Chapter 467: Your Potential
As the words fell, the opponent’s card flipped over.
Shang He.
—"Entry Points: 1."
"Attack Power: 106."
"Heavy Bounty: Gain one motivation point upon entry, and an additional point for each round it remains on the field."
Chen Xuan remembered this young man’s appearance; he was also a demon and had once appeared at the demon meeting in Jiang City.
"Not bad, you’re learning quickly." The Star God nodded with satisfaction. "I have no usable cards left; you may now freely choose your attack targets. Moreover... all commands can be issued in your mind; you don’t need to shout them unless you need to shout to boost your momentum."
Chen Xuan suddenly felt the other party was talking too much.
"Andor attacks the main body, Fei Wuniang attacks the card!" he deliberately shouted.
The Star God’s attire was clearly meant for theatrics, so naturally, he wasn’t suited to shouting. Because of this, he didn’t want to see his opponent going solo. If that was the case, Chen Xuan deliberately went against his wishes.
In that instant, he saw a slight darkening of the opponent’s face.
But soon, the Star God returned to normal.
Simultaneously, the cards completed his command — Shang He attacked the Star God, causing 106 points of damage; Fei Wuniang attacked Shang He, and the latter turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared into the air.
The information on the table also changed accordingly.
He gained one motivation point for destroying a card.
The reason Chen Xuan didn’t let Shang He attack the Star God as well was simple: the charm lasted only one round, unless he used Fei Wuniang’s special ability next round, otherwise the control of Shang He would return to the opponent. This card’s attack power was low, but its special skill was remarkable, gaining an extra motivation point each round it stayed on the field, effectively killing a card for free each round.
After this round, the entry points turned to 2.
And Fei Wuniang remained on the field.
This meant that Chen Xuan could also send out Andor.
With the accumulated advantage, the cards on the field would increase, which meant higher damage to the main body.
"It seems you have already understood the core resources of this game." The Star God waved his hand, retracting his cards, "The demonstration ends here, let’s start the real duel now. But before that..."
He turned his head to look at the people outside moving at an extremely slow speed, raised his hands folded into a diamond shape.
Chen Xuan had a bad premonition, "Wait, what are you going to do?"
As he asked, several dark shadows emerged from the giant insect, pouncing towards Lin Qing and others! The shape of these black lines bore some resemblance to the "Strong Robbery" ability, only their speed defied logic — while everyone was moving slowly, they were unaffected, hitting them within mere seconds!
Wasn’t the forbidden game not supposed to be interfered with externally, and also not capable of interfering externally either?
"Let them go; this is a wager between you and me!" Chen Xuan shouted angrily, the Thousand Thoughts Sword instantly moving, the Qi Sword with golden lightning stabbing at the Star God from multiple directions!
But just as it was about to touch him, the sword blade inexplicably halted.
Just like the duel with Fei Wuniang, he couldn’t attack the opponent directly.
"Don’t get agitated, I have no intention of harming these people, just extracting some information." The Star God said indifferently, "Look again if you don’t believe me?"
Chen Xuan looked back and found that the shadows had disappeared, as if they had never existed.
"It is my rules that define this game, and therefore, I must follow them as well." He added, "Before the game ends, you don’t have to worry about the outside battle ending prematurely. If you win, they naturally won’t have to fight me anymore, and if you lose, there’s no point worrying about others."
"What information did you extract?" Chen Xuan still hadn’t recalled the Thousand Thoughts Sword.
"If the game only uses demon cards, it’s undoubtedly disadvantageous for you." The Star God spread his hands and said openly, "I know all about them, including their card attributes. This means that even without inspection capabilities, you’re essentially facing me with open cards, so I hope to introduce some elements of fairness, which would also make the process more thrilling."
At this moment, a series of cards floated between the two.
With a glance, Chen Xuan was surprised to see familiar faces printed on the cards. Lin Qing, Honglian, Liu Shuyue, Xu Xuanling, Ji Lian... even Liuli and Elorie from the spaceship appeared on the card faces!
"What sort of special abilities these people possess and what stats they have, I have no idea. This way, it seems we are starting on the same starting line."
The Star God clapped his hands, and three large blue palms appeared at the table’s edge.
Chen Xuan had seen this trick in other forbidden games too.
"What’s the wager?" An ethereal voice asked.
"The loser is eliminated." The Star God said flatly.
"Then... both sides shall ratify the agreement."
"Even you have to follow this routine?" Chen Xuan waved his hand, making the Thousand Thoughts Sword disappear, sitting back down on the chair.
"Without rules, there’s no framework." Both of his mouths curled up, "As I said, I must follow the game rules too."
"Sounds unchanged to me."
"You’re wrong." The Star God’s tone carried a tinge of displeasure, "Changes with causes and effects are true changes. Pure disorder and randomness can’t be called changes — that’s chaos. Chaos is the enemy of all beings, including ascendents. In a certain sense, I’m the most reasonable existence."
"It doesn’t seem like it." Chen Xuan rebuked, "Since you’re so reasonable, can’t you stop wasting time on me? If you just want to prove your might, I already believe it now. With so many followers, wouldn’t it be better to appear before them, to strengthen their faith?"
"You’re wrong again." He shook his head, this time without annoyance, "Time is meaningless to me; it’s only mundane people who care about it. From your perspective of time, I can be here playing with you, while also hosting another game on a different world line."
"Moreover, you don’t need to overestimate yourself or belittle yourself... Although you belong to a lower being, you are already at the threshold of ascension. A single correct transformation could make you completely reborn. But just as everyone’s fate varies, so do those of ascendents. I’m here for you because I see your potential."
What is a correct transformation?
Chen Xuan didn’t ask because he knew that answer wasn’t what he wanted. In the Star God’s eyes, handing over one’s soul to him was the only correct choice.
He was more concerned about the latter part of what the other had said.
"What do you mean? The reason you’re here... is to wait for me to appear?"
The other party glanced sideways at him, "Oh? Did you only just realize?"
How could that be? Chen Xuan was stupefied, "Not because I owe you something?"
"You’re not the first, nor the last to escape a wager with ability." The Star God replied, full of interest, "Most of the time, I send my angel envoys to collect debts... After all, if it’s just one life, it doesn’t warrant my attention. But you possess a different power, and even something I disdain, this I know, which is why you are among the rare lucky ones."
"And the Dimensional Limit Mechanism’s curse ritual..." Chen Xuan abruptly stopped halfway.
"It just looks like a reasonable plan, I merely guided it from the shadows." The other party said casually.