Chapter 133: 133 Seems like an unquestionable battle?_1
The Holy Beast Association, as expected, brought out their signature ice-element cards.
On Mount Flower’s side, Chen Runyu pulled out the offensive Spirit Card, "Poison Cage Flower." Its killing method is somewhat similar to the Red Cotton Seed. However, unlike the Red Cotton Seed which requires manual control, the Poison Cage Flower can start stacking poisonous seeds on the opponent’s body as soon as it enters the field. The downside is that its initial lethality is very low; it must rely on other Poison Cards to continuously assist in stacking poison. The more poison stacked, the more likely it is to burst kill the Card Spirit later on.
Furthermore, poison can be partially cleared, and the opponent’s Ice Deer King is precisely that type of Healing Card.
Chen Runyu chose the Poison Cage Flower, while Shi Qi, the assassin, selected a poisonous "King Bee Insect." The King Bee Insect is very fast, appearing and disappearing without a trace, and able to shoot poisonous stingers at target cards in the air. These stingers can cause temporary paralysis and dull the Card Spirit’s senses. The stingers cannot be cleared and will continuously spread poisonous gas within the body. Its downside is that it can only shoot one stinger at a time, and the poison fog can be delayed with Healing Cards.
If it’s unable to target and deal damage to key Card Spirits from the outset, using the King Bee Insect is generally not recommended.
Ruan Chunen also deployed "Ghost Wood," a card with both poison and healing capabilities. While Ghost Wood is growing, it cannot be moved. As its branches and sprouts spread, allied cards it touches are healed, while enemy cards become poisoned. Its downside is that it cannot move, making it a living target for offensive cards. The upside is its high defense and inherent healing trait, so it generally won’t be the primary target of offensive cards.
By this point, Mount Flower’s strategy was obvious—to use poison.
The problem, however, was that ice-type cards were least afraid of these stalling tactics. The key now depended on the choices of Wen Jiang and Dou Yuan.
On Tang Qian’s advice, Dou Yuan chose his specialty, the Control Card "River Maiden."
With everyone watching, Wen Jiang chose "Dandelion in the Wind."
This was a card that had appeared in training battles before—a large-area blinding card. Its downside is that it needs to be played cautiously and allowed to develop. Once it reaches the later stages, it will completely blind the opponent’s Card Spirits.
This lineup required time to develop, but it had a chance to win in the later stages.
The issue, however, was that the opposition employed an aggressive ice-type strategy. Where would Mount Flower find the time to develop?
The Holy Beast Association had always been known for its various animal-themed cards, among which the Ice Beast Kings were famous A-Level synergy cards.
Ice Deer King: A Healing Card. The deer spirit can periodically provide spiritual power healing to one card.
Ice Leopard King: The fastest with high lethality, acting as an assassin. Healing effects on Card Spirits it targets are greatly reduced.
Ice Wolf King: A sustained damage card. It deals extra damage to Card Spirits already affected by frostbite.
Ice Bear King: A large-area Control Card. Its roar makes it pound the earth, causing the ground to crack and temporarily immobilize opponents. The roar also inflicts a ’psychic tremble’ effect on Card Spirits, causing them to take double damage while in this state.
Ice Snake King: Sprays a mist similar to an ice fog. If an icy condition already exists in the center of the field, this mist can freeze Card Spirits after 10 seconds.
Synergy Card Effect: Every 30 seconds, a large-area ice fog appears randomly. Card Spirits contaminated by this ice fog enter a frostbite state, and all ice-type cards inflict increased damage. When no ice fog is present, every attack from an ice-type card applies a frostbite effect.
Simply reading the description of these synergy cards revealed the terrifying nature of this card set.
Pervasive frostbite effects, an ice fog appearing every 30 seconds, and the core threat: the freezing effect generated by the Ice Snake King.
Frostbite causes sluggishness, reduced attack, numbness, and other negative states.
Once frozen, a Card Spirit is entirely immobilized and unable to use any Skills. In short, it’s rendered useless.
This demonstrated the dominance of an ace card set. Normally, opponents would ban one or two of its cards to prevent it from forming a complete system.
This was the first time this year that the Holy Beast Association had managed to assemble their complete Beast King card set.
A few of their contestants were quite pleased.
Chen Runyu and the others were still quite tense. After all, it was their first time facing a Holy Beast team wielding an ace card set. It would be foolish not to take their opponent seriously.
Wen Jiang, however, wasn’t as nervous. She was, in essence, ’punching down’; whatever card set the opponent played, it held little significance for her.
As the referee announced the start, each Spirit Card Master took their position and summoned their Card Spirits, while the commentator passionately analyzed the situation.
"Rationally speaking, Mount Flower’s lineup needs to stall and develop, whereas the Holy Beast Association’s Ice Card Set is all about aggressive damage and control. From a typical standpoint, I’d say Mount Flower’s lineup stands no chance."
"But this is a professional arena, after all. Perhaps Mount Flower’s choice was based on some specific consideration. We still need to believe in our players."
This was obviously the commentator trying to save face.
The two teams not only had a slight disparity in strength, but their choices of such wildly mismatched card sets left no room for doubt.
It looked like Mount Flower was just here to serve up a loss.
But it’s a professional competition, so one can’t be too certain, can they?
Viewers watching the livestream were already exploding with comments.
’What’s this? It was so hard to find two matches worth watching in the selection competition, and this is what we get?’
’Uh, are they trying to highlight the new competitor’s strength? Even if she’s strong, you don’t just send her out to lose like this.’
’The thing is, Wen Jiang chose Dandelion! Those are all late-game cards. What’s the use of cards with no real killing power right now? Are Control Cards going to save the world?’
’This is outrageous! Using these few cards against the Holy Beast Association’s ace card set? They’ve been undefeated up to now!’
’Did their coach lose his mind making such an absurd ban-pick? Don’t the players have any objections?’
’Mount Flower’s recent actions have been quite baffling. The card game merchandise I ordered still hasn’t shipped due to management issues. Ever since General Jimo Xiao died, are they really planning to sell off the association and run?’
’That can’t be. Haven’t you heard that a new heir has emerged from the Jimo Family...’
Accompanied by the appearance of ten massive Card Spirits in the center of the arena, five imposing Ice Beasts stood, looking both terrifying and commanding.
The Spirit Card Masters and their Card Spirits were so in sync that they could practically feel the temperature around them suddenly drop to several degrees below zero, as if they were standing in an ice-bound wasteland.
The flat ground began to show signs of icing over. This was an effect caused by the Card Spirits, making Chen Runyu and the others shiver uncontrollably.
It was still winter in Imperial City, and such weather indeed granted a bonus to the ice-type cards. Almost as soon as the match began, this put Mount Flower’s team at a disadvantage.
Ordinary people near the Spirit Card Masters couldn’t get close, and even the commentators kept their distance. There was no helping it; they simply couldn’t approach such a Card Spirit battleground.
Wen Jiang was unaffected. She manipulated her Dandelion and still had the mental capacity to consider other matters.
With the announcement to begin, the opponent’s Ice Bear King was the first to attack. It emitted a deafening roar and slammed its fists on the ground. Instantly, the earth cracked open, and frost descended upon the arena.