My Stubborn Soul Card Follower

"So, what is this thing?"

After receiving a message from Xinyuan Tanchun, Shen Sui went to an empty classroom in the teaching building and saw Xinyuan Tanchun staring miserably at the ball of yarn in his hand.

"A puppet," Xinyuan Tanchun replied. "Isabella said that if I can make a decent puppet, she'll help me get some Life Cards on the Dawn Continent."

"Hmm... I think you're still quite far from that goal," Shen Sui commented after casting a glance at the mysterious object in Xinyuan Tanchun's hand.

"Do you think I could buy a handmade puppet and pretend it's my own? That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"You'd better not try that," Shen Sui said, sitting down in front of Xinyuan Tanchun. "Isabella would sense it."

Shen Sui had more or less guessed what Isabella wanted to do.

Isabella, lacking the special abilities of Qishala, had to find a vessel to invade reality, and it had to be handmade through her invasion channel.

Isabella would know immediately if it wasn't made by Xinyuan Tanchun himself.

Of course, Isabella could make things much simpler for herself by directly occupying Xinyuan Tanchun's body, like Lin Zhen did, to complete her descent into reality.

She didn't do so, which made Shen Sui very happy.

Although he had no feelings for Xinyuan Tanchun, he considered him a good friend and didn't want to see him erased of his personality and soul, becoming Isabella's puppet shell.

"Forget it! Let's not talk about this," Xinyuan Tanchun said, abandoning the object on the desk and smiling at Shen Sui. "Your duel with An Hai caused quite a stir! Everyone at the academy is speculating about who An Hai was dueling with that day."

During the duel, many people tried to reach the rooftop where it occurred to watch up close.

Usually, seeing a high-level duel involving An Hai in person would cost thousands for a front-row ticket.

Unfortunately, this duel was private, and An Hai didn't want outsiders to know its purpose, so the An Family's security staff sealed off the entire teaching building.

In compensation for using the venue, An Hai made a generous donation to Tianyi Academy.

"So, did you end up winning?" Xinyuan Tanchun asked curiously.

"Won," Shen Sui answered succinctly, knowing he could rely on Xinyuan Tanchun not to spread the word.

Xinyuan Tanchun playfully punched Shen Sui's chest, seemingly even happier than Shen Sui himself: "That's so like you, Shen Sui! Defeating a professional level-eight Life Card Master."

"I guess I was lucky this time," Shen Sui acknowledged, fully aware of his own deck-building limitations and not yet consistently able to beat An Hai.

Simultaneously, the duel made Shen Sui appreciate Fairy Rose even more.

However, unlike before, the resistance and ability to block opponent Follower abilities now seemed secondary to him.

If it weren't for the Sacrificial Puppet effect that allowed Shen Sui to waive the cost of [In the Name of God], he wouldn't have had enough resources to counter An Hai.

An Hai's understanding of resource management in the duel was worth Shen Sui's study.

Special summoning Followers → freeing up resources by releasing specially summoned Followers, was a fascinating mechanism, optimizing a deck setup with limited resources. If he wanted similar field control in the future, he needed a similar Follower in his deck.

Meanwhile, under tournament rules, [Fairy Rose · Ji Yue] demonstrated its strength. If An Hai acquired this card, he wouldn't have any worries about his field-control deck, as Follower Card effects could add marks to Fairy Rose repeatedly. Even if Shen Sui's deck wasn't a [Rose] deck, one rotation could stack up five or six marks on Fairy Rose, which could then be exchanged for Soul Points, facilitating another turn.

"That proves you have the potential," Xinyuan Tanchun remarked. "All it takes now is time."

"However," Xinyuan Tanchun paused, recalling the reason An Hai had challenged Shen Sui, "the [Fairy Rose · Ji Yue] card is crucial to the An Family's reputation. Though An Hai gave up, the family might still come for you."

"But the An Family is the most orthodox among dueling families, always resolving issues through Life Card Master methods. If they come for you, it will only be through a duel."

Xinyuan Tanchun pondered, "An Yang already lost to you in a match, and you recently defeated An Hai. The next to trouble you might be that woman."

"So," Shen Sui couldn't help himself, "who exactly is that woman?"

"An Wei..." Xinyuan Tanchun shivered involuntarily, "the eldest daughter of the An Family."

"Huh? Didn't you say the An Family only has two brothers in this generation?"

"When did I say that?" Xinyuan Tanchun retorted. "The An Family has three: the men are Hai and Yang, and the woman is called Rose, which is quite well-known. How come you don't know this?"

So why three, shouldn't there be an An Qiang too?

"Okay, I admit I don't care about these things," Shen Sui shrugged.

"Let's talk about the Wu Yue Cup," Xinyuan Tanchun stated his main objective, "The semifinals are about to start. Here's the data I've gathered on the semifinalists for you to look at."

Ah, judging by the time, it seems like it's time to return to Zuili City.

Might as well visit Miss Lin too.

-----------------

Modu International Airport.

Wang Ming stood beside An Hai, watching the aircraft just landed on the runway.

Behind him, blending with the travelers, were elite members of the Modu Exploration Bureau.

Looking at Wang Ming's tense face, An Hai sneered, "Seems that guy's putting a lot of pressure on you, huh? This setup could almost match the fight against the Suffering Poetry Society. Isn't that unnecessary? No matter how much she likes to stir up trouble, she's just a regular Life Card Master."

"You're calling someone who challenged the entire Lingnan Exploration Bureau and took all the cards from their library a regular Life Card Master?" Wang Ming eyed An Hai.

An Hai raised his head and said, "Winning cards through duels fairly; is that against the rules? How can you call that stealing?"

Wang Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Most duels win one or two cards, but this little witch cleared out an entire regional Exploration Bureau's reserves!

Director Zhang of the Huaxia Exploration Bureau had planned to visit Modu to oversee the clearing of the Suffering Poetry Society members, but upon hearing that An Wei, the little witch, was coming, he immediately canceled his trip, fearing she might drag him into a duel and target the Huaxia Exploration Bureau's main card library.

"So, what's your sister coming for this time? It's not for Fairy Rose, is it?"

An Hai crossed his arms:

"At least officially, she's here as a special guest to attend the Wu Yue Cup."