Chapter 207: 207 Mount Flower VS Temple of the Gods 2_1
"Nine playing against seven?" Cyrus wasn’t surprised by the Temple of the Gods’ choice, but he was surprised by Mount Flower’s stubbornness. "Besides Wen Jiang, who else in Mount Flower can use double cards?"
According to previous competition results, no such rumors had surfaced. The commentators generally did basic research on the players, and it was usually evident in regular battles whether a player was adept at using double cards. Besides Wen Jiang, no other players from Mount Flower had ever been seen using double cards in a match.
And nine against seven—that was just suffocating!
Lillian’s eyes lit up. "Oh my goodness, could Wen Jiang use three cards?"
Hearing this, Cyrus couldn’t help but chuckle. "Lillian, let’s not make such wild jokes."
Not just Cyrus, but the audience watching the live broadcast of the A-Level competition was also surprised.
Sanctuary: [It’s quite unexpected that Mount Flower can play at least seven cards; I thought they could only use five!]
Frost Moon: [Wow, it seems Mount Flower really isn’t that simple after all. Come on, Temple of the Gods, take them down, shatter their hopes!]
Frost Moon: [Damn it, I bet on Mount Flower before the match because I saw their high odds. Don’t disappoint me!]
Yunxia: [Could it really be Wen Jiang playing with three cards?]
Yunxia: [But nine against seven leaves little suspense. How much skill would it take to turn the tables with just seven cards? I’m certainly not optimistic about their chances.]
Frost Moon: [They’re fighting the Yunxia Association, do they really need to be this nervous? Using a dual-card strategy! The Temple of the Gods must be terrified of Yunxia, a bunch of cowards!]
At this time, inside a hotel in Card City, Hua Zhuo, Sheng Hongying, Du Zhaiyue, and the Song twins had not left. They all followed behind Hua Zhuo, focusing on the battle.
Aside from Sheng Hongying and Du Zhaiyue, the Song twins showed signs of impatience; they had no interest in the A-Level competition at all. Since they had to watch other S-Rank Group matches, after Dong Shao was injured and returned to the country, the coach and Hua Zhuo had asked the four of them to stay behind.
Watching match replays was understandable, but watching an A-Level competition was incomprehensible.
Song Yi expressed his impatience, "Lady Hua, what is the point of having us watch an A-Level competition?"
Song Jue silently nudged his younger brother, signaling him to be more polite towards Hua Zhuo.
Hua Zhuo, without turning her head, said, "Take a look at your future teammates."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Sheng Hongying was the first to speak. "Are you talking about Wen Jiang?"
Hua Zhuo gave a faint, "Hmm," in response.
Song Yi could hardly believe it. "Lady Hua, what are you talking about? Wen Jiang is just A-Level."
"Before the start of next year’s S-Rank competition, she will rise to S Rank."
These words were like a clap of thunder on a clear day. Rising to S Rank—how much of a pipe dream was that? No, perhaps she had the potential to reach S Rank, but on what basis could it be guaranteed that she would reach S Rank before the competition began? Hua Zhuo’s words were simply shocking.
Even Du Zhaiyue’s gaze held a hint of suppressed surprise as she asked softly, "Does Wen Jiang really have that much potential?"
Hua Zhuo just nodded. Without elaborating, she said, "Dong Shao was injured and definitely won’t be able to participate in next year’s competition. He had already harbored thoughts of retiring before the transfer."
Mount Flower had been short on players at the time and had no choice, but they had also offered generous compensation, and the deal was made with mutual consent. However, no one expected Dong Shao’s accident to make his retirement look so awkward. And Mount Flower didn’t currently have the ability to scout a better S-level Player to complement this group.
Moreover, Hua Zhuo had also noticed a problem. Previously, Sheng Hongying was already a star player, and her teammates couldn’t overshadow her. But now, these three new teammates each came with a bigger reputation than the last. Du Zhaiyue, with her consistently mild temperament, was manageable, but the Song twins were more troublesome; even Sheng Hongying could barely keep them in check. They were already very dissatisfied with Dong Shao’s incident.
The worst thing for a team is this kind of situation, where no one defers to anyone else. They were only holding back now because I was present. What the team needed was someone who could completely keep all four of them in line. I felt that Wen Jiang could do it, but she was, after all, only A-Level right now. What would happen if she truly rose to S Rank wasn’t certain yet. But Wen Jiang had assured me that by the start of next year’s competition, she would definitely be S Rank.
Aside from Dong Shao’s issue, Mount Flower’s performance this time was also extremely poor in my eyes. In terms of strength, these four individuals were absolute powerhouses. In my opinion, they weren’t any less capable than the top players from associations like Broken Heart. It was just that when they played together, their performance was dysfunctional. The S-Rank coach had already complained to me that during training, aside from the easygoing Du Zhaiyue and Dong Shao, who wouldn’t dare to speak up, the other three all had their own strong opinions. They would often argue against the coach’s card strategies and even their individual card selections. This would be a major taboo in any ordinary team.
Sheng Hongying, with her years of competition experience, at least had her own valid insights. The Song brothers, however, were simply too arrogant, unwilling to yield, and would challenge every strategy proposed. I had already promised the Song Family, and bringing the twins in was an emergency measure. Keeping that in mind, I naturally wouldn’t complain to the Song Family over such relatively minor issues. My patience had its limits, perhaps another year. If they still acted this way and clashed with Wen Jiang next year, I estimated Wen Jiang herself could probably kick the twins out.
Sheng Hongying wouldn’t openly question Hua Zhuo. Actually, my temper wasn’t great back then. When I debuted as Mount Flower’s star player, I was put on a pedestal. Pride was inevitable. Besides, I’m a straightforward person—I say what’s on my mind, so arguing with the coach over tactics was common for me. However, after the incident where I was ostracized by my four teammates, my temper cooled down a lot. I’m someone who only respects strength. So, even with the team being so dysfunctional, I didn’t get into a direct confrontation with the twins.
If Dong Shao were to leave, there really wouldn’t be a better S-level Player available right now. All current S-level Players already have their associations, and other large associations wouldn’t release them. Even if Mount Flower’s situation improved, if we didn’t achieve good results in S Rank competitions, other Card Associations still wouldn’t think much of us, and we wouldn’t attract those top players.
I had actually considered recommending Song Yingchen to the association before. I learned through Song Zhi that he truly had the strength. But at the time, I was still dealing with my own mess. Mount Flower had been willing to kick out the other four for my sake, so making another request would have seemed ungrateful. Besides, Song Yingchen wasn’t someone who could be easily recruited. Unexpectedly, Song Yingchen went to Guiqing, and instead, these Song twins joined our team. Later, I vaguely heard from Song Zhi that there was some complicated history between this Song Yingchen and our current boss, Wen Jiang—and Wen Jiang was the injured party. That made me bury the thought of recommending him even deeper. I couldn’t afford to offend the boss.
On the surface, I appear steady and calm, but deep down, I’m really curious about Wen Jiang. It’s just that Wen Jiang is even more aloof than us S-Rank players. She never interacts with us. Any little piece of news about her always comes through Hua Zhuo or other members of management.