"Yan Yun Eighteen Riders…"

 

Chronicle muttered as he placed this card together with [Ghost Soldiers – Path Borrowing Homeward].

 

The next moment, tiny sparks erupted between the two cards, slowly sticking together.

 

[Yin Soldier · Yan Yun Eighteen Riders]…

 

This was the new card name.

 

Looking at the grand and magnificent image on the card, Chronicle pondered for a moment and then infused [Yuanxi Dynasty Huygus Grassland Ghost-Eating Falcon] into the card.

 

He temporarily made it a part of this skin set, expanding the "vision" of the Yin Soldiers and enhancing their scouting abilities.

 

After doing all this, he put away the card, and in the blink of an eye, he returned to reality.

 

Opening his eyes, he saw Ginger Tea sitting on the sofa, seriously holding his phone with a focused expression.

 

Her delicate and pretty face, illuminated by the phone screen's light, appeared even more translucent.

 

She seemed to be playing some slow-paced vertical screen idle game, only occasionally tapping the screen, spending most of the time frowning in thought.

 

Chronicle wanted to say something.

 

But overcome by the fatigue of card-making and the surge of sleepiness, he yawned and couldn't be bothered to deal with it.

 

After a simple wash, he lay back on the pillow and fell into a deep sleep.

 

In the following days, he stayed in the hotel to cultivate in seclusion, pushing his experience bar from bronze to silver up to around ninety-two or ninety-three percent.

 

It wasn't until the day of the big competition that he rode the Year Beast to an open field outside the city, as flat as a mirror yet overgrown with wild grass, according to a text message from the organizers.

 

The place looked as if it hadn't been visited for a long time.

 

Fitness equipment was scattered on both sides, and the stone bricks on the ground were covered with wild grass and moss.

 

The dense trees around shielded the area so tightly that not a breeze could pass through.

 

Although it was only around five in the afternoon, it was pitch black, the sky and earth a dark blue.

 

"This place is spacious, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with a desert," Ginger Tea tightened her Iron Beast coat and sneezed, "With this environment and atmosphere, it feels like the organizers are about to send us to catch ghosts any second."

 

"The organizers are probably going to use a Domain card," Li Baitian said, arms crossed, his cool gaze sweeping around.

 

"Eh, you two haven't been eliminated yet?"

 

Chronicle thought this to himself and almost blurted it out, but he caught himself and simply greeted them.

 

However, these two girls were exceptionally sharp-eyed and caught the surprise on his face at a glance.

 

"What's the matter, Old Ji, surprised to see us two standing here?" Li Baitian raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly.

 

"How could I be?" Chronicle felt a bit embarrassed inside, but his face showed a sincere smile.

 

Ginger Tea, on the other hand, let out a light "huh" and said, "Lying, you clearly didn't think we could make it this far."

 

As she spoke, she quickly changed the subject:

 

"But normally, with our level, it would indeed be difficult to get this far. If nothing else, there must be a reason related to you."

 

"My dad once saw a phrase in a relic: 'When one achieves the Way, chickens… ahem, cats ascend to heaven.'"

 

"The gist is that people with great fortune will have their companions rise with them."

 

"Without a doubt, we've become important supporting characters in your Mary Sue-style life, and there's probably a lot more to come, hehe… Hey, what are you doing?"

 

Chronicle withdrew his hand and complained, "Hey, you big-headed ghost, always thinking about all sorts of nonsense instead of properly making cards and cultivating. I don't know where you heard such crooked theories. Talking about fortune and ascension, you're more eloquent than the writers."

 

"My cousin told me!"

 

Ginger Tea rubbed her head, her cousin naturally being "Brother Ziliang":

 

"He told me that with his strength back then, he could easily handle a mutated Flesh Mountain Specter."

 

"The reason he was led around so embarrassingly and persecuted by countless villains was because of bad luck, forced to become the background for someone with great fortune."

 

"In the terms of the Fusion School, this is called quantum entanglement, also known as the law of attraction, where the pitiful supporting characters and the child of destiny attract each other."

 

"This is also why the card maker with the surname Xiao, a hundred years ago, was able to use bronze-level mental power and three fire-type skill cards to fuse and powerfully defeat his own silver-level cousin."

 

"The examples are right there, nothing is a coincidence!"

 

"Uh…" Seeing her serious face, Chronicle had a belly full of retorts but didn't know where to start.

 

Just as he was about to say something, he felt somewhat guilty and changed the subject, "We're not there yet, let's wait until we all make it to the next round before we talk about entanglement."

 

"Then we shall wait and see," Ginger Tea said confidently.

 

"Oh."

 

Chronicle waved his hand indifferently, putting away the "bodyguard" Mountain Ghost and the "luxury car" Year Beast.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several of the old six who had held back in the previous round and the second-ranked pale-faced youth silently retracting their gazes.

 

Seeing this, he chuckled to himself.

 

During his time in Qing Mountain, he almost always changed bodyguards every time he went out.

 

Seven Brothers, Eight Brothers, Ying Tai, Mountain Ghost, Zongzi Brother, the five card spirits took turns.

 

Apart from Qing Mountain being a dangerous realm and not being able to rely solely on Mountain Ghost Coin to cope, there was another important reason.

 

It was to create a fixed impression among these opponents, making them believe he only had these five main combat card spirits.

 

"Seven Brothers and Eight Brothers have fought in front of others, it's impossible to hide, and with a little effort, anyone could find out.""General Ke Zeng is different; I've never let him appear in front of others. No one knows about him, so he can be a 'surprise' for this bunch."

 

Chronicle thought to himself as he raised his hand to summon the [Yin Soldiers · Yan Cloud Cavalry] into his grasp.

 

"This competition involves too much, and even if we have the advantage, we must be cautious and keep several moves in reserve to guard against Number Six."

 

Thinking this, he scanned his surroundings, suspecting everyone of foul play.

 

"Are there any good people here at all?" he muttered to himself.

 

Little did he know, he was the worst of the lot, the infamous Number Six.

 

"Cough, cough."

 

A sudden cough pulled Chronicle back from his thoughts.

 

He turned his head and saw the girl with the bun hairdo who ranked third in the previous round, waving her phone at him with a mysteriously amused smile on her face.

 

"Tsk, people from Land of Peach are really strange."

 

He pursed his lips and pretended not to see.

 

After a short while, a young man with dark circles under his eyes and his hair tied up in a bun strolled over leisurely.

 

Arriving in front of everyone, he yawned lazily, tears welling up in his eyes: "Ah, everyone's here, huh."

 

"Yep, thirty-two, just the right number."

 

He slouched onto a nearby piece of gym equipment, propped his face with one hand, and looked around.

 

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Wang Yan, the referee for this match."

 

"What you'll be doing next is the thirty-two to sixteen match, which will take place in the [Desert] scene, involving [Legion Clash]."

 

"The specific rule is the [Desert Flag Capture] battle, which means sending out your legions to collect battle flags scattered in the desert or to snatch them from others."

 

"The match lasts fifteen minutes, and the players who have the most flags at the end will win."

 

"Like the previous round's vehicle race, those who pass this round will also be able to choose different levels of materials according to their ranking."

 

"By the way, the card type that will be crafted in the next round requires very high-quality materials, so I advise everyone to give it their all and not hold back in this match."

 

With that, he waved his hand lightly.

 

A blinding orange light flashed before everyone's eyes, and before they could react, they found themselves in the middle of a desert.

 

"It's so cold."

 

Chronicle sniffed and first released his Yin Soldier squad to protect himself.

 

Then he took out a 3-in-1 parka, secret realm all-terrain boots, and outdoor sports pants from his bag, replacing his not-so-warm clothes.

 

His movements were neither slow nor hurried, without a hint of urgency.

 

"Looking for flags?" He stretched and released his falcon: "Look for nothing."

 

With his years of experience, he knew that in a collecting competition like this, the dumbest thing to do was to search frantically.

 

With only so much spiritual power, if you use it all up searching and then someone comes to rob you, you won't have the ability to fight back.

 

In the end, you would have worked hard for nothing, only to benefit someone else.

 

"Just afraid others might think the same, after all, no one is a fool."

 

Chronicle thought to himself, then shook his head a moment later.

 

If the match lasted days or hours, these cunning Number Sixes would probably wait for others to search and then swoop in to snatch the spoils.

 

But this match was only fifteen minutes long.

 

There would always be some impatient people who couldn't resist searching for flags.

 

This provided a perfect opportunity for someone like him, who could keep his cool.

 

"You guys go too."

 

He waved his hand, releasing the Yin Soldier scouts.

 

As the old saying goes, even a sparrow may be small but it has all the vital organs.

 

His Yin Soldier squad totaled thirty-seven.

 

Aside from the eight [Crossbowmen] and the [Yan Cloud Cavalry], there were eleven ghosts.

 

Spearmen, scouts, archers, shield bearers… most common soldier types were present.

 

Though few in number, they could still form a formation.

 

Having such a troop at the Bronze stage, it was hard for him not to win.

 

"Whew."

 

Facing the harsh night wind of the desert, he couldn't help but let out a long breath.

 

As everyone knows, Land of Peach has few things from the yang realm.

 

Take this desert realm before his eyes, for instance. Despite the heartbreakingly vast starry sky, it was littered with torn clothes and scattered bones everywhere.

 

What he found most unacceptable were the eerie and twisted traces in the sand, reminiscent of some cold, slimy, and horrifyingly footless crawling creatures, making him feel uncomfortable all over.

 

"They might as well have created some netherworld scenes."

 

As a native of Land of Peach, Chronicle made a sharp critique.

 

Then he summoned the Year Beast and jumped onto its back.

 

In the cold night desert, this legendary creature that supposedly only appeared on New Year's Day was like a Husky returning to its Siberian homeland, its eyes filled with wisdom and stories.

 

"Thank goodness this round allows card masters to use vehicle cards, otherwise I'd have to squeeze onto a horse with the Yin Soldiers."

 

Chronicle thought to himself, connecting with the falcon and scouts to share their vision.

 

From that hazy overhead perspective, it was clear that the desert wasn't very large, roughly the size of a small town that wasn't even a village.

 

And these thirty-two people were like scattered chess pieces on a board, all quite close to each other.

 

Two of them were even just a few hundred meters away from him.

 

It was only because of several layers of sand dunes that they hadn't noticed each other at the start.

 

"Quick on the draw, aren't they?"

 

In the scout's field of vision, two people who had noticed each other were leading their troops in a head-on charge.

 

All for the sake of a small black flag stuck in a nearby sand dune.