everyone was talking about this unprecedented competition.

Lively, exciting, fun.

And also completely chaotic because of Li Leyang’s string of outrageous moves!

Too wild!

Even though Li Leyang ultimately went down in a dramatic exit, he still delivered an absolutely spectacular “performance” for everyone.

The referees still hadn’t come out to announce the results, and even Gu Lingyue and Bi Keman weren’t sure what would happen next.

Students were shouting:

“This format is really interesting, don’t cancel it!”

“Li Leyang is just an exception, just tighten the rules a bit!”

“By the way, the kill leaderboard still shows Li Leyang in first place.”

“Wait… does he even count as eliminated? The rules require top eight… but only four people from this first match made it into the final circle…”

“If there aren’t enough people, then the thirteenth-round finals can’t even be held, right?”

“Huh? So does that mean Li Leyang isn’t eliminated?”

“Not just Li Leyang—aren’t the sixth, seventh, and eighth-ranked players also considered qualified?”

Finally, Li Suwen personally came out to announce the results. She said:
“Thank you everyone for the wonderful matches! First of all, let’s congratulate the eight students who have successfully advanced.”
Hearing the number “eight,” the heavy stone in Li Leyang’s heart finally dropped.
As expected, although only four people had survived until the final circle, according to the top-eight advancement rule, Li Leyang and the other three who had been eliminated also advanced.
After reading out the names of the eight students, Li Suwen continued:
“This was the first match, and the teachers’ preparations were not sufficient, which led to some oolong incidents.
“Everyone’s performance was excellent! Some students refused to give up even when they were about to lose; some used the 【Fire Crossbow Card】 with great proficiency for long-range sniping; and some stood up at the very last moment, fighting bravely until the end!
“Here, we must give special praise to Li Leyang, who topped the kill leaderboard. He successfully released a 【Fire Cannon Card】 that far exceeded B-rank difficulty. His courage in seizing first place is truly admirable!
“At the same time, he also put on a vivid and valuable demonstration for everyone. I believe you all now have a deeper understanding of ‘card loss of control.’ Finally, we must also thank him for helping the card-making teachers find many bugs, making the upcoming matches more complete and refined!”
At first, Li Leyang felt quite proud.
But the more he listened, the more sweat dripped down his forehead.
This was praise… right?
It should be praise!
Thanks to this “spectacular” first match, several new rules were added to the competition system.
For example, participants no longer chose their landing spots freely. Instead, they would be randomly placed at the outermost circle and had to advance step by step toward the final circle.
Card synthesis logic was also made clearer: same-type cards could be synthesized, but the success rate was unknown. Additionally, if a card lost control, it would explode directly.
Another new rule: Cards could only be picked up—they could not be buried!
Li Leyang walked over to Ning Zhu’s side. Wang Huan had already made space for him.
The first thing Li Leyang said was, “You were right. Good thing I was in the first match!”
The first match was indeed lucky and very forgiving.
After all, the teachers were still figuring out the rules themselves and didn’t place too many demands on the students. Even though Li Leyang had triggered quite a few bugs, no one pointed fingers at him. Instead, he was allowed to advance as the top player of his group.
Ning Zhu smiled brightly and said, “No matter which match you were in, you would have advanced anyway.”
Li Leyang immediately beamed with joy. “That’s true. Your brother’s strength is real.”
Bai Ze let out a cold snort and mocked, “Self-destruct sheep.”
Li Leyang couldn’t hear the white cat. After speaking, he added a little embarrassedly, “If it were you, you would definitely have been able to use the 【Fire Cannon Card】 properly.”
Ning Zhu: “……”
Just as she was hesitating, Bai Ze said, “Obviously!”
Ning Zhu asked softly, “Why?”
Li Leyang, thinking she was talking to him, enthusiastically explained, “I looked it up! Just like the 【Star God Card】—it’s not just that they possess divine skills. Mythical cards are revered as ‘God’ cards because they can suppress other cards!”
Bai Ze added, “Wrong. Not all Star God Card Masters have this ability. The prerequisite is being able to see the Card Spirit… well, hearing them counts too.”
It disliked mentioning the Star Demon and didn’t like bringing him up.
Ning Zhu smiled. “I see.”
Then she secretly stroked the white cat and mouthed silently, “Well done.”
Bai Ze turned his head with a huff, but his tail happily curled up.
The second match was relatively uneventful.
The third match also didn’t have any major surprises.
Mainly because Li Leyang’s explosive first match had raised everyone’s expectations too high, so the subsequent standard performances felt somewhat disappointing.
Wang Huan failed to advance.
Surprisingly, Chen Mo managed to sneak into the final circle, advancing by the skin of his teeth in eighth place.