The next day arrived quickly.
Standing at the podium, Ms. Song Qian placed slips of paper—each with the name of one of the twelve advanced class students—into a sealed box.
After giving it a shake, she drew two slips."Now, I will announce the names of the first two students for the opening match."
She slowly unfolded the papers, a smile appearing on her face."Russell versus Lin Yue."
Russell raised an eyebrow in surprise.Didn't expect to go first.
The teachers and students of the advanced class made their way to Hu City First High's specially-designed battle arena.
From across the arena, Lin Yue bowed slightly and said, "Russell, I look forward to our match."
With those words, a beast with a bull's head and a human body wielding a steel blade materialized before him.
"A Bull-Head?" Russell looked at the card with mild surprise, but then shook his head."If it were [Soul Guide – Bullhead], it wouldn't be just a Blue-rarity Black Iron-tier card."
That left two possibilities.Either it was a generic monster with a bull's head, or it was a poorly-constructed version of Bullhead due to a lack of story depth and low-quality materials.
Russell leaned toward the former.
Cards like that—low-quality monsters created from self-written stories—usually didn't have special abilities.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni appeared instantly in front of Russell.
"I'll leave this to you, Yoriichi."
Yoriichi gave a silent nod.
To this day, Russell still didn't know if Yoriichi couldn't speak or simply didn't want to.
On the sidelines, Jiang Nanxi and Du Heng both narrowed their eyes at the sight.It was their first time seeing Russell's card.
In the arena, Yoriichi took a deep breath—and in the blink of an eye, charged straight toward the bull-headed monster.
The gap between them closed fast.
Maybe it was because of the card's low rarity, or maybe because it was a monster with limited intelligence, but the bull creature only reacted when Yoriichi was already in front of it.
Clang!
The clash of steel sent crimson sparks flying through the air, catching the eyes of the students and teachers watching.
But then came a startled gasp from Lin Yue.
Yoriichi had abruptly given up the power struggle. He sidestepped, fell back a step, and in that brief moment when the bull-headed monster lost its balance—he ducked low and swept around to its flank.
With a blade wrapped in flames, he sliced cleanly through the monster's neck.
Behind it, Yoriichi calmly sheathed his sword, his back already turned.
The bull-headed monster—its body and head now separate—slowly faded into particles and vanished.
"Russell wins!" Ms. Song Qian announced loudly from the sidelines, unable to hide the excitement on her face.
Russell's performance had far exceeded her expectations. If not limited by the quality of his materials, his first card might have reached Gold rarity outright.
Principal Xie's instincts had been spot-on. Russell was absolutely worth grooming as one of Hu City First High's star candidates.
Maybe this year's Four-School Tournament in Ning'an District wouldn't be out of reach after all.
On the sidelines, Jiang Nanxi watched the match with a furrowed brow.
It was hard to judge Yoriichi's abilities from just one fight. All she could tell was that, even among Purple-rarity Black Iron cards, this one was top-tier.
She turned to Du Heng and asked, "So? Confident?"
Du Heng raised an eyebrow and grinned."If it's Russell… he might be tricky."
"Are you going to lose?"
"I'll win."
"Good thing it's not Red-Hair. That might've dragged on until the end of days."
Back in the arena, Russell watched Du Heng summon a zombie covered in mossy green hair and muttered in his heart:That thing again.
To be fair, Du Heng's Green Zombie was strong. Just from observation, Russell could already tell it had at least one body-enhancement ability.
As for more? Impossible to say—the opponent was too weak.
The second Du Heng's opponent summoned their card, the Green Zombie had already slammed it into the dirt. Moments later, it vanished into thin air.
"Hahaha! Pathetic. You're too weak to even amuse me!" Du Heng laughed in the middle of the arena."And you got into the advanced class?"
His opponent's face went pale with embarrassment.
Ms. Song Qian frowned on the sidelines.Du Heng was taking it too far. They were classmates, not bitter enemies—there was no need for such venom.
"Du Heng's attitude is going to bite him someday," Jiang Nanxi muttered, shaking her head.
Russell nodded in agreement, then added casually,"But not our problem. We're not his parents."
Maybe Du Heng would get burned eventually—but what did that have to do with him?
"Next match: Jiang Nanxi versus Xu Jin!" Ms. Song Qian called out.
"Your turn. Good luck." Russell turned to Jiang Nanxi.
She smiled as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear."Thanks."
Then she turned and walked toward the arena.
"What were you and Jiang Nanxi talking about just now?" Du Heng plopped down beside Russell without invitation.
He had noticed his two main "targets of interest" chatting together during the previous match.
Scooting away slightly, Russell replied with a sincere look in his eyes,"Oh, nothing. Just saying how strong you are. We're not sure we can beat you."
Du Heng, of course, heard the sarcasm."Tch. Big mouth. I hope you're just as smug once we're on the battlefield."
Russell sighed in his heart.Man, this kid's got some serious anger issues.
He didn't bother replying and turned his attention back to the arena.
But what he saw made him blink in confusion.
Jiang Nanxi's opponent's card was just… standing there. Staring off into space like it was hypnotized.
Meanwhile, her Three-Tailed Fox was lazily strolling up beside it.
With one graceful swipe of its claw, the match was over.
Russell frowned slightly."An illusion technique?"
His mind wandered for a moment.I wonder—who'd win in a genjutsu duel? Uchiha Itachi or that fox?
In the following round, Russell, Du Heng, and Jiang Nanxi still didn't face each other.
All three of their opponents crumbled instantly.
At this rate, the three of them were light-years ahead of the rest of the advanced class.
If no one had a sudden breakthrough, they'd clearly be the ones representing the school in the Four-School Tournament next month.
That made Russell suspicious—was Ms. Song Qian rigging the brackets?
But he quickly laughed at himself.This was only the first round. And besides, if anyone didn't like their rank, they were allowed to challenge the person above them.
Only once per week, of course. Otherwise, no one would get anything done in class.
Clap clap.
Ms. Song Qian clapped her hands to gather attention."Since we're down to Russell, Du Heng, and Jiang Nanxi, one of you will get a bye and go straight to the final round."
Technically, it would've made more sense for the bye to go to the loser of the next match—but with the 24-hour cooldown on destroyed cards, that wasn't practical.
Glancing at the slip in her hand, Ms. Song Qian announced:
"The next match is—"