Chapter 147: 147 Brand New Card Form_1
In the card pool, as she looked at the dozen or so freshly minted cards in front of her, the faint white glow indicated that they were merely the lowest rank, R-Rank Cards.
Historical figures couldn’t become Card Spirits, so Wen Jiang forcefully pinched out a fraction with her own spiritual power. Only then did the world’s will acknowledge them and transform them into cards.
The batch of cards in front of her wasn’t as lifelike as A-Rank Cards. After all, the appearance of historical figures was entirely up to imagination. They were all Founding Emperors, so it was best to bring out their natural aura of command.
They had a style somewhat close to real people, but one could tell they weren’t real. They also possessed an added sense of illusory unreality and perfection.
When summoned as Card Spirits, they would be comparatively ’insubstantial’ and lack combat strength, just like the most ordinary R-Rank Cards, serving a purely ornamental purpose.
But it didn’t matter, for they—looked good!
The Card Spirits before her, each dressed in attire fitting their own dynasty, were all Founding Emperors—tall and powerful. Though their appearances were debatable, since people nowadays are visual creatures, designing them to look attractive was never a mistake.
Especially Qin Shi Huang, to whom Wen Jiang devoted the most attention, crafting a handsome face that radiated imperial dignity; one glance would inspire an impulse to bow in worship.
Each Card Spirit, when summoned, had a brief standby animation. This batch from the Emperor Card Set was unique; for instance, Brother Ying, upon appearing, would flick his sleeves and strike a pose, looking into the distance with one hand behind his back.
It was as if he were worried about the future of his realm.
Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, was known to be a rather wild character. When summoned, he laughed unrestrainedly and performed a helpless shrug, signifying his ’roguish’ nature before he became Emperor, immediately setting a different emotional tone from Qin Shi Huang’s Card Spirit.
She had seen all the Card Spirits on the market; the lower their rank, the more rigid they were. Hers were vastly superior.
Next were emperors like Wang Mang and Liu Xuan, the Gengshi Emperor of the Xuan Han Dynasty, continuing the Card Set through to the end of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern dynasties.
Then came the Tang Dynasty, beginning a different Card Set named for each dynasty—truly a nightmare for the obsessive-compulsive.
Every Founding Emperor was included, regardless of their reputation or legitimacy.
The more cards there were, the better for raking in money, and the more it hooked those with compulsions to frantically buy blind boxes.
Making money, after all, isn’t shameful.
By not creating a complete Emperor Card Set, she was already going easy on the current card market.
Though Card Spirits couldn’t be changed, selling them as Ordinary Cards allowed for skin modifications, giving the Card Factory’s artists something to do.
Zero Egg was merely a new System, but upon seeing the cards crafted by Wen Jiang, it could already faintly smell the stormy market future and said, "Host, the models you’ve made for these R-Rank Cards have already surpassed all other R-Rank Cards on the market. No wonder you’re confident about saving the Jimo Family."
Wen Jiang laughed softly. "This is just the beginning."
Whether it’s my civilization or my Card Factory, both must conquer the whole world.
Let the whole world know how laughable it is to mention the ’river of civilization’ in the face of Yunxia.
On December 1st, the card league selection trials in Yunxia Country officially ended. Ten associations, including Mount Flower, qualified for the international competition.
Wen Jiang had only just completed her Founding Emperor Card Set.
After all, creating dozens of R-Rank Emperor Cards, each Card Spirit needing to be vividly lifelike and exquisitely crafted, wasn’t an easy task. Only someone with exceptionally strong spiritual power like hers could pull it off; anyone else would have died eight hundred times over.
Ever since she told Hua Zhuo she would take charge of the Card Factory matters, she had not sent Hua Zhuo any updates.
Hua Zhuo hadn’t rushed her either.
News from the Jimo Family’s Card Factory grew increasingly dire.
The Association had released a new series of Dual-Change Card Sets. These included the five Wen Jiang had created, which were sold as limited-edition Ordinary Cards. Other Spirit Card Masters, inspired by the Dual-Change Cards, also fashioned new cards; however, in both modeling and texture, they all seemed slightly inferior to Wen Jiang’s creations.
Although the Dual-Change Card Sets sold well, the consecutive releases of limited editions didn’t sit well with many veteran buyers. Aware of the Jimo Family’s recent troubles, they even questioned whether Mount Flower was resorting to releasing limited editions as a desperate ploy to scam money.
They figured that after this latest money grab, the Association would probably be finished.
The words were harsh, but they were uncomfortably close to the truth.
Even Tang Qian, a coach not responsible for card sales, couldn’t resist dropping by to chat with Wen Jiang. "The situation isn’t looking good," she said. "The chairman mentioned that many people have resigned from the Card Factory, and New Year’s is just around the corner."
Although the New Year’s festive atmosphere wasn’t as strong as in the past, it was, after all, the start of a new year, and many products tended to be released around this time.
That included new cards slated for release.
Other associations had already started their promotions, but Mount Flower had only released its recent inventory.
These dozen or so new cards were a step down in both quality and quantity, making them a rather meager offering for a New Year card set.
Wen Jiang was drawing something. Tang Qian felt it impolite to look and continued softly, "The board says that if things don’t improve, we could Copy the new card set to sell after the New Year, just to stabilize the Association for now."
Only then did Wen Jiang look up at Tang Qian.
The new card set consisted of cards for the Four Heavenly Kings and Su Daji.
Copying them, in this case, didn’t mean Ordinary Cards but actual Card Spirits.
If these were sold, Mount Flower’s advantage of having exclusive cards would be utterly lost.
The board was only interested in making money. Their willingness to consider such a desperate idea showed how dire the situation was.
Wen Jiang knew the current situation was making everyone anxious. She stopped keeping Tang Qian in suspense and, shaking her head with a smile, said, "We haven’t reached that point yet."
She showed Tang Qian the beautifully designed background of a card she was holding. "What do you think of this design for a card background?"
Each association had its own unique card back design. Mount Flower’s previous design featured a cluster of pink flowers—beautiful, indeed. However, the design Wen Jiang presented sent a shiver down Tang Qian’s spine.
It was an image Tang Qian had never seen before.
It resembled a serpent, its body covered in scales, and it had claws.
It was a Dragon.
Its golden eyes stared coldly towards the viewer. The background was filled with roiling, grey-tinged clouds, like the harbinger of an impending storm. The Dragon’s form, intermittently visible within the clouds, seemed capable of shaking heaven and earth.
Tang Qian was visibly stunned. "What is this? It looks... absolutely breathtaking."
The Dragon, a Divine Beast that truly epitomized Yunxia, should never have vanished. Yet, in this world, there wasn’t a single record of dragons.
Using it for the artwork on card-related merchandise, representing the Founding Emperor Card Set, is perfect.
The Phoenix will be reserved for the Empress Set.
"As for the backgrounds of the new card-related merchandise for public sale," Wen Jiang continued, "I’ve produced a batch of new R-Rank Cards. I’ve designed all the card faces, and they’re ready for market entry. I’ve handed them over to Lady Hua; she’ll handle this matter entirely. We can now have the Association issue a notice that after the New Year, we’ll sell this batch of cards in a brand-new way the public has never seen before."