Card Making: My Card Game Starts with the White Dragon

"The Crimson Flame-21 is certainly good, but what if I could combine it with the Emperor Armor?"

The Emperor Armor is a character from "Armor Hero: Legend of Light and Shadow" and is the most powerful ultimate armor in the series.

Back then, this series was considered a shining example of Chinese tokusatsu (special effects) films, and Zhou Hao was a loyal fan of it.

The design of the Five Elements Armor and the kingly demeanor of the Emperor Warrior left a deep impression on Zhou Hao.

Of course, the most memorable scene was the Emperor Armor wielding the Aurora Sword, slashing out the "Bankruptcy Dragon".

After all, who didn't want to jump into the screen and play the role of "Emperor Hero" when they were a kid, unleashing the "Five Saints' Ultimate Move"?

In the series, the Emperor Armor is set as the strongest armor in the Bright Universe, symbolizing the Sun's Way and possessing the ultimate power of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements.

It is the supreme ruler of the Bright Realm and the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao, and its power increases without limit as the strength of the summoner increases.

The Emperor Armor is the first ultimate armor in the history of armor, and also the first wielder of the armor beast, the Emperor War Dragon of Light.

The Imperial Armor combines the features of five basic armor sets:

The dragon's body, the eagle's arm armor, the tiger's shoulder armor, the mastiff's back armor, and the rhinoceros's leg armor represent the integration of the five elements.

This also gives it the ultimate skills of the other five types of Light and Shadow Armor, as well as base attributes that far surpass them.

Its ultimate form can grow to a gigantic size and unleash ultimate techniques such as the "Emperor's Demon-Slaying Annihilation Slash".

Back then, after the [Emperor Armor] appeared, Zhou Hao actually felt that it was completely worthy of such an awesome setting, which was quite remarkable.

Moreover, in Zhou Hao's view, even in terms of the difficulty of card production and the probability of success, the [Emperor's Armor] is the best choice.

Because he noticed the contents of page 88 of the notes:

Guo Chen once discovered at a place called "Lingtan" at Beijing University that his constitution was predominantly water according to the Five Elements theory, and therefore chose the cultivation technique "Thousand Waves Technique".

Zhou Hao didn't know if this "Thousand Waves Technique" was related to Senior Brother Lü in "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality".

However, the words "water-dominant in the Five Elements" and "technique" are clearly stated there.

"Body constitution leaning towards water" means that the card makers in this world are based on the concept of the five elements in the human body.

In Chinese culture, the concept of the Five Elements in the human body is one of the core concepts of ancient Chinese philosophy.

This idea has a long history, dating back to the time of the Yellow Emperor.

In past lives, the concept of the five elements in the human body has been found in various traditional cultures such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taoism, physiognomy, divination, and martial arts.

Although the relationship between the Five Elements and the human body varies in different schools of thought.

It may correspond to the five internal organs, or to one's destiny, or even to the five senses and physical form.

But without a doubt, since ancient times, the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth have been considered to have some connection with people.

The influence of the Five Elements on the body of the Blue Star Card Maker seems to be even more crucial, even affecting the choice of cultivation techniques.

Zhou Hao pondered to himself: "If it really is the theory of the five elements in the human body from my previous life, then it means that everyone's body has a tendency towards the five elements, and I am no exception."

This perfectly aligns with the summoning method of the [Imperial Armor], greatly enhancing the story's logic and plausibility during card creation.

After all, in the setting, the [Emperor Armor] can be summoned in two ways: one is by people whose bloodline purity meets the standard.

One method involves combining five basic armors—the Flame Dragon Armor, the Black Rhino Armor, the Snow Mastiff Armor, the Wind Eagle Armor, and the Earth Tiger Armor—to summon it.

According to Zhou Hao's thinking, even if he wasn't one in ten thousand with the Five Elements Bloodline, he would at least be one of the five types of bloodlines: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

This way, you can at least make a basic set of armor based on the five elements relatively easily.

Even the five basic suits of armor in the show were exceptionally well-done.

The most representative of these is the underworld skill [Zen Meditation Mudra].

Just kidding, time stop is actually a common skill for all five basic armor sets.

Even if Zhou Hao failed to create the five-armor-in-one [Emperor Armor],

However, Zhou Hao felt that any one of these five basic armors would definitely be much stronger than Ma Ling'er's [Crimson Flame-21].

At the same time, devices such as the [Spirit Altar] and the [Virtual Battlefield], as well as the mastery of the concept of the five elements in the human body,

This also made Zhou Hao even more curious about this legendary "First City of Yanhuang".

"What kind of place will Shangjing City be?"

Zhou Hao was filled with endless imagination; the word "cultivation technique" filled him with anticipation for his future path.

Cultivating immortality is an obsession ingrained in the Chinese psyche, and he felt incredibly envious when he saw the white-robed old man flying on a sword yesterday.

At the same time, Zhou Hao also understood better why some card makers could become stronger than the cards themselves in the later stages of the game.

You've done a great job making cards, and you've even added a cultivation sub-profession. Plus, each summon card has a skill that you can draw. How could you not be strong in the later stages?

But Zhou Hao also had some doubts: "The card maker profession has become so powerful, and it has developed for over a thousand years,..."

Humans are still being overwhelmed by the Old Earth? Just how powerful are the creatures of that Old Earth?

Ma Ling'er once told Zhou Hao that most of the monsters they had encountered were not pure Old Earth creatures, but rather the so-called "Grey People".

Zhou Hao has never seen a genuine Old Earth creature, and he's too lazy to bother going through Guo Chen's notes again.

As he pondered this, Zhou Hao finally fell asleep.

……

When Zhou Hao woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

As soon as Zhou Hao turned on his phone, he saw that the profile pictures of Liu Ruyan and Liu Adou, whom he had just added yesterday, were constantly flashing.

The message box showed that Liu Ruyan had invited him to dinner, but Zhou Hao left without replying.

Just kidding, I have a bunch of reference cards on hand, how could I have time to reminisce about our school days?

Liu Adou was an even more ruthless character.

"Zhou Hao? Are you here yet? Where are you sitting?"

"Zhou Hao? You're not here yet?"

"Zhou Hao, I'm so sleepy, hurry up and come here. If you don't come, my instructor will sit right next to me, and I won't even be able to take a nap."

It was followed by a series of crying kitten emojis.

Further back, all the messages he sent were "SOS" messages, which amused Zhou Hao.

"What a talent..."

He put away his phone, sighed, and went out.

The logistics department of [Duel Island] is still located in the townhouses downstairs from the dormitory building.

I didn't see many students along the way, since they were all participating in the freshman competition.

Zhou Hao had just pushed open the door to the logistics department when he saw a very conspicuous boy.

His hair resembled a cluster of blue and white flames, floating upwards, with a faint chill emanating from it.

"Is it really such a coincidence? Yesterday it was Liu Adou, today it's Xiao Huohuo? Two players who had a bye, and they've both run into each other?"

Zhou Hao was speechless; this was the first time he had met someone even colder than his own Ao Lie.

After all, this head was emitting icy flames, so it was genuinely cold.

The moment Zhou Hao entered, Xiao Huohuo was also carrying a package of materials, indicating that she had also done some online shopping.

Zhou Hao didn't think he was a talkative person, so he didn't start a conversation rashly.

The two passed each other without stopping.

Their eyes met, and Xiao Huohuo simply nodded slightly, while Zhou Hao also nodded in greeting.

After Xiao Huohuo closed the door, Zhou Hao felt the air pressure around him rise a bit.

"He's alright, not as cold as he looks. At least he's polite."

Zhou Hao muttered a complaint to himself before stepping forward to retrieve his package from the staff.

After checking and confirming that everything was correct, Zhou Hao returned to his dormitory, locked the door, and prepared to start making cards.

"【The Dilapidated Royal City of Fuxian】(Purple), 【Heart Sea】(Blue), 【Abyssal Shrimp Nest】(Blue), 【Mysterious Mountain Crab Den】(Blue), 【Clam Spirit Pearl Nurturing Pool】(Blue)"

[Golden couch and white jade carving] (green), [Mermaid's nest] (white), [Thorn coral thicket] (white), ...

Zhou Hao has only found so many usable materials so far, but in fact, as long as you have one main material and two auxiliary materials, you can build the most basic framework of the [Field Card].

However, the Dragon Palace is known in the world for its abundance of treasures, so Zhou Hao's materials are actually quite meager.

Legendary locations like the Dragon Gate, Crystal Palace, Dragon Transformation Pool, and Mystic Ice Prison cannot be recreated with the existing materials; they can only be added gradually later.

But this is true for most field cards. Just as Rome wasn't built in a day, every renowned field card is gradually perfected.

Zhou Hao cleared his mind, gradually calmed his breathing, and slowly began to feel his consciousness rising.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already in the familiar gray fog space.

With practiced ease, he summoned phantom images of material cards and the four treasures of the card master, and the enormous scroll and brushstrokes unfolded once again.

Zhou Hao carefully recalled the legends about the West Sea Dragon Palace, only to find that there were very few.

However, he believes that some basic impressions about the Dragon Palace can still be applied, but he may need to put more thought into the skill design.

Zhou Hao began to connect his mental energy with each material card, the first one he came into contact with was the main material for this card making - [The Ruined Fuxian Royal City] (purple).

Zhou Hao's vision went dark, and he instantly fell from the gray mist into the dark green lake bottom.

But in the blink of an eye, Zhou Hao's eyes adjusted to the dim light.

He knew this was his mental space.

Even if you can't swim, you can't possibly drown in the lake created by the phantom of this material card, let alone with [Hidden Dragon in the Abyss/Water Avoidance Technique].

At this moment, what Zhou Hao was standing in front of was a magnificent yet dilapidated ancient city.

The towering city walls looked as if they had been bitten by some giant beast, and even the city gates had disappeared.

Looking into the distance, one can vaguely see the collapsed ruins.

Zhou Hao tried to walk into the city, but strangely, even though the giant city at the bottom of the lake was right in front of him, he couldn't get in.

He took several steps forward, but the distance between him and the dilapidated city wall did not shorten at all.

Meanwhile, many shadowy figures covered in algae appeared all around.

They floated on the water, heads raised, bodies leaning forward, and staggered toward Zhou Hao.

It looked like a pilgrimage, yet it carried a chilling, penetrating terror.

"This water corpse must be the monster that guarded the nest back then, but what is the reason for its untouchable nature?"

Illusion? Or spatial abilities?

Zhang Shan once told Zhou Hao that high-quality purple materials, after being transformed into material cards, would retain a trace of their original characteristics.

Even the lair and weapons of the [Rending Wind Tiger Lord], though transformed into materials, still retain the [Mountain Lord's True Intent].

It can even help [Tiger Vanguard] advance, which shows how powerful it was in its lifetime.

The [Dilapidated Fuxian Royal City] also exhibits this phenomenon, clearly making it an excellent purple material card.

If it were outside, it might take some effort, but since it's in Zhou Hao's mental space right now, it's a freebie even before it becomes a material card.

Zhou Hao suddenly increased the amount of mental energy he poured into the device, and a clear shattering sound rang out.

The horde of green corpses before them seemed to be violently shattered by a vortex, not even having time to let out a wail.

Zhou Hao took a step forward and finally stepped into the dilapidated royal city.

Since he was going to reshape it into the main body of the West Sea Dragon Palace according to his own ideas anyway, he became too lazy to explore further.

He walked directly onto the ruined city wall, and with a wave of his hand, material cards reappeared before his eyes.

The remaining blue, green, and white cards were also successfully linked together.

Zhou Hao, like a player in a building game, had a sudden inspiration.

The scene material card was then placed directly in the position Zhou Hao wanted.

Soon, all the scene material cards were placed.

Zhou Hao's gaze shifted to the special material card called [Heart Sea].

He sighed, "Are we going to start watching movies again? Oh well, I guess I'll just consider it a chance to find inspiration."

Zhou Hao was experienced in connecting special material cards to spiritual matters.

As his mental energy flowed in, a new memory appeared in his mind.

It was a magnificent and prosperous ancient capital.

The enormous, ferocious sea monster pulled the chariot away from the grand and magnificent palace in the center.

As soon as the sea monster chariots left, a series of arguments broke out in the palace.

Zhou Hao zoomed in and saw a group of Grey Clan members with aquatic features discussing something in the magnificent palace.

"The Crippled Dragon King is inherently cruel and powerful. Why don't we accept its proposal?"

"Sacrificing Princess Xinhai alone can save the entire population of Fuxian Royal City!"

The merman at the very top wore a crown, was withered and emaciated, his face filled with panic, and his tone was pleading:

"Daughter, why don't you marry that crippled dragon king?"

"Father, even if I marry the Remnant Dragon King, it will still slaughter Fuxian City!!"

The sound came from a large seashell, more than ten meters wide, in the center of the hall.

A hazy halo emanated from the seashell, and through that halo, Zhou Hao saw a delicate-looking girl with long, light pink hair lying inside.

Upon closer inspection, Zhou Hao realized that the girl had no lower body; she was actually growing entirely inside the seashell.

Although the girl was delicate, her words were more forceful than anyone else's in the hall.

"I am burdened with a curse, but this curse is both a shackle and a power. I can provide a barrier for the royal city, preventing the army of the Remnant Dragon King from approaching it."

The crowd was skeptical: "But that Remnant Dragon King is a deity of the ancient land. How could a girl like you, who has never left the royal city, possibly stop him?"

The girl inside the seashell said firmly, "I will fight to the death to protect this city."

……

The shouts of killing were deafening, and the screen turned red.

The subsequent memories began to blur, and Zhou Hao could only hear sounds:

"I only want Princess Xinhai's pearl. If I get that pearl, I'll spare Fuxian City!"

……

"Father, why? We could have stopped it!!"

……

"Eat her, and I'll let you live, hahahaha!"

……

"Father, don't you understand? It's just playing with you."

……

"Captain, I've discovered the spirit of this lake."

……

"They couldn't catch up; it seems unable to leave the area of ​​that ancient city."

……

Then, the memory abruptly ended.

Zhou Hao heard that familiar name again:

"The Broken Dragon King? The God of the Old Land?"

……