She already knew what was required of her to make an A-Rank Card.
An A-Rank Card’s construction doesn’t just build the volume of the Card Spirit; it also requires one to imagine the Card Spirit’s body during the process. In other words, the larger the physical form, the greater the spiritual power consumption.
Her spiritual power was already sufficient for her to make an A-Rank Card, though it could take a very long time.
Since it was to be an official card representing the Yunxia civilization, she decided she might as well create one that encompassed a broader meaning in its story.
Wen Jiang thought of a mythological tale: Jade Rabbit Pestle Medicine.
Of course, in her world, these myths might not be mere legends; they could actually exist.
There are several legends about the Jade Rabbit. One version claims that Chang’er is the Jade Rabbit, while another states the Jade Rabbit has always accompanied Chang’er.
The latter version is more widely known.
The Jade Rabbit resides in the Cold Palace on the Moon, keeping Chang’er company and pounding medicine every day. This medicine is known as the Elixir of Life.
Of course, an actual Elixir of Life could never exist in a card. However, since it was a Healing Card, it could certainly be made to resolve many difficult and miscellaneous diseases.
After listening to Wen Jiang’s idea, Zero Egg initially felt its implementation might be challenging. "Wouldn’t this delay medical advancement?" it asked. "If diseases can be solved with the Jade Rabbit Card, wouldn’t your medical researchers stop studying medication?"
"Of course not," Wen Jiang disagreed. "You have to understand that there are very few A-Rank Spirit Card Masters in the world; some are in the military, while others compete. Each profession barely has enough lower-level Spirit Card Masters. An A-Rank Card might save you in a critical moment. However, most of the time, how many A-Rank Spirit Card Masters would be willing to sit in a hospital constantly making medicine for you with a card?
"Furthermore, the card’s healing properties can’t be too widespread. The Jade Rabbit is generally targeted at treating spiritual power. As for terminal illnesses like cancer, Blue Star has never conquered them, and my card can’t either."
That would be defying the natural order, expecting too much from an A-Rank Card.
Zero Egg came to understand. "That makes sense." But it quickly questioned her again, "Hold on, the mission requires you to create a card representing the Yunxia civilization. Are you sure this story is really part of the Yunxia civilization?"
Wen Jiang smiled mysteriously. "Of course."
Creating an A-Rank Card is different from creating a B-Rank Card. Due to the existing value chain surrounding cards, many Spirit Card Masters share their creative process for a card, providing inspiration for other Spirit Card Masters.
Over time, this has become a fixed pattern for A-Rank Cards. Cards from the Yunxia civilization, for example, urgently need such background explanations. For instance, Li Huijun created the Kun card and also revealed on the official website that its background story originated from ’Carefree Roam,’ a text from a lost ancient civilization. This had great positive significance for society.
If the story is vivid and has distinctive features, it can greatly enhance the card’s value and make it sell better.
Western cards are so popular because their cultural heritage has remained almost entirely uninterrupted. The background of the Angel Card Set and Western deities is so complete that it still makes the Yunxia civilization envious to this day.
Unlike the previous Bamboo Demon Cards, this story also existed as a legend in Wen Jiang’s previous world. However, she had a complete written record and visual memory of it, so creating a card to reflect it wasn’t difficult.
Zero Egg then teased her, "Why another rabbit? You really like rabbits, don’t you." Wen Jiang paid it no mind.
She hadn’t made it yet because she still had competitions, and the online buzz from her match with Qin Shi had only recently started to calm down. Mount Flower hadn’t anticipated Wen Jiang becoming so strong; they lacked a core star player at the B-Level. If Wen Jiang could win the championship this time, it seemed they could start making plans.
In the following days, Wen Jiang’s matches went smoothly. The main highlight was probably when she finally faced Noah before the battle for the top ten.
The audience’s interest had been thoroughly piqued, but Wen Jiang won too decisively, dealing Noah a heavy blow and effortlessly securing a spot in the top ten.
After her victory over Noah, a consensus seemed to form online about who would win the championship of this Dongzhou Partition league.
As expected, Wen Jiang didn’t just have good luck; her opponents were mostly not among the top-tier competitors. In the end, she faced a player from the Broken Heart Association in the championship battle and won, just as anticipated.
Unexpectedly, in the team competition, Mount Flower, even with new cards, still didn’t defeat the Holy Beast Association because their opponent also had a new Dual-Change Card Set. It seemed that under the influence of Teacher Li Huijun, even lower-level Spirit Card Masters had managed to create numerous Dual-Change Cards.
#WenJiangDongzhouPartitionLeagueChampion#
#DongzhouPartitionLeague, MountFlowerFirstCrown!#
Unsurprisingly, the topic exploded on the app’s hot search list that evening.
For Mount Flower, this B-Level singles championship in the Dongzhou Partition league—a title they had strived for over many years—was their first. The members were moved to tears of joy.
Mount Flower’s fans also cried with joy, especially those who had followed lower-level competitions for a long time. They saw Wen Jiang as the B-Level savior. Her fan base grew by nearly a million followers after just one match.
The current population might not be as large as it was a thousand years ago, but it still numbered in the hundreds of millions. Gaining nearly a million followers was quite an achievement, especially in a world where almost everyone paid attention to the card game scene.
When Wen Jiang returned to the Imperial City, Ding Ruijie made a special trip to pick her up. "Sorry," Ding Ruijie said, "I was really too busy before to make any travel arrangements."
Feeling apologetic for not accompanying her personally, Ding Ruijie continued, "But now the leadership has decided that I will accompany you to all your matches in the future."
With Wen Jiang being such a popular player, a little promotional effort could turn her into a B-Level star. Naturally, she would be given more attention.
Wen Jiang, however, was indifferent; she just wanted to go back and create new cards.
Ding Ruijie did notice, however, that Wen Jiang, who had previously arrived with just one assistant, was now accompanied by a young woman on her return.
The young woman had a distinctly exotic appearance. Even with a mask covering her face, her fine features were unmistakable at a glance. She stayed close to Wen Jiang, looking around with some unease at the new environment.
Ding Ruijie didn’t ask, as Wen Jiang hadn’t mentioned her.
Wen Jiang first brought Nian Jian back to her home.
Not expecting much in the way of culinary skills from Nian Jian, and since the house was mostly equipped with smart appliances, Nian Jian’s help would likely be limited to cleaning.
Wen Jiang gave her a separate room. The house was large enough, so there was no shortage of space.
There was another reason Wen Jiang was now focused on creating new cards. Although she could win prize money from competitions, her current level was too low. The financial support from Mount Flower and the event organizers couldn’t keep up with Wen Jiang’s expenses, as she needed to buy a large number of cards. She was almost ready to start working on A-Level cards.
There was a great disparity among A-Rank Cards. Due to factors like their applicability and the fame of the cardmakers, prices could fluctuate wildly, sometimes exceeding a million.
The cheapest A-Rank Cards depended on whether Spirit Card Master groups released any stock, which was not easy to acquire.
The least expensive ones available on the market cost at least a hundred thousand each.
Indeed, advancing to a higher level was like ascending to the heavens.