World War II spoils
"Yu Xiangyin!" Ning Xi dodged the barrage of attacks from the giant tree, then looked at the retreating youth who was struggling to stay afloat. "Do you have any extra weapons?"
She actually wanted the cards more, but weapons would be fine with her too!
"How did you get in here!" Yu Xiangyin roared in despair. But soon, he noticed the scattered crowd.
The young man stepped on the musical notes, causing the giant tree to miss its target. Taking advantage of the opening, he summoned two more musical notes and sent them flying towards Ning Xi.
The summoned musical notes were also enveloped in an energy field. Ning Xi, with a thought, slightly modified the pattern of the energy field. The musical notes shifted and connected, transforming into an elegant, slender, and sharp rapier, resembling an abstract painting. The giant tree's attack came again. Without hesitation, Ning Xi sidestepped, and the musical note sword drew several arcs, forcing back the branches and leaves.
"Prioritize self-preservation!" Yu Xiangyin shouted. "[Musician] is a support card with weak attack capabilities. Hold on, the patrol is coming!"
"good!"
Ning Xi naturally wouldn't object; however, during her walk, she happened to pass by the trunk of the giant tree.
—It was perfect timing, after all, the giant tree's perception has blind spots, and some of those blind spots are right next to its trunk.
The musical note sword thrust straight out, like a drop of water falling into a calm surface, creating ripples. Ning Xi felt that this long sword, formed from energy, pierced straight into the energy field of the giant tree, and with just a little force, it could stir up waves.
She gripped the musical note sword and swung it upwards with force, shattering the giant tree's energy field layer by layer. Under the tight envelopment and protection, she saw the core of the giant tree: a crystal-clear, pulsating green heart.
Right above the tree canopy!
But the next moment, the giant tree struggled frantically, its branches and leaves flying everywhere, and the musical note sword shattered inch by inch, leaving only a small musical note, pitifully pressed against her palm.
Ning Xi: ?
Is the quality of these cards not very good?
A branch as thick as a bucket swept across, but Ning Xi didn't have time to think. She rolled away, escaping the giant tree's reach. The musical note sword was completely unusable, but now that a weakness had been discovered, there was no reason not to exploit it.
"Fire here! This is the core!"
Ning Xi caught the leaves flung out by the giant tree and used them in reverse to guide Yu Xiangyin. The young man hesitated for a moment, then finally decided to give it a try.
It wasn't that he trusted Ning Xi, but rather that Ning Xi's position was too dangerous. If he ignored her, it seemed as if she would be knocked away by the giant tree at any moment.
Another gold and red card appeared in his hand.
"[Blazing Spear]!"
This card is not one of his frequently used cards, but it is a fire-attribute card and is very effective against plant enemies.
The flames ignited the spear tip, which gathered a storm of energy. Wind and fire intertwined, piercing the canopy of the giant tree. The opposing energy fields collided, triggering a violent explosion.
The emerald green heart contracted instantly, causing the entire giant tree to distort its movements.
Yu Xiangyin's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected to hit any vital areas; he just wanted to cover Ning Xi's retreat. But if it actually worked…
More spiritual energy surged into the [Blazing Spear], and even stronger and hotter streams of flame erupted, striking the core once more.
"Mingxin Academy Third Patrol Team reporting for duty! All unauthorized personnel are requested to leave immediately!"
A team of card masters dressed in blue water-patterned uniforms appeared. Two of them activated cards and summoned two giant chains, which steadily held back the berserk giant tree.
"Captain, this is a low-ranking D-class beast, extremely dangerous!"
The team member, wearing data glasses, reported to Captain Luo Xian.
Like card masters, alien beasts are also divided into levels. E-level alien beasts are the weakest, and ordinary people may be able to escape them; D-level alien beasts, although only one level higher in level, have greatly increased offensive and defensive capabilities and special abilities, resulting in a significant increase in their danger, requiring trained card masters to deal with them.
Luo Xian recognized Yu Xiangyin; she was a freshman at Mingxin Academy and not exactly a genius. Most freshmen only had the ability to fight E-level alien beasts, so Luo Xian only glanced at her and didn't pay her much attention.
Behind him, several team members activated their cards, ready to launch an attack at the first command.
Luo Xian's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
The attack occurred in a busy urban area, and there were many people who had not yet evacuated near the battlefield.
If he were to fight a full-blown battle, one can imagine how the students would accuse him of "disregarding the people."
Knowing that a major event was about to occur, they still dared to go out and stroll around... These foolish "people" deserve to die.
The giant tree's struggles were weakening, but Luo Xian dared not let his guard down. He activated his defensive card and cautiously approached.
But the expected fierce battle did not occur; the giant tree simply collapsed.
The beast was essentially a "domain" rather than the real world. Therefore, after it fell, most of its body immediately became ethereal and disappeared, leaving only a few seeds and a piece of wood core behind.
"Materials?" Luo Xian's eyes lit up.
Although he didn't know how the giant tree died, he wouldn't let go of the precious D-grade card-making material. But before he could, a thin hand reached past him and picked up the wooden core.
"Put it down! This is the scene of an attack. You can't move anything without the patrol's permission!"
Ning Xi turned around and saw a man with a displeased expression. He was wearing a uniform and looked like a member of some organization.
...The Mingxin Academy patrol team?
She looked at Yu Xiangyin: "Are you from the same college?"
“Senior Luo!” Yu Xiangyin naturally recognized Luo Xian. He jogged over to Ning Xi’s side and then stepped closer, blocking Luo Xian’s view. “These are our spoils of war.”
"Your spoils?" Luo Xian sneered, sizing up the person in front of him. "You mean, you, a freshman in the support department, can kill a D-level alien beast on your own?"
He didn't even glance at Ning Xi, after all, she didn't even have a card reader, so she was probably just an ordinary person who relied on a card master and wasn't worth paying attention to: "Junior brother, our academy emphasizes 'enlightenment and seeing one's true nature,' and we value the character of our students very much. Lying is a bad habit."
Ning Xi stopped smiling.
The giant tree couldn't have collapsed for no reason; it must have been deliberately destroyed. Since no one else intervened, the person who killed the giant tree—if not her and Yu Xiangyin—could it have been this patrol captain who stole their kill?
She said coldly, "Lying is a bad habit, and I do not object to your school's view."
"So, is it permissible to spout nonsense in order to claim credit at your esteemed school?"
Luo Xian finally turned his attention to her.
Ning Xi could feel that the other person's gaze was contemptuous and tinged with disgust as it swept over her body and finally landed on her smooth wrist.
She didn't bring a card reader.
“This is not a place for ordinary people to talk,” Luo Xian declared. “This young lady has been frightened. Cheng Jiu, take her to rest.”
“Ning Xi can’t leave.” Yu Xiangyin reached out to stop the team member. “She pointed out the core location of the giant tree to me. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to kill the giant tree.”
"She should be involved in the distribution of the spoils."
Luo Xian let out a sneer.
"To discern the core location of a strange beast out of thin air, one needs at least an A-level mental strength. Junior, do you really think a random passerby you found could have that ability? If she truly possessed such ability, why is she a card master?"
"Junior, the spoils of a D-level alien beast are quite valuable, but if they're not yours, they never will be."
“Then let’s get tested,” Ning Xi said. She stepped out from behind Yu Xiangyin, her large, dark eyes fixed on Luo Xian.
"What are you testing?"
"Test my mental strength. If my mental strength is A or above, then acknowledge our contribution and hand over the spoils to us."
"What if it isn't?"
"I will naturally apologize to you."
"Apologize?" Luo Xian repeated her words, his tone flippant. "This punishment is too lenient. If your mental strength isn't at least A-grade, then get out of the 33-star rank immediately."
It's a deal.
"Then let's call it a day!"
...
As soon as Luo Xian arrived at the academy, he changed from his previous gloomy demeanor to a friendly smile.
"Hello, Teacher Murong! Are you bringing a friend to school?"
The woman, referred to as "Teacher Murong," stopped. With a kind expression, she greeted Luo Xian, "Just got back from a mission? You must be tired."
She turned to the people next to her and introduced them: "This is Teacher Zhou from the Imperial Academy; this is Teacher Antlotti from Luna Affiliated Academy."
"Shangjing Academy?" Ning Xi felt that the name sounded familiar. Yu Xiangyin smiled at the teachers and introduced it to Ning Xi, "Shangjing Academy is the number one card academy in our Hanhai District; Luna Affiliated Academy is one of the top card academies in Luowan Star District."
Both of these colleges are ranked higher than Mingxin College, so the teachers they sent can be considered distinguished guests.
Following Teacher Murong's words, Luo Xian greeted the other two teachers. He realized that the teachers had no interest in his affairs, so he laughed it off and said, "My junior and I have some things to take care of, so we won't bother you any longer."
“I wasn’t going to bother you anyway.” Teacher Murong looked disapproving. “Tell me, it seems there’s some unpleasantness between you two.”
“We have some questions about the ownership of the spoils from a D-level alien beast,” Luo Xian said. “My junior told me that he found the beast’s core with the help of this ordinary human companion, and then destroyed the core and killed it. I think that’s really absurd.”
“Unless she has a mental strength of A grade or above, how could she possibly do that? I think the possibility is too low, so I brought her here for a mental strength test.”
Teacher Murong pondered for a moment, then shook her head.
"There are many possibilities for discovering the core. Perhaps the other party has some special talent, or perhaps she shares some card ability with other card players. It doesn't necessarily require a mental strength of A grade or higher. Luo Xian, your judgment is not rigorous."
Luo Xian lowered his head, but Teacher Murong changed the subject: "But if there is controversy, we should use empirical methods to resolve it, which is in line with our school's educational philosophy."
"Come on, let's go to the mental strength testing room together. It'll also be a good opportunity to demonstrate the technical capabilities of our Mingxin Academy to the two teachers."
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