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"...adhering to the principles of friendship and mutual growth, I hereby declare the 99th Daming National Competition... open!"
In the colossal battle arena of the Capital, a white-haired old man spoke loudly into a microphone. Sparse, polite applause broke out, making his face darken slightly. Shaking his head, he handed the microphone to the person behind him and left the stage.
It was the first few days of the individual and team competitions. Not many people were paying attention yet, simply because there were too many matches happening at once. Later, when the small stages were merged into the grand central arena for the "real men's 1v1s," that would be when the traffic was heaviest.
"Russell, wake up."
Below the stage, Lucian gently nudged the young man next to him, who had his eyes closed. Russell felt the force on his arm and opened his eyes. "I was meditating, not sleeping." You couldn't blame him. It took a special kind of genius to resist dozing off during a government official's speech.
"So, have we decided on our first opponent?" Seeing that the students around them were leaving the arena one after another, Russell subtly signaled his Shadowkhan to hold up a parasol for the Northgate Battle Club.
"It's decided," Coach Carter said, walking over. As the team leader, he had naturally been keeping an eye on the draw. "Our first match is against East River Boys' Technical College."
Russell was stunned. "That name... sounds surprisingly powerful."
Hearing this, the others looked at him strangely. "No, it's just an ordinary vocational school," Lucian said. "Normally, anyone with even a little bit of cardmaker talent wouldn't go to a school like that," Grant added.
Russell was still a little suspicious. He always felt like he had heard that name somewhere before. But since his companions said they were small fry, it shouldn't be a big problem, right?
Wearing identity badges representing Northgate University, Russell and his four companions followed Coach Carter to the venue for the first match. When they arrived, several young men with sad faces were already waiting there.
"This is so unlucky," one of them groaned. "How did we get scheduled to play against a school like Northgate in the first round?" "I heard that Northgate's performance last year wasn't very ideal," another said optimistically. "We might still have a chance."
Several people who heard this rolled their eyes at him. A starving camel is still bigger than a horse.
Russell, standing not far away, felt the weak spiritual pressure of the young men. He turned to Lucian. "It seems I really overthought it. Who will play in the first game? Or I can do it for you." In his perception, these students were all barely bronze-level cardmakers. Any random person from the Northgate Battle Club could beat them. Even someone like Yuna, who Russell considered relatively weak compared to the top tiers, could definitely deal with them.
Just as Yuna was hesitantly about to volunteer, Russell suddenly changed his mind. "Forget it. I'll go first."
The others were stunned. "Won't this expose your cards?" "My cards have been exposed a long time ago," he shrugged. "If the other schools really want to know, they can just get the video of my match with Wade, right?"
Lucian and the others fell silent. Indeed, this was something Russell couldn't avoid. Although his strength was immense, he had already used all his public cards in the battle with the Wu family heir. Since the cardmakers from other schools were on guard, even with Russell's strength, he might not be able to defeat them easily if they prepared specific counters. However, Russell didn't tell them that he had created a new "Sasuke" specifically for this purpose.
After arriving at the sidelines and taking a look at the timid contestant on the opposite side, Russell sat on the ornate chair brought out by a Shadowkhan. He wasn't planning on engaging in physical combat, so why stand when he could sit? He summoned dozens of Shadowkhan at once, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
The referee glanced at him calmly. "Are all young people nowadays so pretentious?" It wasn't that he was pretending. For a game like this, where there was no suspense at all, there was no need for him to even watch.
Several contestants from East River Boys' Technical College couldn't help but look unhappy when they saw this situation. However, when they felt the Shadowkhan, some squatting and some standing, staring at them with glowing red eyes, they all swallowed their saliva. "They... they are all bronze level."
It would be fine if the opponent only summoned three or four bronze cards, but the number of Shadowkhan on the field was almost twenty. What could they do?
The young man who was sent out first said with a stiff face, "Don't be afraid, brothers! With so many of them, the quality is definitely garbage. It's just for show!" In an instant, several people seemed to be energized, looking at him with hope.
However, after the young man's card was kicked to death like a stray dog on the roadside by a single Shadowkhan, their faces turned ashen.
Lucian, in the audience, twitched his lips when he saw this scene. "Can't they even defeat Russell's vehicle card?" That's right; in the eyes of the Northgate Battle Club, the Shadowkhan were positioned as a utility and transport card, not a primary combat unit.
Grant scratched his head. "So this is a vehicle card?" He hadn't entered the [Infinite Eye] with the others, so he didn't know the Shadowkhan could move through the Shadow Kingdom. He had originally thought they were just servants Russell had made to facilitate his daily life.
Not long after, the first match ended. Russell leaned back in his chair, opened his eyes, and looked at the referee beside him.
The referee's eye twitched, and then he said loudly, "First round, Zone A, Match Six. Northgate University wins!"
Hearing the result, Russell returned to his companions from the shadows. "Let's go. It's still early, so we can see what the other schools are like."
However, just as they were preparing to randomly pick a few battlefields to scout, a thunderous exclamation came from the northwest corner of the arena.
"What's going on?" Russell asked Coach Carter. Carter frowned and took out his phone. After looking through it for a while, he said solemnly, "What a surprise. Imperial College was eliminated."
His words were like a bomb dropped into a calm lake. The Northgate team stood stunned. "The Imperial College that's on the same floor as us?" Grant asked in disbelief. Carter nodded. "Their opponent today was Northwestern University of Science and Technology. Imperial College was shot through."
Lucian and his companions were still confused. Just yesterday, they were saying that Imperial College was a team worthy of attention, and today they were surpassed by an unknown school.
Although Russell was a little shocked, he could accept this fact. When he was scouting the students of Imperial College yesterday, he hadn't thought they were that strong. But being defeated by a dark horse was interesting. "Any information about the players?" Compared with Imperial College's defeat, he was more concerned about who this Northwestern University was.
Carter continued to scroll. "Unlike normal cardmakers who use biological cards, the students of Northwestern seem to prefer technology cards. But there is no more information. Judging from the five people who appeared, except for the last one, the strength of the other four is relatively equal."
Hearing this, Russell looked at the corner where the noise came from with some curiosity. "It turns out that the heroes of the world really cannot be underestimated."
Fortunately, this was the only unexpected incident that happened, so Lucian and the others didn't suffer too much shock. There was indeed no pressure in the first few days of the competition. Russell could basically handle it all by himself. Sometimes, when he encountered a silver-level opponent, he could just send out any silver-level card to deal with it.
Time flew by, and a week later, they reached the qualifying match. As long as Northgate defeated today's opponent, they would successfully advance to the main competition.
Today, their opponents were students from Ikusei University. What was interesting was that all the members of their fighting club had muscles like bodybuilders. Although they looked intimidating, the strength of the first four people's cards was not that good, and they were easily defeated by Russell.
But when he saw the card called out by the last person, he was stunned. "Then let me ask you! Then let me ask you! THEN LET ME ASK YOU!" A giant with a pointed head and green skin stood in the middle of the field. His eyes, seemingly full of "wisdom," were looking directly at Russell on the sidelines.
"It's interesting to see original settings," Russell mused, becoming interested. The opponents from the past few days had really made him feel bored. It felt like playing house with children. "But it's a pity that you met me." No matter how interesting the setting was, it was insignificant under the absolute suppression of strength.
The next moment, Neliel appeared in the venue.
The owner of the giant looked at her, his face serious. "Russell, I have seen your battle video. Don't hold back. Just release that posture."
Russell couldn't help but laugh. Judging from the current aura coming from the giant, it was not worthy of Neliel's Resurrección. Even in her unreleased adult form, her physical strength shouldn't be underestimated.
Seeing that Russell did not respond, the other party's face darkened. The green giant roared and rushed towards Neliel in an instant. Its huge right fist reached her face in a flash. Neliel looked at the scene in front of her with an expressionless face.
The next moment, a figure that seemed very small compared to the giant's huge body also threw out a right fist. BOOM! Fist hit fist, and the fierce shockwave instantly blew away the dust on the ground. The giant retracted his fist in pain, but the nimble and petite green figure had already crouched down and slipped inside his guard.
Thud. A dull sound of an elbow strike was heard, and the huge body flew backwards. The giant rolled on the ground and crashed into the barrier at the edge of the venue. Naturally, Neliel would not miss such a good opportunity. She used Sonído to catch up with him in a moment.
But the next scene made Russell raise his eyebrows. "Anadrol! Trenbolone! Oxandrolone! Clenbuterol! Testosterone! Primobolan! Nandrolone! Stanozolol!" "THE POWER OF NINE DRAGONS!"
A terrifying roar sounded in the venue. A burst of energy suddenly appeared around the green giant, knocking Neliel away. In the blink of an eye, the giant's already huge body expanded even more. The originally green skin turned purple, and dark blue veins wrapped around his huge muscles like mad dragons.
"Here it is! The God of Bodybuilding!" "As expected of the captain! This posture is so fascinating!" Several Ikusei University students who had already lost blushed and couldn't help but hum in admiration.
"Hehe," the captain of the Ikusei Battle Club covered his face with one hand. "Feel honored, Russell. Not everyone can see the perfect posture of the Bodybuilding God."
"?" Russell looked at the student in confusion. Does fitness damage your brain?
Lucian and the others in the audience couldn't help but look at the muscular men in silence. "That's not that strong, is it?" Grant asked hesitantly. Lucian nodded. Although the [God of Bodybuilding] was not weak, it was only compared to normal cards.
In the field, green life energy swirled around the purple giant. Neliel still maintained her indifferent attitude, but feeling the breath coming from the other side, she couldn't help but sigh. When it comes down to it, Death-related cards aren't strong enough in their base forms.
She placed her long sword horizontally in front of her. Her indifferent voice spread throughout the venue. "Sing, Gamuza."
Light red spiritual pressure roared out and collided with the life energy of the purple giant. The terrifying wind pressure ruffled the hair of the students watching the game, and an invisible pressure hovered in everyone's heart. "Gulp... are all the monsters like this in the national competition?" "Don't even think about it. That's Russell from Northgate. He's the favorite for the individual championship."
While the students were talking, the half-antelope, half-human Neliel had appeared next to the purple giant. The green life energy was like materialized lightning, raging in the surrounding ground, creating terrifying grooves. However, this was like a gentle breeze to Neliel. The tip of her double-headed lance touched the chest of the purple giant under the horrified gaze of the Ikusei students. No matter how he roared and resisted, the lance pierced through his body in the next second. In just a breath, the originally hideous purple giant was nailed to the ground.
Seeing this, all the students of Ikusei University were in despair. Their captain even fell to his knees. "The God of Bodybuilding... even the power of the Nine Dragons couldn't defeat him?"
Upon hearing this, their instructor, a shirtless muscular man, patted him on the back. "If the power of nine dragons is not enough, then use the power of ninety dragons! One day you will become a top cardmaker! Are you going to give up just like that!?"
Looking at the muscular man who was giving his students a motivational speech, Russell couldn't help but complain in his heart, I'm afraid he's not a top cardmaker, but a top motivational speaker.
Among the students gathered on the sidelines, there were several young men in plain clothes who were staring at Neliel on the field. "How about it, President? Do you think you can win?" "If it's just this one card," the young man replied calmly, "it won't be a problem."
(End of this chapter)