Chapter 194 – Rewards
The fireworks at the Shangyuan Lantern Festival lasted for a long time. It wasn’t until early in the morning that the lantern market closed and the surrounding people gradually dispersed.
A familiar prompt appeared in their floating boxes. [Congratulations to Xiao Lou’s contracted team for perfectly clearing the Shangyuan Lantern Festival. A total of 300 riddles were collected and the clearance score is S. The secret room is about to close. Please leave as soon as possible. Counting down 5, 4, 3…]
Xiao Lou took one final look at the ancient lantern market and pressed the option of ‘Leave.’
The scene in front of them switched and everyone returned to their personal s.p.a.ce. Ye Qi exclaimed excitedly, “We actually guessed 300 riddles! I counted and I seemed to have guessed 50?”
Liu Qiao added, “I guessed 45.”
Qu Wanyue also reported her count. “I am also 45.”
Shao Qingge sighed. “It seems that Professor Xiao guessed 160 correctly? It is more than the sum of the three.”
Ye Qi remembered the mathematics test in high school. He scored 45 points on his own test while the top student scored 145 points… this score was better than the top student!
Everyone turned to look at Xiao Lou. The watched Xiao Lou was a bit embarra.s.sed and explained, “I usually like to play puzzle solving games and know the techniques for such games. I have seen many questions before so I guessed a bit faster.”
Ye Qi laughed. “Professor Xiao, don’t be so humble. This can’t be called a bit faster. Isn’t it to kill in a second?”
Liu Qiao added, “We can’t compare a top student with ordinary people. The fact that we guessed over 40 riddles is already enough.”
Qu Wanyue nodded. “I agree.”
Xiao Lou didn’t want to be tangled up in this. He looked back at the sofa where the cute loli A of Diamonds with two ponytails sat. She was supporting her chin with both hands and looking at them with a smile.
Xiao Lou asked, “A of Diamonds, did we get a perfect clearance because we collected all the puzzles at the lantern market?”
The loli nodded. “Five streets and a total of 300 riddles, you are really quite powerful. There are no leaks and your S-grade evaluation is justified. Now you can claim your rewards.”
Everyone was very happy hearing this, especially the four ‘courier’ comrades. They had run errands the entire time and didn’t have to waste too many brain cells. Some people felt it was so comfortable to lie down and win. If they could do errands in the later rooms, it would be cool to follow Xiao Lou and win.
Two glittering golden chests appeared in the middle of the venue. A of Diamonds told them, “The prizes drawn for this level are two. The fixed reward is a lantern card for each person. You can find it in your own card pack.”
The group opened the card packs and found that everyone had a new card.
[Item Card: Palace Lantern]
Rarity: A
Description: A fixed reward for clearing the 8 of Diamonds secret room, Shangyuan Lantern Festival.
Use effect: The use of lanterns is naturally for lighting. A lantern can illuminate a 100 square metre area. If at night, the light of the lantern can exert a deterrent effect on beasts within a radius of 100 square metres, preventing them from coming closer.
Restrictions: After the candle in the lantern burns out, the lantern will go out and the card can’t be used. The candle will refresh when entering the next secret room.
Seeing this card, Ye Qi couldn’t help but wonder. “I remember that in 4 of Clubs, I stepped on a grid and gained many Night Pearls. They are also used for lightning, right?” To confirm, he took out the Night Pearl card. “Night Pearl has no cooldown time and can always be lit, but the range is relatively small. It is a fan-shaped range 10 metres in front?”
A of Diamonds nodded. “Yes, the Night Pearl is suitable for narrow mazes, corridors etc. It lights up 10 metres in front of you in a fan shape. This lantern is suitable for a wider field and lights up 100 square metres. You can also scare away beasts. These two cards should be used according to the situation.”
In fact, it wasn’t easy to get a perfect clearance in the Shangyuan Lantern Festival secret room. After all, there were five streets in the lantern market that were hiding 300 riddles. If they missed a few or encountered questions that couldn’t be solved, not all the riddles would’ve been obtained.
The key to getting an S-grade score for a perfect clearance was Xiao Lou being too powerful. He was especially good at this type of puzzle game.
Ye Qi, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue also helped a lot. All of them guessed 40-50. Meanwhile, the four ‘couriers’ ran errands very actively. It could be said that under the leadership of Xiao Lou, everyone played a role in getting the S-grade evaluation.
Looking at the two treasure chests on the ground, Xiao Lou asked, “Who wants to draw the cards?”’
His teammates spoke unanimously. “Professor Xiao, you draw it!”
Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and spoke softly, “You draw it. You have the greatest credit in this secret room.”
Since everyone was watching him in unison, Xiao Lou was forced to put his hand into the first treasure chest.
[Congratulations to Xiao Lou on drawing the S-grade tool card, Festival Tree!
Xiao Lou was surprised by this card. He looked at it closely and found that this card’s skills were quite interesting.
[Tool Card: Lantern Tree]
Rarity: S
Description: There is a 50% chance of obtaining it from the 8 of Diamonds limited card pool after perfectly clearing 8 of Diamonds and getting a clearance score of S.
Additional Skill 1: Thousand Lights
Once the skill is used, a lantern tree will be placed in the designated location. Hundreds of beautiful lanterns will instantly appear on the tree. The gorgeous lights will illuminate the surroundings, making the scene within 1 kilometres as bright as daylight. Within 1 kilometres, all hostile targets will be attracted by the lantern tree and quickly gather around the lantern tree within 30 seconds.
The cooldown time for this skill is 24 hours in the secret room.
Additional Skills 2: Lantern Festival Wish
It is said that on the day of the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, if a wish is made to the lantern tree near the stone bridge then this wish can come true. After placing the lantern tree, the summoner can make a wish under the tree. The options for the wish are: increase the attack power of the entire group by 50%, increase the defense power of the entire group by 50%, increase movement speed by 100% or the stealth of the entire group will last 30 seconds. Choose one of the four wishes and the lantern tree will immediately fulfill your wish.
The skill’s cooldown time is 24 hours.
Note: Lantern Tree can be used in the Diamonds, Spades and Clubs secret rooms. It is prohibited in the main city and the Hearts secret rooms.
Xiao Lou summoned the lantern tree. His teammates looked at the tree full of lanterns and couldn’t help being shocked. This was a perfect copy of the tree in the Shangyuan Lantern Festival secret room. Various lanterns covered the branches and it was spectacular.
Ye Qi couldn’t help praising it. “This tree is really beautiful. Looking at the description, the first skill is equivalent to a group taunt with a range of 1 kilometres. Isn’t this ridiculous?”
Xiao Ye often played online games and it was very easy for him to understand the skills.
Shao Qingge didn’t understand and looked at him doubtfully, “What does a group taunt mean?”
Ye Qi explained. “It means that after this lantern tree is put down, all monsters within a radius of 1 kilometre will be forcefully pulled to the tree, just like a tank in the game taunting monsters. For example, if you place this tree in the wilderness, the wolves, snakes and hunters will all come to it!”
Shao Qingge, “……”
This tree was really powerful.
Xiao Lou added, “This Lantern Tree is a very strong auxiliary card. The two skills are related to each other. Not only can we pull monsters on a large scale, we can also pull them over and increase the attack power of the team to wipe out the monsters.”
Liu Qiao c.o.c.ked her head to think for a moment. “Or we can place the Lantern Tree in the distance, pull all monsters in a one kilometre rang over and then use Tao Yuanming’s group transport skill to run away unscathed.”
Ye Qi nodded excitedly. “Yes, this is really worthy of being an S-grade card. It is easy to use!”
Everyone was happy that Xiao Lou had drawn such a strong card. Lantern Tree was a versatile auxiliary card. Whether it was to provoke an attack, drawing the tiger from the mountain to run or controlling the field along with Ye Qi’s musical group control cards, it was very flexible to use. In addition, the second skill could enhance the strength of the entire team or make them invisible, which was equivalent to an additional invisibility cloak for each person.
The survivability of the team was greatly improved with this card.
Xiao Lou carefully put away the card and asked, “Who will draw the next card?”
Everyone cheered. “Come on!”
“…You want me to draw both treasure chests?”
Yu Hanjiang looked at him and spoke softly. “Go on, don’t be polite.”
Xiao Lou had to smile and continue to step forward to reach into the second treasure chest.
[Congratulations to Xiao Lou for drawing the S-grade summoning card, Xin Qiji!]
Xiao Lou was stunned by the card. He really had a destiny with summoning cards. Previously, he draw Li Qingzhao and Su Shi. Now in 8 of Diamonds… Xin Qiji came to him?
[Summoning Card: Xin Qiji]
Rarity: S
Description: There is a probability of obtaining it from the 8 of Diamonds limited card pool after perfectly clearing 8 of Diamonds and getting a clearance score of S.
Xin Qiji was a famous poet of the Southern Song Dynasty. His works were full of heroism, patriotism, grief and indignation. Occasionally, there were delicate and soft works. Countless masterpieces were handed down.
Additional Skill 1: Breaking Through
Raising a lantern when drunk, dreaming of blowing the horn to connect to the camp, the horse was extremely fast and the arrow from the bow was as quick as lightning!
Xin Qiji described the magnificent scene of a frontier battlefield with his words.
After using the ‘Breaking Through’ skill, Xin Qiji can summon ten archers riding on warhorses and holding long bows. They will make ten consecutive shots to enemies within 500 metres. The bowstring rings out like thunder when the archers pull their bows. Xin Qiji’s break through attack can not only cause a lot of damage to the target but it can also destroy the opponent’s defense such as body armour, cloaks, protective covers, etc. They will be damaged immediately after being short by a sharp arrow.
The cooldown of summoning the archers is 8 hours.
Additional Skill 2: Blue Jade Case
Looking for him in a crowd of thousands, looking back suddenly but the man was in the waning light.
Xin Qiji tried his best to describe the bright and colourful Lantern Festival with his words. He looked for a long time through the crowd and suddenly turned around, only to find that the person he was looking for was standing alone in the shadow of the lights.
After using the skill, you can immediately lock onto the position of a teammate. Look back and find them in the crowd.
Xiao Lou summoned Xin Qiji to show his teammates.
Ye Qi couldn’t help feeling something. “Professor Xiao, aren’t you really a professor of the history department? Su Shi, Li Qingzhao, Liu Yong, Qin Guan, Xin Qiji… so many ancient celebrities. If they are all summoned then you can open a history museum!”
Xiao Lou had a headache and pressed a hand to his temple. He blamed himself for studying poetry and riddles every day in high school. He hadn’t expected it to be useful here in the Card World.
The Xin Qiji card drawn this time was a very strong group attack skill.
The first skill ‘Breaking Through’ could not only summon archers to shoot arrows in a wide range, but it also broke the opposite side’s defenses. This included things like umbrella shields, body armour and protective garments such as the one worn by Xin Qiji. The defensive card Light Feather Clothes could resist fatal damage. If it encountered Xin Qiji and was short with an arrow, this card would have to be discarded.
Xin Qiji should be the strongest group attack card at present.
It also had a wonderful synergy with Su Shi. It was because Su Shi’s Thousands of Years’ Worth of Historical Figures could reset the character card’s skills. If Su Shi and Xin Qiji played together, Xin Qiji could use Breaking Through twice in a row. This was 20 arrows in a row. If it was a team battle then a lot of arrows could be poured toward the opposite side.
Yu Hanjiang was very happy for Xiao Lou when he saw this card.
In fact, he had always been worried about Xiao Lou’s ability to protect himself. Xiao Lou’s physical strength was weak and all his fights relied on cards. The cards previously drawn by Xiao Lou, such as Liu Yong, Qin Guan and Li Qingzhao were all weird control and teleportation cards. Xiao Yu, the younger brother from 8 of Hearts, could be used as a bodyguard for Xiao Lou and Xin Qiji, drawn in 8 of Diamonds, was capable of group attacks. This meant that Yu Hanjiang wouldn’t have to worry too much about Xiao Lou.
Of course, Yu Hanjiang would try to avoid letting Xiao Lou be alone. He would follow Xiao Lou for personal protection. However, what if they were separated at the beginning of the secret room?
Then Xin Qiji’s second skill was very useful.
They could search through a crowd of thousands and look back suddenly to instantly lock onto the position of a teammate.
In this way, no matter the circ.u.mstances, Xiao Lou could immediately join with Yu Hanjiang.
Yu Hanjiang thought up to here and said, “You have drawn this card and it should be the strongest attack card in your deck.”
Xiao Lou was also very happy to draw Xin Qiji, who was capable of a group attack. He put Xin Qiji and Su Shi together and said with a smile, “The Diamonds secret room is still easy. We can clear it in a few hours and the rewards are so rich.”
Everyone, “……”
‘Don’t think that the Diamonds room is easy. It is just that your brain turns too quickly!’
If it was changed to a team of Shao Qingge and Yu Hanjiang, they would probably cry seeing the 300 riddles. Yu Hanjiang and Shao Qingge glanced at each other before looking away with disgust. Yu Hanjiang said lightly, “Let’s return to the main city.”
It happened to be night in the City of the Moon when everyone returned.
It was a hard day and they couldn’t always break through. Everyone got together for dinner. Then Xiao Lou suggested that they rest for the night, recuperate and prepare for the next level the next morning.
The next level was the Spades secret room and the survival room was physically exhausting!