Chapter 229: 229 Trade Card_1
After the Iron Fan Princess came Red Child’s card.
Red Child was very similar to Nezha in appearance, personality, and abilities. Yet, in the story, Red Child’s strength didn’t match Nezha’s but still caused great trouble for Brother Monkey. As an A-Rank Card here, there was no issue.
Red Child’s abilities were quite unique. Because he clashed with Nezha, Wen Jiang thought for a moment and simplified Red Child’s abilities.
Red Child had two forms, but this did not mean he was a Dual-Change Card like his dad.
Red Child was divided into a weapon form and a defense form.
The card’s image was of a child wearing a red bellyband with a soaring plait, eyes wide with anger, looking imposing.
In weapon form, Red Child wielded a flaming spear eighteen feet long. In an attack stance, this spear could inflict continuous flame damage that couldn’t be dispelled by any means. It could be healed, but the fate of being continuously burned remained.
In defense form, after being subdued by the Bodhisattva, the initial Red Child was still quite rebellious. Although he became the Good Fortune Child, he was not convinced.
At this stage, Red Child remained unwilling to be enlightened but had no choice but to comply.
Therefore, in the defense stage, Red Child sat on a huge lotus pedestal. Although unable to attack, the lotus pedestal’s defense was formidable. When damaged, due to his rebellious nature, he could reflect fifty percent of the damage back, including any negative status effects.
Compared to the weapon form, Wen Jiang preferred Red Child’s defense form.
A true damage-reflecting card, once an attack hit Red Child, there was a risk of it being reflected. Like his dad, he would pose a certain counter to Hou Yi.
The synergy between this family was also very interesting.
It was divided into two states.
In the initial phase, the family of three would have a mutual damage increase status no matter who they teamed up with. The passive ability of Bull Demon King in human form also applied to Red Child and the Iron Fan Princess, shielding them once from fatal damage.
This was very similar to the synergy within the Four Heavenly Kings, where Mo Lishou would also summon Purple Mink to block a mortal blow for his brothers.
However, this damage increase was not significant for the Iron Fan Princess.
The significant amplification of Iron Fan Princess’s abilities occurred when Red Child switched to defense form. At this time, Red Child was enlightened by Guanyin and became her Good Fortune Child. Knowing that she might never see her child again, the Iron Fan Princess’s despair and rage significantly enhanced the Banana Palm Fan’s abilities.
All abilities of the Banana Palm Fan increased in duration and had their casting time reduced.
For example, fanning wind could maintain a strong control state for two seconds, while summoning rain would shorten the delay to instant casting.
This meant that enemies would be blinded by the Iron Fan Princess right from the start. If the Card Spirits weren’t careful with their positioning and clustered together, they could even be blinded as a group.
For some fast Spirit Card Masters, this was a staggering, almost terrifying, increase.
Never underestimate this few seconds’ difference. Adding even one more second of control on the field could lead to greater lethality.
Red Child’s synergy, on the other hand, enhanced the defense form’s damage reflection ability from fifty to eighty percent.
Their synergized abilities were even more noticeable. By any measure, these were cards more suitable for battle than the Moon Palace Card Set.
If Wen Jiang had to choose, she would even opt to give up Jade Rabbit Pestle Medicine and have Changer and Hou Yi team up with this family of three for team battles.
No Healing Card was needed; with the strength of these five cards, they could crush any opposition effortlessly.
The cards made by Wen Jiang had started to blur the lines of card roles.
Take Red Child, for example, capable of both attacking and defending—whether he was support or offense was enough to give everyone a headache.
Wen Jiang was pleased with herself, and Yan Moling was even more delighted.
After the card was made, Wen Jiang opened her eyes and felt a surge in her cultivation level. Zero Egg was ecstatic. "Host, you’ve left seclusion?"
"Yeah," Wen Jiang affirmed.
She asked softly, "Has anything happened outside recently?"
"Not much," Zero Egg replied, "except that the A-Rank Group from the Temple of the Gods, apart from Alva, has announced their retirement."
"Oh?" Wen Jiang hadn’t expected the Temple of the Gods to fold so easily. "Retiring after just one competition?"
Essentially, she had forced them into retirement. For any other competitor, Wen Jiang’s record would be enough to boast about for a lifetime.
"The competition in the Temple of the Gods is fierce," Zero Egg TSK-TSKed. "They don’t lack contestants like Yunxia does. Spirit Card Masters in Frost Moon have always been fiercely competitive. The S-Rank Group is okay, but there are so many in the A-Rank Group. If you don’t get good results, they bring in someone else. The high pressure leads to high rewards. In that regard, we in Yunxia are indeed no match for our rivals."
The contestants from Yunxia, although they would also get criticized, had a certain resigned attitude due to their long history of poor results, making the competition between Spirit Card Masters less intense.
While Frost Moon and the Sanctuary face greater pressure, making mistakes in one competition and getting replaced in the A-Rank Group is a common occurrence.
Unless one’s performance is stable, like Alva’s—no newcomer could match his level, so naturally, he wouldn’t be replaced.
Not just the Temple of the Gods, even Shaliye changed their coaching staff. Losing in such a manner wasn’t about showcasing how awesome Wen Jiang was. The embarrassment was very real.
Wen Jiang finished the card and sent the Bull Demon King and his family directly to Yan Moling.
Not long after, Yan Moling’s call came through. "You finished so quickly this time? It’s been less than half a month."
But her calling back so quickly obviously meant she had only seen Wen Jiang’s message and hadn’t yet gone to Copy the card or receive its abilities.
Mount Flower’s cards were about to go on sale, and Wen Jiang had managed to time her release perfectly.
Wen Jiang hummed affirmatively, replying without any embarrassment, "Making A-Rank Cards is faster now. I should be approaching S Rank."
"Ah?!" Yan Moling was quite shocked. "You can feel yourself about to reach S Rank?"
Although Wen Jiang had previously mentioned her impending S Rank, her accurately saying it was close still made Yan Moling feel it was unreal.
She had never seen anyone who could accurately sense their promotion to S Rank.
"Pretty much," Wen Jiang said. "I might need to make an SSR Card."
SSR Cards also have different levels. The fact that some Spirit Card Masters can reach UR Rank while others can only advance to S Rank demonstrates this.
Different strength cards must provide different levels of spiritual power feedback.
Wen Jiang’s promotion must be much harder than others.
After continuously making cards at high intensity for over ten days, the familiar feeling of fatigue set in. Wen Jiang yawned and said, "Remember the promise you made before. These cards should be displayed on the official website; they don’t have to be sold."
"No problem," Yan Moling replied. "Also, the matter you mentioned before has been agreed upon by the authorities. We will pay royalties to Mount Flower and obtain the Copying rights for the Four Heavenly Kings cards and Su Daji, but they will all be for military use."
Wen Jiang didn’t care. "Do with them as you please."
All she needed was the public display.