From the aura surrounding the young man, Lin Ye could tell that his cultivation was the same as the previous two: a nine-star martial artist.
“I heard that you can leave after defeating me, but you ran into me. You’re destined to die here.” The young man’s gaze was as cold and sinister as a venomous snake, making people extremely uncomfortable.
“Whether I can win isn’t for you to decide.” Lin Ye sneered. Hadn’t everyone who came up before boasted grandly from time to time? In the end, hadn’t they all died at his hands?
“Hmph.” The young man let out a cold laugh, then took an orange spirit card from the pouch at his waist.
“Gasp!”
“It’s actually a second-order spirit card!”
“Someone sold to the Card Duel Arena actually possesses a second-order spirit card!”
“The Lin Family’s Eldest Young Master is probably in for trouble!”
Seeing the orange spirit card in the young man’s hand, the people in the audience stand immediately became agitated. They voiced their pity for Lin Ye one after another, but their faces were filled with undisguised schadenfreude.
Lan Yue, standing at the edge of the Card Duel Arena, also showed faint surprise in their eyes upon seeing the card the young man had taken out. As she looked at Lin Ye, a barely perceptible trace of worry flickered in her gaze.
“A second-order spirit card?” Lin Ye’s gaze darkened slightly as he murmured softly, his thoughts unknown.
On the Divine Card Continent, the ranks of divine cards ranged from tier one to ninth tier. Martial artists of each rank could use spirit cards of their own rank and below.
For example, a martial master could use both a tier-one spirit card and a second-order spirit card, but a martial artist could only use a tier-one spirit card.
“Not only is it a second-order spirit card, it’s also a Second-Order Wood-Attribute Spirit Card.” The young man raised his head slightly and explained arrogantly.
He knew that Lin Ye possessed only one Tier-One Water-Attribute Spirit Card. The Wood-Attribute Spirit Card in his hand happened to counter it perfectly.
“A martial artist who hasn’t reached the martial master realm will suffer severe meridians damage by forcefully using a second-order spirit card. If you use it, you’ll have no hope of ever reaching the martial master realm. Besides, do you really think using a second-order spirit card will let you defeat me?”
A faint trace of mockery curved Lin Ye’s lips. He reached into the pouch at his waist with his right hand again, and the fire-attribute spirit card he had never used before appeared in his hand.
Without waiting for the young man to react, Lin Ye willed the Fire Spirit Card floating above his palm to flash with a faint glow. In the next instant, a fist-sized, crimson flame shot out from the Spirit Card and fiercely smashed toward the young man.
“A trivial little trick!” Seeing his plan fail, the young man said grimly, though it was unclear whether he was speaking to Lin Ye or consoling himself.
As he spoke, the second-order wood spirit card in the young man’s palm flashed with a faint orange radiance. Then, a vine as thick as an arm condensed before the card and lashed violently toward Lin Ye.
Halfway through its swing, the vine collided with the fireball. Flame spread across the vine, and the entire vine immediately caught fire, turning to ash in the blink of an eye.
“How is this possible?” the young man cried out.
After burning through the vine, the fireball did not slow down. It shot straight toward the cold and sinister young man behind it.
By then, the young man had no time to control his card for another attack. He could only watch in terror as the fireball rapidly closed the distance to him.
“Bang!”
The fireball slammed into the young man’s head, followed by a faint explosion.
“Gasp!” As the spectators watched the young man, who had been arrogant moments ago, suffer a shattered skull with brain matter spraying everywhere, wave after wave of horrified gasps arose from the audience stand.
“How is this possible?”
“A tier-one spirit card defeated a second-order spirit card?”
“That was a second-order spirit card!”
“And that Lin Ye seems to be only a martial artist!”
“A martial artist used a tier-one spirit card to kill a martial master using a second-order spirit card? I’m not dreaming, am I?”
After regaining their senses a while later, disbelief filled everyone’s eyes. Following a brief silence, waves of incredulous cries suddenly rang out across the arena.
What they did not know was that they understood only ordinary spirit cards. Lin Ye’s was a Perfect Fire Spirit Card generated by the Supreme Card Master System, and the purity of its flame was eight times that of an ordinary Spirit Card.
Moreover, as a martial artist, Lin Ye possessed spiritual power that was inherently stronger than ordinary spiritual power, allowing him to control the nodes of the formation sealed within the card with greater precision and unleash the Spirit Card’s greater power.
Furthermore, the young man’s cultivation was only that of a nine-star martial artist. Even if he forcefully used a second-order spirit card, he could not fully unleash its power. It was perfectly normal for the vine to catch fire under the attack of Lin Ye’s Fire Spirit Card.
“Ding!”
“The host has successfully killed a nine-star martial artist. Reward: 900 points of spirit card essence.”
“Ding!”
“Congratulations, host, on completing the ‘ten victories in the Card Duel Arena’ mission. The mission rewards of 1,000 points of spirit card essence have been added to the host’s information. System Upgrade Progress: 8,100/50,000.”
“Ding!”
“The System has detected a decomposable spirit card. Would the host like to decompose it?”
“No.” After answering in his mind, Lin Ye put the Spirit Card into the pouch at his waist.
“Hahaha, the younger generation truly surpasses the older! I never expected another hero with ten victories to emerge from my Cold Night City Card Duel Arena. Lin Ye, congratulations on regaining your freedom!”
At this moment, a middle-aged man dressed in a black profound robe had somehow entered the Card Duel Arena. His faint voice resounded throughout the entire arena.
“Isn’t that Han Yang, the arena master of the Cold Night City Card Duel Arena?”
“I heard he’s a revered third-rank card master!”
“Exactly. Back then, even when the emperor personally issued an edict inviting him to join the imperial family, he refused!”
Lin Ye stared directly at the middle-aged man before him—the arena master of the Cold Night City Card Duel Arena, Han Yang. Although the other man spoke words of appreciation, his tone was unusually cold.
His instincts as an assassin allowed him to clearly sense intense danger and unease from Han Yang.
“No need to be polite. Can I leave now?” Lin Ye forcibly suppressed his inner discomfort and asked calmly.
“Of course. I already said that you have regained your freedom and can leave whenever you wish. However, to celebrate your becoming the youngest person in the history of my Cold Night City Card Duel Arena to achieve ten victories, I have prepared a gift especially for you.”
Lin Ye kept his eyes fixed on Han Yang’s face. Even though the other man wore a friendly smile, Lin Ye’s many years of experience as an assassin let him keenly sense that Han Yang’s eyes were utterly devoid of emotion.
Therefore, the gift he spoke of was definitely not as simple as it appeared.
Having said that, Han Yang reached into the pouch at his waist. An orange spirit card then appeared in his hand. Even from a distance, it was obvious that the quality of the Spirit Card Han Yang had taken out was many times superior to the one the other Han Yang had produced.
The card was a pure orange, refined to the extreme. The patterns on its surface were exceptionally clear. Engraved on the front was a lifelike white spirit tiger, baring its fangs and claws as though it might charge out of the card at any moment. The back bore mysterious patterns far more complex than those of an ordinary second-order spirit card.
“A second-order spirit card of exquisite quality?”
“And it isn’t an ordinary elemental spirit card. It’s actually a Life Spirit Card!”
“As expected of a revered third-rank card master. He’s truly loaded!”