The journey was silent.

Back at school, Chronicle took two days off.

He played games with Yingtai, taught General Zeng to play badminton and table tennis, watched the boxing championship with Seven Brothers, and went fishing with Seven Brothers, and then roasted food for Little Mountain Ghost.

He also “slept” with Zongzi Ge…

Of course, they didn’t sleep together, but they competed to see who could wake up later when they pulled the curtains.

And just like that, two days passed quickly.

He began the boring and tasteless theoretical class study.

“The Exploration of Nine Provinces Mythology”, “The Conclusion of Blue Star’s Hundred Years of Archaeology…”

Looking at the thick thousand-page book in front of him, Chronicle couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

“How did they come up with so many… based on just a few words from archaeology?”

He casually flipped through the table of contents, and his eyes swept over “Cao Da’er’s Sun Tower Anti-Poetry”, “The Bull-Headed Man Fights the Bone Demon Three Times”, “The Black Turtle Gate Incident of Zhu Baobao”, full of loopholes and speechless: “They’re all wrong.”

So, from then on, he only focused on listening to the three courses of “Survival in the Great Wilderness”, “Mystery Terrain Layout”, and “Card Making Principles”.

“Fortunately, the entrance exam for card makers doesn’t require rote answers. Otherwise, I might not even be able to get a decent score, let alone the top scorer.”

Chronicle said, propping his chin on his hand, accumulating mental strength: “It’s all because I’m too far ahead in versions.”

Seeing Yao Yuan, YoYo, and others listening to the story of “Ximen Dun Being Hit on the Head with a Pole and Proposing the Law of Universal Gravitation” with great interest, and the teacher dancing and spitting on the platform, he really couldn’t hold on.

So, he pretended to be sick with an actor-level performance and stayed in the dormitory for a day, practicing in seclusion.

As a result, the next day, Su Wen, Fan Lei, Xie Wenyuan, and others came to visit with nutritional supplements and canned peaches.

Naturally, he couldn’t continue pretending to be sick.

He could only grit his teeth and practice mental strength in the history and mythology classes that made no sense.

He also had a stroke of luck and mastered the ability to “automatically mute in the mind”, allowing him to ignore the surrounding environment and focus on his own tasks.

And just like that, half a month passed quickly.

If the level of mental strength from bronze to silver can be compared to an experience bar with a full value of one hundred, he was originally between seventy and eighty, and now he has advanced further, almost reaching ninety.

And Zongzi Ge, who lay in the coffin day and night, also successfully broke through, becoming the third blue-grade four-star card spirit under General Zeng and Seven Brothers.

Eight Lord worked even harder, but he was born too late and didn’t have as solid a foundation as Seven Brothers, so he still had some way to go before breaking through to four stars.

It is worth mentioning that after Zongzi Ge upgraded, he did not break through as he had previously guessed, by eating some natural treasures, but like General Zeng and Seven Brothers, he opened an advanced mission:

Accumulate the corpse, yin, and evil energy to the limit of the blue-grade four-star, while consuming a certain amount of blood from the blue-grade four-star living unit, and integrating a blue-grade skill card that matches the style of “Divine Ability: Flying Corpse”.

Three conditions in total, each of which is no easier than the advanced missions of General Zeng and Seven Brothers.

At first, Chronicle was a little confused.

But he quickly realized that “Divine Ability: Flying Corpse” was the limit state that Zongzi Ge could achieve before being given his true name.

Using an inappropriate example from “Pokemon”, this advancement is equivalent to evolving from “Pikachu” to “Raichu”, which is the final form.

While Seven Brothers and General Zeng are equivalent to evolving from “Dratini” to “Dragonair”, with “Dragonite” as the final form, only halfway there.

Looking at it this way, Zongzi Ge’s advanced mission is indeed difficult.

“Difficult is difficult, but when it evolves into a flying corpse and gets a true name, it will definitely take off from the ground, no matter how you look at it, it’s worth it.”

With this in mind, Chronicle’s attitude towards Zongzi Ge also became much gentler, and he even took out “Black Lingzhi” as a snack for him.

Zongzi Ge was pleasantly surprised, thinking that he had been secretly discovered for slacking off, so he worked even harder, changing from “sleeping” 22 hours a day to 23 hours.

…

And just like that, October arrived.

Affected by the evil energy of the secret realm, there was a hint of coldness in Taoyuan City at this time.

Chronicle occasionally got up early and walked around the campus, and he could still see a faint breath when he breathed.

“Chronicle, take a few steps quickly. Today is the preliminary round. Don’t be late.”

Ginger Tea, wearing a cat hoodie, was excited and full of vitality.

With the help of the top expert among his peers, her strength had made rapid progress, and she had defeated Yao Yuan, who had a solid foundation, in the class PK a few days ago.

In the end, she and Youtou, who narrowly defeated YoYo, secured the remaining two spots in the “Qingshan Cup”.

Yao Yuan and YoYo were initially a bit unwilling, but they quickly realized that with their own strength, it would be difficult to achieve a good ranking even if they entered the competition, so they soon became resigned.As for this, Ginger Tea and Bai Tian actually knew in their hearts that they were just going out to see the world.

Watching the game on the spot could also save a lot of ticket money.

“It’s just a preliminary match… There’s no need to arrive two hours early, right?” Ji Nian couldn’t help but complain while sitting on the school bus.

“Arriving early to check the groupings, it’s a way to prepare,” Ginger Tea said with a smile, unable to help but look at Shan Gui and Ying Tai, especially focusing on the former. “Chronicle Brother, your taste has declined.”

“How so?” Ji Nian replied without even looking up.

“The cards you make are not as good-looking anymore.”

Ji Nian turned his head at the words, casting his gaze on Shan Gui’s face: exquisite and beautiful, with a charming smile.

After all, she was a goddess in the Nine Songs mythology system, beautiful beyond human.

In terms of appearance, she was slightly better than Ying Tai.

It’s just that without the “cross-dressing,” “bridal attire,” and “scholar’s attire” buffs, she fell short in some aspects that couldn’t pass the test.

But overall, she would never be inferior to Ying Tai.

As for why Ginger Tea would come to the conclusion that “his taste has gone astray”…

It can only be said that the aesthetic of the Land of Peach people is indeed peculiar.

The spiritually high Shan Gui also heard Ginger Tea saying that she wasn’t as good-looking as Ying Tai, so she narrowed her bright eyes and stared at the back of the other’s head.

“Huh, why is this car so chilly? Master, turn on the heater, put it on the highest setting, don’t worry about the fuel cost, our class teacher has plenty of money!”

Seeing Ginger Tea taking charge on the side, Ji Nian pursed his lips and said nothing, just propping his hands on the front seat of the car and looking outside.

He saw a large group of Zhen Yuan soldiers rushing towards them.

Ghostly bone horses, eight riders pulling rusty copper carriages, skull-fragmented ghostly flying boats, blood-stained flying carpets…

Various standard vehicles, uniform and unstoppable, charging forward with an imposing momentum.

And among this group of people, Ji Nian also saw Su Wen and Fan Lei.

“The direction of the secret realm?”

Seeing this situation, he quickly closed his eyes and switched to the perspective of Shan Gui, making sure that his anchor point was not a problem, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he heard the driver uncle complaining, “It’s always like this every day, there’s never a moment of peace. The dirty things that invaded the secret realm haven’t been cleaned up yet, and the brats from the Jing Xing Sect are here again. I don’t know when this bad luck will end.”

“Jing Xing Sect?” Ji Nian couldn’t help but frown at the words.

Among the countless evil organizations, he was only interested in the Great Kyushu and the so-called Jing Xing Sect.

The former goes without saying, he deeply admires their faith, action, and perseverance.

As for the latter, it’s because their methods are somewhat similar to his.

“I use the core of Chinese history and mythology to create cards, while they print cards by serving as dogs to the Great Jing Yao people, in order to obtain the legend of the Great Jing mythology.”

“Both are good and bad, but their system also has its merits. When in the secret realm, they may also receive the blessing of the will of the Great Jing world.”

“It’s really powerful.”

Thinking this, Ji Nian couldn’t help but tap the armrest with his fingers.

Two hours later, the school bus slowly entered the card battle arena of Du Shuo City, the capital of Qing Shan Province.

At this time, school buses from many schools were already waiting here.

With the administrator’s call of “The battle list is out, come and see,” students in various school uniforms rushed over.

“Tea Tea, Bai Tian, I’ll go check the list, you two stay here and don’t move.”

Ji Nian played along with the joke that only he could understand in this world, and followed the crowd to the big screen where the battle groups were posted.

Today was the preliminary match, with a format of two versus two.

That is, each player selects two summoning cards to battle, and special items and other cards cannot be used during the match.

Obviously, the organizers didn’t plan to play any tricks in this small preliminary match, there was no frills, just a straight-up battle.

And this was exactly what Ji Nian wanted.

“That’s right.”

Ji Nian nodded slightly, looking through the densely packed small characters on the screen to find the names of the three of them.

“Group 18, Li Bai Tian versus Ye Ruo… Group 27, Ginger Tea versus Liu Xing… Group 35: Ji Nian versus Lu Shiping…”

After silently noting down this information, he returned to the original spot and told the two about the rules of the battle and the grouping.

“Lu Shiping…” Ginger Tea slapped her head. “This is Yo Yo’s cousin.”

“‘The deer cries, eating the wild apple,’ their grandfather has been studying archaeology for decades, and only came up with this one sentence, which they used for the names of their grandchildren.”

“I have a deep impression of this matter.”

After explaining, Ginger Tea said with a smile, “Since the opponent is from the Lu family, why don’t you let Ying Tai take the stage, with her restraint attribute against marriage-related units, it’s like playing with children.”

“Okay.” Ji Nian always went with the flow.Although with his current strength, as long as he didn’t encounter the few most formidable opponents in this session, there wouldn’t be any problems, but if there was an easier way to win, why not use it?

“Let’s wait over there for now.”

Having said that, he led the two towards the waiting area.

As the mechanical broadcast notification sounded, people whose group numbers were called entered the battle hall one after another.

A few minutes later, they emerged, some joyful and some sorrowful.

“Tea Tea, Old Ji, good luck,” Li Baitian said encouragingly as he returned victorious.

“Chronicle Brother, Li Baitian, I’m going in now.”

Soon after, the broadcast began calling for Group 27. Ginger Tea swallowed nervously, greeted the two, and then walked into the hall with a tense face and clumsy steps.

In the end, she won the match at the cost of one of her cards being knocked back into card status.

Next was Chronicle’s group, where he faced the cousin of YoYo—Lu Shiping.

“Let’s make it quick then.”

Chronicle thought to himself, and after showing the referee his chosen two cards, he walked into the battle hall with a relaxed face.

Seeing his unpressured demeanor, Lu Shiping’s face grew solemn.

“Chronicle,” Lu Shiping had heard this name before from his uncle and cousin.

The top scholar of the province, the number one of Land of Peach’s new senior year three, the golden generation of Qingshan Province, the tough guy who suppressed all the top students in the city with his own power…

These were the evaluations everyone had for the man before them.

“I must be extremely cautious.”

He thought to himself, raising his hand and throwing out two summoning cards.

One was dressed in a bright red bridal gown, head tilted, face pale, and because of the veil, the specific features were unclear.

Only a glimpse of the snow-white neck, as if covered with a layer of powder, wrapped with dense and shocking thread marks, was visible.

The other was dressed in a blue and white robe, with a back carrying four flags painted with grass dragons, river edges, soldiers, and horses.

Holding a large spear, a green shark sword hanging at his waist, wearing thick-soled boots, with a robust physique, broad shoulders, and wide arms, his face was stern and his demeanor commanding.

At this moment, he posed with a full heroic spirit.

However, his crown was missing, his hair disheveled, and his makeup smeared red and white.

Moreover, his eyes wandered, and his steps were loose.

Upon closer inspection, he appeared to be a coward, ready to flee at any moment.

And this was precisely Lu Shiping’s design.

As the eldest grandson of the “Marriage Path,” his first battle card naturally chose the traditional “Ghost Bride.”

But upon further thought, with his family’s obvious style, one ghost and one bride, if targeted by the sixth, he would never have a chance to win.

So, he painstakingly researched, starting with the “Sewn Bride·Bai Man” as a story extension, and finally crafted the “Lone Warrior Scholar·Shao Huanian” summoning card.

Although according to the story setting, Shao Huanian was a scumbag who escaped alone, ultimately leading to Bai Man’s beheading, and the two should not get along.

But because of this, a powerful bond called “He Flees, She Chases” formed between the ghost and the man.

With this move, he had been unbeaten in his school and achieved good results in the city-wide unified training, feeling somewhat proud.

“The number one of Land of Peach’s new senior year three… I want to see how capable you really are,” he thought to himself.

Chronicle, upon seeing his opponent’s units, revealed a slight smile.

“A creature class unit, I hope it’s a blue four-star, that would fulfill one condition.”

Chronicle thought to himself, raising his hand and throwing out two summoning cards.

A blood-red gust swept across the field, and Ying Tai, in her red and white makeup, appeared out of thin air, her demeanor stunning and chilling to the core.

Then a coffin stood erect in the field, and with a loud bang, Zongzi Brother violently kicked open the coffin lid, his arms more agilely wrapped around, his gaze cold, and his waist-length white hair fluttering in the wind.

—It had to be said, in front of others, it really knew how to put on a show.

With an invincible presence, it even overshadowed Ying Tai.

“Hehe.”

Catching the involuntary gasps of admiration from the opponent and the referee out of the corner of its eye, a dry “hehe” emerged from its throat.

It really knew how to play the part.