The card in Su Liqian’s hand flickered for a moment before glowing with a red light. 

In her mind, the world of The Great Magician took shape. 

This was the first Illusion World where she had successfully crafted an original card. Now, with her improved control over her spiritual strength, she could bring out higher-level cards to fight. 

“It’s The Great Magician! A familiar yet unfamiliar name—looks like it’s one of Su Liqian’s original cards!”

“Oh? That looks like an A-level weapon card!”

The commentators couldn’t help but lean closer to the screen, eager to see the details of the card. 

“It’s an ‘Invisibility Cloak’ card! A cloak that can make someone invisible? It sounds a bit like the Shadow Cloak!” 

At the same time, Su Liqian pulled out a B-level scene card from The Misty Forest—the Mist card. The moment the thick mist spread, she wrapped the oversized invisibility cloak around herself. 

The dense mist made it hard to see anything, and with Su Liqian wearing the Invisibility Cloak, Chu Yunxuan couldn’t spot her at all, making it impossible for him to avoid her attacks. 

“Ugh…” 

Fists and swords came at him from all directions, and not long after, Chu Yunxuan was already taking hits. 

Even though he relied on his enhanced physical abilities and sharp senses to dodge and counterattack as best as he could, Su Liqian’s movements were light and quick, and in the fog, it was hard for Chu Yunxuan to react fast enough. 

Clang! 

The Frost Piercer Sword landed on Chu Yunxuan, but he raised one arm to block it. His skin was like iron, and it left nothing but a faint scratch.

Still, while he could hold his ground for now, he couldn’t keep this up much longer.

The situation was clearly tipping in Su Liqian’s favor, and if he kept on the defensive, he’d slowly lose the match. 

No… he couldn’t lose, he couldn’t stop here. 

Chu Yunxuan closed his eyes, listening carefully to the sounds around him. Suddenly, he sensed movement behind him and instantly opened his eyes, raising his hand in response. 

Boom!

The force of the blow sent Chu Yunxuan stumbling back a few steps. He wiped the blood from his mouth and pulled out a card from his wrist. 

“Unlock.” 

The light flashed briefly, but there was no change in Chu Yunxuan’s body. 

Su Liqian, standing in a corner behind him, was watching his every move, waiting for the right moment to end the match. 

The red light indicated a weapon card, but there was nothing in Chu Yunxuan’s hands. 

Su Liqian carefully assessed the situation, unwilling to let her guard down. 

Suddenly, Chu Yunxuan made a move. Several semi-translucent musical notes appeared around him. He swung his fist, smashing the notes floating in the air. 

Do—la—mi— 

As Chu Yunxuan hit the notes, powerful sound waves spread out and reached Su Liqian’s ears. 

The notes formed an intense melody, perfectly complementing the fierce battle taking place. 

But Su Liqian had no time to appreciate the music—she realized that these sound waves could not only disrupt her spiritual strength but also clear the mist in a small area! 

Just a few days ago, she had bought the Echo of Hope simulation sphere and briefly looked at its card set, so she instantly recognized that the card Chu Yunxuan used was the A-level weapon card from Echo of Hope—the Ethereal Notes. 

Wasn’t this supposed to be a rare card? Why was she already facing it? And worse, it was a troublesome type that attacked mental focus. 

Surrounded by the music, Su Liqian felt her mind growing hazy. If the enemy attacked now…

“!” 

Though her reaction was slower than usual, Su Liqian still noticed Chu Yunxuan’s move just in time and narrowly avoided the attack. 

“Ha…” 

Chu Yunxuan had already used the notes to disperse part of the mist around them, making close combat difficult. Despite wearing the Invisibility Cloak, he could still see her position and attack without hesitation. 

Su Liqian’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly pulled two cards from her Star Moon Stone belt. 

One was the A-level Purification card from Strange Tales of the Divine Realm, and the other was a C-level card from Illustrated World Note that replenished spiritual strength. 

The Purification card could clear her current negative state, but it was a one-time use. This meant that once she used it, she had to finish the battle quickly—if her mind was disturbed again, she might lose control of the match. 

As Su Liqian thought about her next move, Chu Yunxuan was also observing. 

He was looking for her position. 

Normally, the constant assault of the Ethereal Notes would drain her spiritual strength quickly, but Su Liqian had yet to reveal herself. 

Chu Yunxuan didn’t dare relax. His eyes were glued to his surroundings, and his hand was already charged with energy, ready to finish the match. 

With his fist, glowing blood-red, filled with destructive force, Su Liqian had no choice but to act carefully. 

“Unlock.” 

After using a function card to restore part of her spiritual strength, Su Liqian pulled out her newly created A-level function card from Shelter—Weapon Deconstruction, and an A-level weapon card from Illustrated World Note—Flame Rose Vines 

She attached the function card to the vine wrapped around her wrist, ready to strike. 

The opportunity might only come once—Su Liqian had to make it count. 

There was only one main note among the floating musical notes around Chu Yunxuan—the Ethereal Note. Su Liqian wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about music, but luckily, the card she had dismissed as useless the day before was about to prove itself. 

“Unlock.” 

Su Liqian whispered again as she activated the Perfect Pitch card from Echo of Hope. 

After the light entered her body, Su Liqian felt the surrounding music in a completely different way. She could clearly hear every single note and could even repeat the melodies she had heard. 

When Su Liqian lifted her head again and scanned the musical notes around Chu Yunxuan, she immediately identified the Ethereal Note. 

The semi-translucent note fluttered beside Chu Yunxuan, and Su Liqian had to destroy it with Weapon Deconstruction before it disappeared. 

Swish—swish— 

Two Flame Rose Vines suddenly appeared from thin air. Chu Yunxuan immediately grew alert, but one of the vines still managed to wrap around his arm. 

The other vine, however, wasn’t targeting him. It shot directly toward one of the notes next to him. 

Chu Yunxuan’s eyes widened in realization. He tried to stop it, but the rose vine restricted his movements. 

In that instant, the vine had already wrapped around the Ethereal Note. 

The green vine coiled tightly around the note, and Su Liqian instantly activated her Weapon Deconstruction.

The semi-translucent note slowly turned black beneath the vine, and the surrounding notes started to change as well. 

Weapon Deconstruction didn’t destroy the weapon instantly, but it weakened its power to some extent. 

Su Liqian reeled in the vine holding the note, pulling it closer to herself and using Weapon Deconstruction to slowly corrode it. 

The other vine remained tightly wrapped around Chu Yunxuan’s arm. 

The fiery rose vine burned his body with flames, and its thorny tendrils pierced his skin, drawing out blood to nourish the roses. 

When the roses on the vine fully bloomed, they would begin draining the host’s spiritual strength, slowly eroding their life force. 

By the time Chu Yunxuan realized something was wrong, it was already too late. 

The blood-red rose bloomed in vivid splendor, and a significant portion of his spiritual strength had already been drained. 

The thorny rose vine couldn’t be pushed away by hand. When Chu Yunxuan tried to tear it apart, the vine only grew longer. 

Damn it… Is there really no way out? 

Chu Yunxuan remembered the girl standing in front of him. 

She was the one who defeated him the first time he entered the Card Competition. 

Since then, he had both won and lost other matches, but he never forgot that one opponent named Su Liqian. 

After watching her in a few more matches, his desire to face her again grew stronger. 

Chu Yunxuan worked hard every day to become stronger. He wanted to win, to be recognized, and to conquer everyone in his way to achieve that goal. 

Those who had once beaten him were no longer a match for him. Now, only Su Liqian remained, and he couldn’t draw any conclusions. 

When the chance to prove himself finally came, he realized that despite all his training, he still couldn’t defeat her. 

Fire burned in Chu Yunxuan’s eyes. 

It wasn’t over yet—he wouldn’t admit defeat, not until the very last moment. 

“Unlock.” 

Chu Yunxuan’s voice was firm, but the card in his hand sent alarm bells ringing in Su Liqian’s mind. 

The dazzling golden card indicated its extraordinary nature, and even the commentators couldn’t help but gasp, standing up in surprise. 

“It’s… it’s… an S-level card! I can’t believe we’re seeing an S-level card in the Star District competition!” 

“Chu Yunxuan seems to be a newcomer to the card competition! Who knew he had such a trump card! This is unbelievable! Looks like the situation is about to change!” 

Not only was the audience in an uproar—even Su Liqian could barely contain herself. 

To be honest, this was the first time she had seen someone use an S-level card in person. However, it was her opponent using it, and that wasn’t a good sign. 

Though Su Liqian hadn’t directly faced the power of an S-level card, she knew enough about it. 

Top Card Masters often used S-level cards in their battles, and just one throw could have world-shattering power. 

Those were the true “god-level” battles. 

In the Star District competition, most participants were young Card Masters, many of whom were newcomers or had participated a few times but never reached higher stages. So, matches at this level rarely saw such powerful cards. 

Therefore, if Chu Yunxuan could bring out an S-level card, it meant either he had a rich background or was exceptionally gifted. 

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