Chapter 209: 209 Mount Flower VS Temple of the Gods 4_1
The Temple of the Gods’ substitute player controlled the Little God of Love and, simultaneously, Ourelitaya, the Goddess of Childbirth. Ourelitaya doubled a card’s abilities. For example, if the Little God of Love originally shot one arrow, Ourelitaya’s blessing could make it two.
Their lineup also included Demos, the God of Fear, a control-focused card. Demos could release a black fog within a certain range, causing enemy Card Spirits to become disoriented. This effectively controlled them by temporarily preventing their card from acting.
Another card was the Goddess of Witchcraft, Circe. This card’s ability is relatively fast, allowing it to quickly bind an enemy card. However, the effect wears off quickly. Similar to Eros, the Little God of Love, it can only be released by focusing on a specific point.
The attacking card featured Sirens. These mythical creatures, with human faces and bird bodies, are commonly called sea demons. They are somewhat similar to mermaids, but they kill with their enchanting songs. Indeed, their damage output had a long duration; they continuously sang to reduce the spiritual power of enemy Card Spirits, much like the Seven-Star Butterfly. The difference is that the Seven-Star Butterfly can absorb others’ spiritual power to nourish itself, while Sirens cannot.
Another attacking card was Merlinuo, the Goddess of Lost Souls. She could conjure dark cages within a range, corroding the Card Spirits trapped inside. Card Spirits killed by her would enter a soul state and could be controlled by Merlinuo for ten seconds, during which time she could copy half of the original card’s abilities.
The final assassin card was Oneri. Once Oneri appeared, she became invisible and then released a shadow to enter the dreams of enemy Card Spirits. The spiritual power of an entangled Card Spirit would continuously decline, and it could not escape. Because Oneri could merge with Card Spirits and move unpredictably, she was particularly hard to guard against. Card Spirits possessed by her were essentially dragged to their deaths. The risk could only be neutralized if the invisible Oneri herself was found and killed. Assassin was her designated role, but her card’s killing power wasn’t like other Assassin Cards that could achieve an instant-kill effect.
Another Assassin Card featured Lamia, a half-human, half-snake assassin. Her body was agile, and her movements were fast. Once her ability was activated, she could quickly rush to an enemy card to strangle it. In combination with Oneri, this was quite effective.
Out of the Temple of the Gods’ nine cards, barring any surprises, five were aimed squarely at Hou Yi.
To any observer, this upcoming battle could be described in just a few words:
Difficult. Very difficult!
The Temple of the Gods’ card deck abilities were elusive and disgusting, and Mount Flower’s situation starkly highlighted how incredibly difficult they were to play against.
After observing both card decks, Little Goat, contrasting with the live chat’s pessimism, began his careful analysis.
"From the decks," he said, "Mount Flower indeed holds no advantage. After all, it’s nine cards against seven. It seems the Temple of the Gods has the upper hand.
"However, on closer inspection, the Temple of the Gods has made quite a few concessions to target Wen Jiang’s Hou Yi. Only four of their cards can actually deal significant damage—the attackers and assassins. The rest are strong control cards and buff cards, all of which need to focus on Hou Yi’s actions.
"Wen Jiang’s Dandelion could potentially have a significant impact on them in the later stages. The Temple of the Gods can only gain an advantage if they eliminate Hou Yi before the mid-game. It also depends on how well Wen Jiang’s teammates perform. As for Wen Jiang’s Ghost Wood, it leans more towards durability and healing. I think Ghost Wood will be useful for Wen Jiang; its large size could block damage from the Sirens in the early game."
Compared to Little Goat’s detailed analysis, the live chat comments were mostly skeptical.
"[Later stages? What later stages? Several cards are targeting Hou Yi. How long can Wen Jiang last?]"
"[Three cards... What was she thinking? There won’t be a late game.]"
"[Wen Jiang probably chose Hou Yi for a quick win. Otherwise, how could her spiritual power sustain Hou Yi’s ability activations in the later stages?]"
"[Even with Jade Rabbit Pestle Medicine, it’s still going to be tough.]"
"[But nine against seven? That’s historically rare.]"
"[I have a thought: if the Temple of the Gods loses this time, they’ll probably get flamed harder than our own Broken Heart team did, haha!]"
"[How can you lose nine against seven? Those in the chat who believe in Wen Jiang need to calm down. Don’t go crazy.]"
"[If she wins, I’ll do a handstand and sh*t!]"
The live stream chat was buzzing with conflicting opinions, prompting Little Goat to simply say, "Let’s just watch the match."
For Yunxia, this competition was quite significant. The S Rank teams had completely failed this year, leaving only survivors in the A-Rank Group. Winning the championship this year would be historic.
Mountain Ghost, Broken Heart, Holy Beast, Aurora, and other major associations were all paying close attention to this A-Rank Group match. Tan Heming’s interest was well-known; even his teammates at the Mountain Ghost Association knew how much he focused on Wen Jiang, whose matches were the only ones he ever watched.
Previously, his teammates might have joked about this A-Rank Group professional player, not taking her too seriously. But seeing Wen Jiang use three cards truly shocked them. Some of them had come up from the A-Rank Group themselves and understood the high difficulty involved.
One said in astonishment, "Using three cards against the Temple of the Gods? I don’t know who’s crazier."
"It seems Mount Flower’s A-Rank Group is indeed quite weak," Luo Juerao remarked with some emotion. "What a pity. What if her teammates were a bit stronger, or if someone used two cards, huh?"
Tan Heming chuckled softly. "Then who do you think will win?"
One of the teammates immediately replied, "The Temple of the Gods, of course! That goes without saying. Eros and Circe are strong control cards targeting Hou Yi. If Hou Yi makes a move, their control will follow up instantly. Hou Yi won’t be able to cope unless her teammates manage to eliminate those two cards first.
"But I think that will be very difficult."
Luo Juerao hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "I know you support Wen Jiang," he said, "but this kind of competition is no joking matter. If the Temple of the Gods were to lose this time, they’d all be kicked out when they return."
This was a very real possibility. Nine cards against seven—not even nine against nine like in the Divine Punishment match. If they lost such a contest, an association like the Temple of the Gods would immediately replace all five players. Of course, a few might slip through the cracks, but whoever underperformed would be finished. In a high-pressure nation like Frost Moon, there were plenty of A-level Spirit Card Masters waiting for their chance. Such a defeat would be a major disgrace, and the Temple of the Gods would be ridiculed for a long time. Unless, of course, an even more tragic victim appeared later to take their place as the laughingstock.
Naturally, all this was predicated on Mount Flower actually winning today’s match. And since that was highly improbable, who would believe it possible?
Still, Tan Heming added, "It’s hard to say. At least, I’ve never seen the limit of her cards. Don’t forget, throughout this entire competition, no team has managed to push her to her spiritual power limit."
Luo Juerao fell silent.
It was a fact. None of them knew what Wen Jiang’s true spiritual power limit was. No team in previous matches had managed to push Wen Jiang to that point. Her using three cards this time clearly showed her confidence.
But no matter how outrageous a person is, there has to be a limit, right? Everyone knew her capability to control the battlefield and acknowledged her strength. But if she could manage to wield three cards and still drag out the battle against the Temple of the Gods...
If he were in charge of Frost Moon or Sanctuary, he’d be going crazy trying to recruit this player to his own association.
If she really was that outrageous, then when Wen Jiang moved up to S Rank, wouldn’t she instantly become the number one enemy of all the major associations?