Card Making: My Card Game Starts with the White Dragon

"Huluwa, Huluwa, seven flowers on one vine..."

【Calabash Brothers】!!

Zhou Hao was thinking of this animated character who accompanied the childhood of countless people born in the 80s and 90s.

The Calabash Brothers are not part of traditional Chinese mythology; they are merely a modern artistic creation.

However, its creative background, imagery, and setting are extremely consistent with traditional Chinese mythology.

This gave Zhou Hao the idea of ​​turning it into a card.

Regarding the origin of "Calabash Brothers", one theory is that they share the same origin as Sun Wukong, both being transformed from the "heaven-mending stone" of Nuwa.

One theory suggests that the Calabash Brothers' mother was a primordial spiritual root from Kunlun Mountain, nourished by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Later, the White Crane Boy accidentally damaged his spiritual root while collecting herbs, causing some of his spiritual seeds to fall to earth and transform into seven gourd brothers.

Then there are those transformed from the remains of Pangu, those refined by Laozi, etc.

There are even versions where Sun Wukong is paired with one of the Seven Fairy Maidens.

There are many conflicting opinions, and it's difficult to distinguish the truth from the falsehood.

But these were not problems for Zhou Hao, as there were many mythological figures whose authenticity was difficult to discern and whose origins were complex.

To be honest, the concept of "dragon" has a more complex origin, but Zhou Hao still managed to create the card successfully.

What he was really worried about was that the concept of "Calabash Brothers" was not old enough.

Although the Calabash Brothers are very well-known, they are ultimately a modern product.

Whether it is recognized by the world's card-making rules is really hard to say.

But Zhou Hao was truly unwilling to give up just like that.

The concept of "Calabash Brothers" fits him perfectly.

In the original work, each of the Calabash Brothers has one or two special skills.

These abilities caused the villainous snake demon and scorpion spirit a lot of headaches.

But precisely because they only have one or two skills, in the drama,

The few Calabash Brothers who hadn't yet developed their intelligence were constantly targeted by the demons and ultimately lost inexplicably.

But for Zhou Hao, having only one or two skills is not a weakness, but rather his greatest strength.

This is because it means that the random draw skill during card creation becomes controllable.

No matter how randomly selected, Zhou Hao will never get a useless skill.

In particular, each of the Calabash Brothers is a prime example of being few but excellent, with incredibly strong abilities.

[Immense Strength], [Dharma Body of Heaven and Earth], [Indestructible Vajra]

[Invisibility and Etherealization], [Dual Cultivation of Thunder and Fire], [Swallowing Rivers and Lakes]...

With all these abilities combined, Zhou Hao could easily cosplay the guy who wears his underwear on the outside.

Later on, once all seven Calabash Brothers were gathered, not to mention how overpowered the combined Calabash Little King Kong was.

The fact that Zhou Hao consistently becomes a youthful version of "Calabash Brothers" in the later stages is enough to make it irresistible.

Not to mention that the main storyline of "Calabash Brothers" is fighting against monsters.

Once the cards are successfully created, these "Calabash Brothers" may also have a restraining effect on sea monsters and other monsters.

In the mountain and sea city teeming with sea monsters and teeming with monstrous beasts, the Calabash Brothers are arguably the most suitable Summoning Card.

"How can you reach the top without taking some risks? I've made my choice!!"

Without further hesitation, Boss Zhou directly selected [The Howling Gourd Garden] (Purple).

……

As soon as the smart security door opened, Zhang Shan immediately came to greet him:

"Brother Zhou, did you choose scene-based materials?"

Zhou Hao nodded.

After hearing this, Zhang Shan laughed and said, "That's right, you really have no idea how difficult it is to get your hands on this thing!!"

I've been in the army for five years, and I still don't have enough merit points to exchange for that [Mountain Lord's Night Banquet] (purple) card.

Zhou Hao instantly understood Zhang Shan's meaning and laughed, "Don't worry, Brother Zhang."

That [Mountain Lord's Night Banquet] (purple) scroll is still waiting for you in the inner treasury.

Zhang Shan seemed a little embarrassed because Zhou Hao had seen through his thoughts.

All I could do was force a laugh and say, "That's good, that's good, haha."

"But Brother Zhang, at your age, you've only been in the army for five years?"

I thought you were about to be discharged from the military.

Black lines appeared above Zhang Shan's head:

"I am 24 years old this year, and I just graduated from military academy last year."

Zhou Hao felt a little awkward and tried to change the subject.

Suddenly, I remembered that I still had five [Water Giant] cards in my pocket that I hadn't converted into cash.

On a whim, he asked, "Brother Zhang, does your Jinghai Army accept these material cards?"

Zhang San's eyes lit up instantly: "This is? The new species of sea monster from that day?! All five are here?"

Yes, of course! The research department loves these kinds of novelties. How about 300,000 per piece?

If you have no problem, the money will be in your account tomorrow.

This price far exceeded Zhou Hao's expectations. He thought for a moment, then took out one of the bills and said:

"Without Brother Zhang and the others leading the charge that day, I wouldn't have been able to defeat that [Water Element Giant] so easily."

I got a good deal by returning this to Brother Zhang…”

Zhang Shan blushed: "Without your help, I might have been completely caught off guard and ended up in trouble. I haven't even thanked you yet, and you're already..."

In fact, Zhou Hao was right. It was indeed Zhang Shan's team that tested the monster's fusion ability, which is why Zhou Hao took action.

Moreover, as his future instructor, Zhou Hao also wanted to build a good relationship with Zhang Shan.

However, Zhang Shan was an outstanding figure among the captains of the Jinghai Army.

Being saved by a high school student who isn't even certified as a junior card maker is already a bit embarrassing.

How could he possibly have the face to ask Zhou Hao for anything again?

After some back and forth, Zhang Shan refused to accept it no matter what, so Zhou Hao had no choice but to give up.

……

The next day, Zhou Hao woke up at noon.

I swiped my phone and a message lit up:

"Your bank card xxxx received a remittance of 150 million at 8:06 AM today..."

Zhou Hao instantly felt wide awake and was in a great mood: "Great, another fruitful day!"

After washing up, Zhou Hao went to the new cafeteria to find something to eat, and then leisurely returned to his dormitory while basking in the sun.

Looking at the white jade box on the table, Zhou Hao felt even better.

Gently pull it open, and a card radiating a rich purple light lies quietly in the box.

The card's background is a deep blue night sky, and the pattern on the surface is an orchard.

Giant gourds of various colors hang in the garden, dense as a forest.

These gourds have human faces on their surfaces, some crying, some laughing, some angry, some howling, exuding an eerie and terrifying aura.

Beneath the gourd lay piles of white bones and countless human heads.

The top of the card has five distorted characters written on it: "[Gourd Garden of Roaring Monsters]".

"If Grandpa from 'Calabash Brothers' had planted these gourds, his grave would probably be overgrown with weeds by now, wouldn't it?"

He muttered a complaint and quickly put it into the jade box to prevent the extraordinary energy contained within from leaking out.

Zhou Hao thought about it last night. He realized that he was currently just a junior card maker who had not yet been certified.

That little bit of mental energy is barely enough to support a blue card, let alone a purple card.

Furthermore, I haven't even started specializing in card production yet, so I really don't have much confidence in creating the legendary "Deck Core" – the [Field Card].

Making it hastily might waste this precious [Howling Gourd Garden] (purple).

The safest way is to first make a "Calabash Brothers" card.

Let's see if the concept of "Calabash Brothers" can be recognized by card-making rules.

If successful, I will have acquired a land-based card with extremely high potential.

If it fails, it can still be considered a trial and error for the [Gourd Garden of Roaring] (purple), and you can start to sell it or exchange it for some more suitable scene-type materials.

"Maximize the margin for error, let's get started!!"

With that in mind, Zhou Hao opened the online resource library and began selecting materials:

"【Miasma Gourd】(Blue)" does not match;

The "Hit-and-Run Gourd" (green) is of very low quality.

[Pus and Blood Gourd] (White), tsk tsk tsk, this thing looks disgusting...

After flipping through countless pages, Zhou Hao finally found the gourd he longed for:

"【Iron-Blooded Gourd】(Blue), as hard as iron, can harden itself to strike enemies?! This function?!"

Remembering the story of Zhao Lei failing to snag the [Dali Royal Orphan] (Blue) skin,

Without saying a word, Boss Zhou made the payment at lightning speed...

"It's you I've chosen, third brother!!"

……