Playing cards, I am your ancestor!-Chapter 283 Tan Heming’s Pressure_1

"Mr. Gong?"

While working at the Mountain Ghost Association, Hua Zhuo encountered an unexpected guest: Gong Shu.

Gong Shu was now a UR-Level Spirit Card Master, and he had appeared without Hua Zhuo even sensing him.

Moreover, compared to others, Hua Zhuo always felt that a UR Rank like Gong Shu was truly unfathomable. Perhaps it was because of his work on Repairing Xuanwu, but Gong Shu’s demeanor had become more amiable, resembling a kind-hearted elder. A single glance was enough to naturally engender goodwill.

"I was just passing by and thought I’d drop in for a visit," Gong Shu said with a smile. "I’ve never been to Mount Flower before."

Hua Zhuo, also smiling, invited him to sit. "You’re welcome here anytime."

Gong Shu didn’t stand on ceremony. He took a seat, sipped his tea, and after a moment of contemplation, asked, "Is Wen Jiang still in secluded cultivation?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Wen Jiang had been in seclusion. She hadn’t appeared for several months.

Time had flown by. Half a year had passed since the beginning of the year, and the latter half was dedicated to preparing for the next year’s competition. Mount Flower’s S Rank team still consisted of four individuals, with no word of a final participant joining.

Even though Wen Jiang had thrown the Match Cards into disarray, there was a subtle feeling that team roles weren’t being as strictly observed. However, the rules in the S Rank group were still very strict.

Gong Shu was indeed curious. What he truly wanted was to meet Wen Jiang. After becoming a UR Rank, he had access to more information, all of which Wen Jiang had contributed. He was deeply shocked and truly wanted to know where Wen Jiang had obtained this knowledge of lost civilizations.

Hua Zhuo sighed and said with a smile, "She’s been in seclusion the whole time."

"For this long?" Gong Shu was somewhat surprised. "Could it be that she’s about to advance in rank?" Realizing what he had just said, he quickly added, "I’m just too curious. If it’s not convenient to say, then never mind."

He had stayed in the countryside for far too long after the failure with the Black Tortoise. Consequently, his manner of speaking was direct, unlike others who beat around the bush. He also didn’t quite understand the intricacies of their circles, so inquiring about someone else’s rank was a bit presumptuous.

Hua Zhuo knew his temperament and didn’t take offense. She simply smiled and said, "It’s hard to say. Her seclusion doesn’t necessarily mean she’s focused on that. To tell you the truth, that kid keeps a lot to herself."

There were some things she didn’t feel comfortable discussing with others. But now that Gong Shu had clearly shown his intention to lend his considerable strength to the Jimo Family, and as the acting Family Head, Hua Zhuo saw no need to pass up this opportunity. Besides, Mr. Gong truly was a good man.

This indeed surprised Gong Shu. Considering the past rumors about Wen Jiang, he said, "She used to work too hard, so it’s normal for her to be more reserved now that she’s back home."

Gong Shu continued, "Many people are in seclusion recently. Teacher Di and Teacher Li are still researching the Azure Dragon."

They had been researching for so long without any definitive progress. Successfully creating the Azure Dragon was likely to be very difficult. It wasn’t like the Black Tortoise; Gong Shu had at least created an initial form for that one, making its repair simpler than outright creation from scratch.

"Yes, ever since Mr. Gong completed the Black Tortoise, it has greatly motivated our Empire’s Spirit Card Masters," Hua Zhuo said joyfully, but then her thoughts turned to recent events, and she asked with concern, "Has Tan Heming not recovered yet?"

Mr. Gong’s expression turned uncharacteristically grave, and he sighed. "No. I think that child probably can’t hold on much longer."

At first, Tan Heming thought his spiritual power was only temporarily suppressed. After all, methods that bizarre were practically unheard of. But as time passed and his spiritual power still hadn’t recovered, even his usual optimism began to wane.

The news of his disappearing spiritual power had spread. While his fans worried, many who had been jealous of him before took the opportunity to maliciously kick him while he was down. There were even discussions within the Mountain Ghost Association about temporarily removing Tan Heming from his captaincy. After all, he no longer had spiritual power, the competition had to continue, and his four teammates were waiting.

One of the new teammates this year, a super-popular player already trained by the Mountain Ghost Association, had a brother only slightly less capable than Tan Heming. Intent on forcing Tan Heming out, this teammate openly clashed with the team, bluntly stating that a ’waste’ without spiritual power should quit early and not hog the position.

This issue had become so significant that Hua Zhuo had also heard about it.

"Last month, Tan Heming himself proposed to temporarily withdraw from this year’s competitions, knowing his own situation. It’s the Mountain Ghost management that disagreed," Hua Zhuo said. After all, they had thought Tan Heming would recover.

This wasn’t a decision to be made lightly. Switching a player involved many factors, from changing tactics to rearranging the entire team. If they really let Tan Heming step down, everything would have to be reorganized. And if Tan Heming recovered later, what would Mountain Ghost do then?

Mr. Gong fell silent for a moment and then said, "There’s another problem now."

Hua Zhuo asked curiously, "What is it?"

"There’s a Black Tortoise Card linked to Tan Heming. After he lost the ability to use his spiritual power, all his cards disappeared as well."

Hua Zhuo was a little shocked. "Even the cards have disappeared?"

It made sense; without spiritual power, cards requiring a spiritual link naturally couldn’t be used. What shocked her was that a Black Tortoise Card had been successfully copied and given to Tan Heming!

"No one saw this coming," Mr. Gong said with a wry smile. "I was the one who decided to give Tan Heming that Black Tortoise Card. The copyright for the original version—the, ah, ’snake’... let’s just say the Black Tortoise—was already with Mountain Ghost, so it was only natural to give it to them. The Empire also agreed it could be used in combat this year. However, not everyone can control the Black Tortoise Card. After I gave it to Tan Heming, he could barely manage to use it. The Black Tortoise’s defense is strong enough for him to adapt his role. But now...

"The biggest pressure that kid faces now is this: if he truly can’t recover, the only successfully copied Black Tortoise Card to date will also disappear. He fears he will become a criminal in the eyes of the Empire."

After all, Mr. Gong had also faced some pressure when he gave the card to Tan Heming due to these circumstances.

Hua Zhuo immediately understood the Mountain Ghost Association’s anxiety. Now, it wasn’t just Tan Heming’s personal pressure, but also pressure from the Empire.

Even if the copyright belonged to Mountain Ghost, strictly speaking, Repairing Xuanwu was only possible thanks to the data Wen Jiang released. And Wen Jiang had made it clear: the copyright for cards developed from that information belongs solely to the Empire. The Empire hadn’t pursued the Black Tortoise copyright issue, probably because they felt Mr. Gong had repaired it himself, not created it from scratch. It would have been embarrassing to argue over it. But now...

This pressure couldn’t possibly fall on Mr. Gong, so naturally, it would fall on Tan Heming.

Hua Zhuo thought about her legs.

A thought suddenly struck her: if Tan Heming had been targeted with the same methods as she had, then considering how long Yu Jian had kept her legs from recovering... Could Tan Heming’s spiritual power have been crippled by the same insidious means? If so, this was a huge problem!

Hua Zhuo quickly asked, "Where is he now?"

Mr. Gong shook his head. "He’s still at the association, but I heard he’s planning to go back to his family’s place."