Chapter 161: I Might Have Been Swindled By Friends?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qing Ming City.
At the upper level of the Workers’ Sports Complex.
The judges were very serious in studying the data and strength of Lu Ming’s team.
The so-called judges lineup for the pre-selection was generally composed of local judges as well as a judge from the previous School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion. This was to better select a qualified team.
“Cards…”
The judge from the School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion furrowed his eyebrows.
He disliked such people.
Card Creator? Why couldn’t a Card Creator be content with doing what they were supposed to do?
They were always full of tricks.
Alright.
To him, a Card Creator would always use cheap tricks!
They were not powerful enough, therefore they resorted to stocking up a lot of cards to obtain victory! This was using tricks! It just so happened that other vocations were forbidden from using cards here!
If they were in other places…
Everyone would be able to use their cards. In that case, the Card Creators would not have any advantages!
No!
Many years ago…
A Card Creator who had stocked up cards for two years partic.i.p.ated in the compet.i.tion, and his team was among the top hundred, creating a sensation. However, the tricky part was they did not flout the rules!
After all…
Who would stock up on cards for two years just to take part in a compet.i.tion?
They had seen it for themselves.
This strategy of “stocking up cards” became popular and the School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion had no other choice but to add a new rule: the Card Creator could only start to create the cards after registering for the compet.i.tion.
Alright.
This was a rule specifically for Card Creators!
Since this was the way Card Creators engaged in battles, therefore they were allowed to stock up on cards. However, they would only allow the usage of cards that were created after registration. Otherwise, they would not be counted!
In that case…
The strange method of “stocking up cards” had finally died down!
However…
It was back again.
What was the School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion?
It was a well-respected compet.i.tion!
This was the carnival where different fighting vocations in various colleges competed with each other. Card Creator was an auxiliary vocation. Why did they join in the fun? From the way they stocked up the cards, they would not be able to last for many rounds.
Especially—
Lu Ming’s team!
“Look at their team.”
He sighed deeply.
Well…
Lu Ming brought four salted fish (Chinese Internet Slang for a boring and idle person with no ambitions) as well as a child with him.
Alright.
This was Lu Ming’s team.
Obviously they were here to fool around.
Couldn’t they get a proper subst.i.tute?
That was to say, right from the beginning, Lu Ming’s plan was to go one against five! The fate of the team was dependent on the number of cards that Lu Ming had…
It was too unstable!
Once Lu Ming’s cards were depleted, they had to beg for mercy!
“I heard that it is very difficult to create a Swordsman Card,” one of the judges whispered.
“Okay.”
Another judge nodded. “I once engaged a Card Creator to seal the abilities for me. It was an average three-star Swordsman ability and he took one day to create it. Although Lu Ming’s Swordsman ability is of a lower level, it is quite powerful. It might be an advanced or surmounting ability! It is more difficult to create!”
“Which means…”
“Lu Ming is unable to create cards while taking part in the compet.i.tion!”
“He relied on the cards that he stocked up previously to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion!”
The judges sighed.
From his way of fighting, he would not be able to last for two rounds.
Therefore… Lu Ming could only rely on the cards that he created since registration.
In that case…
So what if he pa.s.sed the pre-selection for the compet.i.tion?
The preparation time for the other compet.i.tions would be shorter. He did not have any cards to compete with!
By the time he reached the second round, he would not be in time to create the cards. Besides, the enemies would be even stronger from the second rounds onward. Five cards might not be enough!
This was a big problem!
Everyone looked at each other.
It was impossible for Lu Ming to pa.s.s the second round!
What to do?
It was meaningless to allow him to pa.s.s now.
“To be determined!”
The judge from the School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion paused briefly. “Let him fight the second match. He should not have any more cards left. By then, he will have to use his real abilities. If he is good enough, we will allow him to pa.s.s.”
“Okay.”
Everyone finally understood.
They wanted to know the real strength of Lu Ming’s team as well!
…
At this very moment…
Lu Ming who had just stepped down from the stage after winning and was getting ready to leave was notified that there was another match.
Eh?
Everyone was a little confused.
Well…
Didn’t people only partic.i.p.ate in one match for the pre-selection?
“What is happening?”
Lu Ming was confused.
This was the first time that everyone took part in the compet.i.tion and they had no knowledge of the history and past games of the School Champions.h.i.+p. Although An Mufeng had accompanied the students to partic.i.p.ate many times…
They did not even pa.s.s the pre-selection and hence they did not take note of the details!
No one knew of the “stocking up cards” phenomenon!
“Perhaps we are not strong enough?” An Mufeng guess.
“That is possible.”
Lu Ming thought about it. “There are limited pre-selection quotas for Qing Ming City. It is normal for the higher-ups to want to select the best person to represent Qing Ming City in the compet.i.tion.”
“Oh.”
Everyone finally knew what was going on.
Well…
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion was not just limited to the schools, but also counted the cities! Since they had only been through one match, Qing Ming City must have been concerned about their abilities. It was understandable.
Then they should fight again!
Hence…
In the second match, their opponent was another key college.
“Are you Lu Ming?”
“Hehe.”
“I heard that you…”
That person was in the middle of his sentence.
Bang!
He executed one sword and he was defeated.
“Lu Ming! How dare you be so arrogant!” The second contestant shouted in anger. Afterward, he was defeated and carried away.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The familiar five swords!
The familiar kill within seconds!
All of the fairly powerful five cultivators from the college could not withstand the sword. It was a good school, but they were defeated by Lu Ming.
Shus.h.!.+
The audience turned silent.
…
The judges were dumbstruck. Why did he have another five cards?
“Did he create the cards by himself?”
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion judge was doubtful.
“The auras matched.”
Another judge sighed.
If Lu Ming used cards that were not created by himself, they would be able to tell right away.
“Didn’t you say that it is very difficult to create a Swordsman Card?”
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion judge swept his gaze over the person who made the comment just now.
“Uh.”
The judge looked awkward. “If one works very hard, it is possible to create ten cards. Lu Ming is a famous Card Creator in Qing Ming City.”
“Is that so?”
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion judge thought for a while before saying, “Then let’s have another match!”
Hence…
The college at the crossroad was arranged to have another match with a pretty strong college.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
…
5:0!
All killed!
How could that be possible?!
The judges were shocked. Why did Lu Ming have so many cards?!
He had already used fifteen cards!?
Fifteen cards!
How many days had it been since the registration?
Oh.
Seven days!
Seven days, fifteen cards!
Didn’t one say that he could barely create one card per day?!
Shus.h.!.+
Everyone looked toward the Swordsman judge.
“It’s normal.”
The Swordsman judge thought for a while.”It had been very long since the college at the crossroad succeeded in the pre-selection. In order to prepare for it, it is understandable to pull a all-nighter to prepare the cards.”
Everyone was silent.
All-nighter…
Oh.
Alright.
If they counted the nights as well, it was indeed possible to create fifteen cards!
However…
Was that really the case?
“I’ll trust you again.”
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion judge took a deep breath and arranged another opponent for Lu Ming and his team.
Bang!
Bang!
The match ended in thirty seconds.
5:0!
The college at the crossroad had won!
…
The judges were dumbfounded.
Twenty cards!
This was already the twentieth card!
“I’m sorry.”
The Swordsman judge gave a deep sigh. “It’s possible that I might have been swindled by my friends?”
To h.e.l.l with it.
He would settle scores with the Card Creator later!
He must have swindled him to raise the price!
The rest of the judges were speechless.
d.a.m.n! Being swindled by his friends!
Could he be certain about it?
At this very moment…
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion judge narrowed his eyes, he seemed to feel that something was amiss.
Card Creator…
Could a Card Creator really prepare so many cards?
Impossible!
Seven days!
This was an advanced card!
Perhaps…
There was something wrong.
“Let’s try again.”
“Let’s check if he cheated in the match.”
“Arrange for Xiao Mi College to compete.”
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion judge had the final say.
However…
The match had yet to begin.
The head of the Xiao Mi Vocational Technical College went looking for them. “Judge, please say so if you have something against us! There is no need to send us to the stage to be beaten!?”
The judges were between laughter and tears.
It was normal for contestants to engage in fights in the compet.i.tion.
Although Lu Ming was stronger, the college should not be that weak.
“Get out!”
The School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion judge was angry.
It was really…
Why couldn’t they be stronger?
However, after the episode, he seemed to have realized something. Although he suspected that there was something wrong with Lu Ming, he could not find any clues here.
Since that was the case, there was no need to continue with the match.
However…
He had yet to say anything when he received a notification—Xiao Mi Vocational Technical College had announced to withdraw from this year’s School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion.
All the judges froze.
Withdraw?
What’s with this?
However…
This was just the beginning, along with the Xiao Mi Vocational Technical College’s withdrawal from the compet.i.tion, he received multiple notifications—
Zheng Jun Vocational Technical College withdrew from this year’s School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion.
Shuang Yue Women’s College withdrew from this year’s School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion.
Qing Ming University of Science and Technology withdrew from this year’s School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion.
Qing Ming University of Technology withdrew from this year’s School Champions.h.i.+p Compet.i.tion.
…
The judges were dumbstruck.
All of them had withdrawn from the compet.i.tion!?
They looked at the names. Even for those who were fairly strong had withdrawn as well!
This…
What did this mean?!
At this very moment…
At the Workers’ Sports Complex.
The vocational technical college at the crossroad was the only school left on the list of contenders that were displayed on the huge screen. All the other colleges had withdrawn from the compet.i.tion!
n.o.body dared to go against them!
Of course!
n.o.body dared to fight them!
There was no one else on the list except for the vocational college at the crossroad. Whoever joined the match would be unlucky!
The students who were on the list had sparred with the college at the crossroad. All the teams of five were seriously injured and were carried down the stage.
The ambulances were here as well!
Although no one was dead, it scared the wits out of them!
n.o.body dared to fight against them!
These was not the finals. This was merely the pre-selection.
Pre-selection…
Shouldn’t it be easy?
No one was thinking of going to the finals. They were merely here to increase the popularity of the schools…
No one was thinking of risking their lives here.
Therefore…
Everyone was watching when the head of Xiao Mi college went to talk to the judge. In the end…
He was sent back.
Did it mean that they could not even protest?
No one wanted to partic.i.p.ate anymore!
If they did not leave right away, they would have to go against Lu Ming!
Hence…
Every team left and the venue was empty.
…
At this very moment…
Lu Ming who just went on stage had an innocent on his face.
Since Xiao Mi college did not go on stage, he and the referee stared at each other feeling awkward.
“Well… Do I still need to take part in the match?”
Lu Ming scratched his head.
The referee took a closer look at Lu Ming.
d.a.m.n it!
He was the referee for many games. He was even honored to be the referee for a semi-final, but this was the first time he witnessed such a strange scene…
All the contestants suffered a crus.h.i.+ng defeat!
What else could he say?
He was amazing!
“You have won!”
The judge patted Lu Ming on the shoulder.
…
All the colleges had withdrawn from the compet.i.tion.
They withdrew as there was no longer the need to continue with the match.
At least this was what they thought.
However, for the audience at the Workers’ Sports Complex, it was another thing. They witnessed how Lu Ming defeated everyone with five swords!
Since he was stopped from advancing…
He would defeat everyone!
All the teams on the competing list competed with him one after another!
From start to finis.h.!.+
In the end…
Lu Ming sent all the competing colleges down the stage and all the remaining colleges withdrew from the compet.i.tion!
How awesome was that!
How glorious was that!
“It’s Lu Ming indeed…”
Everyone’s heart was stirred.
Most of the locals from Qing Ming City knew this name!
Fruit Ninja!
Leviathan!
All of them were very popular!
Lu Ming was already considered a local celebrity.
It was just that they never expected that apart from the cards that shot to fame, Lu Ming had strong fighting skills as well!
It turned out that… Card Creators were very powerful!
…
“He is very formidable!”
“This Card Creator is so amazing.”
“Actually, Card Creators are not that powerful. It’s the Swordsman ability that he sealed that is powerful. The Swordsman ability is beyond imagination. Very few people can withstand it.”
“c.r.a.p. I heard that the strongest fighting vocation voted by The First Academy this year was Card Creator!”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s real. You can take a look for yourself.”
Everyone was surprised.
Some of them went to the forum of The First Academy to check.
True enough.
The forum was still hotly debating about whether the Card Creator was the strongest vocation!
Although it was not finalized, it was already very amazing that there were serious comparisons done between an auxiliary vocation and an Elementalist, to determine which was the strongest!
Card Creator…
Was the Card Creator the strongest vocation?
Many people could not help but wonder if their child should attend Card Creator cla.s.ses outside of school?