Chapter 19: Ten Consecutive Draws

A flash of golden light swept by, and what appeared most prominently was a square... rectangular pop-up window.

"Would you like to perform a ten-pull?"

Ye Zhengliu thought back to the recent duel where this very pop-up had nearly caused her to crash and burn, and her face instantly turned a sickly shade of green.

Pull it. Of course, she had to pull it.

This time, she entered the card-drawing page smoothly.

In the blink of an eye, magnificent, colorful streams of light rose from beneath Ye Zhengliu’s feet. Gold and silver radiance shimmered in turn, followed by a sacred white glow that descended from the heavens and landed in her palm. Immediately after—

A mass of ink-wash mist appeared in her hand.

[Card Equipment: Guan Ju]
Star Rating: Three Stars
Description: "Guan, guan, go the ospreys, on the islet in the river." Has your tender, heart-melting longing been sent to your lover’s heart? Equipping this card provides a 15% bonus to emotional descriptive skills. If the skill already contains descriptions of love, the bonus increases to 30%.

Ye Zhengliu: "..."

Looking at this weightless ball of ink-wash mist in her palm, Ye Zhengliu felt as if she were lifting a thousand pounds.

The ominous premonition that had been brewing in her heart ever since she saw "A card is guaranteed in a ten-pull" had now come true.

It’s over. Ye Zhengliu thought miserably: The scenario I feared most has arrived. The devs are simply not human.

One had to understand that whenever equipment and character cards were placed in the same pool, it meant the player was about to face a bottomless pit of microtransactions.

You might just want a single character card—it wouldn’t even matter which one, as long as it was a powerful combat unit. But all you’ll ever get is an endless supply of equipment, equipment, and more equipment...

In other games, a ten-pull might not guarantee an SSR or UR, but at the very least, you’d get a guaranteed SR card and nine pieces of trash R-rank paper.

But in a game where equipment and characters share a pool, a single ten-pull usually yields seven or eight pieces of equipment and only two or three characters.

As for the star ratings of those characters... you’re lucky to even get a character; anything else is just wishful thinking.

If Ye Zhengliu remembered correctly, the last domestic mobile game to do this had been hyped to the heavens at launch, with excellent story and visuals, yet it was now so obscure it was barely clinging to life.

After mentally coughing up a mouthful of blood, Ye Zhengliu wiped her face, steeled herself, and carefully read the specific details of the card equipment.

Then...

Ye Zhengliu: "What a rip-off!"

After reading the labels on the equipment, Ye Zhengliu truly felt that the name "Card Equipment" was a misnomer.

She discovered a small trap in the naming convention. If she were to give it an accurate definition, it would be better called "Skill Equipment."

It wasn't meant to be equipped to the card itself; it was meant to arm the skills.

For example, the Du Mu card had three skills, so it could carry three pieces of equipment. The Qianlong card also had three skills, so it could carry three pieces of equipment.

This setting might not seem like much early on; a novice player might even find it normal and be happy to have pulled so many pieces of equipment to arm every skill.

But the poems Du Mu wrote in his lifetime were enough to fill an entire anthology. How could his card ever be limited to just three skills?

In other words, if Du Mu’s card eventually reached ten or more skills, she would need to equip it with ten or more pieces of gear.

Anyone who has played mobile games knows that drawing cards is just the entry point for spending money. Equipping cards with a full set of top-tier gear is where the real spending begins.

Ye Zhengliu: "..."

She had to admire this game's methods for draining wallets.

But if you’re going to be a masterpiece of greed, at least open the payment channel! Ye Zhengliu currently held a few ounces of gold in her hands but had nowhere to spend it. It was infuriating!

Covering her heart and closing her eyes, Ye Zhengliu put away the ink-wash equipment and continued checking the remaining results.

[Card Equipment: Luming (Three Stars)], [Card Equipment: Xiao Wan (Three Stars)], [Card Equipment: Taoyao (Three Stars)]...

It seemed three-star equipment was the lowest tier in the Destiny System. There probably weren't any one-star or two-star items.

Ink-wash equipment appeared one after another before her eyes.

Precisely because of this, when a new card materialized in her palm with ink-colored streamers, she almost didn't react: it was a character card, not equipment.

—Mystic Tier Card: Lian Zining!

Ye Zhengliu pinched the card. The name felt very familiar, but she couldn't recall exactly who this person was.

A Mystic Tier card—this character probably wasn't particularly famous...

She flipped the card over and saw that it already had three skills.

Hmm, three skills again.

Could it be that all cards start with three skills?

The Mystic Tier card, Lian Zining, was currently emitting a faint glow in her palm.

Card Name: Lian Zining
Skill 1: The spirit of a thousand years shines like the sun and moon.
Skill 2: Plucking a string in the empty valley startles the night moon; arrows fly in the Shanglin forest awaiting the autumn geese.
Skill 3: Carrying the "Lingyun Ode" in my sleeve, I wish to borrow the long wind to reach the edge of the sun.

Skills one and three looked like support abilities. Skill one appeared to be a buff for another card or skill, and skill three might be a mobility skill.

As for skill two, it looked like the single-target attack—or assassination skill—she had been longing for.

At least she pulled an attack skill; this ten-pull wasn't a total loss.

Ye Zhengliu breathed a sigh of relief. When she realized equipment and cards were in the same pool, she had prepared for the worst: pulling only one Mystic Tier character card whose skills were nothing but poetic descriptions of scenery.

After all, with games like FGO or Eternal City of the Sun—wherever equipment and characters share a pool—anyone who pulls knows the pain.

The tears shed while pulling are the result of the water that flooded one's brain when deciding to start playing.

Ye Zhengliu silently pondered the card.

"Carrying the 'Lingyun Ode' in my sleeve, I wish to borrow the long wind to reach the edge of the sun"—this skill one... it looked like it could be used for drifting. Used well, it would be god-tier positioning.

Of course, used poorly, it might just be feeding the enemy.

"Flashy as the wind, always by my side"—Ye Zhengliu had heard a thing or two about the story of Yasuo, the wind-man.

As she ruminated on the card, a lightbulb suddenly went off in her head.

Wait, she remembered who this was!

Lian Zining was a scholar-official from the Ming Dynasty.

He was the one who, during Zhu Di’s rebellion, cursed him to his face in the great hall. Even after his tongue was cut out on the spot, he used his own blood to write, "Where is King Cheng?"

It was embarrassing to admit, but in her memory, Lian Zining was a famous official; she had never thought to categorize him as a poet.

Thinking of the old man’s past, Ye Zhengliu looked at the first skill, "The spirit of a thousand years shines like the sun and moon," with newfound solemnity.

Since ancient times, many could write grand words, but few could remain true to their convictions until the end.

It was no wonder this poem became the card’s first skill; it was surely a reflection of his unwavering loyalty, beyond just his literary fame.

Ye Zhengliu solemnly put the card away and continued scrolling left to check the rest of her results.

Equipment, equipment, equipment...

Silver light suddenly descended from the sky, making her palm look almost transparent. Ye Zhengliu’s heart leaped with joy: Gold light was Heaven Tier, black light was Mystic Tier, so didn't silver light mean Earth Tier?

As if to confirm her guess, the system’s transparent frame appeared before her eyes again.

[Card Equipment Task 1: Possess one Five-Star piece of equipment, Completed √, Reward: One free card pull.]

Fine, not a card, just more equipment.

Ye Zhengliu sighed to herself. She closed the dialog box, scrolled back to the right, and prayed silently that this time it would be a character card—

Gold light!

Ye Zhengliu’s eyes widened.

The last time she saw gold light, she pulled the Heaven Tier card Du Mu. So, this time...

Like crushed stars, the golden light solidified in her palm.

Holding the card, Ye Zhengliu felt she was proving her own incredible luck with every action.

The moment she flipped the card, she saw a single character, and her heart began to hammer like a drum.

Li...

Li what? Could it be the one she was thinking of?

If it really were the "Poet Immortal," her luck wouldn't just be described as "lucky"; she would have essentially hit the jackpot of all jackpots.

At the critical moment of flipping the card, Ye Zhengliu couldn't help but hold her breath.

After seeing the two characters clearly, she exhaled, her shoulders slumping in a mix of melancholy and resignation.

Not the Poet Immortal.

It was the "Poet Ghost."

Heaven Tier Card—Li He!

It wasn't Li Bai, but Li He was fine too!

Faced with this result, Ye Zhengliu only sighed briefly before her fighting spirit soared.

With the great Du Mu as a guarantee, Ye Zhengliu believed that any card ranked Heaven Tier must have a unique specialty.

And privately, Li He was a poet Ye Zhengliu quite liked.

If Li Bai was the Poet Immortal—ethereal, unrestrained, and surging with power—then Li He, as the Poet Ghost, was bizarre, sharp, eerie, and grotesque.

Li Bai’s romanticism could perhaps be mimicked in spirit by later poets.

But Li He’s "mad-blade" style... that was truly not something a normal person could learn.

Ye Zhengliu was satisfied with the Li He card in her hand.

She scrolled down to the skills, her gaze narrowing instinctively.

Just a moment ago, she had wondered if three skills were the standard for every card.

But now, the Li He card existed to shatter that law.

On Li He’s card, there was only one skill.

Skill 1: I know not the height of the blue sky or the depth of the yellow earth; I only see the cold moon and the warm sun, coming to consume the life of man (Lv1).

What a "consume" (boil/煎); it was enough to make one’s hair stand on end!

Eerie, ghostly, and ornate—this was Li He.

Ye Zhengliu: Reading Li He’s poetry, one feels as if a dragon might descend from the heavens at any moment.

As the card owner, Ye Zhengliu could vaguely sense that unless necessary, she should never use this skill recklessly.

She had gained some experience using cards and could sense if a skill had missed or calculate the cooldown time without needing a stopwatch.

Even though she hadn't tried using the Li He card yet, she had this strange feeling—the cooldown for Li He’s skill was incredibly, incredibly long.

And the reason for that long cooldown was that the skill was immensely destructive and equally dangerous.

And that was exactly what Ye Zhengliu needed right now.

Now she had both a basic attack and an ultimate move.

With both Lian Zining and Li He in her hands, Ye Zhengliu felt energized. She only had one last result to check.

But since she already had Li He, Ye Zhengliu felt that no matter the result, the ten-pull was worth it!

Accompanied by a pale yellow mist, the card materialized in her palm, and the reward page popped up again.

[Card Draw Task 4: Possess one Yellow Tier card, Completed √, Reward: One free card pull.]

Ye Zhengliu was stunned.

Wait, did pulling a Yellow Tier card count as a task?

If even a Yellow Tier card counted, why didn't the Mystic Tier card count? Could it be that Yellow Tier cards were actually harder to pull than Mystic Tier ones?

Speaking of which, when she pulled Qianlong last time and found he was a Mystic Tier card, she felt it was surreal, as if the system were rigging the game.

But if Yellow Tier cards represented a special class of cards and Mystic Tier was the bottom of the combat barrel, then Qianlong being classified as Mystic Tier wasn't so strange.

Filled with doubt, Ye Zhengliu stared at this final Yellow Tier card.

Looking closely, it was indeed a bit different.

Engraved on the back of the card was a pale yellow starburst. It wasn't the piercing, high-saturation lemon yellow, but rather something steadier and warmer. If one looked closely, it seemed to contain a faint earthy tone, reminiscent of the soil that nurtures life.

Ye Zhengliu gripped the edge of the Yellow Tier card and slowly flipped it over.

By now, her ten-pull was finished. She had gained six pieces of three-star equipment, one five-star piece, and three cards—one Heaven, one Mystic, and one Yellow—which was an astonishing stroke of luck.

The Yellow Tier card lay quietly in her palm. She focused her eyes and scanned the content.

Immediately, Ye Zhengliu: "..."

She rubbed her eyes, feeling that either her eyes or the card-drawing system—one of them was definitely broken.

[Yellow Tier Card: Fire the cannon and blast his mother!
Remaining Uses: 3/3]

A very simple line of text; it didn't even record the author's name, just the remaining number of uses.

But contemplating the content...

Ye Zhengliu thought: Now she finally understood what was so special about the Yellow Tier cards.