San Wenzhou

Chapter 67: Taking Stock of the Spoils

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Taking Stock of the Spoils


Shen Sui thought Alice was getting a bit carried away.


Clearly, she only had the strength of a third-level Mage, yet she had the audacity to consider taking someone else’s Divine Format.


And the audacity, ironically, was granted by him.


This was exceedingly detrimental for Alice’s growth; it was evident from how she had experienced several major events but remained only a third-level in strength.


For Shen Sui, helping Alice gradually grow was in his best interest. With each of Alice’s advancements, she would gain a new form; from level one to fifteen, that was a guaranteed fifteen Transformation Cards, not to mention Alice had already given him four Form Cards.


Combined with some other Command Soul Cards effecting Transformation Cards, this meant Shen Sui basically had an extra deck of at least fifteen cards, and this extra deck could never become Forbidden Cards, which was most tempting for Shen Sui.


And a stronger Alice, once she had some means of self-preservation, would allow Shen Sui to relax a little in reality, not having to open the Dueling Device every time to see dozens of Alice’s death notices.


Shen Sui’s protection for Alice might be invincible, but it wasn’t truly her own. Compared to correcting her mindset and giving her a stronger determination to improve, defeating Balgas was no problem for Shen Sui.


Even with Alice as a burden, Shen Sui’s current max-level attributes could easily crush Balgas with one hand.


Being one of the rare Gods on the Dawn Continent who ascended through physical prowess, Balgas’s domain had an absolute Forbidden Demon effect, preventing others from beating him by kiting, and also nullifying Shen Sui’s Magic protection for Alice. But Shen Sui had no concerns about this; Magic protection was merely the most convenient. If it really came to confronting Balgas, he only needed to feed Alice one Invincibility Potion that immobilized her but made her invincible for ten minutes.


Ten minutes would be enough for Shen Sui to pummel the War God to death with his fists.


Let Alice go to the War God Temple; provoking the War God was also not an issue.


Shen Sui intended to use this opportunity to pretend in front of Alice as if being defeated by the War God, shattering the established fact that the Twilight Bishop was invincible, making her realize that Claude is currently heavily injured, and she couldn’t exploit Claude’s protection to run rampant on the Dawn Continent; she must improve her own strength.


As for finding a Divine Format to call upon Qishala, hasn’t the Dawn Continent’s deities already begun to recover? While Alice wasn’t looking, he could easily kill one.


Of course, such failure had to have build-up, or it would be too abrupt.


Thus, Shen Sui started the guiding performance by inputting text.


[You attempt to stop Alice’s decision and recount your current state.]


[Due to the fierce battle with the God of Sin, your Spirit is now in a terrible condition, and even absorbing the Evil God’s power can’t make up for the previous damage, leaving you powerless against the War God Balgas.]


[Alice expressed confusion: "Wasn’t the God of Sin defeated in a second?"]


["In that second, we went through thousands of layers of strategic battles, which consumed my Spirit tremendously!" You gave adequate reasoning, and as you spoke, you gently touched Qishala on your neck with a hint of sorrow in your tone, "However, if it is to call back Qishala, I can give it a try."]


[Alice worried about your health: "Let’s not force it, okay?"]


[You insisted nonetheless.]


[Alice, carrying a slight worry, decided to continue heading to the Temple of Balgas.]


Lingyi did not belong to this world. After carrying the party away from the troublesome region of Paiyiga City, it descended as if drained.


Oshana had left midway, returning to the main force expedition against the Evil God. She needed to perform necessary disguises to ensure that this descendant of Baris wouldn’t end up on the pyre due to exposure. Shen Sui wrapped her in an impenetrable lie buff to ensure her smooth passage through Thunder and Daylight Church reviews.


And there was still a long way to go from here to Balgas’s Temple.


Shen Sui glanced up at the sky and found that the day had dawned.


In a moment of mental laxity, he felt the tide of fatigue washing over him, but there was still an extremely crucial duel awaiting him today; he had to perk up.


He checked the time; it was already five-thirty.


He drew back the curtains, and although the sun wasn’t up yet, the world was already exceptionally bright. A few birds took advantage of the cool morning to spread their wings, leisurely standing atop rooftops chirping away.


It was already this time; going back to sleep was rather pointless.


Shen Sui opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of black coffee, and picked up a pack of biscuits. After confirming that he had earned recognition for a sanctioned duel with top rank on the points leaderboard, he snacked while reviewing his gains this time.


New form: [Enchanting Witch Hozerville].


Spell Cards: [Toll], [Dragon Cancer], [Give Me Money], [Strategic Planning], [Deceit]...


Follower Card: [Knight of Daylight Oshana].


Event Card: [Error War].


All these were cards that had already been granted, excluding those like [Star Abyss White Dragon Qishala] which were unobtainable due to incompletion.


Lingyi’s Follower Card wasn’t acquired either, since Shen Sui had no direct relationship with her; Alice and her haven’t increased their affection enough. Gaining Lingyi’s Follower Card directly might have to wait until Qishala’s full return, where the relation through the Soul Card Qishala could allow for acquisition.


The sudden increase in cards temporarily put Shen Sui into a dilemma of choice.


The upcoming sanctioned duel was crucial for his career planning; only through the referee’s recognition could he gain qualification for the Ranking Tournament.


Shen Sui fiddled with his deck.


With Alice’s Life Card production, his supply of Blank Cards was certainly insufficient. Anyway, with the Chosen Cup’s champion purse still abundant, he could replenish his Blank Cards after finishing the sanctioned duel tomorrow.


And having cards necessitated better sales channels.


Official stores were out of the question; their price caps were too harsh.


Hmm, when Bu Pei returns from Jing City, he could ask about other channels for selling Life Cards. As someone procuring Forbidden Cards, he should know some unique channels; so long as it doesn’t break the law, he could avoid sending him in.


Shen Sui looked at the deck in his hand, a habit when he fell deep into thought.


He needed to clarify the composition of his deck for today’s sanctioned duel.


Actually, given his strength, earning the Dueling Coach’s acknowledgment of his prowess wouldn’t require much effort.


But Shen Sui wanted more than just recognition; he wanted to win.


If there is no victory at heart, the duel is meaningless.