A Card In Hand

Chapter 65: You Want to Challenge Me?

The girl gestured for Yue Sha to materialize her Red Card.

However, Yue Sha shook her head.

She cited her physical limitations as a reason, stating she needed to continue cultivating to higher levels before she could contract this particular Red Card.

The Black Marsh Frogmen Corps, their faces ashen, watched tearfully as the true nature of the Red Card was revealed.

It was a Gold-grade Revelation Sprite, tiny in size with four wings sprouting from its back, probably about the size of a human girl’s little finger, perhaps even smaller.

But despite the diminutive size of the Revelation Sprite, its combat power was astonishingly high.

It boasted a combat power of 36,500.

If Yue Sha had contracted it,

And if it were willing to fight,

Then Li Ao, the invincible, fearsome arch-demon, would be effortlessly defeated, swept away like petals in the stream.

Of course, the Revelation Sprite, being a benevolent creature from the Celestial Fate Deity’s realm, hardly ever strikes at mortals from the lower realms.

Unless someone in its presence committed blasphemy against the gods.

Yue Sha did not contract with it.

But she now possessed a Revelation Sprite with such terrifying combat power.

Members of the Black Marsh Frogmen Corps, dejected, returned.

They had hoped to draw Yue Sha into their ranks as a grim-faced queen, but little did they know she was more like a pristine princess of the White Elves, capable of outshining everyone effortlessly.

Luckily, they had the great demon lord Li Ao to bolster their spirits, or else they probably wouldn’t even have the energy to crawl back.

“It’s okay, the Black Marsh Frogmen Corps have our four Dark Lords to rely on! Just now, Li Ao suggested that since we have some spare Purple Cards, we should contribute them to boost everyone’s combat power, and I think it’s a good idea,” Lie Feng decided, following Li Ao’s suggestion to gather a bunch of Bronze-grade Purple Cards to help revive everyone’s morale.

“Really?”

The newcomers were thrilled. It felt good to have such strong supporters.

Not only were the geniuses on the Challenge List willing to support everyone.

But even the great demon lord Li Ao extended a helping hand.

Why be discouraged?

With such strong support,

Even if we hit rock bottom, we could still soar to the skies!

We may not aim to become legendary or king-level fighters, but can we strive to reach a champion-level fighter with a base combat power of one thousand in our lifetime?

Without the support of these great figures, reaching a minimal combat power of one thousand at the champion level would indeed be a challenge.

Now?

These great figures were willingly offering support.

Would reaching a combat power of one thousand be a problem?

If Li Ao, the great demon lord, continues to lead us, even reaching a king-level base combat power of ten thousand in the future is not a fantasy!

Shuanghan, Qian Nian, Qiqu, Lie Feng, Qiu Ye, Zhao Kong, and other wealthy students generously donated their surplus Bronze-grade Purple Cards.

The less fortunate like Man Huang, Tie Zheng, and Zao Chi, who had trained hard from a young age relying solely on their efforts, had no spare Purple Cards to offer and felt somewhat embarrassed.

They could only participate actively by helping to register information.

In the girls’ section, Ling Long alone contributed twenty purple cards.

Lie Feng was dumbfounded. “Looking at you, you wouldn’t be taking this chance to clean out the trash, would you?”

The low-level fighters were overjoyed. They had never dared to dream of such a day, and it was only when the purple cards were in their hands that they realized this was no dream.

Even for Fuxi, a big shot with a unique status, Lie Feng quietly slipped him a purple card.

It was an intermediate Bronze-grade Ironclad Earth Dragon, a sub-dragon species, massive in size and armored all over.

Its attack power was average, but its defense was exceptionally strong.

Contracting the Ironclad Earth Dragon with a combat power of 350, along with the boosts from the Ironskin Rhino and the Savage Boar, skyrocketed Fuxi’s combat strength from 250 straight to 404.

“Li Ao, look, I’ve reached the middle tier of elite level now!”

Fuxi gestured excitedly for Li Ao to see his native card.

“Impressive!”

Li Ao nodded in approval.

“Just contracted with the Ironclad Earth Dragon, and I feel like we haven’t completely merged yet. Once we do, I bet my combat power will surge even more.”

Fuxi wished he could brag for days.

“Of course!”

Li Ao agreed.

“Only you really get me!”

Fuxi was very pleased with Li Ao’s reaction, giving him a hearty slap on the shoulder.

Thump!

A protective stone skin automatically activated.

The rock debris exploded all around from the heavy blow.

Before Li Ao could speak, Fuxi hurriedly apologized with a laugh, wrapping an arm around Li Ao’s shoulders: “Li Ao, I didn’t mean it, really! It’s just a habit, you know? Look, you didn’t even remind me… Don’t worry, I’ll be careful from now on. I know I have the Talent of Nine Bulls’ Strength, I’ll be more cautious, so you won’t get hurt! By the way, we’re about to take the graduation photo soon, how can you still be wearing this outfit? Of course not! I need to find you a Demon Lord outfit, that suits your status!”

Before the graduation photo,

Lei Bao, the Supervisor, made an appearance.

With a stern face, he handed out the Trial Temple’s bonus to Li Ao, the new king.

In previous sessions, the reward was platinum dragons, usually ten, but exceptionally good newcomers received twenty.

This session, however, all were gold shields.

Li Ao’s newcomer reward was 100 gold shields, ostensibly worth ten platinum dragons, but everyone knew it wasn’t the same.

All the newcomers looked at Li Ao, worried if the great demon would explode on the spot, but Li Ao calmly accepted and politely thanked Lei Bao on behalf of the Trial Temple for the reward.

Shuanghan and others from the Challenge List received 50 gold shields.

Then, those with a combat power over 500 received 10 gold shields.

Everyone else got just one gold shield.

This reward was drastically reduced compared to previous sessions.

Fortunately, the three old men from the Pantheon had generously distributed platinum dragons and upgraded native cards in advance, otherwise everyone would have felt slighted… Was it because Prince Jinxi had been utterly defeated by the great demon Li Ao?

Moreover, Li Ao won fairly, why should their faces look so sour?

Of course,

At this moment, no one thought about causing a fuss.

Once the diploma was securely in hand, all the final jitters would be over. To be kicked out by Supervisor Lei Bao in anger now would be an utmost injustice!

The diploma.

It was the graduation certificate issued by the Trial Temple to newcomers.

Not only did it contain personal information, but it also held official recognition of a summoner’s formal level.

On the Tianfeng Continent, summoner combat levels ranged from the lowest to the highest: Standard, Elite, Champion, King, and Legend.

The combat power ratio between each rank was tenfold.

For example, the lowest Standard level started at 10.

Elite level started at 100.

Champion level at 1000.

King level at 10,000.

And then there was the Legend level.

The minimum required combat power was 100,000.

Within each level, there were three sub-ranks: early, middle, and late stages.

Taking the Standard level as an example, early stage had a minimum combat power of 10, middle stage of 30, and late stage of 60.

“Awesome!”

Fuxi couldn’t help but twist his hips and dance after receiving his diploma, “Li Ao, if we keep up this pace, I reckon it won’t be long before I break through to Champion level, and then I’ll be catching up with you!”

“…”

Cang Yue, standing nearby, rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Did this fatso even have a clue?

Catching up to Li Ao?

How ignorant and confident must one be to entertain such a fantasy?

The rowdy graduation photo session finally came to an end as Lei Bao suppressed his irritation, preparing to leave.

Suddenly.

Li Ao respectfully bowed to Lei Bao, smiling as he spoke, “Supervisor, I’ve heard that during the graduation performance, newcomers may request guidance from the supervisors on the platform. Is there such a precedent?”

“What are you trying to do?”

Lei Bao’s eyebrows knitted together, his eyes sharp as blades as he stared at Li Ao.

“Please don’t misunderstand, Supervisor. I’m a diligent and eager student. Since there’s a precedent in previous graduation performances, I would like to request some guidance from you on the platform, if you would be so kind to consider my earnest desire to learn,” Li Ao said, causing all the newcomers to bristle.

Li Ao, have you lost your mind? Do you even realize who Lei Bao is?

“You want to challenge me?”

Lei Bao’s anger turned into a bitter laugh, “Are you sure?”

“Please instruct me generously, Supervisor!”

Li Ao bowed deeply.

“Very well!”

Lei Bao felt a surge of rage about to burst from his chest but restrained the urge to strike Li Ao dead, barely squeezing out a smile, “Since you, Li Ao, are so eager to learn, I accept. At the graduation performance, I will personally step up to the platform and give you the best guidance!”

“Thank you, Supervisor!”

Li Ao, like a truly diligent and well-behaved student, respectfully saw Lei Bao off.

After Lei Bao left.

Deep footprints remained on the Trial Plaza.

It seemed Lei Bao had reached his limit of restraint, using his utmost tolerance to prevent his rage from exploding.

Of course, if it weren’t for the three old men from the Pantheon of Myriad Realms being present, Lei Bao might not have been so patient…

As soon as Lei Bao was out of sight, Cang Yue rushed over, grabbed Li Ao by the collar, and roared frantically, “Li Ao, you bastard, do you know what you’re saying? Are you insane? That’s Lei Bao! Lei Bao definitely has King-level combat power, otherwise, he could never be the Supervisor!”

Li Ao listened calmly.

After Cang Yue finished speaking.

Li Ao looked around at the new classmates with varying expressions on their faces. “Do you think my declaration of youth was a lie? Do you think those words were just to provoke you into competing with me on the stage? I admit, that was partly my intention, but not everything I said was empty talk. I truly believe in what I said! I’m not sure if I can defeat Lei Bao in the arena, but I won’t shy away from such a challenge in life!”

“You’ll let him beat you to death!”

Cang Yue was furious.

“We’re still too far behind Lei Bao!”

“That’s what a challenge is!” Li Ao replied with a radiant smile.

“If we don’t dare to challenge a king-level opponent like Lei Bao, how will we face legendary-level powerhouses in the future? Beyond legend, there are even more powerful beings in the Celestial Realm. If we don’t defeat them one by one, how can we claim our place?”

Cang Yue fell silent.

Shuanghan remained pensive in silence.

Most of the new students were completely numb, unable to think.

The news that Li Ao intended to challenge Lei Bao at the graduation performance had completely overwhelmed their psychological limits.

The three elders also looked at each other in surprise, not expecting Li Ao to be so bold as to challenge Lei Bao.

But after hearing Li Ao’s words.

They nodded secretly to each other.

And exchanged smiles.

It didn’t matter if Li Ao could win against Lei Bao. His fearless courage alone was commendable.

That’s exactly the kind of drive and fearless spirit young people need.