Xia Xingri was equally surprised.
He wasn't shocked by Luo Sheng's ability to use Qin Jianxia's trump card, but by the fact that Luo Sheng was able to summon so many high-level bronze cards, far beyond what was expected.
At this point, Luo Sheng had already used 11 cards.
Such a vast amount of spiritual power had already defeated most card masters.
Or perhaps, all of these cards had high compatibility, which saved him a great deal of mental energy.
If that's the case, Xia Xingri couldn't even imagine a card master who could perfectly integrate with 11 cards at the fourth stage.
Having two or three main combat cards reach that stage was already considered fortunate.
Xia Xingri's own cards had only reached the third stage of compatibility, and that was achieved through dark power.
Luo Sheng in front of him was the true genius of the Pincheng High School.
"I'm going to kill you! Then take your body back to study thoroughly."
The once confident Xia Xingri suddenly felt a wave of dread and fear. Luo Sheng's abilities had shaken his confidence.
"I feel the same!"
Luo Sheng broke out in a cold sweat, forcing out a hint of mockery.
His mental energy was almost exhausted.
In fact, he had used twelve cards, though the rule card had not been noticed by anyone.
Immediately, he used the Mental Recovery card, instantly recovering a third of his mental energy.
Fully restored, he switched from defense to offense.
"Dongfang Muqing!"
Luo Sheng shouted.
Under the enhancement of Angel's Protection, Dongfang Muqing's ability lit up, her blue feathers turned red, and her performance improved.
She casually began to play the zither.
Tenfold Ambush, Moonrise Tides, and Silent Spirits were all triggered at the same time.
Luo Sheng and all of his summoned units received buffs, with increased attack power and health, and slow recovery of injuries.
Although Dongfang Muqing's healing effect was slow, it was capable of healing large numbers of units at once.
In the next moment, Luo Sheng raised his folding longsword and launched an attack.
After all, the enhancement from Dongfang Muqing only lasted for a minute at best, no more than five minutes.
He had to end this quickly.
Luo Sheng charged, with Alice, Acoley, and the Snow Demon following closely, moving as a well-coordinated team—front-line melee fighters and ranged support.
In perfect coordination due to the high compatibility.
"ROAR!!!"
The Corpse Evil Wolf Riders immediately howled upon seeing this, increasing their power and damage.
However, Luo Sheng and his group charged straight at them.
Under the combined assault of the folding longsword and single-molecule line, the Corpse Evil Wolf Riders, while using their howl skill, were rapidly losing health.
Eventually, with Acoley and the Snow Demon alternating between cold and hot attacks, the Corpse Evil Wolf Riders were reduced to a puddle of mud.
Meanwhile, Bai Moxue's progress was smooth.
Using her ghost attribute, she sank into the ice, arriving next to the Evil Witch in an instant.
Her Golden Scissors shredded their robes. The Evil Witch tried to counterattack, but as a spellcaster, she wasn't physically powerful.
She was toyed with by Bai Moxue, who soon reduced her health by half.
The Sea Elementals in front of the Evil Witch saw this and began using long-range water cannons, shooting huge waves to try and protect the spellcasters.
Unfortunately, it had little effect on Bai Moxue.
In the next moment, a dragon's roar resounded across the battlefield.
The Frost Dragon had already been circling overhead, releasing a frosty breath that instantly froze the Sea Elementals into ice statues.
Frozen solid, they were immobile.
Having just dealt with the Evil Wolf Riders, Luo Sheng and Alice immediately rushed in to shatter the Sea Elementals into ice shards.
With the all-attribute buffs in place, both Luo Sheng and Alice's combat effectiveness skyrocketed, making their card units' strength equivalent to a 1-2 star increase.
"Hiss~!"
The Naga Royal Guards watched as their Sea Elementals were destroyed.
Furious and mad, they howled at Luo Sheng and hurled their enormous tridents at him.
Boom!!!
The earth trembled, and the street cracked open like a spider's web.
But Luo Sheng, agile as ever, dodged easily.
The Naga Royal Guards were only suited for tanking. Despite their high damage output, their slow movements made them incredibly inaccurate.
Luo Sheng wiped the blood from his mouth and muttered, "Acoley!"
Acoley unleashed a barrage of fireballs on the Naga Royal Guards, instantly burning their scales.
"Hiss~!"
The Naga Royal Guards, enraged and in pain, were about to retaliate.
But the Frost Dragon breathed its freezing breath, immobilizing the Naga Royal Guards before charging into battle with them.
In the blink of an eye.
Bai Moxue had already taken down the Dracoll Sul Evil Witch, and Xia Xingri's spellcaster units were essentially destroyed.
The Naga Royal Guards couldn't hold up either. Even though they were a bronze ten-star card, their quality was lower than Luo Sheng's units, and they lacked the necessary buffs.
Compared to Xu Tian'ai's Ruins Hunter, they were vastly inferior.
This was the result of Xia Xingri's rapid strength increase—superficial and lacking real substance.
The same could be said for his cards.
"Damn it! This isn't possible! I have so many high-level cards; there's no way they could all be wiped out at once!"
Xia Xingri stared with wide, bloodshot eyes, unable to believe his repeated losses.
He had used nine high-level cards, each with powerful combat potential.
Even against Xu Tian'ai, he was confident of victory.
Because he never lacked cards.
But now, the situation had taken a turn for the worse.
No matter how many cards he had, his opponent was able to easily massacre them, while his own mental energy was drained.
"I'm going to kill you!"
"Likewise!"
Xia Xingri threw down another bronze ten-star card: Shadow of War – Hecarim. Though its quality wasn't high, it was above the excellent grade.
As the card appeared, it transformed into a giant skeletal centaur general, wielding a long blade with blue flames flickering from its bones, clad in metallic armor.
"I'll see who runs out of steam first! I still have several more cards!" Xia Xingri boasted, showing his hand.
He didn't show any signs of exhaustion from his mental energy.
He laughed maniacally, "Hahaha! What can you do? If I drain your mental energy, you're nothing!"
His eyes had turned bloodshot.
Luo Sheng, having just decapitated a Naga Royal Guard, frowned.
This guy was getting more disgusting—his cards were endless, almost infinite.
But Luo Sheng also saw his weakness.
"Xia Xingri may summon cards, but he's extremely weak in other areas—like battlefield strategy, assessing the situation, or adapting to changing conditions," he thought inwardly.
Xia Xingri lacked the necessary knowledge for a card master to thrive in battle.
Perhaps this evil card-collecting organization was training its followers in a way that forced progress—only inflating their egos without any real experience.
Moreover, his cards were severely unbalanced—only character cards, with no supporting, enhancement, or domain cards.
"Alice, Bai Moxue, cover me. I'm going to kill him," Luo Sheng glanced at them.
"Okay!"
They responded in unison.
Immediately, they leaped towards the skeletal centaur general.
The flawless version is available at 69 Book Club. 6=9+Book_Club first edition of this novel.
Luo Sheng took advantage of the opening, sending his mech speeding toward Xia Xingri.
He planned to use the same method that defeated Xu Tian'ai.
When Xia Xingri saw Luo Sheng charging at him like a rocket, his heart skipped a beat, and for the first time, he showed a hint of nervousness.
"Shadow of War!"
The skeletal Hecarim, wreathed in blue flames, received the command and activated its berserk skill.
As Luo Sheng charged, a whirlwind slash with the blue-glowing long blade struck him, shattering his Ice Shield.
The immense force dented Luo Sheng's mech and sent him crashing into a wall, forcing him to cough up blood.
Fortunately, his mech had not turned into a card, and it still protected him.
"Luo Sheng!"
Wang Ke'ai cried out.
Even Qin Jianxia furrowed her brows.
Only Xu Yourong remained calm, watching intently.
Wang Ke'ai was about to rush to help when Qin Jianxia stopped her. "Wait!"
"What are you doing?" Wang Ke'ai asked in confusion. "Are you going to just watch him get killed?"
Qin Jianxia turned to Xu Yourong.
It seemed like she was asking her to explain.
Xu Yourong didn't speak but finally said coldly, "He secretly used a rule card. If we intervene, the rules will be broken. I think he'll win."
She had noticed Luo Sheng's card behind him.
As soon as the Card Master Grandpa fulfilled his promise, Luo Sheng activated the card, which seemed to be a rule-manipulating card.
On the other side.
Xia Xingri, seeing Luo Sheng crash into the wall, shifted from nervousness to manic laughter.
"Hahahaha! You were always going to lose to me! I said I'd win, and I will!"
"Is that so?"
Luo Sheng, his mouth covered in blood, gave a strange smile and mockingly said, "You've just been checkmated!"
"Hahaha, checkmate? You should first look at yourself…" Xia Xingri laughed halfway before suddenly stopping.
Because he felt a chill under his feet, as if he was being frozen.
Looking down, he saw that Luo Sheng's Icebound Domain had quietly spread beneath him.
Clearly, Luo Sheng had used himself as a shield to set up this trap. The realization was chilling.
Xia Xingri quickly tried to step back, leaving footprints on the thin layer of ice, but it was too late.
"It's too late," Luo Sheng chuckled, turning to Bai Moxue.
Bai Moxue understood instantly, releasing red silk threads like spider webs, which quickly entangled Xia Xingri, binding him like a mummy.
His cards were also sealed, unable to be used.
"Bastard! You should die! You should die!" Xia Xingri screamed in fury.
Or rather, he was already panicking.
Luo Sheng used Holy Light on himself.
Half of his health recovered. He gripped his folding longsword tightly, and with the mech's assistance, he launched it like a bullet.
The sword struck deeply into Xia Xingri's chest, especially since he hadn't used any protective cards.
The damage wasn't reduced.
Luo Sheng walked forward, his smile filled with cold cruelty. He grabbed the sword in Xia Xingri's chest and slowly pushed it deeper.
"No, no, no! I was wrong!" Xia Xingri's face twisted in fear. He was genuinely terrified.
Especially from Luo Sheng's killing gaze.
His eyes were full of venom, yet he smiled, "Are you really scared now? Then why did you side with these people? Try to steal my cards and seek revenge on me by falling into corruption?"
"I was wrong. I'll never do it again. Spare me…"
Before Xia Xingri could finish speaking, Luo Sheng pushed the sword in further, drawing it out and letting blood pour from the wound.
But someone at his level would never die so easily.
"How could I spare you? You should never have targeted my cards. Moreover, you're just a worthless coward who knows nothing but sneaky tricks!"
Luo Sheng's twisted smile grew, and he drove the sword into Xia Xingri once more, further worsening the wound and accelerating his death.
Clean, efficient, without a trace of mercy.
"No! No! You madman… Master! Paul! Help me…"
Xia Xingri tried to resist, but it was futile.
Finally, Luo Sheng struck a heavy punch to his forehead, and Xia Xingri died as blood poured from his seven orifices.
All of his summoned units turned back into cards and fell to the ground. Bai Moxue was quick to gather them all.
Luo Sheng lifted Xia Xingri's corpse and hid the Shadow of War card, taking the evil cards and body along.
He jumped onto the back of the Frost Dragon.
Acoley and Alice also turned into cards and flew into his card box.
"Get on!"
Luo Sheng called to Qin Jianxia and the others.
Then red silk threads appeared in their hands.
Qin Jianxia hesitated for a moment before reaching out and was swiftly pulled to the Frost Dragon's back. Wang Ke'ai and Xu Yourong followed the same motion.
"You think you can leave that easily?"
The Card Master Paul, seeing Xia Xingri's death and Luo Sheng preparing to escape with his prey, immediately became furious.
He released a powerful silver-grade aura. He was a Silver Seven-Star Card Master.
Just as he was about to strike, purple lightning suddenly appeared in the sky…
(Chapter End)