Chapter 2529: Star Tier
Little Lian looked over at Lu Yin and gave him a shy smile. She then glanced back at Jiang Xiaodao and proceeded to scold him. "He's not a bad person! Brother Xiaodao, you're not allowed to bully him."
Jiang Xiaodao instantly replied, "His name is Xuan Qi, and he's a complete rogue! He claims to be an unrivaled genius who’s greater than even Shao Qingfeng. Just watch, Brother Xiaodao is going to teach him a lesson."
With that, the man turned to glare at Lu Yin. "Come on, Xuan Qi, let's settle this!"
Lu Yin pursed his lips. "Can we start already?"
Jiang Xiaodao looked puzzled. "Do you have a good understanding of the Lost Clan School?"
"Why do you ask?" Lu Yin did not understand the question.
Jiang Xiaodao explained, "Do you know how many cards can be found in the Lost Clan School? How many of them are valuable or ordinary? What star tiers are? Do you know any of this?"
"I don't," Lu Yin replied honestly. He had no idea at all.
"Since you don't know about this, and we don’t have anyone to act as a judge, then why are you so eager to begin? Even if you get a good card, will you even be able to recognize it?" Jiang Xiaodao sneered.
Lu Yin remained silent. He actually had no intention of trying to recognize any of the cards. As long as he prevented Jiang Xiaodao from getting a card, he would win. Or maybe it would be better to just steal Jiang Xiaodao's cards. Lu Yin did not see any need to know anything that Jiang Xiaodao was mentioning.
The only issue was that Lu Yin would need to reveal a hint of his strength.
The Transcendent Universe had already confirmed that his power level was at around 270,000, while Jiang Xiaodao was as powerful as an Envoy. In order to deal with such an opponent, it was necessary for Lu Yin to reveal a little of the truth. He was simply considering what would be best to expose.
The possibility of directly defeating Jiang Xiaodao in an honest competition never even occurred to Lu Yin. After all, Jiang Xiaodao was very experienced in seeking cards, given the length of time that he had stayed in the Lost Clan School. He already knew which cards were valuable and which ones to search for. How could Lu Yin compete with him?
"I've already found a referee for us. Don't worry, I’m not going to bully you. I’ll defeat you openly, and then defeat Shao Qingfeng," Jiang Xiaodao declared.
Someone in the distance muttered, "What does beating Xuan Qi have to do with Shao Qingfeng?"
Jiang Xiaodao turned angrily and shouted, "Who? Who dares to question Grandpa Dao?"
"Brother Xiaodao, could you be a bit quieter? You're too noisy." Little Lian rolled her eyes as she shot a glare at Jiang Xiaodao.
The man’s face immediately transformed into a smile. "Little Lian, don't be mad. I'll be quiet now, alright?"
Lu Yin rubbed his head. Competing with this buffoon was humiliating.
After two hours had passed, Lu Yin frowned. "Why hasn’t your referee shown up yet?"
Jiang Xiaodao glanced over impatiently, "What's your rush? I've never seen someone in such a hurry to lose. Just wait. He'll be here soon."
Lu Yin looked around and saw that Seruzen had also arrived.
Seruzen was staring at Lu Yin with a strange look in his eyes. This person felt so familiar.
Lu Yin looked away. It was not time for the two of them to speak, and Lu Yin also had no intention of revealing himself to Seruzen. After so much time had passed, it was impossible to know whether Seruzen might betray Lu Yin, though given their comparative levels of strength, Seruzen might not be able to betray Lu Yin even if he wanted to.
After another half hour went by, even the onlookers were starting to tap their feet with impatience.
Finally, a man arrived. He was short, thin, and appeared to be rather weak. He seemed rather listless and pale, as though he was suffering from some kind of constant ailment. "Sorry to keep you all waiting."
"It's Zhi Xiao. I didn't expect Senior Jiang to ask him over."
"Isn't Zhi Xiao supposed to be at the Cyclic School? Why is he here?"
"Some of the rules don't apply to people like him. He probably passed through Cliff Town to get here. It’s no wonder why it took him so long."
…
Lu Yin examined the newcomer. Zhi Xiao? His name sounded similar to Zhi Bing’s. This man had to be another member of the Lost Clan.
Jiang Xiaodao rolled his eyes. "Why did it take you so long?"
Zhi Xiao shrugged. "Do you think that it’s easy to move between schools?"
"Whatever. Since you're here, explain things to that guy so that no one accuses me of bullying a newcomer," Jiang Xiaodao ordered with a wave of a hand.
Zhi Xiao looked over at Lu Yin, who was still staring at him.
"You must be Xuan Qi, right? You've made quite the name for yourself in the Sixverse Academy," Zhi Xiao said while showing a pale smile.
Lu Yin responded with a slight smile of his own. "Are you from the Lost Clan?"
Zhi Xiao replied, "The Lost Clan’s Zhi Xiao. This is our first time meeting, but I've long since heard your name."
"Enough with the nonsense! Little Sister Lian is waiting for me to teach this guy a lesson!" Jiang Xiaodao urged.
In the distance, Little Lian scoffed and sent another glare Jiang Xiaodao’s way.
Zhi Xiao shook his head and turned his focus back to Lu Yin. "The Lost Clan's cards are categorized into Seasonal cards, Ancient cards, Primordial cards, and Immemorial cards. You should already know this much from the jade slip that you received. Each category is then split into seven star tiers, with one-star being the lowest and seven-star being the highest. All card’s quality can be measured like this. Determining the star tier is simple, as can be seen on the card itself. A mark is left behind when the card is first made. It’s a process exclusive to our Lost Clan, so you don't need to know about it.”
"What you do need to know is that there are a total of 135 cards within the Lost Clan School. Of them, there are 120 Seasonal cards, but only 15 Ancient Cards, and they range from one to seven stars. You two are competing to find the best card, and I will determine which card is superior overall. Rest assured, as while I am acquainted with Jiang Xiaodao, I will not show him any favoritism."
Jiang Xiaodao instantly got upset. "Do I, Jiang Xiaodao, need someone to show me favoritism? Winning against him is like playing with a child!"
Zhi Xiao continued to look at Lu Yin. "Any questions?"
"No, thank you."
Zhi Xiao nodded and stepped back. "You two may begin."
Jiang Xiaodao looked at Lu Yin and gave him a smug smile. "Kid, I’ll remind you that the most crucial thing to remember when searching for cards is to check the card’s stars. Of course, that’s not easy to do, as it's quite difficult to check without holding a card in your hand, as it means that you need to observe them while they’re still in the void. Don't assume that you’ll be able to see things clearly. There are only one or two people in the whole academy who can compare to me when it comes to card seeking. It's over for you!"
The man then looked upwards into the void. A gentle power spread out from him, just like what Lu Yin had felt during the battle against Mu Mu. Jiang Xiaodao was using his power to search for cards.
Everyone held their breath as they watched. The result of this competition had been determined long ago. No matter how talented Xuan Qi might be, it was impossible for him to defeat Jiang Xiaodao. The crowd had only gathered so that they could study Jiang Xiaodao's method of searching for cards.
Each person had their own way of examining the void. While it was impossible to perfectly copy whatever another person did, it was still possible to gain some inspiration.
Lu Yin also started. Instead of using his domain or stellular energy, he released voidforce energy.
For him, it actually made no difference whether he used stellular energy or voidforce energy. What mattered was the fact that Lu Yin had a much greater control of space than Jiang Xiaodao.
The Ce Secret Art’s Board Manipulation had greatly improved Lu Yin’s understanding of space given how often he had used it, and Inverse Step even allowed him to interact with the power of time.
Was it difficult to see the marks on the cards in the void that revealed their star tier? Lu Yin believed that it was, but only for others.
He had assumed that it would be impossible to directly defeat Jiang Xiaodao in searching for cards, but unexpectedly, the competition was far simpler than what Lu Yin had initially believed. If all he needed to do was see the star tier rating on the cards, then the competition was as good as over.
Not long after, Jiang Xiaodao found a card, and he examined it.
Zhi Xiao arched a brow. "Not bad, it's an Ancient card."
Jiang Xiaodao casually tossed the card aside, allowing it to disappear back into the void. "It’s just a one-star card. I’m not interested."
Zhi Xiao frowned. "I’ll have to ask you to show a bit of respect for our cards. Since you are studying my Lost Clan Universe’s methods, you should respect our beliefs as well. These cards are the core of my Lost Clan."
Jiang Xiaodao shrugged. "Alright, fine. My bad."
He immediately resumed searching for cards.
Before long, he found another.
"A two-star Ancient card," Zhi Xiao said.
Jiang Xiaodao shook his head, but this time, rather than simply toss the card away, he opened his hand and allowed the card to vanish back into the void before continuing to search for other cards.
Jiang Xiaodao managed to find several cards. Some were Ancient and some were Seasonal, but none of them were good enough to satisfy him. In contrast, Lu Yin had not found a single card. As time passed, everyone stopped paying attention to him.
Mu Xinxin looked at Lu Yin and commented, "That guy looks really serious."
"He's acting like he can actually see the star tier on the cards. Even Zhi Xiao might not be able to do that, let alone him," someone nearby commented.
Mu Xinxin considered the remark. She felt that it made sense.
Soon after, Jiang Xiaodao exclaimed, "Ha, I found one!"
As he spoke, he pulled a card out of the void.
Zhi Xiao's eyes lit up as he looked at it. "A five-star Ancient card. Not bad at all."
Everyone was shocked. "It's actually a five star Ancient card! There are only fifteen Ancient cards in the entire school. There are three Ancient cards that range from one to four stars, but only one of each from five to seven stars. Before, Senior Brother Jiang managed to find a four-star Ancient card. It’s surprising that he was able to find a five-star Ancient card."
"Senior Brother Jiang is amazingly lucky. His four-star card burned up during his fight with Mu Mu, but he surprisingly managed to obtain a five-star card."
Jiang Xiaodao felt quite proud. There was only one five-star Ancient card in the entire Lost Clan School, which meant that the only cards that could surpass it were the six-star and seven-star Ancient cards, but those two were even more difficult to find. He had practically gone blind while searching for just the five-star Ancient card. It was clearly the limit of what he could manage. Unable to resist, he looked over at Lu Yin and asked, "You still haven't found a card?"
Zhi Xiao came to Jiang Xiaodao's side and looked at the card in his hand before admiring it. "Quite good. It’s even better than your previous card. If you had used this one during your duel with Mu Mu…"
Jiang Xiaodao expected to hear that his card would not have been incinerated.
"It would've lasted a bit longer," Zhi Xiao finished.
Jiang Xiaodao rolled his eyes. "Are you saying that it would have still been burned?"
"Of course. Mu Mu's strength can’t be underestimated. She used her Golden Crow innate gift, which means that if you want to rely on your card to win, you need to set up at least a seven-star card. If your mastery is high enough to use a Primordial card, or something even close to that, then a one-star Ancient card would be enough to deal with Mu Mu."
Jiang Xiaodao sighed. "If I had that kind of strength, why would I even bother with a card? I would easily crush her with just a flick of a finger."
Zhi Xiao agreed, "That's true. You’re strong enough to use an Ancient card, but not a Primordial one. In order to use a Primordial card, you will need another 1,000 or even 100,000 years of cultivation."
"Not necessarily. Having a white energy converter would be good enough," Jiang Xiaodao commented with gleaming eyes.
Zhi Xiao nodded. "That's another possible method."
As the two spoke, Lu Yin still did not manage to find a single card.
Jiang Xiaodao grew frustrated as he looked at Xuan Qi. "I forgot something! If he keeps searching, how long are we supposed to keep waiting?"
Zhi Xiao rebuked the man, "Who told you to not set a time limit on your competition?"
Jiang Xiaodao wanted to rush Lu Yin, but Zhi Xiao stopped him from doing so. Xuan Qi was not to be disturbed.
Before the competition, Lu Yin had planned to simply prevent Jiang Xiaodao from getting a single card. However, upon learning that it was possible to determine each card's star tier, Lu Yin had changed his mind. It was better if he did not waste time and energy explaining the revelation of an abnormal strength to people, which meant that it was better to win fair and square.
However, the cards flew all over the Lost Clan School’s continent while Lu Yin remained immobile in one place. It would not be easy for him to find the seven-star card, as he needed to wait for it to come to him.
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