Elemental Card King.

Chapter 189 The Talented Navigator, Debuting in the Opening Match

All eight members of the national team, along with a coaching team of 27, were present.

After being informed, everyone set off.

This time, the mode of travel is not by air, but by large-scale spatial teleportation.

"set off!"

Vice President Yao Yi, dressed in a Taoist robe, exuded an air of otherworldly elegance. He waved his robe, and an eight-star card, [Immortal Travels in All Directions], appeared in his right hand.

The card's outline is black.

The card design features a landscape painting resembling a fairyland, with a faintly rendered Bagua diagram subtly embedded within.

At the moment of inspiration.

A vast expanse of ethereal mist, brimming with celestial energy, completely enveloped them, and a massive Bagua (Eight Trigrams) array appeared beneath their feet.

"Everyone, please be aware that you might feel a little dizzy."

After receiving the helpful reminder, Yao Yi immediately initiated this large-scale spatial teleportation.

hum!
A surge of spatial energy swept over everyone, sending them on a jump to the distant 'Water Kingdom' of Florence, a full 30,000 kilometers away.

After an unknown number of seconds, when everyone's vision returned to normal, they found that the ancient and elegant Wu Wang Pavilion was no longer in sight, but rather a scene of a vast blue sky and sea.

Looking out, one can see the main buildings of the city standing majestically on the vast blue waves.

On the water's surface, various aquatic summons occasionally roam leisurely, sometimes playing under the bridge piers, sometimes leaping out of the water and scattering shimmering droplets of water.

"Welcome to Florence, the Water City." A well-dressed gentleman in a suit removed his top hat and bowed with the utmost elegance.

Large-scale teleportations must be announced in advance; otherwise, they may trigger local threat identification, thus creating unnecessary diplomatic trouble.

After exchanging pleasantries, the local organizers of the first round of the qualifiers led the Xuanhuang Kingdom group to their accommodation.

Boom!
The clock tower chimed the hourly chime.

"What a beautiful water city."

Visitors can travel along the city's waterways by boat. The architecture of the water city cleverly blends classical and futuristic styles, and many historical buildings are covered with dynamic light curtains that can change their appearance according to the time, weather, or festivals.

not only that.

The artistic atmosphere is extremely strong.

On the pier, there were street artists painting, accordion players, and bands performing, while a bunch of sea otters on the water's edge clapped and cheered along.

"The Water City was one of the main places where the humanist revival movement broke out back then," Xia He introduced to Su Chen.

"The root of all evil is philosophy. Can paintbrushes and accordions kill enemies? They're practically castrating martial virtue." Cao Zheng was quite disdainful of this.

at the moment.

Bradley, whose painting techniques were unique, was ridiculed by many.

The prevailing atmosphere has also changed dramatically along with the global situation.

Various hobby classes that cannot be linked to actual card battles have faced a wave of closures.

Soon.

They arrived at the five-star Orion Hotel.

This is a magnificent palace in the typical Baroque style, surrounded by interwoven waterways, creating a classic atmosphere of a water palace.

"You're staying for 12 days."

Although the first round of the qualifiers only has five team matches, interspersed with some individual matches, it involves 54 national teams from across the entire Pangaea continent, making the entire competition a bit long.

Fortunately, the hotel also provides private meditation rooms to ensure that athletes have ample time to meditate on non-competition days.

"Unfortunately, other national teams are unwilling to play friendly matches before the main competition." A teacher who arrived at the venue a few days ago also shared this news after meeting up with the team.

"It seems no one wants to reveal their strength or leak information in advance."

Pei Xingwei is the most anxious member of the team.

In Cao Zheng's view, this burly man, who was nearly two meters tall, had the heart of a young girl.

but.

Duan Lianqing, a senior researcher who accompanied the team, had already begun analyzing the other five teams in the group.

“Most countries are not as vast and rich as our Xuanhuang Kingdom. In particular, some countries have very distinct national characteristics in their card decks. Through trade protection barriers, some card materials are only circulated locally.”

Through AI analysis and big data scraping, we can at least get a glimpse of the whole picture.

"The Kingdom of Florence is a typical example of making the most of water-based cards."

"The Papal States in the group will have very strong Order-type decks and Judgment Knight tactics."

"Our first match will be against the Kingdom of Alfonso, which is quite large. To be honest, I could only find an interview with their national champion through online information search, and he is a noble family."

Duan Lianqing also told the truth.

After all, most countries' real-world competitions are closed, and without any video recordings, the only option is to rely on the cumbersome method of online interviews.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Alfonso, once the absolute overlord of the western border of the Pangu Continent, took the lead in building a legendary and invincible fleet at the beginning of the Rise Era, and embarked on its first expedition to the outer planes.

Simultaneously.

There was also bad news that everyone had to face: Xuanhuang Kingdom had been assigned to Group A, and they would be the ones to play the opening match of the tournament.

Because the arena was closed off, players were not allowed to enter and use it before the start of the competition. Therefore, everyone could only familiarize themselves with the environment by looking at the 3D preview map.

"We'll meet force with force, and we'll deal with water with earth. Whatever it is, we'll deal with it." Cao Zheng still appeared to be in high spirits.

Su Chen had already looked at the first piece of information that had been handed to him, which mainly concerned the Alfonso Kingdom's singles champion.

Ovi Emerson, a Tarot deck, has the Card Master talent 'Master of Secrets', which currently grants Contract cards two secret variations: 'Repeat' and 'Resonance'.

The former allows released cards to take effect again; for example, it can normally summon a summoning card twice at once.

The latter can create a subtle resonance between the released contracts, achieving a certain synchronous amplification effect.

"This guy's background is truly legendary." Qi Hanhai also found the other party's information online.

"The line of Duke Emerson was on the verge of extinction, but they managed to find a distant cousin in the family tree and let this distant orphan inherit the title of duke."

Even this young master from a prestigious family in Jiangnan, with a history spanning thousands of years, couldn't help but sigh, "Not only that, the other party's talent is completely blank in the past card history. It is a brand new talent that has just been born, and currently only he has mastered it."

Card Masters' talents are also increasing day by day. In the current glorious era alone, tens of thousands of different talents have emerged compared to the previous era.

Even without geneticists in the past, there was a general consensus that a child's card-playing talent was largely related to the parents' talent and the card deck they used.

Due to the influence of the new contract card deck, the talents of newborn children also have a considerable chance of undergoing abnormal changes.

Those card players with unprecedented talent and the potential to reach the legendary level or above are given a prestigious title by the outside world – “Talent Navigator”.

This not only acknowledges their unique and groundbreaking genetic contributions but also expresses anticipation for their continued exploration of the unknown. This is truly extraordinary, considering that the vast majority of those with exceptional talent may not ultimately reach the level of a legendary card master.

"I heard that the alliance will also provide special subsidies for 'Navigators'," Qi Hanhai asked curiously.

"real."

Duan Lianqing smiled and said, "After all, the new gene lottery is still worth the league's attention."

"Damn it, what kind of 'life winner' panel is this?" Judge Gao Jun was somewhat sullen. As the former number one player of the capital team and now the eighth player of the national team, he harbored some resentment in his heart.

In other words.

Their first match will be against a national team led by such a monster.

What's outrageous is that their second battle will be against the Papal States, which is no pushover either.

On the contrary, the other side's tactics are extremely disgusting, and they should be prepared to be silenced on a large scale.

As for the third team match, it will be against the host country. Fighting on someone else's home turf will certainly not be an easy task.

"Only victory is allowed; defeat is not permitted."

"Only the top two teams out of the six teams in the group can advance. If we lose two games in a row, we will basically be eliminated in the first round. So you need to be prepared that every team match is your last."

Being in the strange and unusual room, and facing such a brutal competition system, they cannot afford to be careless.

The stern deputy team leader, Lin, emphasized: "The opening match is the day after tomorrow. Don't think about anything else these two days. Just focus on your training and group practice. As long as you perform at your best, you will definitely win."

"You're going to be the first to fight again," Teacher He Yun said with a smile, looking at the boy beside her.

Su Chen was already used to it.

In the national competition, starting from the top 32, Su Chen was already used to his first appearance in almost every stage of the knockout rounds.

the other side.

In the same hotel.

In the locker room where Alfonso plays for the national team.

They also had an instructor who had prepared an intelligence report on the Xuanhuang Kingdom in advance, which mainly consisted of news about the Xuanhuang Kingdom's national championship.

“Ovi, your opponent is an elemental master, which is indeed rare, but not as unique as you,” a team member said.

"Rarity does not equate to strength."

Duke Ovi, with his blond hair, appeared very modest: "In the upcoming team and individual competitions, we will be facing Su Chen, so I will have to trouble you, teacher, to help me gather some information."

The teacher standing nearby nodded, and said with a sense of honor, "You flatter me. It's just my duty."

It must be said that Ovie Emerson, who inherited the title at a young age, was not arrogant at all. On the contrary, he was very polite and did not allow people to call him Duke in private conversations.

This demeanor alone is enough to make people feel like they are bathed in a spring breeze and to be completely impressed.

Whether they were sons of noble families or geniuses from humble backgrounds, everyone was united and there were no barriers between them.

"This year, we should strive for good results."

the day after tomorrow.

May 3rd, sunny.

8 points.

The premier azure arena in the water city has officially opened to the public.

This is a dreamlike place with crystal-clear blue waters, like a dazzling pearl on the sea, radiating a mesmerizing glow.

Because the venue had been closed to the public and no contestants had the opportunity to explore it in person, contestants from other groups also arrived today, which is not a competition day.

"Why are there ordinary people here?" Someone noticed this, because each national team has official team uniforms and athlete badges, while these simply dressed people are even wearing spectator badges.

"Good heavens, there are even people wearing media passes." Even more outrageous, people have also noticed new changes.

Some countries are even more stringent than Xuanhuang in enforcing the ban on underage card game competitions. Therefore, most national tournaments are held behind closed doors, and any live recording is prohibited.

now.

Opening the venue to certain members of the public with valid identification and allowing some journalists to enter is an unprecedented change.

"This is the future pillar of the alliance's military strength, so of course we need to promote it positively." Once they realized this, everyone suddenly understood.

Compared to this minor change, more people are concerned about the battlefield.

"Depend on!"

"It's even more outrageous than the 3D terrain preview."

In the center of the venue, numerous islands float above a vast expanse of water, bathed in sunlight, shimmering and filled with surging moisture.

Above this open dome, a water-like screen circles in all directions, while VIP stands, which are not connected, float in the air as if suspended in zero gravity.

"There are many places to land in the water, at least 62 islands of varying sizes, but the problem is that the deepest part of the water can reach 350 meters. If someone dives deep and drags the time out to half an hour, the match will be forced to a draw."

Many people have realized this.

Florence, the "Land of Water," as the host country, naturally has a great advantage in the water battlefield. However, without having to face the opponent, how to secure a draw and get a point has become a very profound question.

When the team is at a disadvantage, learning how to use the water environment to secure a draw has become an essential skill for many national teams.

For example, in Deep Dive Hide-and-Seek, whether relying on water-type talents or using illusions to become invisible, you can make good use of the rules to drag out a draw.

at this time.

The members of the Xuanhuang national team have already arrived at the preparation room.

"The opening match must be played beautifully, Su Chen. As an elemental master, the water area is your home ground. As the captain, you should always be prepared to lead the team with the mindset of a strong leader." Deputy team leader Lin played the role of a strict teacher as always.

Despite this extremely strict attitude, no one showed the slightest sign of relaxation.

As the preview showed, they can only win, not lose, in this opening match.

Because the host team they faced in the third match would have a significant home advantage, some teachers, who weren't blindly optimistic, subconsciously assumed they would lose after assessing the venue.

In this group of death, losing two matches would inevitably mean elimination in the first round of qualifiers.

"If we lose, I'll swim all the way back to Xuanhuang Kingdom from the Starry Sea," Cao Zheng declared on the spot.

"Having consumed so many national resources, I also..." Pei Xingwei was about to make a righteous statement when Qi Hanhai and Gao Jun stepped forward and covered his mouth.

Please, you'd better shut up with your jinxed mouth.

Seeing this, many people smiled, and the slightly somber atmosphere was lightened considerably.

When it was 8:20, the organizers came to signal them to enter. Led by their captain, Su Chen, the group of people wearing red national team jerseys walked out of the preparation room.

(End of this chapter)