My exclusive card pool

Chapter 180 Upper-Level Combat Simulation
A realization flashed in Wang Xi's eyes.

It turned out to be the case.

“Brother Li, I remember Chairman Wei also has the title of ‘Mountain Guardian General,’ does the old man count as one too—”

He then asked.

Li Xingduan opened his mouth, but before he could explain, Jiang Tianhao chuckled and joined the conversation:

“I’m also called ‘Thunder Hammer’.”

"Ha ha……"

Luo Yan couldn't help but laugh.

"The nickname 'Lao Jiang' was given to us by the brothers when we saw you smashing the 'Golden-Nosed Yeti' in the Disaster Core!"

“I don’t like it.” Jiang Tianhao crossed his thick arms and shook his head, saying, “It’s not as good as the ‘Heaven Collapses and Earth Shatters Purple Gold Hammer’.”

"..."

Ma Yu adjusted his glasses and said:
"Strictly speaking, only those who have been dually certified by the Supreme Overlook Bureau and the Brave Association Headquarters, and whose names are entered into the 'Mountain and Sea Register', can be called 'Title Braves'."

He paused, his voice becoming much softer.

"Although Elder Wei is highly respected, but..."

The words were not finished, but the meaning was already clear.

Wang Xi nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "And who is this 'Grand Emperor' of Gucheng?"

He had never heard of these things before, presumably because he was not at a high enough level to access more advanced information.

You'll find out soon enough.

Li Xingduan smiled mysteriously.

"The practical simulation involves randomly selecting one-on-one opponents from the mirror images of the twenty-seven 'Taiyu' masters of the Southern Continent. Someone will inevitably encounter him."

Is "Taichi Taiyu" very strong?

In the group, a female freelancer asked curiously.

Li Xingduan glanced at her and nodded: "Impressive! Even within the entire Southern Continent's 'Taiyu' region, she could rank in the top ten!"

"Great!"

Everyone was amazed.

Wang Xi, being relatively inexperienced, had not been exposed to many things, so he took the opportunity to ask Li Xingduan for advice on precautions for practical simulations.

"These mirror images actually all come from a single wild card."

Li Xingduan said with a smile.

Everyone was surprised, having never heard of this before, and they all perked up their ears.

Li Xingduan didn't keep them in suspense, explaining, "It's said to be an extremely high-quality wild card called 'Magic Mirror,' derived from the 'Lady Mirror' maze of the 8 of Spades in the fairy tale series."

"It can retain the information of the person looking in the mirror, forming a mirror image with 30% of the original owner's strength."

"And what you need to do is survive as long as possible in the combat simulation..."

Jiang Tianhao's eyes blazed with fighting spirit and anticipation: "To be able to fight against such a powerful figure would be the best I could ever hope for. Even if it's just a mirror image, I will give it my all!"

"Is Lao Jiang confident he can hold out for two minutes?"

Luo Yan asked.

Jiang Tianhao was full of confidence, but he paused before speaking, glancing at Luo Yan: "Try your best."

He almost fell for the old man's trick.

What if you make a boastful promise, only to be instantly defeated upon entering? Wouldn't that be a slap in your own face?

"Finally, I'll give you one last piece of advice."

As someone with experience, Li Xingduan knew the ins and outs of it very well. He lowered his voice and said:

"The key to real-world simulation lies in gaining the 'approval' of the mirror image."

"Approval?" Zheng Xian asked doubtfully.

“Good.” Li Xingdian nodded. “Besides maximizing your survival time, we must also make full use of your strengths.”

Ma Yu adjusted his glasses: "Is there any particular reason behind this?"

“The mirror will judge you based on two criteria.”

Li Xingduan held up two fingers.

"First, the duration of persistence; second, the qualities demonstrated."

"Like an interviewer?" Gu Yuanshan raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty much." Li Xingduan smiled and said, "If you are particularly outstanding in a certain aspect, such as Jiang Tianhao's explosiveness, Wang Xi's blocking and defense, or Ma Yu's puppet control and micro-management, then Mirror will be more likely to recognize you."

"I see."

Everyone nodded, their faces showing understanding.

“There’s no death in combat simulations.” Li Xingduan looked around at everyone. “This is a performance to showcase yourselves; show off your best skills.”

"it is good!"

The group exchanged knowing smiles, already understanding the situation.

The number of simulation rooms was limited, and we had to wait a while before a room became available.

Finally, it was the Gucheng team's turn to begin the assessment.

The first one to enter was Jiang Tianhao, who was full of fighting spirit.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Once the door is closed, the indicator light above changes from green to red, indicating "In live-fire simulation".

Everyone waited patiently.

Time passed quickly, and two minutes went by.

Luo Yan raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Lao Jiang is impressive... Could it be that he just got lucky and ran into the bottom-ranked 'Tai Yu'?"

Even if it's at the bottom, it's still "Taiyu".

Gu Yuanshan said irritably.

The two sides are vastly different in strength, so whether they finish at the bottom or not makes no difference.

With nearly three minutes remaining, the indicator light finally turned from red to green, displaying "Simulation over".

With a click, the door opened.

Jiang Tianhao practically floated out of the water; he swayed and was caught by Luo Yan. Everyone saw that he was covered in sweat and his face was pale.

"How is it?" his good friend Luo Yan asked with concern.

“Very strong, extremely strong…” Jiang Tianhao took a deep breath, a hint of lingering fear flashing in his eyes. “I was completely overwhelmed the whole time, with almost no chance to fight back. In the end, I didn’t even see clearly before the willow branch pierced my heart.”

“The pain and the feeling before death were very real and very terrifying.” Jiang Tianhao used the word “very” three times in a row.

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other in surprise.

Just then, a projected image appeared on the wall by the door—a long-haired woman wearing a dark green dress with gold trim, who had a serious expression.

Beside her, there was a line of text that revealed her identity: "Yu Cheng Tai Yu · Zhi Liu Nu Lü Zhi Hui".

"Wow!" Luo Yan exclaimed in surprise. "Lao Jiang's opponent is actually a mirror image of 'Yu Cheng Tai Yu'!"

Yucheng enjoys a high reputation in the Southern Continent, second only to the capital city of Lucheng. It belongs to the first tier of major cities along with Lingcheng and Hongcheng, and is home to many powerful figures.

As the "Grand Master" of this city, his strength is beyond doubt. Jiang Tianhao's ability to withstand his mirror image for three minutes is already astonishing and has amazed everyone.

"Jiang Tianhao, the brave warrior of Gucheng, has good courage and decent physical fitness. His explosive power is also among the best of the five-star warriors."

Lü Zhihui offered her comments in a calm tone.

"But you'll be exhausted after those three moves. You're too slow and lack stamina. I suggest keeping your main attack strategy the same, adding two movement cards to improve mobility, and pairing them with continuous recovery skill cards to boost your endurance."

She raised her chin: "Barely passable, you've passed."

After saying that, Lü Zhihui's projection flickered and disappeared.

drip.

Jiang Tianhao's photo, number, and information then appeared on the wall projection, with a concluding line at the bottom:
"Based on his overall performance in the combat simulation and the recommendation of 'Yu Cheng Tai Yu · Zhi Liu Nu' Lü Zhihui, Gu Cheng Yong Zhe Jiang Tianhao is hereby awarded a 'High-Rank One-Star' certificate."

After hearing the evaluation, everyone felt it was spot on.

Jiang Tianhao nodded thoughtfully.

"A great start!" Li Xingduan smiled and patted Jiang Tianhao on the shoulder. "Congratulations on passing the assessment and officially becoming a 'High-Ranking' Warrior."

"Not bad, Jiang!" Luo Yan punched Jiang Tianhao and winked. "Now your brothers in Defense Team No. 4 have something to brag about!"

"You'd better pass too." Jiang Tianhao wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced at Luo Yan. "Otherwise, you'll be in for a world of hurt when you get back."

People gathered around to offer their congratulations, creating a lively atmosphere.

"Who's next?" Li Xingduan asked, looking around at everyone.

"Then I'll do it!" Luo Yan stepped forward, rubbing his hands together and taking a deep breath.

"Keep it up!" the crowd cheered him on.

Luo Yan nodded, pushed open the door to the combat simulation room, and went inside.

...

...

As expected, Luo Yan passed the assessment smoothly.

His mirror image opponent was Song Wei, the "Liancheng Taiyu Water Dragon Envoy," a powerful individual with a strong focus on magic.

Luo Yan fought him for two and a half minutes before being cut in half by a water-flowing guillotine that spanned more than ten meters.

However, in the final review session, Song Wei gave a high evaluation, believing that Luo Yan had the demeanor of a strong player, was good at both offense and defense, and had excellent potential.

He will also be awarded a "Superior One-Star" certificate.

After that, the members of the Gucheng team entered the combat simulation room one by one to undergo assessment.

Gu Yuanshan, Zheng Xian, and Ma Yu passed the test one after another, but the pass rate for others was not high, and nine people were eliminated.

The "promotion" assessment is ultimately an elite selection process. If the performance is too mediocre, even if you make the list, you may still not receive the certificate.

Wang Xi deliberately waited until the very end.

At this time, the assessments of the Yucheng team and the other two teams were basically over. They originally planned to leave, but when they passed by this place and saw that the genius from Gucheng was about to conduct a practical simulation, they all stopped in tacit agreement.

It seemed they wanted to see how he would perform.

Xia Yuexia, a tall woman with short hair, was also present. She looked curious and observed quietly.

"Yuexia, I've inquired around." A slightly plump woman leaned closer and whispered, "The Gucheng team is still the same as always, not doing very well..."

She shook her head.

"Of the 19 people who took the assessment, only 10 passed, and all of them were at the 'Top-Tier One-Star' level."

Xia Yuexia nodded gently, without saying anything.

This year, 29 people from her Yucheng team participated in the assessment, 18 passed, and 2 people received the "Upper Two-Star" certificate, and she was one of them.

“That young man named Wang Xi is a year younger than you, and he has already cultivated five marks.”

"It's a slightly plump woman," she sighed.

"In recent years, apart from team leader Li Xingduan, Gucheng hasn't produced any outstanding newcomers... Do you think he can achieve 'Upper-Rank Two Star'?"

"It's hard to say." Xia Yuexia shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. "But I think his performance won't be bad."

"So sure?" The slightly plump woman looked somewhat surprised. "Good talent doesn't necessarily mean strong combat ability. How much combat experience can someone so young have... Facing the mirror images of the 'Taiyu,' even veteran five-stars would find it difficult to withstand that kind of pressure."

"Intuition," Xia Yuexia smiled.

The surrounding chatter rose and fell, and the people of Gucheng heard it clearly, exchanging glances with each other.

Unbeknownst to many, Wang Xi had become Gu Cheng's last remaining source of pride. If he performed poorly, Gu Cheng would likely become a laughingstock in the Southern Continent's warrior circle, ridiculed for a long time.

This is supposed to be genius?
Tsk.

Wang Xi then stepped out from the crowd.

"Go for it, little brother!" Gu Yuanshan smiled charmingly and raised her fist in a gesture of encouragement.

Jiang Tianhao said in a deep voice, "Don't be nervous, just do your best."

nervous?

Wang Xi wasn't nervous at all; on the contrary, she was somewhat looking forward to it.

Li Xingduan gave him a trusting look and didn't say much. The other members of the Gucheng team, whether they passed the test or not, all offered their encouragement.

Amidst the expectant or skeptical gazes of the crowd, Wang Xi pushed open the door to the combat simulation room.

The indicator light turned from green to red, signaling the official start of the assessment.

The room was empty, with white walls on all four sides.

In the center stands a high-tech metal chair covered with various wires, with twelve cylindrical coil tubes hanging on either side.

The first step is still a red light scan to confirm identity.

Following the indifferent, mechanical voice, Wang Xi then sat down in the chair.

hum-

A hemispherical, helmet-like metal device rose from behind the chair and precisely clipped onto Wang Xi's head, covering his eyes and the upper half of his face.

"Combat simulation begins."

(End of this chapter)