Shen Sui didn't expect that while he was still struggling with how to make the cards in his deck appear for a duel, the Forbidden Card List had already made the choice for him, effectively curing his decision-making difficulties.

According to Wang Ming, his cards wouldn't be added to the Forbidden Card List so quickly this time, after all, there were still three months left in his forbidden card cooldown period. Moreover, not all of Shen Sui's cards would be put on the list at once; this notification was just an early notice, giving Shen Sui plenty of time to consider how to find alternate cards.

Furthermore, Shen Sui could use this notification to apply for a Life Card at the Exploration Bureau to find a suitable Life Card from their deck.

"Do you have any upcoming competitions?" Wang Ming asked over the phone.

Shen Sui thought for a moment. If Xinyuan Tanchun didn't arrange any new events for him, then unsurprisingly, his next competition would be the national tournament at the Duel Academy, scheduled for the end of the month.

"The national tournament at the Duel Academy." Wang Ming, who was also a teaching assistant at Tianyi Academy on the surface, was naturally aware of how seriously Tianyi Academy took this competition. Just this month, the academy had held several meetings, all discussing the national tournament.

Currently, only two students at the academy qualify to participate in the national tournament, Shen Sui and Song Feiyu.

Song Feiyu had only recently been promoted to the fourth rank, just meeting the standard to participate in the preliminaries, while Shen Sui's rank allowed him to enter the main event directly.

Tianyi Group hoped that the academy would achieve results in their first national tournament, so they provided great pressure and, of course, very substantial financial support.

Related additional reward measures are still under discussion and have not yet been communicated to Shen Sui, but it is expected to be conveyed to him soon.

These rewards are not just cash prizes; under the performance requirements of Tianyi Group, Tianyi Academy has obtained the temporary right to use the Tianyi Club's deck, meaning Shen Sui might be able to find suitable Life Cards from the Tianyi Club's deck to participate in the national tournament.

The club's deck is different from that of the Exploration Bureau; all Life Cards are owned by the club. Unless they are rewards from the club, players generally only have the right to borrow them. However, even so, for many Life Card Masters, this is a major enhancement to their deck-building flexibility.

Players affiliated with a club often submit rental applications to the club before matches to borrow some powerful Life Cards for competition.

This is also why many Life Card Masters choose to affiliate with a club.

Enhancing their deck is also one of the club's most important daily tasks, as it is key infrastructure to retain players.

"Huh? Are you planning to take the compensation money?" Wang Ming was shocked when he heard Shen Sui's decision.

Shen Sui glanced at Freymia beside him, sighed, and said, "Yeah, the dormitory is still a bit too small for now. I want to switch to a larger house."

"You're only eighteen, and you want to buy a house outright in Modu?" Wang Ming said jealously. He was still renting in Modu. "The qualification for purchasing might not even allow it."

"Hehe, I think the Exploration Bureau will find a way for me, right? I've helped the Exploration Bureau a lot. Recently, I've already found information about that Soul Card Follower," Shen Sui said.

Wang Ming paused and immediately changed his attitude, saying, "There is a talent introduction policy for Life Card Masters in Modu. I think you meet the conditions, so there should be no problem with the quota."

Shen Sui glanced at the document Wang Ming sent over.

After the revision of the Forbidden Card regulations, the compensation money for forbidden cards also increased substantially, but it was accompanied by the prohibition against selling forbidden cards.

If the holder no longer wishes to keep the forbidden card, the Exploration Bureau can pay an amount equivalent to the compensation money to purchase the card, and private transactions of forbidden cards are prohibited.

Shen Sui knew that this rule was added after the emergence of the Extraordinary, to prevent powerful forbidden cards from circulating into the hands of malevolent individuals.

It's important to know that forbidden cards are only banned for use in official tournaments; you can still use them in other duels. If some evildoer purchases forbidden cards to use against the Exploration Bureau's Life Card Masters, that would backfire terribly, wouldn't it?

As for the compensation money, it was a complex formula that Shen Sui just couldn't understand even after reading it five or six times.

Unlike the previous straightforward star-based calculation method, the new compensation formula incorporates a series of weights: star weight, holder rank, championship weight, holder usage rate, and so on.

Under this series of weighted factors, Shen Sui's batch of soon-to-be-forbidden Life Cards showed cases where the compensation money for 5-star Life Cards exceeded that of 8-star ones several times over.

The 5-star Life Card, [Sacrificial Puppet: Ada], due to Shen Sui's frequent usage, under the weight of usage rate and given that he is a fifth-rank Life Card Master and a champion of two B-class tournaments, had its compensation money calculated to 5.53 million.

If Shen Sui were willing to submit this card to the Exploration Bureau, he could even achieve the accomplishment of a single card paying for a house.

Shen Sui couldn't help but think that maybe there could be more forbidden cards.

Frankly, Shen Sui had anticipated that after the emergence of the Extraordinary, when forced duels became a necessary means to resist them, the official attitude towards Life Cards would change dramatically, but he didn't expect the change to be so significant.

Thinking back to a few months ago, when a 13-star Life Card of his was only valued at 150,000, Shen Sui felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

"Oh, right, your [Star Magic Array]." Wang Ming suddenly mentioned over the phone, "After the new forbidden card regulations are officially issued, its forbidden status will be lifted, and a dedicated reviewer will come to re-evaluate it."

Zhang Fang's intention was clear; with the invasion of Extraordinary forces imminent, he wanted to take this opportunity to re-evaluate, thoroughly investigate the real level and living environment of domestic Life Card Masters, and at the same time ease the conflicts within the domestic Life Card profession circle.

Huaxia is too large, there are too many people, making it seem like there are also a lot of idiots. But you can't lump those with simple dissatisfaction in with idiots.

"Are you sure you want to remove the forbidden status of this card?" Shen Sui was stunned for a moment.

"Huh? Is there a problem?" Wang Ming asked back, "I think a lot of cards on this list are more outrageous than [Star Magic Array]."

Ah....

You probably don't know how outrageous it is for some cards to not have a once-per-turn restriction.

Shen Sui muttered silently in his heart.

Meanwhile, he also started contemplating which card to use to replace [Sacrificial Puppet: Ada].

This is a thought-provoking question.

"Uh... I might have a more perfect solution."

Shen Sui's eyes darted around, the corners of his mouth turned up, thinking with a chuckle.

He opened his Dueling Device.

Inside, Alice was still frantically practicing magic.

This time, she started training in various control magic and enhancing magic.

It was just like her support magic, abstract as her healing technique.

Looking at the data returned by the tortured Sacrificial Puppets on the screen, Alice's support magic basically all had burning effects.

Alice's control magic and debuff spells would impose a burning effect that drains Life Value on the target. Because it drains Life Value, those items meant to prevent injuries couldn't even stop the damage she caused.

And Alice's enhancing magic was even more abstract, with side effects greater than the positive effects, and because it was enhancing magic, normal magic defense items and spells couldn't counter it.

This little fellow indeed had no talent for becoming a support.

All magic, once in her hands, turned into a variety of offensive variations.

[You interrupted Alice's practice.]

[You pointed out to Alice that, to better train in magic, a device to test magic effects is essential.]

[Considering Alice's current ability isn't sufficient to create a professional level testing puppet, you suggested that Alice modify the Sacrificial Puppet Ada.]

Yes, the method Shen Sui thought of was very simple.

The one you banned is [Sacrificial Puppet·Ada], what does that have to do with my [Magic Testing Puppet·Ada]?

Alternate Art Cards can solve all Forbidden Card problems.

And puppets are the easiest targets for alternate art operations because they are created entities, so modifications are not particularly complicated.

Look at the sci-fi world's mechas, each modification leads to a new form; in this way, puppets don't seem so exaggerated, do they?

[Alice found this reasonable.]

[She realized having made too many Sacrificial Puppets, indeed some could be modified for testing magic.]

[You proposed a modification plan for Ada.]

[Following your plan, Alice started searching for materials from her stock.]

[Quickly, she gathered the key materials.]

After the trip to Dragon Island, Alice had become a little rich girl; the Dragon Race and Sea Race are the wealthiest on the Dawn Continent, so obtaining their friendship meant that even picking up some insignificant materials gave her access to a virtually limitless treasure on the entire Dawn Continent.

[Alice modified Ada.]

[Added sensing components and a series of testing components.]

[A simple Magic Testing Puppet was created in Alice's hands.]

[Ding! Your Follower Card Sacrificial Puppet·Ada gains a new alternate art: Simple Magic Testing Puppet·Ada]

[You can go to the Life Card Slot to choose whether to update the alternate art.]

It's done.

Shen Sui looked at the alternate art of Ada in the Life Card Slot and nodded contentedly.

******

Wang Ming hung up Shen Sui's call and looked up at the body hanging high in front of him.

His body was covered with mysterious runes.

Various Life Cards were scattered around.

An eye was carved into the corpse's forehead.

Under the light, this eye seemed to be blinking.

Wang Ming knew what this symbol meant.

A group of madmen from across the ocean.

The All-Knowing.