Burs realized that this fellow was dragging the game out deliberately, and that his own energy was being drained the whole time. Enough was enough. Burs decided that in one fell swoop he would play all his cards. He used the Flying Dragon Combo. A powerful move. But the cost of cards that big is also high, and now there was an intense pain in his legs.
Then suddenly a huge, crying dragon illusion exploded and the whole place shook. The dragon launched a fiery attack on Liping, and father and daughter were both ready to get under the bed. Elizabeth watched with the same calm as if she were watching television.
But as soon as the dragon disappeared, so did Burs's confidence. His winning move, the one he had felt so sure about, turned out to be a complete disaster. That defeat, and somehow Liping along with it, had angered him.
Liping did not see any of Burs's panic attack. He was lost in his own thoughts. He heard the move and praised it. Burs did not even get a chance to react before Liping passed again.
Burs started sweating. His hands were shivering, and he made the next move. Eve skipped again, and then it was Liping's turn. He played a straight with full confidence, and this time came the illusion of giant waves crashing all around them. Father and daughter held on to each other as though the waves were really going to carry them away.
When it stopped, both of them were ready to quit. But Liping did not stop. His next move brought knights on a horse-drawn carriage.
Burs officially conceded defeat. Ideas over, patience over. But Eve decided to hide behind her father instead. She ignored their warnings and mirrored Liping's move. The night went on, and more disasters kept happening.
Burs was getting nervous about Eve. Eve assured him that it was all right. But her face said something else. Liping also had to admit that the girl had guts. She was ready to do anything to save her father, even if it meant breaking her own cards. But that bravery cost Burs two fingers.
And as if the chaos was not enough, Liping took out the joker cards.
What happened next was no less than a horror story. The Supreme Clown King appeared. A demon-level nightmare. That clown was not friendly at all, and he had spotted Elizabeth and threatened that if she was not careful, he would kill her.
Elizabeth was not going to listen to that at all. She was angry with the clown. She was also furious with Liping, that he had so casually summoned this overpowered nightmare. She herself had barely managed to reach the Star Demon God stage, and she had only done it by swallowing her pride and taking help. And this fellow was turning the whole situation into a circus.
There, Burs, steeped in guilt, was demanding forgiveness from Eve, which proved to be useless. Every time he placed the cards, his energy would start draining away.
Liping also looked a little worried. He understood that Burs had not yet fully recovered. And when he saw the combination of Burs's cards, he felt a little ashamed of himself. If Burs had wanted to, he could have ended the game long ago. But he had given Liping the cards to let him feel like a genius.
Liping awkwardly mixed the cards by feel. The clown disappeared. He apologized and left.
As soon as the legendary hero left the room, father and daughter took a long sigh of relief. Elizabeth was busy building her theories that all of it had been aimed at her, and that the first one had only been a stall.
Well, it was morning, and the night of chaos was over.
Burs and Eve were ready to go. They promised that Liping's secret would remain safe. Liping gave Burs a pack of barley tea and a deck of cards as well, saying that he felt Burs needed to practise himself. Elizabeth practically just listened to this and pushed them out the door.
As soon as they left, Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. All normal. And her first order was, bring food.
Burs was running like a strong wind and dragging Eve behind him. Poor Eve could barely match the pace, and she was begging her father to stop. Burs could not hear her, because he was fleeing the Demon Queen's curse, which had been imposed around their necks in the night.
Elizabeth had warned them clearly. If you tell anyone about them, the curse will be activated, and you will go straight to the next world.
Burs finally stopped and noticed how far he had come. Eve also looked around, and it struck her that she had seen this place before. Burs himself was shocked that he had run so far.
Wong Chai was watching from a distance. The corpses of the apostles of the Dark Guild were still lying there, and Burs had to leave quickly. It would not be long before the demons arrived at this place.
Wong Chai was about to leave when suddenly the wind became heavy. And the apostles of the Dark Guild were back.
This time with their leader, the Great Apostle, who was at demon spirit level. Eve got scared and told Burs to leave her and run away. But Burs was not the type to run away from trouble. After all, he had spent a whole night with the Demon Queen. A few apostles are nothing before that.
He took out the deck of cards Liping had given him, and the apostles were blown away. This time he was not going to back down, because he knew that after this encounter Eve could be reunited with her mother and merged into the elf tribe, the way he had done it years ago.
Then came the big move. Burs summoned number four from his deck, and a huge figure appeared.
Eve recognized it. It was her mother.
That elf queen, at Burs's command, started showering arrows on the apostles, one after another. The Great Apostle tried to block them. But he could not stand before the Elf Queen. His head flew off. End of discussion.
Burs fell to his knees after winning the battle, like a man who had run a marathon in full armour. Eve ran to him.
And on that day a new profession was born in the world. The Card Master was officially born.