Is That Master Grade or Not?!

Because their strategy was to build fortified strongholds and fight a war of attrition, Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia had not concealed the changes to their border defenses.

Besides, the news of the alliance between the two countries would most likely be impossible to hide from the Demon Army.

And if Lu Su and the others wanted to launch a surprise attack on the Demon Army, they naturally could not just decide on a whim and charge in. They had to make thorough preparations.

For example, how they would clean up the aftermath if they succeeded.

Or what emergency plan they would activate if they failed.

But none of that had much to do with Lu Su. He was only responsible for enjoying the fight.

Of course, if needed, he could send the cards under his command over to offer some advice.

Another idle person like Lu Su was Petrovna. Although her Teacher very much hoped that the girl would observe and learn more, it was clear that she lacked the temperament for it.

At that moment, Petrovna looked curiously at Lu Su and voiced the question in her heart. "Your name is Lu Su, right?"

"Is Master Bai your Teacher?"

After that day’s meeting ended, the Tsardom of Russia had already investigated Lu Su’s exact identity.

What surprised them, however, was that the young man’s teacher was not Ye Zhou, but Bai Yueming.

Lu Su did not know what Petrovna was after, so he merely nodded simply when he heard her question.

Seeing this, Petrovna repeatedly tapped her fair index finger against her cheek, her eyes shining as she said, "Then can you teach me how to become like you?"

As she spoke, a trace of distress appeared on her face. "Mother and Uncle always think I’m just a child."

Lu Su did not stop walking when he heard that. He glanced at Petrovna beside him, unable to tell whether the girl was putting on an act or was simply like this by nature.

After considering it briefly, he said, "It’s simple. You just need to be strong enough."

"If you’re Master Grade, your elders naturally won’t dare look down on you."

Perhaps in an ordinary world, judging whether someone was mature required considering many factors. But on Blue Star, all one needed was sufficient strength.

If someone possessed Hall of Fame Grade strength, then even if they were extremely childish, others would only think they had returned to simplicity.

Of course, those two sentences were mostly Lu Su brushing Petrovna off. After all, the girl was merely a Diamond Grade Card Master.

Petrovna had clearly heard the perfunctoriness in his words as well.

She said with some dissatisfaction, "Lord Lu, don’t fool me."

"You’re clearly both Diamond Grade Card Masters, yet Lord Fang and the others respect you greatly."

Lu Su gave the girl, who had absolutely no sense of boundaries, a somewhat speechless look.

He could tell that she had not realized at all that her question might involve a Card Master’s secrets.

Lu Su now understood why that Empress had acted the way she had during the earlier meeting.

Just as he was about to casually brush Petrovna off with a few more words, the vibration from his communication device suddenly caught his attention.

Lu Su took out the device and saw several messages appearing on the screen in rapid succession.

The Demon Army had made its move.

The locations were very far from Hami Guard, and there was more than one.

Lu Su was not surprised by this. The unusual movements of Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia over the past few days definitely could not have been hidden from the Demon Army, and once they had investigated the matter, they certainly would not strike near Hami Guard, where Master Grade Card Masters were gathered.

He took a light breath and immediately prepared to head out in support.

At that moment, Petrovna suddenly grabbed Lu Su’s left hand. "What happened, Lord Lu?"

"Did the Demon Army make a move?"

Though her emotional intelligence was somewhat lacking, having been exposed to such matters for so long, she was still very sensitive to them.

But unlike Lu Su, a Firefighter, Petrovna, as a princess, had clearly not received the news.

Moreover, strictly speaking, what happened in Great Ming did not have much to do with her.

Seeing that she had already guessed the answer, Lu Su could not help twitching the corner of his mouth. "That’s right, but they’re only some Diamond Grade enemies. Your Highness can wait in the city."

Before he could finish, Petrovna interrupted him. "Take me with you, take me with you!"

Having lived under Catherine’s control since childhood, the girl had never experienced anything this interesting. It could be said that she was simply a slightly kinder Sheng Hanzu.

With such a rare opportunity before her, she immediately wanted to follow Lu Su.

Lu Su could not help feeling a headache and could only find an excuse to brush her off. "Your Highness, shouldn’t you first inform His Majesty?"

He had already made up his mind. The moment Petrovna went to report to that Hall of Fame Grade Card Master from the Tsardom of Russia, he would immediately run off.

Actually, if he were not afraid of damaging the relationship between Great Ming and the Tsardom of Russia, he could have fled right now.

Who would have thought that Petrovna would reveal a triumphant smile at that moment? "Lord Lu, my mother told me to follow you during this time."

"So just take me with you."

Lu Su froze upon hearing that, but quickly understood that the Empress had likely heard some rumors.

She probably also wanted Petrovna to gain more experience.

After all, no one wanted their successor to be raised into a useless good-for-nothing with high grades but no real ability.

Lu Su could only sigh helplessly. He grabbed the girl’s forearm in return. "Your Highness, remember to follow my arrangements from now on. Otherwise, if something happens, I won’t be able to explain it to Her Majesty Catherine."

With that, he had Little Spider take the two of them away from Hami Guard.

Jizhou Town.

The violent explosions made the sturdy city walls shake continuously, showering down flakes of debris.

"Did the message get sent out?"

Zhang Jingxing stood atop the city wall, his eyes fixed on the vast Demon Army formation in the distance. Without turning his head, he asked a Jade Grade Card Master beside him.

"It has been sent, but the nearby military towns are also under attack. I’m afraid we’ll have to hold out for a while longer before reinforcements arrive."

Hearing his subordinate’s response, Zhang Jingxing could not help letting out a heavy sigh.

At present, he was the only Diamond Grade Card Master left in Jizhou Town. Kuang Shou Zheng and Dai Xin had received orders two days ago and taken a group of Card Masters elsewhere to garrison.

Since the two had not returned to reinforce Jizhou Town with their men, they had clearly been tied down as well.

Fortunately, Jizhou Town was still quite sturdy. Zhang Jingxing believed that even without reinforcements, defending the city would not be difficult.

Just as he was thinking that, an abrupt change occurred.

Boom—

With a violent explosion, some of the Card Masters atop the wall instantly went pale.

They discovered that the cards they had deployed had all entered cooldown just now.

Under the gaze of the Card Masters, the dirt in the distance surged toward Jizhou Town like ocean waves.

The sudden situation made Zhang Jingxing’s expression darken. As the only Diamond Grade Card Master currently in Jizhou Town, he could clearly sense the aura in the distance that made the hairs on his body stand on end.

"How could this be?!"

Zhang Jingxing had fought the Demon Army for so many years and possessed a general understanding of every enemy in their ranks who was on the same level as him.

Yet he searched through his memories and found no Diamond Grade Demon matching the aura opposite him.

"Did a new Jade Grade Demon advance?"

"But could it possess this kind of strength immediately after advancing?"

"Or could it be—"

Before he could think it through, an earth-yellow figure shot out from the wave of dirt and slammed fiercely into Jizhou Town’s city wall.

Thud—!

The entire Jizhou Town trembled.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingxing immediately furrowed his brows and tried to call back his cards.

Unfortunately, the Demon Army was not stupid. After the earth-yellow figure charged up to the wall, several of his Diamond Grade cards were surrounded by Demons.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingxing first took a deep breath, then prepared to order the Card Masters on the wall to summon the cards they kept for their own protection.

After all, those cards that remained in their minds and had not been deployed were meant for exactly a situation like this.

At that moment, the Jade Grade Card Master standing beside Zhang Jingxing scratched his cheek strangely and asked in a low voice, "Sir, do you feel like the temperature has risen quite a lot?"

Zhang Jingxing was startled by his words, but he soon noticed that the temperature around Jizhou Town was steadily climbing.

This was clearly not a normal temperature change.

Just as Zhang Jingxing was secretly alarmed and wondering whether a new Demon had arrived on the battlefield, a crimson meteor streaked across everyone’s field of vision and plunged straight toward the Demon Army’s position.

"?"

Seeing this, Zhang Jingxing immediately understood that reinforcements had arrived, and he could not help breathing a sigh of relief.

"But who is it?"

"Which colleague in the army possesses such a powerful fire-type card?"

Feeling the rolling heat wave rush toward his face, curiosity could not help rising in his heart.

Just then, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

"Senior Disciple Brother, it’s been a long time."

Zhang Jingxing turned and saw his Junior Disciple smiling at him.

He froze for a moment before quickly reacting. "Junior Disciple?"

"Was that your card?"

When Lu Su nodded, Zhang Jingxing’s expression immediately became strange.

But this was not the time to dwell on such matters. He organized his thoughts, then informed Lu Su of the situation on the battlefield.

Finally, he looked at the youth with some concern. "Junior Disciple, if it’s only the two of you this time, I’m afraid it’ll still be rather difficult."

Since Lu Su and Bai Yueming had not explained in detail within Loving Family what had happened in Shanghai City some time ago, Zhang Jingxing did not know that his youngest Junior Disciple had successfully killed a Master Grade Card Master while still at Diamond Grade.

After all, Lu Su and the others were not only supporting Jizhou Town, but many surrounding military towns as well. Zhang Jingxing’s concerns were entirely reasonable.

Lu Su did not directly answer Zhang Jingxing’s concerns. Instead, he introduced the girl beside him. "Senior Disciple Brother, this is Her Highness Petrovna of the Tsardom of Russia. Her Teacher is—"

"Her Majesty Catherine."

"Your Highness, this is my Senior Disciple Brother, Zhang Jingxing."

Communication between smart people often required very little.

Zhang Jingxing instantly understood Lu Su’s unspoken meaning.

Of course, he knew that the Empress of the Tsardom of Russia had recently advanced to Hall of Fame Grade. Therefore, nothing could happen to this princess while she was in Great Ming.

"Then wouldn’t that mean you, Junior Disciple—"

Zhang Jingxing glanced at Petrovna and stopped himself mid-sentence.

After noticing his gaze, Petrovna patted her chest. "Lord Zhang, don’t worry. I’ll help too."

But Lu Su did not dare let her take such risks.

More importantly, the battle had already ended after Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto entered the Demon Army’s position.

"Zanka no Tachi: South: Ten Trillion Deaths Great Burial Array."

As an aged voice rang out, countless skeletons crawled up from the dirt the next moment.

The Quincies, Hollows, and Demons who had once died beneath Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s blade all reappeared in this world.

Although Chris’s Great Red Dragon had nearly wiped out those skeletons with a single breath in that secret realm beneath Shanghai City earlier—

Just because they could not beat Chris did not mean they could not beat you!

Lu Su could sense that there was no Master Grade existence within the distant Demon Army.

Moreover—

Chris had also died beneath Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto’s blade.

As a short skeleton radiating an incomparably terrifying aura appeared on the battlefield, everyone stopped moving.

"M-Master Grade?!"

"How is that possible?!"

Panicked cries rang out among the Demon Army. They had never expected a Master Grade existence to appear here.

Meanwhile, the Card Masters in Jizhou Town, including Zhang Jingxing and Petrovna, were also frozen in shock.

Zhang Jingxing looked at the Demons in the distance, who had already begun getting chased down and slaughtered, and opened his mouth without knowing what to say.

He never could have imagined that his Junior Disciple, who was also a Diamond Grade Card Master, possessed such methods. No wonder he had come alone to reinforce Jizhou Town.

In Zhang Jingxing’s eyes, Petrovna was nothing but dead weight.

Petrovna, meanwhile, looked at Lu Su in astonishment. "Lord Lu, so what Lord Fang said before was true!"

"You really can be treated as Master Grade!"

However, Lu Su merely shook his head upon hearing that.

He knew his own situation best. Though Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto had successfully summoned Chris’s soul—

In truth, he could not summon Chris’s corresponding cards, namely Lucifer and Samael, which had been used in the secret realm earlier.

So Chris could only be used to bluff people. His actual combat strength was practically zero.

Though souls summoned by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto inherently had their original strength drastically weakened, if Chris were not a summoner-type profession like a Card Master, he would not have had zero combat power.

But was that not still Master Grade?

Besides, there was currently no Master Grade existence in the distant Demon Army. Could Lu Su not do whatever he wanted?

Naturally, Lu Su could not explain such confidential information to Petrovna, so he tacitly accepted the girl’s claim.

After releasing his cards to harvest the Demons in the distance, Lu Su turned his gaze toward the earth-yellow figure beneath the city wall.

At that moment, it was smashing fiercely against Jizhou Town’s wall, completely ignoring the slaughter taking place among the Demon Army behind it.

"This is…"

His Spiritual Power swept over the earth-yellow figure, and Lu Su could not help frowning slightly. He felt that its aura was somewhat familiar.

"A Demonized Card Master?"